#7 John 3:1-8
Leader: Have your Student write down the Passage and the Questions then, give them a week to prepare.
Passage: John 3:1-8
Questions:
- 1) What does Jesus teach us about man?
- 2) What is the “kingdom of God”?
- 3) What questions do you have?
Then, this week the Student will:
- Read the Passage every day!
- Handwrite the Passage
- Answer the questions
When you do meet again, you will go over this…
John 3:1-8
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Notes for Leader:
Open your time together with prayer. Be sure to ask the Holy Spirit to lead the conversation and teach what needs to be learned and heard during your discussion. He will give you the words that you need!
May you grow closer together and closer to Jesus.
Briefly review what you learned last week. Now, let’s see what else we can discover about who Jesus is…
Here is what we noticed.
1) What does Jesus teach us about man?
v.5 must be born of water (physical birth)
v.8 must be born of Spirit (Spiritual birth)
v.3 & 7 “born again” = spiritual/of Spirit
Also “born from above” = God’s children
This is a new kind of birth brought about by the spirit, not simply a repeat of what you have already experienced.
To be a “child of God” means that we inherit the attributes of our Father!
Remember we saw this briefly in Chapter 1, John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Here are more passages about this new creation that a spiritual rebirth brings to help with your conversation.
In the Old Testament God told of the spiritual rebirth that was to come…
Ezekiel 36:24-27 (I added the italics and underline)
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
We also learn of being a new creation in 2Corinthians 5:17-21.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
And then in Titus 3:4-9 we learn about the rebirth and renewal by the Spirit.
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. 9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
2) What is the “Kingdom of God”?
v.3 “see the kingdom of God”
see=get to or look upon, both suggest that it is a physical place
v.5 “enter the kingdom of God”
enter=it is a real place that you enter into, but only if you are changed spiritually
The Kingdom of God is the spiritual realm over which God reigns as King, but it is a real place, only to be entered by those that have been spiritually reborn.
3) What questions do you have?
Don’t be nervous about this one… the Holy Spirit will help you answer. If you are discipling a young child (and most others!), remember that they are not expecting a doctoral dissertation when you answer, so keep it simple and true. And, it is ok to say, “I am not sure, let’s look into that together.” And then add that question to your study for next week.
Enjoy the conversation!
Now, look ahead to next week’s study and give your student the next passage and questions to prepare this coming week.