HEAVENLY THINGS - 1 | The Discourse

Glory be to God. Honor be unto Jesus, we are here again for another edition of the Monthly Teaching Series after many months of absence. 

Now, our theme “Heavenly things” was a phrase made by our Lord Jesus Christ in his discourse with the Jewish teacher, Nicodemus. He mentioned this during his little explanation concerning the “born from above” experience that everyone who will be part of the kingdom of God must have. Everyone knows the story; Nicodemus was a secret disciple, he came to Jesus at night and hence their discussion:

John 3:1-12

[1] There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

[2] The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

[3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

[4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

[5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

[7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

[8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

[9] Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

[10] Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 

[11] Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 

[12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of HEAVENLY THINGS?

It is obvious that the heavenly things that Jesus Christ was referring to, are deep things of God which is not captured by the Jewish customs and law neither is it taught in any religious circle. Jesus Christ was not really surprised that a whole doctor of the Jewish law, Nicodemus, could not comprehend the “born from above” experience, he knows that spiritual things can be only be understood by spiritual people. The “born from above” experience is not however the same as the ‘heavenly things’ that Jesus was referring to but a pointer to it. The ‘born again’ experience is the simplest mechanism of the deep things of God that the carnal mind would find difficult to understand.

Jesus made it clear in his statement that these “heavenly things” will be difficult for just anyone to understand if they are still having problems with the ‘born from above’ experience. Even up till today, there are many people out there including some Christians, who still have a little problem understanding the ‘born from above’ experience. 

And since this is so, how can we ever know or perceive that there are still greater things in the depth of God? How can we then understand God in his fullness? How can we then comprehend the full essence of our existence in his Kingdom? Seeing that he surely has a goal; a kingdom of sons and daughters who will understand and live a life according to his will. God’s intention is that, his people whom he created in his image should understand the reason for their existence and the essence of their faith.  There is no gainsaying that every believer is saved for a purpose; But for what purpose? The born from above or born again experience is the portal that launches the believer into the deep things of God. 

If you are not born from above, you cannot understand the things from above. 

In the ‘above’ is God, the eternal creator. His glory is everlasting and all of his creations are his idea and glory. There is nothing in existence that is outside his foreordained counsel for humanity.

So, if we have problems understanding the ONLY experience that can bring anyone into God’s eternal agenda and his eternal Kingdom, then we surely do have a challenge in getting acquainted with the Heavenly things, the deep things of God. That was the problem Nicodemus and others had. They couldn’t comprehend the concept of the spiritual birth, hence void of understanding the secret and deep things of God. 

Although the bible made it clear that these heavenly things are difficult for the natural man - the carnal mind, but it also made it clear that they are very simple and understandable to the spiritual man. This is because they are spiritual mysteries, and only the spiritual can comprehend. Interestingly, everyone that is born again is filled with this Holy Spirit of God, so they are made ready to understand these deep things of God. Amen?

Now, before we delve into the heavenly things of God that Nicodemus and the likes of today are void of understanding, we need to check properly what the born again experience is, to be sure that we are on the same page. This is because it is the gateway into God’s depth of knowledge.

What does it mean to be born from above?

To be continued…  

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Monthly Teaching Series | September 2020