THE MARKS OF MATURITY (11 OF 75)
by Mike Stone
Scripture: John 3:22-34
This content is part of a series.
The Marks of Maturity (11 of 75)
Series: The Gospel of John
Mike Stone
John 3:22-34
Jesus Christ is mine and by His grace I am His. And if you belong to Him and He belongs to you, your life will be radically different from the lives of those who are NOT His.
I read about a new contemporary church that purchased an old abandoned bar. They wanted to convert it to a church. They didn’t realize the old bartender had a parrot that was living up in the rafter of the old bar. When the grand opening day came for the church, the pastor arrived early to unlock the building and the parrot started squawking, “New owner! New owner!” When the praise team arrived to rehearse the parrot started squawking, “New band! New band!” When the people arrive for the service, the parrot said, “Same crowd! Same crowd!”
In our last lesson, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being “born again.” This speaks of “regeneration.” A radical transformation of your very nature… In no small way, that’s the theme of this gospel. In John 20:31 he says – “These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name.”
The life that John describes and Jesus delivers is not MERELY life after death. That’s not ALL that’s meant by the idea of “eternal life.” This gospel is describing a life that begins NOW. Today’s question is, “What does that new life look like?
I heard the story of a little girl that kept falling out of the bed onto the floor. She said, “I think I’m sleeping to close to the place I got in.” That little story describes far too many of us as believers. Commenting on today’s text, Leon Morris, noted scholar on the gospel of John writes that “If we are still at the stage at which we entered the Christian life when we were converted, if we have not gone on to maturity, we are repeating the mistake of those well-intentioned followers of John.”
Although he has in mind some things John’s discip ...
Series: The Gospel of John
Mike Stone
John 3:22-34
Jesus Christ is mine and by His grace I am His. And if you belong to Him and He belongs to you, your life will be radically different from the lives of those who are NOT His.
I read about a new contemporary church that purchased an old abandoned bar. They wanted to convert it to a church. They didn’t realize the old bartender had a parrot that was living up in the rafter of the old bar. When the grand opening day came for the church, the pastor arrived early to unlock the building and the parrot started squawking, “New owner! New owner!” When the praise team arrived to rehearse the parrot started squawking, “New band! New band!” When the people arrive for the service, the parrot said, “Same crowd! Same crowd!”
In our last lesson, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being “born again.” This speaks of “regeneration.” A radical transformation of your very nature… In no small way, that’s the theme of this gospel. In John 20:31 he says – “These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name.”
The life that John describes and Jesus delivers is not MERELY life after death. That’s not ALL that’s meant by the idea of “eternal life.” This gospel is describing a life that begins NOW. Today’s question is, “What does that new life look like?
I heard the story of a little girl that kept falling out of the bed onto the floor. She said, “I think I’m sleeping to close to the place I got in.” That little story describes far too many of us as believers. Commenting on today’s text, Leon Morris, noted scholar on the gospel of John writes that “If we are still at the stage at which we entered the Christian life when we were converted, if we have not gone on to maturity, we are repeating the mistake of those well-intentioned followers of John.”
Although he has in mind some things John’s discip ...
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