week two recap- Feb 16

Scripture: John 3- Nicodemus and being born again

Turn definition: to prevail on a person to change or reorder the course of his or her life

Here we took a look at probably the most well know verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16 and the story of Nicodemus that precedes the verse. In response to Jesus’ call for him to be reborn, Nicodemus asks ‘if I have already been born then how can I be born again?’ We looked at the way that we live in an if/then world where we are inundated with choices and decisions that are based on if/then premises. These if/then premises provide an order to life: If I work hard, then I am rewarded; if I make poor decisions, then there are consequences; if someone breaks the law, then they should be punished.

An if/then world provides stability and trustworthiness to our lives. But this world is far from perfect. If my boss is dishonest, then my job is in jeopardy; if a person is born into poverty and does not get an education then their chance for a life of despair increases; if a person has a stroke, then their life and those they love will forever be changed. So while an if/then world is stable, more or less predictable and manageable, it is not God’s intent for the world as it allows for the life-strickening and defeating influence of wickedness, despair, and death.

In contrast to this if/then living is the promise of a new grammar for living that is found in John 3:16. BECAUSE of God’s love of the world, THERFORE God sent his only son Jesus Christ, IN ORDER THAT those who believe in him may have a life eternal. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that the if/then world that we are accustomed to is being replaced by a new kingdom that is based in this new because, therefore, in order that grammar that shapes our common existence as this new kingdom comes. This kingdom living grammar places God’s love as revealed in Christ as the central point in all of history and calls us into a new life (a life eternal, a life for the ages) that is born out of this centrality of Christ in our lives.

Frequently, the gospel is misrepresented and given to us in an if/then construct. In its simplest form this construct of the gospel (that is not the gospel at all) looks like this: If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you will go to heaven when you die. Such a construct ignores the gospel’s essential rootedness in God’s love of the world and replaces the primacy of Christ’s action with our own if/then decision. Further, this construct fails to call us into a rebirthed new life in this world that God loves. This construct allows us to put a check mark by another good if/then decision that we have made and does not call us into the new kingdom reality that is rooted in living our lives in a because, therefore, in order that manner.

Nutshell: The gospel of Jesus Christ prevails upon us to change or reorder the course of our lives in response to Christ's because, therefore, in order that challenge.