Look unto Jesus and be Saved!

What is urgent as we come to Jesus as Nicodemus did is to ask God to open our eyes. Nicodemus was a man of high moral character, the teacher of Israel. But He was so self-righteous, so full of pride, that he had become spiritually blind. This is what happens whenever we find righteousness in a code or a set of rules to be looked at by men as being righteous. As we open up the scripture today, we see Jesus’ explanation of what is required by God for us to become righteous in God’s sight.

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Jesus had just gotten finished sharing with Nicodemus an important spiritual truth using earthly illustrations that he should have been able to understand. Jesus used birth to illustrate the new life that we all need, and in that birth is a process that we who are being born do not initiate or choose, it just happens. When we are born from above, it is not due to Human effort, it is due to the initiation of God. We are literally carried along by his will and initiative, and born in His image through no effort of our own. Then, Jesus used wind to help Nicodemus and us understand that what happens in not visible nor is it controllable by man, but we can see the result, and harness the power.

Jesus chides Nicodemus, for he is speaking with him the in the way that he ought to understand. In other words, Nicodemus is a learned man, and has observed both of these physical things. If we look at the physical, which we are a part of, and do not understand it, how is it that we are to understand spiritual truths? It is only by the Spirit of God that we can understand spiritual things, and Jesus, being from above, is the only one that can discern and explain these things to us and to our Spirit. We need to listen and respond in belief.

Belief is the key word in this passage; it is the catalyst for salvic faith. Jesus tells us in other passages that our belief must be like that of a child. Nicodemus had a hard time receiving what Jesus was saying, because his intellect and his human training had hardened him, leaving him in spiritual darkness. I have met many people who want to complicate salvation to the point that nobody can understand it! Jesus simplifies it to one word: belief. The Greek word is πιστευετε pisteuo pist-yoo'-o: to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ) In other words, we must have faith in, entrust ourselves to, Christ for our salvation. It is really that simple. Nicodemus, unfortunately at this point did not have faith in Christ, or it was an incomplete faith, and he was entrusting in His own good works, position, and education for his spiritual well being. How many today can say this, that we believe in Christ, but we have not entrusted ourselves to Him alone? There are many in our community, and even in this congregation, who have not surrendered all to Christ and placed their full trust in Him. This involves laying all on the alter, dying to self, and releasing all to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to take the wheel so to speak. Anything we hold to for ourselves as a means to gain a greater salvation.

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Jesus Christ is explaining here that no one but He is qualified to teach these spiritual truths, for He is the only eternal Son of God, he is God, he has come from heaven to earth in his incarnation, and as God, is present in both spheres at once. He is one person, but through the hypostatic union, He is fully God and fully man. He is the One who has the grasp on both physical and heavenly reality. He has the spiritual light by which we must teach and be taught. But more importantly, he has a purpose that is presented to Nicodemus and to us.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus now refers Nicodemus to a period of History that was very familiar to Him. In Numbers 21, when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, the people sinned against God by questioning His goodness to them. They demonstrated a lack of belief in God in that they neither trusted Him nor thanked Him for His provision nor His direction not His Salvation (from Egypt) when the people sinned, God sent immediate judgment in the form of poisonous snakes. When the people cried out to God, God gave them a way of escape, by having Moses lift up a brazen serpent on the pole. When the people looked to the serpent, they were practicing repentance in that they realized they had sin, they were sorry for their sin, and they turned to God, placing their trust in his salvation by looking upon the brazen serpent.

Jesus was stating that in the same way, He would be lifted up and that he was going to be the means of salvation. He was saying that, we must realize that we have sinned, we must repent, and believe in God’s salvation, the Son of God, Jesus Christ (himself) who God had sent to be lifted up on a tree as God’s salvation. Charles Spurgeon, a wonderful preacher in the last century, was an example of being born again from this very concept. He was the son and a grandson of preachers, raised in the love and the discipline of the Lord. Certainly, from the teaching in his church and in his home he was a learned fellow. Certainly, he understood the concept of being born again from above. But, at the age of 15, he was walking to a church and, in his own words, this is what happened:

Isaiah 45:22 — "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”.

You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text. He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed — by me, at any rate, — except his text. I remember how he said, —'It is Christ that speaks. I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto me! Look unto Me! that is all you have to do. A child can look. One who is almost an idiot can look. However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.' Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said,’ That young man there looks very miserable.' I expect I did, for that is how I felt. Then he said,’ There is no hope for you young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by LOOKING TO JESUS;’ and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can,’ Look! Look, young man! LOOK NOW!'
And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep, and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, 'Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow'; and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus."

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I have often thought about the reaction of Nicodemus looking at this verse from the perspective of what he knew at that time. Was Jesus speaking in riddles? No, He was showing Nicodemus what God’s plan was pre-cross. In other words, Nicodemus understood the Salvation story of God, he knew the story of the serpents in the wilderness. Jesus was explaining that, in the same way, God was going to demonstrate His love for all people by doing the same thing with His beloved Son. Salvation was to be provided through faith in Christ. The word again is pisteuo, and it indicates not just a mental ascent, but also a trust upon and in the object of the belief. And, this must have blown Nicodemus’ mind, this was for the whole kosmos or world, not just for the Jews.

We can look back at this verse from the perspective of the cross, and see that Jesus Christ was lifted up because God so loved (agape) us. He desired to save us if we would simply place our trust in and look to Him for salvation. Just like the Israelites who were bitten by the serpents in the wilderness would perish if they did not place their belief in the salvation of God by looking at the brazen serpent, we will perish because we have been snake bit by sin unless we believe in the salvation of God.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus did not come here to condemn the world, the world was already under condemnation. When Jesus comes the second time, indeed, He will come as judge. No, Jesus’ purpose for being in the world, as Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus, is that the world might be saved. Jesus came the first time as an extension of the love, mercy, and grace of God. God the Son came to this earth, was incarnated (took on a body) and lived here as Jesus Christ. He came into the world for the entire purpose of bringing salvation to the world. 

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Whoever believes in Jesus Christ is not condemned. Again, the Greek word indicates not just a mental ascent, but a trust placed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If we believe, place trust in the true Jesus, we are not condemned. If we do not believe in, place trust in Jesus Christ we are condemned already, because we have not trusted God’s way of salvation.

We see in the story of the snakes in the wilderness people who rebelled against God’s means of salvation; indeed, they simply died! Yet, many people today rebel against God’s plan of salvation. They are dead in their sins, so they go about seeking an alternative cure, in other words, they desire to save themselves by their own preferred means rather than trusting in the truth of the scripture. Unfortunately, many churches, television preachers, and well-meaning Christians encourage this. It is sort of like the cancer patient who refuses the tried and true cure that the doctor offers for alternative medicine. They smoke marijuana to give them an appetite and take herbs that have neither the properties nor the full ability to cure the disease. They feel better, but the inevitable result is death from cancer. Many people desire to feel good on this earth and go their own way, earning their own salvation because of what they hear from the modern healers out there in the form of these modern preachers. They see that their life on this earth is somehow more important than the eternal life they will spend after death. They work to improve theirs and others’ station on this earth, forgetting about the judgment to come. The problem is, they do not have the felt need or the urgency of those being bitten by the snakes. They have not been warned of the judgment to come or the cure that is found only in Jesus. They have been told everything but look to Jesus! This is the fault of the modern preacher, but it is also the fault of the modern Christian. We do not feel the urgency to warn people who are dying in their sins. We believe that we can spend the time gaining their friendship or respect and then tell them about Jesus. But people die every day, and we do not know what day that will be. What we do know is that if people die without Christ, they will enter Hell. Unfortunately, many modern day Christians either do not believe this, or at least do not live like they believe this. It is far more attractive and logical to most people, as it was to Nicodemus, to do all that they can to earn their way to heaven. After all, they reason, won’t God be pleased with all the good things that I do? Many get caught in this Nicodemite trap and are blinded to the fact that Salvation has been accomplished through Christ Jesus, and that there is no other way.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Another reason people are condemned and do not see their way to salvation is that they love darkness. They love their sin more than they love life. When we are in sin, and we enjoy it, we have a hard time seeing the light or desiring the light because we are blinded by our sin. When we were in Minneapolis doing street evangelism, I noticed that not many people were entering the adult bookstore while we were there. I was encouraged that our preaching may have slowed down business for the evening! It was then explained to me that all of these businesses have a back door where people can enter and exit without being seen or identified. We are in darkness because of our sin, and we do all we can to stay in that darkness. Since these folks entered through the back door, not desiring to be identified, it is obvious they do not want their deeds exposed. This is also why we get such rancor from the crowds who are listening to our preaching, for they do not want to hear about sin, because they love their sin! They do not want their deeds exposed.

Nicodemus’ sin was self-righteous pride. This blinded him to the simple truth of salvation found in Christ, indeed, it blinded him to the scriptural truth that he had. He had a hard time understanding the light, but he was walking towards it. Spurgeon’s sin was the same; he was caught in the trap of religion and of birthright, being born in a godly home, and trusting that for his salvation. How many of us wear the term Christian on our sleeve, and trust in our heritage, our knowledge, and our religion, even the country we live in for our salvation. It is my own testimony; for I was raised in what would be considered a god-fearing home. I attended church, I was baptized, confirmed. For the most part, I was a moral person. It was only when the light of the law was turned on that I realized that I was a sinner, and that there was nothing that I could do to please God or bribe my way into heaven that I was able to understand my personal need for a savior. I was walking in the darkness, I needed to be brought into the light. The only way I could do this was by being born from above. I needed to look to Jesus! When I did, Christ saved me. Hallelujah! There is hope for all of us in this next verse:

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

What is true? When we are honestly responding to the revelation that God has given us, and we respond to His seeking of us by responding in repentance and faith. When we look at creation, we acknowledge there is a creator that is obviously greater than us. When we look at God’s Word, the Bible, we see the standards God has, but also the means of salvation that He has provided for us. In the Word, we see Christ, and we place our faith and trust in Him. If we honestly and with an open heart respond to the revelation God has placed before us, we will come to the light. When we are saved, our works that we do for Christ are sanctified and identified as works that are carried out in God. Indeed, when we come to Christ that is the only time that we actually do works that are seen as good by God; in our flesh all of our good works are filthy rags in God’s sight.

I urge you as we close as I echo that primitive Methodist Pastor- Look to Jesus young man or young woman! It is only in this simple act of faith where we look to Christ alone for forgiveness of sins and for salvation that we can be saved. And the promise? As repenting and looking upon the brass snake saved the Israelites, we will be saved as we repent and trust alone in Christ. I urge you to do this today!