“Nicodemus, in John 3, would be confronted with the mystery of God…
John 3:7-8
• You’re a teacher of the law, holder of God’s truth… you should know there is a mystery to the work of God… faith and trust come into play here…
• Even the things we “know,” as we meditate on them and God, fills us with wonder and amazement…
If we’re not careful “knowing” God can become an intellectual assent and then the wonder becomes a problem… He doesn’t fit in our boxes of understanding….
• Let us not value “knowing” over “presence”…
• Living in the wonder, presence, and mystery of God is truly living a full life… the more I know, the more I understand I don’t know… It’s in God’s presence that we have our living, our hope, our faith, our joy…
• In approaching the mysteries of God, He calls us to humility… Humility must be the first building block of wisdom… God opposes the proud…
• Outside of his birth and God’s hand on John the Baptist even in the womb… What allowed John the privilege to pave the way for Jesus was his humility…
John 3:30
• In John the Baptist’s Perspective; ministry, life and wisdom wasn’t about him, but about exalting Jesus and His name…
• Pride can blind us and we can become a scribe instead of a prophet… (Tozar)
John 3:11
• As knowledge is met with experience, the wonder of God within us deepens…
John 3:14-21
That’s familiar to many of us… but doesn’t it still fill us with wonder at the mystery… that in Jesus, in one man, the whole world is saved…
• We accept mystery and so many other areas of life, why is it so hard to believe here… God is knowable, He has made Himself knowable… It’s why Jesus came… and yet there is a mystery to God that we can search for all eternity His character and presence and not come to an end of Him…
• If you’re waiting to fully understand God in order to give your life to Him you’ll be waiting forever… there is a mystery to God and that’s OK, that’s why it takes faith… so God welcomes our questions…
• But there will always be a mystery to God… so the question is, do you want to turn to Him… don’t turn off your brain, but be willing to accept that God is bigger than our own understanding… and there will be a mystery to Him, but at the same time He loves us… and He desires us to know Him…
Can you lay your questions down, and receive Jesus in faith, knowing that your questions may still remain even after you receive Him…
If you’re already a believer, can you be patient in the mystery… in the why… both good and bad… and refuse to lose faith… but allow the mystery to only deepen your faith…
God help me to know you in your presence over trivia about you… God give me faith in the mystery when I don’t understand you… God help my trust…”