Grace International Baptist Church (22 Dec 2024)
1.1. Why did Jesus Come: For this Advent – Christmas season, I think I should look into the question of why Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas. The words “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” says it all but what I want to do is to look into that conversation that produced those words. This is one of the most significant conversations recorded in the bible and it spurs the question about spirituality.
1.2. Spiritual but not Religious: In the last twenty years or so, many North Americans have been using the expression: “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). Sociologists are unable to define what SBNR means but we realize that these people are tired of being in a world of steel and concrete; and they don’t want to be defined by a world of dollars and cents. They also do not trust institutionalized religion and while they will go to a church Service, they don’t want a life of commitment. Some of them believe in God and you will find SBNR people in many churches today. They are on a journey to find peace and harmony, which they can’t find in the world of dollars and cents. One observer wrote: “spirituality is on the rise but religion is on the wane.”
1.3. For today: allow me to be your guide through an ancient story of “thou shalt not religion” v true spirituality, which is a word that originates from “spirit.” What I want to discuss is Jesus’s wisdom on real spirituality. Hopefully, we will catch a glimpse of something firm, a solid account of what true spirituality looks like as it comes from the work of the Holy Spirit of God on humans. I want to talk about:
2. Spirituality and the Kingdom of God and spirituality (spirituality).
3. God is Love (love) .
2.1. The Canada of Fifty Years’ Ago: After the Second World War, about two-thirds of Canada attended church regularly. This was higher than the United States and if you were the head of a big denomination, you were an influential person in society. These were the archbishops and bishops. These people were usually well-educated and politicians were their friends. On the other hand, there were also the street preachers. Street preachers had little formal education and had no great influence on society. Some were good and genuine but most were not highly regarded. They were often seen as “snake oil” salesmen. The thought of an established denominational leader going to visit a street preacher was not going to happen.
2.2. The Archbishop and the Street Preacher: Nicodemus is far more important than a bishop because he was probably a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council. He had ecclesiastical as well as political power. Jesus calls him “the teacher of Israel” (3:10). This also means he was no ordinary preacher but the leading teacher of the day. Jesus however, was a street preacher. He had no special qualifications and wasn’t taught by a great teacher like Gamaliel, as Paul was. He had a small band of followers who were from another part of the country. They were not sophisticated city people and spoke with a country accent but, Nicodemus sees something special about Jesus and recognizes him as not a fake. Nicodemus goes to visit Jesus by night. He risks his reputation by going to meet him. He says: “No one can do these signs unless God is with him” (3:2).
3.1. Nicodemus is puzzled (3:4): because all his great learning and experience has not equipped him from understanding what the kingdom of God is all about.
3.2. Born of Water and the Spirit (3:5): Jesus connects kingdom with being born of the Spirit. That means, unless you are born from high, you cannot see the kingdom of God! True spirituality is not about rules and regulations, which is what the Old was all about. That’s what drives people away from faith today! True spirituality happens when the human spirit is regenerated. This is what Ezekiel prophesied:
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
I want to emphasize that having a new spirit does not mean having a new mood or awareness of nature. The SBNR people believe they can find spirituality in nature of from the mountains. The Psalmist said “I will lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from?” (Psalm 121:1). He says “my help comes from the Lord.” The SBNR people do not look to the Lord. Spiritual reality comes upon what was lying still or dormant but now is made alive. That is spiritual regeneration. Jesus says **“that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (**3:6). The Holy Spirit ignites and makes our inner person alive. That’s the part of us that has always been there but is now fully awakened and is naturally inclined to have fellowship with the Spirit of God through Christ. We are now fully trinitarian human beings: Paul writes and says: “May your whole spirit, and soul, and body be kept harmless “ (1 Thes 5:23).
Most people use the words “spirit” and “soul” interchangeably but when we are born of the Spirit, our human spirit comes fully alive and it is that part of our being that connects with the Holy Spirit. Paul: “the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit” (Rom 8:16).
3.3. Rivers of Living Water (3:5): Jesus will repeat the reference to water and the Spirit at the feast of Tabernacles in John 7. This feast reminds them of their time in the wilderness and how they were sustained by water provided by Yahweh. The Spirit sustains and enables the humans to pray because the Spirit intercedes “with groaning too deep for words” What the Holy Spirit does is to search what is in us and brings this to the Father. What else does the regenerate human spirit do?
3.4. Born Again to Sit with Christ: In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes a statement that puzzles many people. He says: