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The One from Above

John McCormick

May 25, 2025

John 3:31-36

Jesus presents each of us a question. Is he really from above?

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPT

  1. Introduction
    1. Morning! My name is John McCormick, Renovation U Pastor
      1. It’s great to be with you all!
  2. Recap of John series
    1. Before we jump into our passage for the 5th and final week of John 3, I want to let you know that next week Pastor David will be kicking off our summer series!
      1. Traditionally, we’ve gone through a book or section of the Old Testament in the summer, and 4 years ago, we did a really fun series called “Life of Elijah”
      2. And this summer, we’ll be doing a fun sequel series called “Life of EliSHA,” where we’ll be studying some pretty amazing stories from EliJAh’s successor, EliSHa.
        1. Don’t miss the start of that next week!
    2. This morning though, we are finishing our series on John 3. So far,
      1. We have talked through what it means to be “born again”
      2. We went through John 3:16 and talked about just how much God loves us
      3. We even spent time talking about some hard things like how without Jesus in our lives we love sin and darkness instead of God
      4. And we learned the importance of humbling ourselves like John the Baptist
    3. That brings us to our passage today, so go ahead and grab a Bible
      1. We’ll be on page 725 in the Bibles at your chairs if you want to use that
      2. We’re going to pick up in verse 31
        1. Find the big number 3 and then the little number 31
        2. And I encourage you to keep this open today, because we are going to refer back to it a lot
        3. Read John 3: 31-36
        4. Sermon Slide
  3. Renovation U Promo
    1. Okay, that was completely clear, easy to understand, right? Okay great, I’ll just go ahead step down…. Just kidding ☺
      1. John 3 has been relatively easy to understand up until this point, but then it takes this sudden turn
      2. This part requires us to break it down a little more to understand it
        1. The temptation with passages that are tricky is to quickly read it, sorta-kinda understand what it’s saying, and then move on
        2. But every word in the Bible is important, and when we don’t slow down to understand them, we miss truths about God and about us!
    2. This is why the Renovation U program exists here at Renovation Church
      1. Renovation U Slide
      2. Every single person can study the Bible, it just requires learning the skills
      3. One of the core values of Renovation Church is to “make Disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples”
        1. And Renovation U’s goal is to help train you as a disciple, so that you can in turn help make more disciples
      4. There are so many people in this room right now that have just started following Jesus
        1. I’m so excited for all of the amazing things you’re going to learn and see God do in your life even in these first few months
        2. And guess what? There’s a class for you in First Steps!
          1. You’ll learn a TON about Jesus, Christianity, and some of the biggest questions you’ll probably be asking yourself, like:
            1. How do we know the Bible is true?
            2. How do I read the Bible?
            3. How do I pray?
            4. Does God speak to me?
        3. There’s even a super cool time at the end of every class where you can get your questions answered anonymously
      5. Renovation U also has a class focused solely on how to study the Bible
        1. Studying God’s Word is jam-packed with practical skills to help you understand, interpret, and apply the Bible to your life
        2. Those foundational skills are great because they help you to see passages like these as less intimidating or confusing
        3. And they help you gain SO MUCH MORE out of the time you spend with the Bible
      6. There are also two classes that cover the main beliefs of Christianity in great depth
        1. We call these “theology classes” and they will help you understand what Christians believe and WHY they believe it
          1. Now, I know when I said the word Theology some of you just started getting nervous
          2. But Theology literally just means “study of God” which is what the Bible tells us to do! And I think it’s SO much fun ☺
        2. We design every Renovation U class to be accessible for incoming High School students and older, regardless of how much you know or don’t know before you come to class
          1. I have had so many students tell me that they were nervous to start, but then once they are in it, the class has completely changed how they view God and it has changed their lives!
        3. Here are just a few of the many topics we cover:
          1. Prayer, Spiritual Gifts, Sin, the Trinity, and Heaven
        4. Tell you what, if you’ve finished Studying God’s Word and you’re nervous about taking a Theology class, come take Theology 1 with me this summer and we’ll have a blast together okay? ☺
      7. Lastly, we have Survey classes that consist of groups of students studying books of the Bible together with one of the Renovation U Teachers
        1. These are great for giving you a high-level overview of the Bible
        2. And even better, both our NT and OT Survey classes are starting at the beginning again this summer, so you can jump into either one easily!
      8. All of this to say, there’s a class for everyone!
    3. Now I could go on talking about the Renovation U Classes all day, but I want you to hear from one of my students how Renovation U has impacted her life
      1. I’m going to invite Kristin Boxwell to come up and join me
        1. Kristin was actually up here last year talking about how coming to Renovation Church completely changed her family
      2. And I thought it would be really cool to hear how Renovation U has been a part of that journey
    4. <INTERVIEW WITH KRISTIN>
      1. What has been your favorite part of Renovation U, and why?
      2. In what ways has Renovation U changed how you view God and the Bible?
      3. Are there any unexpected areas in your life that have been changed by what you learned in Renovation U?
      4. If you could say anything else to the people of Renovation Church about Renovation U, what would it be?
    5. Thanks for sharing with us Kristin!
    6. I hope that hearing about Kristin’s experience shows you just how impactful Renovation U can be for growing your faith.
      1. And truly it is the best part of my job to watch people grow in their faith and see the change in their lives
      2. I might be a teensy bit biased, but I will tell you, both from personal experience and from the experience of my students, that Renovation U is one of the best investments of your time that you can make this summer!
  4. Walking through the passage
    1. Sermon Slide
    2. Alright, let’s get back to our passage and we are going to walk through it verse by verse
    3. Let’s start by reading the first verse again
      1. John 3: 31
      2. But wait, there’s more! ☺
        1. Let me put a passage up on the screen for you from a completely different place in the Bible, this is from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15
          1. 1 Corinthians 15: 47-48
      3. In both of these passages, there is a distinction between everyone on earth and Jesus
        1. The truth in these verses is that Jesus is similar but different from us
    4. I think we kind of understand the distinction of from the earth vs. from heaven, if we stop and think about it
      1. Humans pretty much all talk alike and generally think alike at a high level
        1. If you look across the globe and across history, you’ll see we have a lot of similarities in our conventional wisdom, proverbs, and teaching
        2. The same themes and ideas are repeated with different flavors and styles, but have common sources
          1. Think of things like Aesop’s fables that have endured since the mid-500’s BC
      2. But if you read what Jesus says in the Bible, it doesn’t sound like it’s even from this planet!
        1. Where human wisdom would tell you to love your neighbor and hate your enemy, Jesus says in Matthew 5: 44 to love your enemies and pray for them
        2. Where humans would tell you follow your heart, Jesus says in Mark 7:21 that it is from our heart that evil thoughts and desires come
        3. Where the world would say to get rich so you can be happy, Jesus says in Matthew 6:19 that we should store our treasure in heaven and not on the earth
      3. Those are just three examples where Jesus sounds like the complete opposite of us
        1. So, when we hear that he’s from above and therefore doesn’t think like us, I think it makes a lot of sense!
      4. It’s also interesting that the Bible records people being surprised by the way in which Jesus spoke
        1. Matthew 7 talks about this, let me throw it on the screen quickly
          1. Matthew 7: 28-29
      5. Because Jesus comes from above, he speaks with authority and isn’t like the teachers of the Jewish people!
        1. Even early in his ministry, people are noticing that Jesus is unlike anyone they’ve ever encountered before
  5. Jesus is the Son of God
    1. Let’s keep going in our passage, look at the next 2 verses
      1. John 3: 32-33
      2. Sermon slide
    2. When Jesus speaks, he is relaying to us what he has heard and seen from God the Father in heaven
      1. He’s the messenger passing on what has been given to him
      2. But the verse says that no one has accepted his message
        1. The people of Jesus time rejected it so strongly that they killed him!
      3. And on the whole of history, the vast majority of humanity has rejected Jesus and the message that he brings
    3. But why? Why do people generally reject his message? Why is it so hard to accept?
      1. I think it’s BECAUSE he’s not from the earth
      2. Jesus’ message is so foreign to us, it makes it difficult to accept what he says
      3. Here’s just two quick examples:
        1. He tells us to release control, but humans LOVE control, am I right? ☺
        2. He tells us to forgive and love, but we hang onto grudges with death grips
      4. Ironically, the very thing that should make us believe him, the fact that he came from Heaven, is what makes it so easy to reject him!
    4. But what does it say there in verse 33?
      1. Some do believe him and by doing so they certify (or some translations say they accept) that God is truthful
      2. Basically, if we believe in Jesus and accept what he tells us, then we are saying that we think that God is telling the truth through Jesus and the Bible
        1. And that implies that if we don’t believe Jesus, then either he was a liar… or we are
        2. It’s pretty simple, either Jesus is the Son of God and is telling the truth, or he’s lying and we should not believe him
          1. Let me say that one more time
      3. But coming to that second conclusion is a pretty bold stance to take, look at what is in the next verse
        1. John 3: 34
    5. Okay so if we keep following John’s logic here, if God really has sent Jesus as he claimed, then he is speaking the words of God
      1. And what kinds of things did Jesus say? Let’s look a little later in the book of John, this comes from John 14:6
        1. John 14:6
      2. Jesus is saying in this passage that he is the only way to know God, to be right with God
        1. Keep in mind that John is writing this many years after Jesus died and rose again, so John already knows where he is going with this argument
          1. He knows that John 3:34 leads into John 14:6
        2. Isn’t the Bible AMAZING? ☺
      3. Verse 34 also says that God gives the Holy Spirit to one whom he has sent (again, that’s Jesus)... with no limit
        1. He’s not just Jesus speaking his own words
        2. It’s the Holy Spirit giving the words of God to Jesus to share
          1. And empowering him to do all of the miracles too!
          2. Sermon Slide
    6. Are you following John’s argument?
      1. God sent Jesus from above, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, to testify to what God the Father has declared from Heaven
      2. Okay, here’s the next step in the argument, verse 35
        1. John 3:35
        2. Sermon Slide
      3. Not only has God sent Jesus, he loves him and has placed everything into his hands
        1. This circles back to verse 31 that Jesus is “above all”
        2. Jesus has authority because God the Father has given it to him, why?
          1. Because the Father loves the Son
          2. God didn’t just send some random messenger to us; he sent his own Son!
      4. This connects back to John 3:16
        1. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son
        2. And right here we see that God given everything over to Jesus
          1. God gives all authority to Jesus because he loves him, and then sends him to the earth for us because he loves us!
    7. Alright, really quick aside here
      1. I hope you love the Bible, because it’s stuff like this that makes me love it
        1. The consistency, the layer upon layer of the evidence, the wisdom
      2. And the interconnectedness of it
        1. For those tracking such things, we’ve already connected 3 other passages in the Bible that tie directly to these verses
          1. And that’s such a small subset of what we could have!
      3. This is why studying the Bible and knowing what you believe is so helpful
        1. Because it just opens up a whole new world for you to discover!
  6. The Big Finish
    1. Alright let’s look at the last verse now, this is the climax of the whole chapter
      1. Everything has been building to these last two points
        1. John 3:36
        2. Sermon Slide
      2. What does that last verse say?
        1. If we believe in Jesus, then we will have eternal life
        2. Looking at what the whole Bible says about how this all works, we see that if we believe in Jesus, that he died and rose again, then he takes away our sins
          1. That makes us righteous in God’s eyes
          2. And that is how we are able to have eternal life
        3. Because we are made right with God, the reward is that we get to go be with him forever!
      3. That’s pretty awesome!
    2. However, that last part of the verse is really important too
      1. On the flip side, if we reject Jesus’ testimony, then we will not be forgiven of our sins (which just means all of the times that we’ve broken God’s laws)
      2. God’s wrath would remain on us and the punishment that is mentioned here is that we will “not see life” which means we will be separated from God forever when we die
    3. And the sad part is, God is just giving us what we want at that point
      1. If we don’t believe in Jesus, we are rejecting him and because God sent him, we are rejecting God as well
      2. And when we reject him, we are saying we don’t want to be with him
        1. So, in a sense, God sending us away from him forever is him doing exactly what we are asking him to do
        2. We are saying, just leave me alone God! I can do this on my own!
      3. The lie here is that if we just get away from God, then we can do whatever we want
        1. But the real deception is that nothing good exists apart from God, as James 1:17 says
      4. Therefore, by running away from God, we are also running away from the only good things that will satisfy us
        1. And even worse, the Bible says that those who reject Jesus will be sent to Hell
        2. Where there is constant torment for all of eternity
    4. No one likes to talk about this part because it’s uncomfortable
      1. But we can’t ignore it because it’s hard, and truthfully our passage makes this so simple you can’t ignore it
      2. It’s a balance here, because we either:
        1. Believe in Jesus and live
        2. Or we reject him and suffer the consequences of God’s wrath
    5. This last verse is really the sum of all of John 3, what the whole chapter has been leading up to
      1. Either we accept Jesus’ free gift and see eternal life, or we refuse to believe that he is from above
        1. Because that really is the choice here: is Jesus who he says he is?
          1. Is he really from above?
          2. Does he really speak the words of God?
      2. If you think back to what we’ve studied in this series so far, John has been making the case in this whole chapter that Jesus is the Son of God who has come down from above
        1. In fact, the entire book of John is focused on making this point!
      3. Let’s prove that quickly, look back at John 3:16 again, what does it say?
        1. John 3:16 - keep up until the end
      4. It’s the same as verse 36, isn’t it?
        1. God loved us and sent his son so we can believe and live, or reject him and perish
  7. The Gospel
    1. All over the Bible, again and again, it comes down to a choice
      1. Can you accept that Jesus is from above?
      2. Can you trust that he speaks the words of God?
      3. Can you believe that God himself came down and died for us to save us?
    2. Most people will not accept his testimony; we just read that a moment ago
      1. But those that believe get the gift of eternal life with him
    3. And like Pastor David talked about last week, accepting Jesus requires us to admit that we are not the hero of the story
      1. We aren’t the main character, Jesus is
      2. That requires us to humble ourselves, and by nature, we absolutely hate humbling ourselves.
        1. I know I certainly do!
    4. But consider the consequences this morning if you don’t
      1. If you reject Jesus, then God’s wrath remains on you
        1. And the punishment will come, and the Bible leaves no wiggle room on that
      2. But if you accept that God loved us enough to send his own Son to die a terrible death on a cross to take the punishment for your sins and that he rose from the dead
        1. If you believe that and follow him, then you will receive Eternal. Life.
    5. And there might be some in this room that need to accept that for the first time today
      1. And I want to give you a chance to do that, so would everybody just close your eyes and bow your heads?
      2. If that’s you and you need to accept Jesus today, in just a moment I’m going to ask you to boldly stand up
        1. To say to God that you believe, that you want to follow Jesus
      3. If you have been feeling God tugging on your heart all morning, or through this whole series, then today is the day
      4. If that’s you, would you just stand up?

Copyright:

John McCormick

Renovation Church in Blaine, MN

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You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.

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