It is days like today that remind me not only of the responsibility given to fathers to train their children in the ways of the Lord, but of the blessed privilege I have to lead my whole family in worship of the God that reaches down from Heaven and intervenes in our lives with His great grace and mercy. I continue to be amazed by the power of the Holy Spirit in this time of worship together, and I hope this account is an encouragement to others, whether for those not currently practicing daily family worship, or for those whose times of worship may have become more about completing a task than enjoying God in all His glory.
Today's question was "What is the change we need?" This question follows the preliminary questions of whether or not change is necessary and possible. For more on those answers, see my other blog posts. In regard to the discussion today, we read the passage from chapter 3 of our 9 Marks book and discussed it in great detail. John's Gospel chapter 3 was our text, that familiar meeting under cover of night between Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and Jesus Christ.
The narrative of this account, while seemingly very familiar to our minds, was examined today in new light as we took our time to look at details previously missed. We enjoyed it so much that we never really even got to verse 16, which I would wager even the worst sinner in the darkest recesses of a prison cell, might be able to recite from memory. We were enjoying the story so much and seeing so much wisdom from the initial discussion that we never got around to "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...." It is in times like this that I must voice my wholehearted agreement with those many Christians who have told me that God's Word is never "stale bread" but is fresh and new each day, with nourishment and unfathomable depths for us to explore if we are willing to take the time and dedicate ourselves to the Holy Spirit's illumination.
Indeed it is the illumination of the Holy Spirit that is the subject of this text. Nicodemus came to Jesus and affirmed that Jesus indeed was a teacher sent from God, one who not only spoke with the authority of God, but seemed to come directly from God to Earth, with power and a depth of spiritual understanding previously unknown to mankind. We may be guilty of taking the deity of Christ Jesus for granted, but for Nicodemus this was truly a revelation that one would not come to lightly nor without great consideration.
That is to say, Jesus told this learned man, a teacher of Israel, that he wasn't able to truly know anything of lasting significance without spiritual regeneration. Nicodemus certainly got more than he bargained for in this conversation with the Rabbi Jesus. Jesus stopped him in his tracks and told this man that in order to even see, let alone enter, the Kingdom of God, that he would need to be born again, or regenerated.
It is at this point that I most likely submit into evidence my own theological position as I would argue that Jesus does not tell Nicodemus to choose of his own volition to exercise faith and repentance, but rather states that this regeneration is an act of the will of God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is totally unable to come to Christ for eternal life unless he has already been born of the spirit. This was where "the rubber meets the road" in our family worship time. Our second son, Samuel, is approaching his 6th birthday. When we asked the "icebreaker" question from the 9Marks book, "In what ways do you think you should change?" Samuel said "I need to be born again!"
While the magnitude of this statement is enormous, I must confess that in our family we use a lot of theological terms and memorize catechisms and Scriptures that use terms like this so often that, while my heart certainly did begin to flutter at Samuel's bulls-eye-answer to the question, that what he said might well have been merely the logical result of hearing us speak and recite over and over again (even in song) that being born again is how we express the change of heart called regeneration. Yes, indeed, the girls immediately broke into song (as they often do) "What is this change of heart called? This change of heart is called regeneration. What is this change of heart called? Being born again."
With the predisposition of our family to vocally repeat those songs and catechisms that we so often recite, we don't jump up and down terribly quickly when one of our children answers such a question correctly. However, we also do not dismiss the daily grace and mercy of God in revealing His love for mankind, His marvelous salvation that is explained more fully in the following verses of today's text. While I was inclined as a man with a plan to go on to the next question in the book, instead we spent nearly an hour looking deeply into the way Jesus reveals His true nature, motives, and destiny to Nicodemus.
We rehearsed the account of the serpents in the wilderness, the obedience of Moses in the salvation from death by looking to the raised serpent. We talked about what Jesus meant, speaking prophetically about his body being "lifted up". We asked questions of clarification and comprehension of our older, converted children. We praised God together for His Word that tells us not only the events which took place to secure our salvation, but also the means and motivations of our Creator God and His only begotten Son,the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. And in the end, Samuel had a few more questions. He had a few more comments, and while I long to see the day that God truly regenerates the heart and mind of my son, I don't believe today was the day.
In the end, we learned today that Nicodemus coming to Jesus for answers was one part of God's plan to draw Nicodemus to Himself. We see later in John chapter 7 a bit more about Nicodemus, and ultimately in chapter 19 this ruler of the Jews who came by night to speak to the Rabbi Jesus now stood with Joseph of Arimathea and lovingly prepared the body of that same Jesus, having been lifted up as He had prophesied, which was now drenched in His own blood and no longer recognizable as a man. Nicodemus was one of the only men in history to have a private audience with Jesus, not only on that first night, but also after His atoning death. This man was certainly changed, he was born again of the Spirit of the living God. His questions led to answers, his faith to forgiveness, and his Rabbi having completed all things to complete his justification. This was all accomplished by God's grace, through faith, not of works, so that Nicodemus might not boast in anything but Christ.
To God truly be all glory and honor, forever an ever. Amen!
