𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• What’s something you look at or rely on daily? Why is it important to you?

• Have you ever revealed a secret that you were supposed to keep? What happened?

• Share about a time when you felt like you needed a fresh start. How were you able to move forward?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘴, 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪, 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.” 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟯:𝟭–𝟯

(Read also 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟯:𝟰–𝟮𝟭.)

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a prominent religious figure of high stature and teacher among the people. He was considered righteous by those around him. But one night, he visited Jesus in secret and sought His teaching. Nicodemus learned that he needed something from Jesus—something that transformed and renewed him. This was being born again in the spirit. Today, let’s look at what we can learn from Nicodemus’s encounter with Jesus.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” . . . 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟯:𝟯, 𝟱

This is the Scripture where we get the term “born again.” We are all born once from our mothers’ wombs, but to enter God’s kingdom, we need to be born of the Spirit. This is because we were all spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1–3) and will eventually lead to eternal death in hell unless we experience spiritual rebirth. The kingdom of heaven is spiritual in nature and only those who are spiritually alive can enter.

𝟮. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟯:𝟭𝟰–𝟭𝟱

While talking to Nicodemus, Jesus foretold His own death. Like the bronze snake of Moses (Numbers 21:9), Jesus said, the Son of Man must be lifted up on a pole, and whoever looks to Him will be saved. This directly foreshadowed Jesus being lifted on the cross, and until today, whoever looks to Him in faith is saved. The one who believes in Jesus has been born again and has eternal life. When did you begin believing? Would you say you look to Jesus daily? How certain are you that you have eternal life?

𝟯. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀.

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟯:𝟮𝟭

The transforming work of God is evident in the lives of those who come to the light of Jesus, put their faith in Him, and experience spiritual rebirth. John 3:8 likens one born of the Spirit to wind—although it cannot be seen, its presence can be felt. So it was with Nicodemus. He eventually moved from darkness (secret meetings at night) to light. Though we don’t know exactly when he put his faith in Christ, he began to speak publicly in favor of Jesus—no more hiding. At a time when Jesus was attracting the wrong sort of attention from the authorities, Nicodemus took His side, risking revealing himself as a follower of Christ (John 7:45–52). His encounter with Jesus had caused this transformation. What are some visible changes in your life, when you experienced the new birth?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• Reflect on how Jesus has transformed your life since you encountered Him. What is one way you could respond to what the Holy Spirit is doing in you this week?

• Looking to Jesus daily has a great impact on the choices we make. How does this play out in your life? Are there ways you can be more mindful in looking to Him daily?

• How can you allow Jesus’ work in you to be brought to light and visible to others? Pray for the courage to live out your transformation openly.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for your life-changing encounter with Jesus that gives you new life and hope through the Spirit.

• Ask God to deepen your faith, trusting Him fully for your salvation and sanctification.

• Pray for a heart that courageously reflects the transformation Jesus has begun in you, so others may see God’s work and be drawn to Him.