The Simple Life

“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. 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. 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.” John  3:17-19  (ESV)   "Affirmatively. Our Lord mentions only the relation of faith to the legal aspect of salvation. This was enough, for he who apprehends believingly the work of Christ as the ground of his justification will not fail to experience it as a regenerative power. Many stumble through the simplicity of faith. They suppose that something difficult is required. But faith is identical with that implicit unquestioning confidence a person ordinarily exercises almost unconsciously in relation to almost everything he appropriates to his use: the food he eat

“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. 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. 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.” John  3:17-19  (ESV)   Christianity is based on historical facts. We base our entire belief system in the facts surrounding Jesus Christ, who came to this earth, lived, died, and rose again. We are not about feelings, philosophies, or opinions. We are not about rhetoric, campaigns, or popularity. We are about Jesus.   The eloquent and the simple need to understand the same facts about Jesus. All that is important in life and death revolves around Jesus.   Do you know Him? How does that matter in your life?

“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.” John 3:17 (ESV)   God is loving, kind, and merciful. He has no desire to use His power and authority to harm His creation. The only way people will experience His wrath is if they choose to ignore His love. In essence, we are in control of our destiny. If we choose to respond to God, we will experience God's mercy and grace. If we decide to ignore His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, we will experience His wrath.   For now, the choice is still ours

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (ESV)   "When John Williams sailed in his missionary ship, he said as he touched a shore where he had never been before, where no foot of white man had ever trod, wherever he preached for the first time he had this for his text. No text could bear him beyond this. He could stand anywhere, on any shore, and cry, "God so loved the world."" (S. Coley)   God is the only one who is actually "fair." He treats all people the same. All have sinned, and all need Christ. This is simple to understand, simple to teach, and simple to apply.   Those who like to complicate the simple often turn into religious zealots. When you respond to God's love, you begin to live in the context of the way life is meant to be. In that context, life has purpose, direction, and fulfillment. So, why would anyone turn down such an offer?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (ESV) "I thank God for this word 'whosoever,'" remarked Richard Baxter, "did it read, there is mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so vile, so sinful, that I would have thought it must have meant some other Richard Baxter; but this word 'whosoever' includes the worst of all the Baxters that ever lived." (Richard Baxter)   Whosoever means whosoever. All humanity is the same in the most critical areas of life. All humankind will die, face God, and experience His mercy or His wrath. Those who receive His mercy are among the "whosoever" that believed. Those who experience His wrath are among the "whosoever" that rejected Christ.   For now, the choice is ours.   Dave Wager https://nightime.podbean.com/ https://davewager.podbean.com/ https://youngerolder.podbean.com/

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (ESV)   "In human governments, justice is central, and love incidental. In the Divine government, love is the central element, and justice only incidental. God wishes to exhaust all means of kindness before His hand takes hold on justice. When the waves of penalty begin to come in in fearful tides, then He banks up against them. His goodness is the levee between justice and the sinful soul." (H. W. Beecher)   "God is love, and there is a something about love which always wins love. When love puts on her own golden armour, and bears her sword bright with her own unselfishness, she goeth on conquering and to conquer. Let a man once apprehend that God is love, that this is God's very essence, and he must at once love God." (C. H. Spurgeon)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (ESV)   Charles Spurgeon often focused on small words that gave great meaning to various Scripture passages. In this familiar passage he spoke of the significance of the word “so.”   He said: “Pliny declares that Cicero once saw the Iliad of Homer written in so small a character that it could be contained in a nutshell. Peter Bales, a celebrated calligrapher, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, wrote the whole Bible so that it was shut up in a common walnut as its casket. In these days of advanced mechanism even greater marvels in miniature have been achieved, but never has so much meaning been compressed into so small a space as in that famous little word “so,” in the text.”   God so loved that He gave. I am thankful.  

“For in such a manner did God love the world, insomuch that His Son, the uniquely-begotten One, He gave, in order that everyone who places his trust in Him may not perish but may be having life eternal.” John 3:16 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (ESV)   God loves, God gives. He does not force, and He does not coerce. He loves and gives. Gifts are not ours until we take them. The giver desires to enhance our lives, yet if we do not accept the present, the giver's generosity is wasted. God knows our problem and has provided a solution for us. For now, the choice is ours.

“And just as Moses elevated the snake in the uninhabited region, in like manner is it necessary in the nature of the case for the Son of Man to be lifted up, in order that everyone who places his trust in Him may be having life eternal.” John  3:14-15  (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   The people sin, and God provides. This is the theme and story throughout history. Many wonder why God allows sin. Why doesn't God create people who obey Him? Does the fact that man can sin show that God is not capable of creating a perfect world? This thinking is absurd. God could create robotic individuals who always obey, making all humanity's choices meaningless. He could make it so that everyone does right all the time. However, if He removed the idea of real choice, He also eliminates purpose, praise, and accomplishment.   Love demands choice, a real choice, which means that mankind experiences real consequences. If there were no consequences, all of our choices would be

“Since I told you concerning the things which have to do with the earth, and you are not believing, how is it possible, if I tell you about the things which have to do with heaven, that you will believe?” John 3:12 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   Should we believe in God? Is this a question I should be asking? Belief is something I do, and there is a chance I could be wrong in what I believe. God does not have "beliefs" as man does. When God states something, it is a fact. You will never be able to say that God believes something, so it is worth my consideration.   Instead, if God says something, it is worthy of my attention. Therefore, I should seek what God says, look for ways to implement it in my life, and be thankful He does not hide the truth from me.   I need to acknowledge that God and I are different in that I can and do have opinions based on my perspectives, and He does not and cannot. In stating and reminding myself of simple truth, life is

“Most assuredly, I am saying to you, that which we are knowing, we are speaking, and that which we have seen with discernment, to that we are bearing testimony, and our testimony all of you are not receiving.” John 3:11 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   "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."  John 3:11 (ESV)   God always speaks of what He knows, and what He knows is always right. God is truth; I have to find the truth. God has no perspective; I have perspective. God has no opinions; I have opinions. God is not locked into time and space; I am locked into time and space. God is beyond my comprehension, yet; I can understand that He loves me, has a plan for me, wants to include me, and has made provision for me.   I may not understand everything, but I am thankful.  

Answered Nicodemus and said to Him, “How are these things able to come to pass? Answered Jesus and said to him, As for you, are you the teacher of Israel, and do not you have an experiential knowledge of these things?” John 3:9-10 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   Jesus answered Nicodemus while teaching him a valuable lesson by pointing out a fundamental foundational block to effective teaching--experiential knowledge. If one is teaching about God's plan for marriage, they should be experiencing God's plan for marriage. If one is talking about servanthood, one should experience being a slave.   Often younger teachers teach concepts yet lack experiential understanding, while older teachers often have experiences that younger people do not care to hear about.   Older teachers are not more intelligent; they are more experienced. Concepts are essential, and truth cannot be changed by experience, yet it will always be confirmed.

“Do not begin to marvel that I said to you, It is necessary in the nature of the case for all of you to be born again, that second birth having the same source as the first one.” John 3:7 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   We wonder at things too big for us to understand. For example, one would think that marveling at the idea of being born again would be a good thing, yet Nicodemus is told that he should not marvel at such things.   The disciples were once asked why they feared the storm and waves, which seem obvious. Nicodemus was told he should not marvel, yet it seems natural to marvel.   God sees things as they are; we see things "dimly." When we get a clear vision of what God sees, we will marvel, yet; this marveling is because we are beginning to get things into focus, not because things have changed.  

“That which has been born out of the flesh is flesh and by nature, fleshly. And that which has been born out of the Spirit, is spirit, and by nature, spiritual.” John 3:6 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   "Yonder is a cracked bell. How again to restore it? By one of two methods. The first is to repair the bell, to encompass it with hoops, to surround it with bands. Nevertheless you can easily discern the crack of the bell in the crack of the sound. The only effectual way is to remelt the bell, recast it, and make it all new; then it will ring clear, round, sonorous as ever. And human nature is a bell suspended high up in the steeple of the creation to ring forth the praises of the Almighty Creator. But in the Fall in Eden the bell cracked. How again to restore it? By one of two ways. One is to surround it with outward laws and regulations as with steel hoops. This is the method adopted by philosophy as embodied in practical statesmanship; and without doubt the

“That which has been born out of the flesh is flesh and by nature, fleshly. And that which has been born out of the Spirit, is spirit, and by nature, spiritual.” John 3:6 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   The flesh is flesh. Spirit is spirit. Those who are believers are not of this world and do not think like this world.   In family, finance, and life in general, believers think uniquely because they are unique. Believers are to be holy, as God is holy. In our day, we could easily substitute the word unique for holy. Therefore, it should not be a surprise that we do not "fit in" to a Godless world, and neither should we try.   Those who are in God's family should live as if they are in God's family. There is no need for them to "fit in," agree, or promote the lifestyle of the Godless. It will always be our uniqueness that attracts people to God, not our sameness.  

Nicodemus says to Him, “How is a man able to be born, being an old man? He is not able a second time to enter the womb of his mother and be born, is he?” John 3:4 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   Jesus asked questions to teach. Nicodemus asked questions to learn. Asking questions is the key to opening the mind to new thoughts and ideas. If teachers would ask the right questions, then their teaching would be relevant. If students were asking legitimate questions, then their search for answers would be fruitful.   We are all responsible for the positions we hold. Teachers must continue to be relevant, and students must continue to look for relevancy. When that happens, learning takes place.

Answered Jesus and said to him, “Most assuredly, I am saying to you, unless a person is born again, that second birth having the same source as the first one, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (Wuest - The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)   The source of life is God. The source of eternal life is God. We were not born because of our power and ability, and we are not born again into God's family because of our control and capability.   We are not here, as humans, unless we were born. We are not in God's family if we are not born again. This is a simple concept that Satan tries to complicate through religion. Birth or life is always dependent upon God.   Therefore, if I am to be in God's family, I am dependent upon Him to make a way. Therefore, I need not worry about my qualifications because that will be up to Him.

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3 (ESV)   The dialectic approach to teaching can be more effective than the lecture. Jesus provocatively states the truth by stating a fact that will provoke a question. His approach seemed designed to probe Nicodemus to seek a bit further to understand both his problem and the solution truly. He is willing to experience a bit of pushback from Nicodemus and prepared to answer his questions.   Those who stop asking questions stop learning, and teachers who stop posing appropriate thought-stimulating questions stop teaching. Those who know everything make lousy students. Teachers whose lectures provoke no questions make terrible teachers.   When I am a student, I need to ask questions. When I am teaching, I need to provoke questions first, and then answer them to promote learning. Lesson learned!  

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." John 3:1-2 (ESV)   Nicodemus became the focus of a successful journey of the mind. But, most importantly, he sought the truth. He may have come at night, might have had many uncertainties and concerns with what the crowd might have thought, yet, he found a way to ask the right question to the right person before his time ran out.   Secondly, Nicodemus was convinced of some things while confused about others. He was a thinker, not a feeler. He wanted answers, and instead of going to the pundits, he went to the source.   Thirdly, Nicodemus allowed Jesus to answer his questions. If we want the truth, it is there for the taking. Alternatively, we could argue our points, draw our line in the sand, and end up being fools in the end. For now,

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. John 2:23-25 (ESV)   He “did not entrust himself to them, because He knew all people" is an interesting statement. Knowing people means that He knew their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing people means He knew they could be fickle, persuaded by rhetoric, deceived, and dangerous.   The Psalmist once asked God to search his heart, a wise request since we seem unable to see ourselves. People can only be trusted if they live in a way that reflects the only one worthy of our trust. Healthy people live in reality, and know that all people are sinful and have the potential, at any time, to say and do things they will regret. This understanding often leads us also to be those who quickly forgive, as God does.

So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John  2:18-19  (ESV)   Jesus usually forced the thinkers to think about His response to them. But, unfortunately, those who were "feelers" rather than "thinkers" did not seem to understand Him. So, the "feelers’" first response was to make fun of what they do not understand. The "thinkers’" first response would be to put the statement into some context.   Jesus, being God, could have built the physical temple in three days if He so desired; however, it is evident He was speaking of something far greater than the temple.   Those who are ignorant act ignorant. Those who are ignorant and have no argument typically resort to ridicule, gossip, and slander. We see a lot of this type of behavior these days. Perhaps, a real education of who God is would be the foundation for solv