New Birth (John 3:1-36)
This sermon was preached by our guest preacher.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. It is a joy to bring you God’s Word this morning. If you have a Bible—and I hope you do—you can open up to John chapter 3.
Christ must believed and exalted.
As we walk through the text, my hope is to help us see that Christ must believed and exalted. If you are taking notes, that is our big idea this morning: Christ must believed and exalted.
Before we jump in, let us pray.
How do people change? Not just superficially on the surface level. But deeply—down to the heart. What is needed to bring about that kind of change? Is it determination? Willpower? Is it education, or economic opportunity? Is it rather a journey of self-discovery and self-care?
Or, are we just asking the wrong question? How do people change? Seriously? If you look around long enough, it seems like, frankly, for a lot of people, people do not change at all.
Oh, brothers and sisters, there is good news for us in Christ this morning!
God does not merely help us accomplish the change we want. God accomplishes the most fundamental change that we need.
If you are tired of superficial, short-lived, there-it-was and there-it-went change…if you seek something more…come to Jesus. He’s the only One who can truly change you. And He will embrace you in His arms.
Believe in Christ. Exalt Christ. We must! For apart from Him, we have no hope of change.
This is the fourth sermon of a new series going through the book of John. I have tuned in on YouTube to get a sense of what you all have covered so far—and it has been such an encouraging series already. Thank you Pastor Eugene and Pastor Ollie and brother Sam for your work in the Word already.
Today I have the privilege of walking us through one of the most famous interactions of all Jesus’s ministry, and—I think without question—the single most famous verse in all of the Bible.
It feels a bit like you guys handed me the prime cut filet mignon. Thank you—that is very kind to a guest preacher.
Our text comes to us in two halves: John 3:1-21 and John 3:22-36. In each half, we have an interaction followed by a reflection. The first interaction is between Jesus and Nicodemus. The second interaction is between John the Baptist and his disciples. And at the end of each of those interactions, we get some reflection—these are like meditations coming from John’s inspired prayer journal. This is him reflecting on that interaction and meditating on glorious thoughts of Christ.
There are a few controlling “musts” in the passage. So with our two halves of the text and with the force of those “musts”, we will divide our time together under two imperatives:
Believe in Christ (Jn 3:1-21)
Exalt Christ (Jn 3:22-36)
As we walk through passage, I pray we would see that Christ must believed and exalted, and that He is our only hope of change.
Believe in Christ (Jn 3:1-21)
In John 3:1, we meet Nicodemus, a Pharisee. And not just any Pharisee, but a leading Pharisee — we read that He is “a ruler of the Jews” or, later on in John 3:10— “a teacher of Israel”.
John 2 ended with a description of many “who believed in [Jesus’s] name” — in a limited sense, because they saw His miraculous signs. But that Jesus did not entrust Himself to them because He knew what was in them. Jesus is not interested in having fans of religious power. He wants followers of the truth.
The first word of John 3— “Now” —could just as easily be translated “And”. John wants to connect the beginning of Chapter 3 with the end of Chapter 2 to help us see that Nicodemus exemplifies those who in some sense believed in Jesus, but with a faith on self-defined terms—with a faith that appreciates Jesus’s power, but that does not see Him for who He really is or submit to His authority. We will see that this kind of faith is no real faith at all.
Notice the setting. It says, “By night” (Jn 3:2). Under the cover of darkness. Not to be seen by others. If Nicodemus would have been seen with Jesus this could have damaged his reputation as a leading Pharisee. But this does not just teach us something socially about Nicodemus. It also teaches us something spiritually.
This is one of four uses of the word “night” in John’s gospel—and in every instance, John uses “night” to refer to moral and spiritual darkness.
So Nicodemus was drawn to the light. He had the all education, and the accolades, and the credentials to make him acquainted with the light. And yet, Nicodemus remained in darkness.
We must believe in Jesus. That is our only hope of real change — and it is our only hope of salvation.
Oh, brothers and sisters, it is possible to be religious and blind. You can know the facts of the Bible without knowing the truth of the Bible. Do not mistake theological training for spiritual understanding. No one is going to heaven because of a position they held at church or because of some letters after their name. Religious credentials cannot save you. They might change your reputation. But they cannot change your heart. We must believe in Jesus. That is our only hope of real change — and it is our only hope of salvation.
So we have looked at the setting, “At night”. Notice also his assessment. It’s a conclusion: “We know that you are a teacher come from God,” based on an observation: “for no one can do these signs that you do unless God with him.” And he starts it all with a polite, half-humble, half-teacher’s pet sort of greeting: “Rabbi”.
Frankly, his assessment of Jesus is disappointing He calls him “a teacher come from God” — not even a prophet, much less the prophet or the Messiah — but just a teacher locked and loaded with God’s power.
We have noticed the setting, the assessment, and finally, let us consider who is speaking — “Rabbi, we know…” Likely, this means that Nicodemus was acting as a spokesman for a small group of Pharisees. He was not the only one who had heard about Jesus’ signs, and he wants Jesus to know that he is not just speaking from his own curiosity.
It is yet another way Nicodemus hides under the cover of darkness. He takes his “I” out of the spotlight and replaces it with a “we”. He does not want to know what Jesus has to say to him, so much. He just wants to know what Jesus has to say in general. It is less personal that way.
But Jesus will not have it. Jesus does not do impersonal. He will not let Nicodemus think the two of them can have a11 nice little chat about religion, and then Nicodemus can be well on his way. No Jesus, grabs hold of the spotlight, and redirects the attention right on to Nicodemus. He is the light of the world. So you might come to Jesus under the cover of darkness. But He is not going to let you stay there. Jesus brings darkness to light.
Jesus answered him in John 3:3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus is perplexed. Mind-boggled. And baffled. “Born again”? What in the world are you talking about, Jesus!
At most, he had half of a question before. Now, he is so confused that he’s got nothing but questions. Nicodemus said to him,“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (Jn 3:4).
He is thinking literally, physically, when he should have been thinking spiritually, biblically. Clearly, the teacher of Israel needs some after-school tutoring. So Jesus repeats what he just said — in John 3:3 — using parallel language, and some Old Testament imagery that, surely, of all people, Nicodemus would understand.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
The “truly truly”s in John 3:3 and John 3:5 help us see that Jesus’ answers in both verses are meant to be understood in connection with each other. Jesus associates being “born again” in John 3:3, with being “born of water and the Spirit” in John 3:5. In both, Jesus is not describing literal, physical, climb-back-into-your-momma’s-womb, birth. He is describing spiritual birth, and he is saying that “unless” you’ve been born again, you “cannot” “see” or “enter” the kingdom of God!
Of all people, Nicodemus should have understood this! If he did not understand in John 3:3 — about being “born again” — he definitely should have understood in John 3:5. Being “born of water and the Spirit” should have made him immediately think of Ezekiel 36—a passage he would have likely already had memorised.
“Oh, of course! The promise of the New Covenant!
“Oh… Jesus… are you the one to sprinkle clean water on us? To put Your spirit in us? To remove our hearts of stone and to give us hearts of flesh?”
“You are not just here to teach us religious lessons, or to amaze us with religious power. You are here to change us—deeply, powerfully.”
“You are not just a teacher come from God. You must be the Messiah!”
That is what Nicodemus should have understood. But he did not. He had the knowledge. But he did not have the understanding. Knowledge can be worked up to and acquired. But understanding must be received.
Jesus, perhaps after a brief pause, explains further, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn 3:6).
He is saying, “Like comes from like. I am not just talking about taking what is natural to you and making the most of it. I am talking about a birth that is beyond you — outside of your natural abilities… Because if anybody is in me, he is not just an improved creation. He’s a new creation.”
In John 3:7, Jesus drives this home with an exclamation mark — with the full force of imperative. It is one of our key “musts” in the passage — “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
In John 3:3 and John 3:5, He gave two big “unless”-es and two big “cannot”-s. Now, he puts them together and says, “Alright, Nicodemus, I will say it a third time, and I do not think I can make this any more simple for you. Are you ready?”
“You must be born again.”
It is not a recommendation. It is not a suggestion. This is a divine assertion — for Nicodemus, for any other Pharisees behind his “we, ” and for every person in the world today: “You must be born again.”
But before we jump out of our seats and spring into action — thinking that this is something for us to do — Jesus uses an illustration to help us see that He is the one in control here. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
We are no more in control of being born again as we were when we were born in the first place. Did you pick the date on your birth certificate? Or the time? I am learning a lot about Singapore still, but I know you guys like to plan ahead. Did you get to plan ahead for your birth day? Or your birth name? Or did you pick out the cute little clothes you would wear in the hospital? None of us decide to be born. We are born when God decides.
Trying to control the new birth of the Spirit is like trying to control the the wind — by walking outside and flapping our arms up and down in the air. We do not control the wind. We cannot see the wind. But when the wind blows, we see its effects.
In the same way, we do not control the Spirit. We cannot make Him make us be born again. But when He does — we see it. The new birth is such a deep and powerful change of the heart, that whether it is on our life or in somebody else’s life, we cannot not see it.
In Ezekiel 36, we encounter the water-cleansing, Spirit-imparting God of the New Covenant. But do you remember what happens one chapter later? By the word of His power — rushing ahead like the wind — God makes a valley of dry bones come to life!
Those bones could not make themselves come alive. God had to do it! The new birth cannot be manufactured with effort or achieved with education or earned with good behaviour — it must be received by the Spirit, always in connection with the preaching of the gospel, blowing where the Spirit wishes.
Nicodemus has one more question, John 3:9, “How can these things be?” And then he fades out of the picture, back into darkness from which he came. These are the last words of Nicodemus here in this interaction with Jesus— but do not lose heart, this is not the last we will see of Nicodemus in John’s gospel. Later on it seems that Nicodemus does come to believe — in a genuine, saving, born again way.
Just because someone does not believe the gospel right away does not mean that they will not ever believe the gospel at all. How many times did you have to hear the gospel before you believed it?
So if there is someone in your life that you have been sharing with who does not yet believe, do not lose heart. Keep sharing, keep praying, and keep being patient. This was not the end of Nicodemus’s story, and you can pray that it is not the end of your friend’s story either. Some plant, some water, but only God makes things grow.
But for now, we can tell that Nicodemus does not yet believe. We can tell this especially by Jesus’s answer in John 3:10: “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”
But notice how Jesus diagnoses the problem. It is not merely that Nicodemus fails to understand. Even underneath that — he fails to receive and believe. Jesus says in John 3:11-12, “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. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
If those verbs sound familiar, think back to John 1:12 — where it says that those who “receive” Jesus and “believe” in His name are given the right to become children of God. Nicodemus had been a teacher of Israel for quite some time. But he was not yet a child of God.
Perhaps in response to Nicodemus’ “we” from John 3:2, Jesus responds with a “we” of his own — which could be an indication of Jesus speaking on behalf of the Trinity. At least it’s Jesus speaking with divine authority — “Truly, truly… we speak of what we know.”
In John 3:12, Jesus makes it clear that this is just the basics. The new birth is an “earthly thing” in the sense that it takes place here and now, on earth. And if Nicodemus cannot understand the glory of entering the present kingdom, then how could he even begin to understand the glory of entering the future kingdom!
Jesus has already furnished Nicodemus’s mind with two Old Testament images — the water and spirit of Ezekiel 36, along with the life-giving wind and the dry bones of Ezekiel 37. But before Nicodemus leaves, Jesus gives him two more. We read in John 3:13-15, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” —likely referring to Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” —clearly referring to Numbers 21— “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Oh man, Numbers 21 such a good passage, and I wish we had time to look at it now, but we do not. So if it has been a little while since you’ve read Numbers 21, I encourage you to read it this afternoon. Basically, while the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, they get bitten by a bunch of poisonous snakes. God tells Moses to but a bronze snake on a pole, and that anyone who would look upon this snake would not perish but live. Here, Jesus picks up that story and says, “All of that was really just pointing to me.”
And He will accomplish this by His being “lifted up”. This is the first of three times John will use this key phrase— “lifted up” —in his Gospel, always with the double meaning of crucifixion and exaltation.
The cross may have looked like a criminal’s condemnation. But really, it was a King’s coronation.
The cross may have looked like a criminal’s condemnation. But really, it was a King’s coronation. Jesus was not crowned with glory in spite of the cross. He was crowned with glory because of it.
He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus became a snake, so that by His snake-bitten wounds, we might look upon Him and be healed.
In John 6:40, Jesus says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.”
Just as we must be born again, Christ must be lifted up. According to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, Jesus would have to go to the cross. There would be no other way to accomplish our salvation.
But do not pity Him — believe in Him! He said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I lay it down that I might take it up again!”
Behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Behold Him — and live!
A pastor was once asked, “Alright, pastor, you say that word ‘Behold’ — but what does that even mean? Is that just one of those religious words that sounds nice but doesn’t really mean anything?”
The pastor paused, looked into the man’s eyes, and said, “It means to look until you see!”
You must be born again. Christ must be lifted up. You must behold Him and believe in Him—for whoever believes in Him has eternal life.
Friend, have you turned your eyes upon Jesus? Have you looked full in His wonderful face? Have you looked until you have seen? You must be born again. Christ must be lifted up. You must behold Him and believe in Him —for whoever believes in Him has eternal life.
Oh, brothers and sisters, don’t you just love the free offer of the gospel here! Don’t you just love that salvation cannot be earned or achieved or bribed or merited? That it can only be received with the eyes of the heart by faith?
Before I was in Christ, I used to think that Christianity was basically a way for religious people to feel good about themselves. I thought it was all about doing good things, being a good person, going to church, and looking down on those who did not.
Frankly, I would have looked at a guy like Nicodemus and thought he would have been on heaven’s VIP list. He’s religious. He is a rule-follower. He has lots of the Bible memorised and uses big theological words. If anybody would have been all good with Jesus — no change needed — I would have thought it would have been Nicodemus for sure.
Growing up, I had an extended family member who — I thought — was a little crazy. Her name was Aunt Esther, and she was my Great Aunt. She was a short woman with short hair and intense eyes, and when we would be at family gatherings, she would go up to everybody in the room — one at a time —and ask, “Have you been born again?”
I remember, after I had come to faith in Christ, beginning to read through my Bible, reading John 3 in my dorm room, and coming across these words from Jesus. I remember sitting there and chuckling to myself, “Oh, okay… maybe Aunt Esther wasn’t so crazy after all.
Intense? Definitely. Socially awkward? For sure. The best evangelism strategy? Probably not.
But crazy—for all this ‘born again’ talk? Not at all. That’s straight from the mouth of Jesus.
So before we move on from this interaction and into John’s reflection, mind if I ask you something? I might sound a bit like my Aunt Esther. But in a room this size, I got to ask—have you been born again?
I am not asking if you go to church. I am not asking if you know some things about the Bible. I am not asking if you were born into a Christian family. Just like Jesus made the conversation direct with Nicodemus, I would like to make it direct with you, and I am asking you — have you been born again?
Whether you are confident you have, confident you have not, or somewhere in between — here is one truth that all of us need to hear: believe in Christ. Believe in Him. For, whoever believes may have eternal life (Jn 3:15).
The new birth originates in the heart of God, manifests in faith, and continues in the light.
And listen carefully to these next few verses. John’s reflections teach us three truths about the new birth — that every one of us here today needs to know and believe.
First, the new birth originates in the heart of God (Jn 3:16-17). There is good reason why verse 16 is the most famous verse in all the Bible. It is a really good verse! Kids, this is a verse you should memorise.
The mission of the Son is John’s central focus in the paragraph, but notice where He begins. He says that the sending of the Son springs from the heart of God — “for God so loved the world…”
Notice the breadth and the depth of this phrase. It is as wide as the earth is round. It is for anyone, anywhere, at any time who would ever believe.
Jews like Nicodemus would have known that God loved Israel. They were his treasured possession! But God so loves the world? You mean the Gentiles and the Samaritans and the tax collectors and the sinners? Nicodemus would have been like, “Oh, hold up, hold up. I don’t know about that.”
That is where the depth comes in. “World” is not simply a broad and neutral word in John’s vocabulary. It’s a dark word, full of sin and evil and rejection of God. Elsewhere John tells us that the world is so wicked that Christians must not love it or anything in it. “Don’t love the world, ” he says. And yet here, he says that God loves the world!
Which makes it all the more amazing that the new birth originates in the heart of God — because if the new birth depended on the world’s love for God, then none of us would have any chance to be born again and none of us would ever believe.
This is why God sent His Son into the world. Not to condemn the world. Even though — He could have — because that is what we deserved. But in order that the world might be saved through Him. The new birth originates in the heart of God.
Second, the new birth manifests in faith. Notice the centrality of faith in John 3:18 — “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.”
John, as typical of John, puts the noun “faith” in verb form — “believe”. John uses the verb 98 times in this Gospel. Do you know how many times he uses the noun? Zero.
John emphasises that faith is a motion of the heart — a turning away from self and trusting in Christ. Which means that there is one unmistakable sign of the new birth: active, living, heart-of-flesh faith.
Theologians describe the new birth with the term, “regeneration”. Literally, it means to be Genesis-ed again. This is the exact word that Paul uses in Titus 3:5, when he says, “God saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” To be genesis–ed is to be created. To be re-genesised — or regenerated — is to be made a new creation.
The 18th century preacher George Whitfield called the doctrine of regeneration “the very hinge on which salvation turns.” He said this because regeneration is fundamentally the work of God! So we must not smuggle any work of man into it.
Regeneration precedes and enables faith. We are not born again because we have believed; we believe because we have been born again.
Regeneration precedes and enables faith. We are not born again because we have believed; we believe because we have been born again.
So whether you are confident you are born again, you are confident you are not, or you are somewhere in between: hear the centrality of faith in John 3:18. You must believe in Jesus. Believe in Him; do not be condemned!
The new birth originates in the heart of God, manifests in faith, and third, the new birth continues in the light.
Thirdly, continues in the Light (Jn 3:19-21).
At creation, God said, “Let there be light.” And at the Incarnation, God turned the lights up even brighter. The light of the world came into the world!
And yet people haven’t come to the light. Why? It is not an information problem. It is an affection problem. It is because they love the darkness.
I hope we understand what this means! Before God changed our hearts, we used to love the darkness too. This means that Christians are not intrinsically better than anyone else! We have no moral high ground to stand on. We just come to the light, and we continue in the light, because we know that the bad stuff in us does not surprise God — He knows it already — and the good stuff in us is all from God anyway.
We pursue good works, and yet we know that any little drop of a good work we have ever done is not even our own—it’s been carried out in God.
Oh, my dear friend, come to the light, and continue in the light. Believe in Christ by confessing sin — even the ones that seem small. After all, a small hole can sink a great ship.
The new birth does not carry on in darkness. It continues in the light.
This leads to the second half of our text. If the first half of the chapter talks mainly about our entrance into the kingdom, the second half talks mainly about our posture before the King.
Again, we have an interaction — this time between John the Baptist and his disciples —followed by John’s reflection — another page from his prayer journal. Christ must be believed and exalted.
So, firstly, believe in Christ. And now, Exalt Christ.
Exalt Christ (Jn 3:22-36)
In John 3:22-24, the scene changes from Nicodemus and Jesus talking at night, to reports of baptisms — baptisms by the disciples of Jesus and baptisms by the disciples of John. John 4:2 makes it clear that Jesus Himself baptised no one, but only His disciples. Probably to prevent anyone from thinking they were extra special because they got the Jesus baptism.
Baptism is not so much about who put you under the water — as to what that act signifies — the old self being put away and the new self being cleansed and raised through union with Christ.
Putting it all together, this is just one group of disciples comparing ministry stats with another group of disciples. This is comparison stealing joy. This is exalting in a gospel minister rather than exalting in Christ. But notice how it begins.
In John 3:25, we read, “Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.”
The debate starts with a question of form. Many Jews of this day were confused about the nature of John’s baptism. Some Jewish groups would bathe daily in cold water, with a view toward ceremonial purity. But John’s baptism — a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins — this left many Jews confused.
Is this even legit? Would Abraham, Issac, and Jacob approve? I don’t know… that John guy is pretty strange, and his baptism seems a little strange too.
But even though the debate starts about the form of baptism, notice what John’s disciples bring up to John. The discussion about form brings up the thing that they are really concerned about — numbers (Jn 3:26).
Have you ever noticed how we often measure a ministry’s success by its numbers? How big is that care group? How big is children’s ministry? How many elders do we have? How many missionaries? How is the budget doing? It is bigger than last year, right?
Be wary of measuring the faithfulness of a ministry by its apparent fruitfulness. God often works in ways that we cannot immediately see.
Friends, be wary of measuring the faithfulness of a ministry by its apparent fruitfulness. God often works in ways that we cannot immediately see.
Just because a dad has seven kids does not make him a good dad. And just because a dad has 1 kid does not make him a bad one.
A church’s health is to be measured by the health of its members — not by their number. God will take care of numbers— big or small, that is His business. Our job is simply to be faithful — and to point our ministry away from ourselves and straight to Jesus.
John understood this well — and he lived it out too. His ministry was not a ministry of comparison or rivalry. He did not want to exalt himself—or to show off his baptism stats! He just wanted Christ to be exalted.
We read John 3:27-30.
Those are last words from John the Baptist’s mouth in this entire gospel. Pretty fitting last words for a humble gospel minister, right?
John makes it clear — that any fruit from our ministries — or the faith to start doing ministry in the first place — is not our own. We would not have any of it — unless it was given us from heaven.
As the new birth is a gift from God, so our new lives in Christ are also a gift from God. We cannot live for ourselves. We cannot make much of ourselves. We have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. So the life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. We live to exalt Him.
John illustrates this with the picture of a wedding reception. And it is a really good illustration, isn’t it? What kind of best man would want to shove the groom out of the way and be in every picture with the bride? Hey, groom, stand over there — this is my party now. That would just be weird. No, the best man’s joy is in seeing the groom receive his bride! That is the joy that makes his joy complete!
As the bright rays of the morning sun cause the twinkling stars of night to fade away, so the light of Christ must increase — and our tiny little twinkles must decrease. Christ must be lifted up. Christ must be exalted. We need to step out of the way and decrease.
Oh brothers and sisters, may our hearts not grow hard to this — it is possible to have a ministry that speaks about Christ, that has an orthodox statement of faith in Christ, and yet that is so focused on its own name or recognition that it does not really exalt Christ. Let us beware of lifting up the cross simply to hang our own glory upon it. We must believe and bow.
As I have been meditating on this passage — and on John 3:30 in particular — I cannot help but thank God for how you are already doing this as a church. The Lord has been faithful to increase the glory of Christ through the ministry of GBC for many years now. And it would be so tempting — at this stage in your maturity — to subtly drift away from kingdom-building and into brand-building. “Hey we’re GBC… we got the goods… look at us!”
Rather than saturating Singapore — and the greater Southeast Asia region — with healthy churches, it would be a sneaky temptation to begin to turn inward and focus just on increasing this church.
I am so encouraged that you all have been praying and labouring to foster other healthy churches. I am so encouraged that you care more about the name of Christ than the name of Grace Baptist Church.
By your commitment to plant and revitalise churches, it is a tangible way that you all, as a church together, are saying, “Christ must increase, and we must decrease.”
That is the last interaction. Now one last reflection.
Christ must be exalted for His supremacy, His testimony, and His authority.
In John 3:31-36, John gives us three reasons why Christ must be exalted: His supremacy, His testimony, and His authority.
So first, let’s consider the supremacy of Christ (Jn 3:31). Christ must be exalted because of His supremacy. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.
John asserts that Jesus did not come from the earth. He came from heaven! He has not merely been born again, or born from above. He came from above to be born below! Jesus’s eternal origin demonstrates his cosmic supremacy. So He must be exalted because there’s no one like Him! He is above all!
But that is not all. Christ must also be exalted for His testimony (Jn 3:32-34). He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
If Jesus’ ministry was to be measured based on numbers, it would not have been very impressive. He would not have received any trophies from the Jerusalem Baptist Convention.
Jesus bore witness — to God’s true testimony — yet no one received it. He was rejected more than He was believed. Rather than being exalted as the Messiah, He was exiled to the cross. His ministry was not immediately, visibly fruitful. It was more like sowing seeds — that fell to the ground and grew over time.
As God set His seal on Jesus — John 6:27 — so God’s children have set their seals on Jesus too — John 3:33. They know that Jesus doesn’t speak like “some teacher” — as Nicodemus had thought. They know that Jesus’s testimony is God’s testimony—and that it is true.
For the Son proceeds from the Father, with the words of the Father, in the fullness of the Spirit. Christ must be exalted because His testimony is Tri-une and true.
Finally, Christ must be exalted for His authority (Jn 3:35-36). Christ came with the fullness of the Father’s authority. He is not a lesser delegate on God’s behalf. He is not God’s assistant or God’s waterboy. In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Exalt Christ as the One whom the Father has eternally loved, and the One in whose hand the Father has given all things.
This is why John can tie up the whole chapter for us quite nicely with John 3:36. We see the centrality of faith, the necessity of repentance, and the sharp, clear divide between eternal life and eternal wrath all tied up under the authority of Christ.
John 3:36 is one of the verses I most frequently turn to in my evangelism. I encourage you to keep this verse fresh on your lips. Next time you meet up with that person you have been sharing the gospel with, ask if you can look at one verse together, and open up to John 3:36. Have them read it out loud, and then explain to you what it means. Pray that they would believe in Christ and exalt Him.
Well, we did it. 36 verses. That is a big steak, and even though there is still more on the table, I know our bellies are full.
Christ must be believed and exalted. Believe in Him.
Exalt Him. Apart from Him, we have no hope of change.
Reflecting on his conversion, the fourth-century North African pastor Augustine said — these are a few of my favourite sentences I’ve ever read — “How sweet it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once so feared to lose! You drove them from me, You who are the true, sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place… O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, my Salvation.”
That is what it sounds like to be born again. That is the sound of change.
If you struggle to believe that you could ever change — or that person you have been sharing the gospel with could ever change —believe in Christ. Exalt Christ. He alone can change us.
By His strength, He drives away our fruitless joys. And by His love, He takes their place. He is the true and sovereign joy. Let’s pray.