11/30/25
Rev. Clint Smith
Sermon Direct Link
In the beginning of John 3, Jesus—the Divine Teacher—held a candid conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and respected Jewish leader. In this encounter, Jesus revealed the true conditions of salvation. Although Nicodemus was highly educated in religious matters, he remained spiritually unaware of the deeper realities of God. He represents many today who possess head knowledge but lack genuine heart-faith in God. Jesus spoke truth, and Nicodemus, like all who encounter this and other Scriptures, was faced with a choice: to believe and follow Jesus, or to turn away in unbelief. John 10:24-30
Jesus assured Nicodemus, as well as all of us, that if people will not believe when He speaks of earthly things, how will they believe when He reveals heavenly things? By referring to Himself as the Son of Man, Jesus affirmed His eternal relationship with the Father and His divine authority to unveil the truths of God’s Kingdom. John 1:1; 14
Jesus pointed back to the Old Testament to reveal the hope of eternal life. He said that just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, referring to His crucifixion, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Those who trust in Him will live beyond physical death and share in everlasting life. Numbers 21:4-9; John 17:1-5
Jesus further explained that God so greatly loved and valued the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Savior will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to bring final judgment, but so that the world might be saved through Him.
Whoever believes in Jesus and chooses to trust Him as personal Savior and Lord is not judged. But the one who does not believe, who has chosen to reject Him, is already under judgment, having condemned himself by refusing to believe in the name of the one and only Son of God, the unique and eternal Savior who alone can save. Revelation 21:5-8
Everyone who loves practicing evil hates the light and, because of their unbelief, refuses to believe in the name of Jesus for salvation. Revelation 21:22-27