[Sunday, November 30, 2025] To Have Eternal Life | John 3:9–21

[Sunday, November 30, 2025] To Have Eternal Life | John 3:9–21

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2025. 11. 30. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 10
본문: 요한복음 3:9–21
제목: 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이라

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

 

Last week we shared about the mystery of being born again through the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. Jesus said that unless a person is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But Nicodemus did not understand what it meant to be born again, so he asked Jesus how a person could enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born. Jesus explained it again. What did He say? Being born of water and the Spirit is being born again, and this is not being born of the flesh but born of the Spirit.

 

1. How can this be?

Even after hearing this, Nicodemus again asks Jesus. [Verse 9] Nicodemus said, “How can this be?”
What does this mean? He still did not understand Jesus’ explanation about being born of the Spirit. Then Jesus says to him in verse 10. [Verse 10] “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”
Among all the words Jesus spoke in Scripture, the most shocking to me are when He appeared to treat the Syrophoenician woman like a dog by saying, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs,” when she begged Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. And the second is today’s passage. As I said last week, Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, older than Jesus who was in His early thirties, and had lived much longer as a teacher of Israel. But Jesus tells him, “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things?”—a rebuke that seems dismissive and quite shocking.

What is even more surprising is that Nicodemus did not become offended, angry, or walk away because his pride was hurt. If he had done that, we would not hear the amazing words of Jesus that follow. This means he admitted that he did not know or understand.

Was Nicodemus the only one who did not understand Jesus’ teaching about being born again? Did the disciples who were with Jesus understand? No. If they had understood Jesus’ words, they would have also known who Jesus truly was. But they only realized who He was and what His words meant after He rose again.
What is gracious is that when a person confesses that he does not know and admits his limitations, the Lord has compassion on that limitation and reveals the mysteries of heaven. But the Pharisees and other religious leaders who never admitted their limitations and weaknesses could not hear or receive the words of truth. Why? Jesus explains. [Verse 12] “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”
The biggest reason the religious leaders of that time could not understand or accept Jesus’ words was because they thought they already knew everything. What did they think they knew? Everything about the Word of God and the will of God. As religious leaders, they believed they lacked nothing in their knowledge of God and the spiritual world, so they could not hear the words of the true God, Jesus.

Dear believers, we cannot understand the things of heaven by looking at the things of earth. How can earthly common sense, knowledge, and experience reveal heavenly things? We are people who must live by looking toward heaven. Our eyes must be opened to the things of the Spirit. The things of earth are shadows of heaven. Through a shadow, we can roughly guess the form of the real thing. Those who have no interest in spiritual things think the shadow is the substance. But we must be interested in what is from heaven.
I pray that today, instead of saying, “I already know that,” our hearts will say, “Without God’s grace I cannot understand, so please help me to perceive.” When that happens, the Word will be heard in our hearts and planted in our hearts.

[Application] Am I humble before the Word of God, or do I think I already know everything and therefore do not truly listen?

 

2. For God so loved the world

Jesus speaks strange words to Nicodemus, who does not understand being born again. [Verse 13] “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”
Who is the one who came from heaven? Jesus. Jesus speaks of Himself as the Messiah sent by God and speaks of His resurrection and ascension. In verse 14, He mentions the story of the bronze snake Moses lifted up in the wilderness. After God delivered Israel from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness toward Canaan, He used the hardships of the wilderness to train His people to trust and depend on Him. But they did not understand God’s will and complained about their difficult circumstances. So God sent venomous snakes, and many people were bitten and began to die. Only then did they realize their sin and go to Moses, asking him to pray for them. When Moses prayed, God gave a strange solution. What was it? He told Moses to make a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. That is what appears in verse 14. [Verses 14–15] “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Moses lifted up the bronze serpent by attaching it to a pole and raising it high. God then said that anyone who looked at the bronze snake would live.
Jesus says that He too must be lifted up like that bronze serpent—that He would die lifted up on the cross. That death is the death of atonement. Anyone who looked at the bronze serpent lived. (Ex: The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon shared that when he was young, on a day of heavy snow, he entered a small church. The pastor was preaching about this bronze serpent and kept repeating, “Look unto Him.” At that moment the eyes of Spurgeon’s heart were opened and he saw the Lord on the cross. He testified, “I simply looked, and salvation came to me.”)

Just as those bitten by the fiery serpents lived when they believed Moses’ word and looked at the bronze serpent, we also must look to the Lord on the cross. The reason the Lord came down from heaven and was lifted up on the cross was to save people. The Lord came so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. This eternal life is God’s plan and love for you and me.

Today’s passage includes the most famous verse in the Bible. Let’s read it together. [Verse 16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Replace “the world” with your own name and read it. God’s love for me is so great that He gave His only Son to save me.
Couples ask each other, “How much do you love me?” What is the usual answer? “As much as the sky and the earth.” But does that really feel real? Not really. Try this instead. (Stretching out arms) “This much.”
How much does God love us? This much—arms stretched wide. The size of the cross. He loves us enough to give His only Son. And why? To give us eternal life.

That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. This same phrase appears in verses 15 and 16. What is God’s earnest desire? What is the result of His great love for us? To save us. To keep us from perishing and give us eternal life.

What amazed me most when I first believed in Jesus was the fact that the God who created the whole universe loved me. And that His love was so great that He loved me enough to give His only Son for me. As I came to understand this love more and more, I thought, “This love alone is enough.”
Throughout my life, I always felt emptiness and lack inside. I longed for love, sought people’s approval, tried to fill the emptiness with money, reputation, and success—but none of it satisfied. But this love finally filled that emptiness.

Dear believers, what are you trying to fill your emptiness with? To fill it, you need love this wide (stretching out arms). The love of the Lord who died for you on the cross is the only love big enough to fill all your dissatisfaction, emptiness, and meaninglessness.

[Application] What am I trying to use to fill the emptiness and lack in my life? Do I acknowledge that Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s love for me?

 

3. Those who follow the truth come into the light

[Verse 18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
It says that those who believe in the only begotten Jesus are not condemned. What does it mean that we are not condemned? As I said during last Wednesday’s service, it means that we have been set free from the burdens of life. What are the burdens of life? They are sin, death, and judgment. Those who believe in Jesus are set free from these burdens of life. They receive eternal life.

Not believing and receiving judgment is described in verse 19 as “condemnation,” and it says that those who are condemned cannot come into the light but walk in darkness.
[Verse 19] This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Here the reason people are condemned is given. It is not because God became angry, but because people loved darkness more than light. Human beings, by nature, are evil, so going toward the light feels difficult and uncomfortable. Darkness feels comfortable. In darkness, our evil is not revealed and remains hidden, so darkness becomes familiar and comfortable to us. But remember this: there is no life in darkness. Eventually, we become slaves forever under the law of sin and death. Where is life? It is in the light.
[John 1:9–10] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
The one who came into this world as the true light is Jesus Christ. He is the one who has true life.
[John 14:6] Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus came into this dark world as the light, and because He is the true life, those who are in Him, who are in Christ, are set free from the power of sin and death and have come out of darkness into the light. Believe this.

[Romans 8:1–2] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
With this word, believe that there is no longer any condemnation for you and me who believe in Jesus, and I hope you fully enjoy and experience true freedom. We are no longer people who are deceived by the false powers of darkness and live as slaves to sin. We are people who, in Jesus who is the truth, follow the word of truth and walk in the light.
[Verse 21] But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

I hope that your life and mine will continually come into the light. When that happens, the evil within us will be revealed, and God’s grace that cuts it off and cleanses us will come upon us.
(In the house where we used to live, sunlight did not enter well into the master bedroom and the living room, so black mold spread across the ceiling. From time to time, I would spray exit mould and wipe it off to remove it. And the curtains also became covered with black mold, so we eventually threw them away. But there was a room next to the bathroom that received plenty of sunlight, and the ceiling of that room did not grow black mold and stayed clean.)
We must continually come into the light. And we must reveal and remove the hidden, ugly, and dirty parts. And believe that everything done in the light is presented before God and stored as treasure in the heavenly storehouse. Pastor Billy Graham once said, “Eternal life does not begin in heaven but begins the moment we believe in Jesus.” Remember that we are people who possess eternal life in Christ Jesus. May you walk in the light today, enjoy eternal life, and shine that light to the world. I bless you in the name of the Lord.

[Application] Are you believing that you are in Christ Jesus and enjoying true freedom? If there is any part of your life that you are hiding from the light, what is it?

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.