Quitando la Oscuridad || Victory Church

God is really very good. All the time, all the time God is good. He always comes to me. Hi guys, I had the great opportunity to escape last week. And I was playing two days of golf in Augusta's field. And if you like golf, I didn't play in that field of Augusta, but I did play in an absolutely beautiful field. And if you're curious about how I did, I think that God, who started a good work in me, can carry it out to complete it. It was terrible. Don't even ask. I'm terrible at golf. I'm new at this. But here's the thing. It didn't take me long to realize this. And maybe if you've ever been to a golf course, you know that people are completely immersed in golf. They watch the Masters, they meet the players, they pay the field fees, they buy the sticks, and then they buy the secret sticks that they hide from their wives. I've learned that that's just one topic. And they know the field. They know how to leave the ball on the street. They know how to play the next green. I mean, they're completely immersed in this. And then there's all the clothes,

which is like a separate world. And now that I'm new at this, I've discovered that I think that most men play golf just to be able to dress elegantly. Elegantly, right? Because anywhere else they'd make fun of them, but here they can dress like this. Now I have a white belt. When did I become that guy? When did I become the guy with the white belt? Now I'm the guy with the white belt. Submerged, absolutely submerged. And then there are the sports in Atlanta, which are now something important. And they excite us. They excite us every year. But now the Hawks are something, and we need to pray for that team. They're here. They make us think. They excite us. And then the Falcons just had the draft, and this is the year, guys. And we say that every year, like the fans of the Cowboys. We're delirious, but maybe we are. The Braves are on fire, and my best investment of the year was Braves Vision. So I'm watching as many games as I used to watch when they were broadcast on TV in those days.

And submerged, submerged. Everyone says, submerged. And then there's politics, and people are submerged, and everyone shouts at each other about Iran. And everyone shouts. Release the files. And everyone has their conspiracy theories about the alienation of NASA. Submerged. And I looked up the definition of that word, submerged. Submerged means to be completely involved, absorbed or absorbed in something. To be totally submerged, completely covered. When you're submerged in something, it's around you all the time. It influences your conversations. It influences how you see things, how you think. It influences the people around you. Immersion. We're submerged. From those who just had a baby, and their life revolves around him, to the guy who launches a job and prioritizes it over everything else. To the college student who leaves and returns ten years later with his doctorate. Right? That's how we are. We, as humans, immerse ourselves easily.

Everyone says, submerged. But here, in Juan 3, that we're watching, in this conversation between Jesus and this super devout religious leader called Nicodemo, we learn that in reality, we're immersed in something much more sinister than those things. And if you're new to us, we're doing a one-year tour through Juan's book. This is week 10 of this tour through Juan's book. And in the last few weeks, somehow, we've sat down to listen to this conversation between Jesus and, again, this religious leader called Nicodemo, who brings his doubts, who brings his questions to Jesus. And there, in this conversation, Jesus famously says, Nicodemo, you have to be born again. Now, if you're new to Christianity, that's not a phrase that the Christians simply invented. Those are the words of Jesus. He says, Nicodemo, you seem to be alive on the outside,

but in reality, you're dead in the most important part of who you are. Your spirit is dead because of your sins. And that's why we need to have this conversation so that you can really enter eternal life. You have to be born again. And then Juan will share how to do that. So I'm going to start more or less where we started last week, and then we'll continue. The most famous verse in the whole Bible. Because in such a way God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that all who believe in him would not be lost, but have eternal life. Come on, Jesus. Because God didn't send his Son to the world to condemn the world, but so that the world would be saved by him. He who believes in him

is not condemned, but he who does not believe has already been condemned. Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And only Son. And if you missed it last week, here is the main idea, friends. This may be revealing for some of us. Jesus didn't come to the world to condemn the world. Jesus came because the world was already condemned in our sins. Jesus didn't come to make you an enemy of God. Jesus came because you were already an enemy of God. And Jesus came to make you a friend of God and a son of God. These are good news. And through faith in him, you can be born again. That was last week. And today we are going to resume from there. Here it is. This is...

The verdict. The light came to the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, because their works were evil. An important word. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light out of fear that their works will be exposed. But whoever lives according to the truth comes to the light, so that it is evident that what they have done, they have done it in the presence of God. Juan is using a court language here and says, this is the verdict. Are you a fan of Judge Judy? Very good, very good, that's it. Matlock, the law and order, Perry Mason, come on, of course, all of you, my elders, the boomers. Okay. He is using court language. This is the verdict. The judge has hit the deck. The jury has withdrawn and has returned with the final verdict. And this is the verdict. That God loved the world so much that He did not send a lamb, a bull, nor a goat. He sent His only Son. His Son. And Jesus Christ came in a special mission of celestial special forces, in the style of Black Ops, to rescue the captives who were prisoners and chained in the darkness. Jesus is the only one who can get us out of the kingdom of darkness, because the Son brought the light that exposed our life in that darkness. And that is why we hate that Son. God loved the world, but the world loved the darkness.

So the majority refused to come to the light, but the remnant, those who did respond to the light and took a step towards the truth, full of the grace of God, now we live our lives in the warm embrace of the King Jesus. That is the verdict. And what is it that God is saying to Nicodemus and to us? Much more than being immersed in golf, in politics, in a newborn baby, or in a new job. In reality, we are involved and immersed in something much more sinister. The darkness. And here is the question. This is the question that will guide us for the next few minutes. Will we stay in the darkness or will we take a step towards the light that Jesus brings? Will I stay in the darkness or will I take a step towards the light that Jesus brings? Because this is the first thing we need to know. You and I were born immersed in the darkness. We were born immersed in the darkness. This is what I mean. Maybe this is your weekly reminder. That your story has a villain, okay? The devil hates you, but he does not hate you because it is you. He hates God and hates everything God loves and the people who love God. And that is why he hates you, because he hates God. But your story has a villain and he is looking for someone to devour. And he has done a very good job corrupting the culture, sowing death and division and rebellion and guilt and shame and darkness and anger and sadness and division everywhere. Causing our sinful nature. Spiritual darkness surrounds us. We grew up in it. We were born in it.

Do you have a sinful nature? It did not start with you. My son just turned 21 yesterday when he was one year old. I said, I'm glad he's 21 now. But when he was one year old, I did not teach him to be a brat. That was simply inherited from Adam and passed through me to him. That is the sinful nature, right? We have inherited that. We were born in that. We were born in darkness. Therefore, darkness is natural for us. This is what I want to say. This is what I want to say. In case you do not believe it. Does it surprise you when you see your favorite show and suddenly sexual things start to happen? No. No. You thought you were just waiting for it to happen, right? Does it surprise you that there is another shooting somewhere in the world? No. It discourages you. It disappoints you. But it does not surprise you. Does it surprise you when those people in power around the world manifest their corruption? No. Because darkness is totally natural. That is the natural state of this world. In fact, Summer and I, about a month ago,

we went to see a movie. And I noticed something like 15 minutes later, and I paid attention. Throughout the movie, the credits roll, I look at it and I say, there was not a single bad word in the whole movie. Why does that surprise us? No, seriously, right? Why? This is what I want to say. Darkness does not surprise us. Light does not surprise us. Come on, sin does not surprise us. Holiness does not surprise us. Why? Because we are born immersed in darkness. It does not surprise you. When you listen to your favorite song, and they say the word with an N, or they call a woman with degrading terms, what surprises you is that you play Christian music and you think, oh, actually I feel good in my heart. What is that? Do you know what I mean? That is what surprises you. It does not surprise you when you see something and all those sexual things start to appear. Do you know what surprises you today? It is when a man and a woman get married and they are virgins.

You ask yourself, what is that? ¿Qué es eso? ¿No te sorprende cuando ocurre esto del sexo? Sorprende ver a un joven hoy en día que no sea adicto a la pornografía por la insensibilidad ante la oscuridad. Está a nuestro alrededor, está por doquier, incluso en las conversaciones. Está en la música, la cultura, el cine y los amigos. Ya es viernes por la noche, es sábado por la noche. Algunos de ustedes, anoche, es eso. Está a nuestro alrededor. Nacemos en ello. Es nuestro idioma nativo. Nuestra forma de pensar y oír nos rodea, pero hay un problema. Juan dice en el 19, el veredicto. La luz vino al mundo, pero prefirieron las sombras. Porque sus obras eran... Nuestro problema es este. No pensamos que lo que estamos haciendo sea malo. Vamos, chicos. Dios llama maldad a nuestra forma de vivir nativa. Nosotros lo llamamos áreas en las que tengo que trabajar. ¿Verdad? Porque nuestro corazón es engañoso. Nuestro corazón nos miente. Decimos, bueno, no soy tan malo. No eres tan malo porque te comparas con otras personas que están en la oscuridad. Pero no nos comparamos con otras personas en la oscuridad. Nos comparamos con la luz misma, Jesucristo. Y comparados con Él, quedamos cortos de la gloria de Dios. Cuando te comparas con los demás, te pierdes en la escala.

Dices, bueno, al menos no soy Hitler, ¿verdad? Todos jugamos ese juego. ¿Saben a lo que me refiero? Hitler lo hizo, absolutamente. Él mató personas. El problema es que matas personas internamente. Las matas con palabras y las difamas a sus espaldas. Blasfemamos el nombre de Jesús usándolo como insulto. Codiciamos a la pareja de nuestro prójimo. Codiciamos lo ajeno. Buscamos gozo en el pecado y no en Jesús. Somos malos, chicos. Y no solo vivimos en un mundo oscuro y malvado. Hacemos cosas malas. Pablo lo dice en Gálatas 5. Cuando sigues los deseos de tu naturaleza pecaminosa, heredada de Adán, en cierto sentido no es tu culpa. Tu problema fue cooperar con ella. Seguir la naturaleza pecaminosa lleva a inmoralidad sexual, impureza, lujuria, idolatría, hechicería, hostilidad, peleas, celos, iras, ambiciones, discordias, divisiones, envidia, borracheras, orgías y cosas semejantes. Algunos de ustedes están pensando, uff, mi pecado era, oh no, y otras responsabilidades laborales no listadas. Ahí está, justo ahí. Y Pablo dice, Les advierto, como ya lo he hecho antes, que los que viven de esa manera no heredarán el reino de Dios. No soy tan malo.

No, amigo, eso es oscuridad, es maldad. Y solo necesito decirlo. He sentido esto en cada servicio. Cuando acabo de decir que los que viven así no heredarán el reino de Dios, algunos se sintieron inquietos en su alma. ¿Puedo decirlo de esta manera? Eso es porque amas la oscuridad y odias la luz. Y piensas que no eres tan malo. El problema es que sí eres realmente así de malo. Y algunos de ustedes, ahora mismo, tienen mucho miedo de que, si sigo hablando, su novia se contagie de santidad y termine con ustedes. Y algunos de ustedes tienen miedo de que, si sigo hablando, van a tener que dejar su astrología y su brujería. Algunos les da miedo que, si sigo hablando, tendrán que dejar su ira, tendrán que dejar su adicción, tendrán que dejar su avaricia, tendrán que dejar su orgullo. ¿Así que adivina qué? Voy a seguir hablando porque necesitamos escuchar la verdad. Porque la verdad te hará libre de... Dios no quiere que estés atado a la oscuridad el resto de tu vida. No eres una buena persona por ti mismo. No lo eres. Eres malvado. Y eso es lo más amable que podría decirte, porque Dios te lo señala, pero no te deja en esa situación. Y demos un paso más. Versículo 20. Esto es lo que dice John. Todo aquel que hace el mal odia la luz y no se acercará a ella. ¿Por qué? Por temor a que sus actos se descubran. Es lo que hace.

Replanteemos cómo vemos nuestras charlas y discusiones con amigos, compañeros y vecinos. Lo que realmente dice es que entiendan aquello, por temor a que sus actos se descubran. Lo que está diciendo es la razón principal por la que la gente se niega a venir. La fe en Jesús no es intelectual, es moral. No es como piensas, así es como vives. Esto es lo que está diciendo. La gente, la mayoría de las personas, se esconde detrás de argumentos. ¿Alguna vez has tenido una conversación con alguien y te dicen, bueno, dame pruebas de que Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos? Dame una foto digital de la piedra rodando y Jesús saliendo, ¿verdad? Entonces creeré. Jesús realmente dice eso. Dice, no creerían ni aunque alguien resucitara de entre los muertos. Se refiere a sí mismo porque no es un tema intelectual. Pero esto es lo que dice Juan. La razón por la cual la gente se niega a tener fe en Jesús es porque no quieren que sus malas obras sean expuestas. Es como entrar a un sótano sucio, encender la luz y ver como las cucarachas huyen hacia la oscuridad. Cuando algunos de ustedes entraron aquí y tenemos esta conversación,

la luz de Cristo entra y expone malas obras y sus pecados corren hacia las esquinas y grietas al aparecer los ojos de fuego de Jesús e iluminar la maldad de tu corazón no le das la bienvenida no tu corazón pide apaga la luz el pecado huye porque no quieres exponer tus malas obras así nos escondemos tras argumentos bueno pruebame que Jesús puede hacer eso pasa esto tememos a la luz porque dice la verdad sobre nosotros la verdad amenaza el control sobre nuestra vida y al final del día no me importa Jesús quiero ser mi propio dios porque si de verdad dejar entrar la luz de cristo en mi vida tendría que confesar que mi pecado no tiene ningún valor y tendría que abandonarlo y un documental hace años y ahora tengo esa edad donde años significa como 15 años se llamaba expulsado y te aviso de spoiler es culpa tuya tiene como 20 años pero básicamente es un documental que muestra cómo a profesores en la educación superior como en universidades los marginaban y despedían por creer en el creacionismo en vez de la evolución y es como el creacionismo es esto ni siquiera es decir como creo en jesús creo en el dios de la biblia es creer que hay algún tipo de diseño inteligente en marcha en este mundo y al final de ese documental ben estein que es un judío practicante se sienta con richard dawkins y si sabes quién es richard dawkins es uno de los ateos más destacados un hombre brillante muy hostil al evangelio y richard dawkins empieza a explicarle a ben estein le dice oye nosotros creemos yo creo que podemos explicar desde la primera célula hasta hoy como si me das una célula de hace 500 mil millones de años puedo explicar cómo llegamos hasta aquí hoy cómo se convirtió en nosotros entonces Ben hizo la siguiente pregunta lógica bueno de dónde vino la célula porque algo no puede venir de la nada así que si realmente crees que una célula puede convertirse en dos luego en un billón convertirse en una masa convertirse en un mono que empieza a conducir un auto algún día entonces

tengo que hacerte una pregunta de dónde vino la célula quién creó esa célula y esta fue su respuesta esta fue la respuesta de richard dawkins el dijo bueno lo que realmente creemos es en la teoría de la siembra donde en algún momento del pasado hace miles de millones o cientos de miles de millones de años unos extraterrestres vinieron y depositaron una célula en nuestra galaxia y la dejaron ir y entonces aquí estamos y mientras pasan los créditos esto es lo que dice ben él dice chicos miren al final del día no se trata de creacionismo versus evolución es dios contra anti dios porque escuchen el evolucionista no tiene problema en creer que los extraterrestres trajeron la vida ellos creen en un creador ellos creen en el diseño inteligente simplemente se niegan a llamar a esa vida dios no se trata de creacionismo o evolución es dios contra el anti dios porque si realmente hay un dios estoy obligado a cambiar la forma en que vivo si hay un dios entonces debo inclinarme si hay un dios hay alguien superior a mí que tiene autoridad sobre mi vida si hay un dios mi lengua debe confesar que él es el señor y yo no soy el señor así que prefiero quedarme en la oscuridad y esconderme detrás de bueno no creo en cuentos de hadas y dame pruebas de todo ese tipo de cosas tu adoras a tu papá noel en el cielo yo voy a seguir la ciencia pero esto es lo que juan está diciendo en realidad no es un problema intelectual no es un problema de información es un problema de su misión no es que no pueda creer es que me niego a inclinarme porque lo que realmente dice mi corazón es yo soy mi propio dios yo determino mi propio destino no dejaré de complacer a mi carne me encanta esto dice cs louis da dice que un ateo no puede encontrar a dios como un ladrón no puede encontrar a un policía porque no estás buscando amigo mío esto es lo que él está diciendo él está diciendo que en realidad no quieres encontrar a jesús porque en el momento en que encuentro a jesús eso significa que ya no estoy a cargo de mi vida porque nos encanta tener el control de nuestra propia vida y si ese es el caso chicos admitan lo

deja de esconderte tras un argumento falaz deja de esconderte bueno dame pruebas no no no sólo di esto yo soy mi propio dios el hijo seguir en la oscuridad pues la amo y odio la luz evito que mis malas acciones se vean tengamos esa conversación pero no te escondas detrás de ese argumento intelectual porque algunos de nosotros estamos en la oscuridad y nos encanta pero el problema es este al vivir a oscuras no vemos entonces tropezamos y nos lastimamos a nosotros mismos a los demás y al mundo que nos rodea And then we say something like this. Why am I going through this, God? This is how it looks in our prayers. Here is my spirit. Do not blame God when we live against the way He blesses and we enter into a curse. Because sin has consequences. And God has given us the owner's manual. Come on, He is the one who created history. He gave us the Bible to show us how to live in His history. And when we live against the owner's manual, do not blame the creator of history because you ignored His instructions. This is what I mean. Ladies, do not blame God when you marry that man who does not love Jesus and then He ruins your life. Because then they will find me in the lobby and they will say, Why God? And God says, wait a moment. Now you want me to get involved in this relationship? You did not speak to me at that time, but now you do. You did not love me in Genesis, but now you love me in the Apocalypse? Come on. We just want to go out, get married and then ask God to bless what we have already done.

Do not blame God for that. Do not blame God when you chase money and you take a job that makes you work on Sundays and then you say, God, why is my heart cold? Right now I speak to the camera, to the guy who is watching this on a Tuesday night on YouTube. I love you enough to say, Do not blame God when your health is a disaster because you eat 10,000 calories a day and you do not exercise. And you say, Why God? I do not understand why my... I am an arterial pressure. You are Jehovah, Rafa. No, what I really need are your promises in my life forever. But why? There are many people who seek the benefits of God without being willing to abandon darkness. By embracing darkness and avoiding light, Scripture calls it greater evil. Thus, our sin has its own gravity. In other words, today's sin is not the same as five years ago. It is much worse. So do not be surprised if we embrace darkness. If your sin and addiction worsen, your bonds break, your health declines, or depression overwhelms you, do not be surprised. To the point that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be surprised by that. This is how you are born in darkness and deny the light. But for those who are in it, there is good news. Today, God is inviting you to take a step towards the light. Perhaps you were born in darkness, but you have been reborn to be immersed in the light. Even if you were born between culture, cinema, music, and your environment in darkness, you can be born again to walk in the light. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, He says, God, who commanded the light to shine in the darkness, illuminated our hearts to give us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ. He has come to illuminate our soul, and this is how it looks. This means that when we are honest about our condition, something like this sounds. Honesty to God sounds like this. God, I have been in darkness. I am a sinner who needs a savior. I do a very bad job of God, and I am here to confess that I have tried to save myself, and I cannot do it. That is not weakness. This is how you are born in the light. That is actually strength and honesty before God. I encourage you, even if the world makes fun of you, it is the best for your soul. The best is to start by saying, God, I am coming to the light. In other words, look at me. I am going to let you look at me.

And there are things in which I have been that are simply broken. And God, I need you to look at that. And I bring it to you because I have tried to fix it, but I cannot. That is honesty. And then it goes from honesty to trust. This is how trust looks. I believe that you are God who came to remove the sin of my life, the evil of my life, of my life. The evil of my life was nailed to the cross. And so God, at this moment, I believe that Jesus resurrected from among the dead, that life is His. And that is why God, I ask you to give me that life to create a new me, God. And then when we go from honesty to trust, what happens is that we have entered into the light. And then the light of God enters our interior. This is not a kind of consciousness of Christ. This is not that you have reached a new level of revelation. No, this is outside of you. That the kingdom of heaven has moved inside your life and now the life of Christ has become your life and you have been born again. You have come out of your tomb and now you are a new person, Colossians 1. Because He has set us free from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Albrícias, you and I are no longer people of darkness. Now, by faith in Christ, we are people of light. You are a son of light. You are a son of the kingdom.

You are not of the chains. You walk in victory over those things. And what we know is that it is not our merit. That is what John 3.21 says. When we leave the darkness and enter the light, we look at our life and say, I did nothing of this. All this is God. It is only the grace of God over my life. Come on, this is what I know. God is the one who called me. God is the one who saved me. God is the one who washed me. God is the one who redeemed me. I did not save myself. I am like the sheep that got lost. Like the video of the pastor that takes the sheep out of the hole, he releases it and it jumps back in. That was me. And that was you. We cannot save ourselves. We are incapable of saving ourselves. So Jesus entered the darkness and took us out of there to His glorious light. He takes all the credit for that. The moment we accept, the theologians call it grace prevailing. God put grace in your life. And creating the condition that softened your heart to say yes to Jesus. This is what I mean. Think about this for a moment. Think about this. If you were born again, remember the moment you accepted Jesus. I tell you this.

That moment is your testimony. My God, that was the work of God. Think about this. Ten minutes before, when you started that conversation at a Starbucks or at church, you did not think of saying yes to Jesus. Ten minutes before, you made fun of people. Last night you sinned, whatever. You enter there, the words flow. You see yourself sinking and you think, why am I sinking? It is as if you saw yourself from the outside and your heart said, Oh, I am feeling something inside. What is happening to me? And then that moment comes and you say, yes, I believe in Jesus. And you think, what is happening? I used to make fun of people like me. And you look back and you think, all of that was God. All of that was God. He took a heart of stone, put a heart of flesh that could feel, love and be loved. And took the man of darkness to life. He deserves the credit. I am saved by grace and faith, not by my works. So I only boast of Jesus. He takes all the credit for everything, for absolutely everything. That is why we continue to pray for our friends, neighbors and co-workers, for our parents, for our brothers and sisters, and for our nephews and nieces. Why? Because you don't let yourself be intimidated by how hard their hearts are. They will be like you 10 minutes before you are born again. God can change his heart of stone for one of flesh.

That is why we pray, that is why we fast, that is why we continue to share the good news. Do you agree? So I just want to encourage you. You were born again to walk in the light. By sitting down and opening the Bible, or by coming here, look at it like this. See it as another opportunity to go further away from the darkness in that area and enter into the light. Every time we talk about something, don't harden your heart. Don't close your ears. It is to go back and return to the darkness. When we talk, say, Yes, I am going to cut that link with my past. I am going to stop hiding that place. I will stop wearing elegant clothes in the church on Sundays, but there are parts of my life that Jesus will not touch. When the Holy Spirit puts his finger on that, I will leave the darkness. I will hold this and say, God, I have already gotten used to this part of my life, but I know that it should not be like this. Be kind. Why? Because we will not be listeners who do nothing, deceiving us. That is the point. Many of us are too educated. I want to warn you about listening to everything on Mom's podcast. Because you think you do it, but you only do 5%.

Okay? Every time you expose yourself, when the light of God touches you, your sin comes to light. Don't turn your back on that. Don't harden your heart. Just say, Jesus, I am afraid, but I give you total access. And the moment we do that, living in the light, it finally brings with it the reward of God. When we keep the covenant with our spouse, the blessing of God comes over our marriage. The statistics confirm it. Even the earthly ones. The couples who stay together are happier than those who divorce. Listen, process it your way. But what I say is that God respects the covenant. By honoring the covenant, the hand of God... Actua, acabo de verlo. Al diezmar, la bendición de Dios llega a nuestras finanzas. Algunos lo dudan porque desconfían de las Escrituras, o no hablan con la gente del vestíbulo. Quienes me cuentan cómo la mano de Dios bendijo su dinero al confiar en Él. Cuando instruyo a mis hijos en el camino que deben seguir, más vale que crean que la mano de Dios viene sobre eso, viene sobre mis hijos. Escuchen, cuando mi esposa toma mi teléfono y yo no entro en pánico, eso ya es una recompensa en sí misma. A veces cuando su esposa... y se quedan como... Borré eso. Limpié el historial de mi navegador.

He borrado esa conversación con esa chica. Cuando soy la misma persona en cualquier lugar, eso es una bendición. Porque no tengo que recordar las mentiras que he dicho a la gente. Eso es integridad. Al pecar y enfrentar mi debilidad, si me arrepiento rápido, mi conciencia queda limpia. Rociada por la sangre de Jesús, nada interfiere en mi intimidad con Dios. No permitan que el pecado les robe la belleza de una vida con Él. Encuéntrense con Dios en la tierra de los vivientes. Realmente no hay nada como nacer de nuevo y caminar en la luz. Así que escuchen, así es como se ve. Nacemos en la oscuridad, sumergidos. Nacemos de nuevo para ser sumergidos en la luz. Bautismo en agua es la señal de que ahora vivimos en la luz. Esto es muy relevante hoy y se vincula con esta conversación. Muy interesante. Tras su conversación con Nicodemo, el versículo 22 dice así. Después de esto, Jesús y sus discípulos salieron a la campiña de Judea donde estuvo un tiempo con ellos y se dedicó a bautizar. Así que después de que supimos que Dios, con su gracia, entró en la oscuridad y nos rescató y nos sacó de las cadenas la esclavitud, la condenación y la muerte. Él nos ha traído a su maravillosa luz. ¿Qué es lo siguiente que hace Jesús? Él bautiza a la gente. Bueno, así que aquí es donde tenemos un nivel establecido. Solo un momento. Has nacido de nuevo al 100% y únicamente a través de la fe en Jesús. Bueno, déjame decirte que el bautismo no te salva.

Agua, lo lamento. Siento tener que decírselo. Esta agua no la obtuvimos del mar de Goli. No es que hayamos recibido aceite sagrado del jardín de Getsemaní ni agua del Vaticano. Simplemente la mezclamos y decimos, Jesús, no. Eso es agua del sistema municipal de Norcos. Lo siento mucho. Quiero decir, no hay nada mágico en esa agua, ¿de acuerdo? El agua no te salva. La sangre te salva. La sangre de Jesús es lo que te salva. Eso es todo. El ladrón colgado en la cruz junto a Jesús. Jesús dijo, hoy estarás conmigo en el paraíso. No es que lo bajaran de la cruz, lo bautizaran y lo volvieran a subir. Como ya dije, el agua no te salva. Solo Jesús te salva, ¿de acuerdo? El bautismo es el siguiente paso tras la salvación. Todos digan, siguiente paso. Al renacer, fuiste rescatado del reino oscuro y llevado al reino del Hijo. El bautismo en agua es básicamente la señal externa de una realidad interna. Muestras por fuera lo que ya ocurrió internamente. Y lo que estás diciendo es, no fui sacado de la oscuridad para vivir en la luz por un día, una semana o un mes. No, cuando bajo al agua, eso es yo cortando oficialmente con mi vida pasada. Ya no soy quien solía ser. El poder de Dios viene a romper todo lazo, toda identidad, toda religión falsa. Toda la fragilidad, la vergüenza, la culpa, la condena, todo eso. Lo dejo en el agua y saldré convertida en una persona completamente nueva. Y aquí es donde necesitamos el recordatorio.

Siento tener que decírtelo. Lo lamento. Lamento ser portador de malas noticias. Si te bautizan con agua, lo siento. Esta semana probablemente volverás a pecar. Lo lamento. Así que no vengas a verme la semana que viene con lágrimas en los ojos. Necesito bautizarme de nuevo porque lo arruiné todo. No, escucha. No eres salvo por la sangre de Jesús y luego mantienes esa salvación por tus obras. No, la sangre de Jesús. Tus obras traen la muerte y son como trapos sucios ante los ojos de Dios. Es la sangre de Cristo la que te cubre. Este bautismo en agua es el símbolo. Es simbólico de decir, ya no soy quien solía ser. Ahora, aquí está el asunto. Todavía te encontrarás con la fragilidad de tu carne. Todavía pecarás de vez en cuando, pero necesitas escucharlo de mí. Ese pecado ya no está sobre ti. Ahora tú estás por encima de ese pecado. Estás caminando en victoria sobre eso. Ya no eres esclavo de eso por el poder del Espíritu Santo. Estás viviendo una santidad incremental. Creciente y exponencial. Quien comenzó la buena obra en ti, la completará. Pues ya no eres quien solías ser. Por eso bautizamos. Dios eligió esta palabra. En griego, baptizo es sumergir o zambullir. Cuando te sumerges en algo, eso define lo que piensas, de lo que hablas, tus grupos de amigos, y cómo basas tu pasado, tu presente y tu futuro. Estar sumergido cambia toda tu vida.

Dios eligió esa palabra, inmersión, para representar nuestra vida con Él. Lo que digo es que estoy sometiendo todo mi ser a todo lo que es Dios, a cómo gastas tu dinero y tu tiempo, por eso nos rociamos. Nos rociamos porque no queremos que seas salvo por partes. Es un chiste de predicador, ¿de acuerdo? Esto es lo que digo. Antes estábamos sumergidos en la oscuridad, ahora estamos sumergidos en Cristo y en la luz de Dios por el resto de nuestra vida. Porque la verdad es que puedes tener algo de conocimiento o información sobre Jesús. Incluso puedes ir a la iglesia un domingo. Pero hasta que no estés completamente inmerso en Jesús, tu vida no cambiará por completo. Está bien. Si nunca antes habías escuchado esta historia, es muy significativa para este momento. Durante las cruzadas contrataron caballeros para que fueran a luchar en nombre de la iglesia, días oscuros. Bueno, no voy a volver a hablar de eso. Pero lo que hacían era que antes de enviarlos a matar gente en nombre de Dios, los hacían cruzar un río a modo de bautismo colectivo. Porque ahora los estamos enviando a matar gente. Así que pasarían a caballo. Y mientras cabalgaban, como es bien sabido, todos desenvainaron sus espadas.

Y alzaron sus espadas sobre el agua. Porque sabían que estaban a punto de hacer cosas bastante locas con esa espada que no iban a agradar a Dios. Así que Dios, ¿puedes tener todo de mí excepto esta espada? Y así, en esencia, la espada era su instrumento de salvación. La espada era aquello a lo que se negaban a renunciar. Lo que significaba, y permíteme ser contundente, que su bautismo no valía nada. Porque si yo no voy a hundirme del todo, no te hundas tú. Si voy a sacar algo del agua, ni siquiera te hundas. Y yo lo he visto. Si pudiéramos llevar una máquina de rayos X espiritual 4D hasta la pila bautismal, ya lo he visto antes, cuando la gente se hunde y saca la cartera. Dios, me tienes por completo, excepto por el dinero. Sacan su reloj. Dios, tienes todo de mí excepto mi tiempo. Sacan sus ojos. Dios, tienes todo de mí, salvo lo que hago con ojos, manos o pies, y todo excepto a mi familia. Me tienes, menos mis bienes. Sacamos las cosas. No, chicos, todo de ustedes debe sumergirse y hacer un corte limpio con su pasado. O sea, cualquier basura o reliquia religiosa que tengas, quítatela. No entres al agua con tu yin yang. No entres al agua con tu mano de hamsa o tu ojo turco. No entres a esa agua con calaveras. No, amigo, mira, ese es tu antiguo yo. Ya no eres quien solía ser.

No, hombre, eso ya no existe. Hay una ruptura limpia. No añado a Jesús a una lista de dioses. No somos hindúes. Él es el camino, la verdad y la vida. Nadie viene al Padre sino por Él. Ni Él ni un millón de personas más. No solo Jesús. Al entrar al agua estás diciendo solo Jesús, solo Jesús. Ahora algunos piensan, hombre, eso suena poco exagerado. ¿Por qué no es suficiente con que simplemente ore una oración? Esto es lo que diría. Algunos de nosotros hemos sido muy públicos en nuestra vida en la oscuridad. Y es hora de ser muy públicos en nuestra vida en la luz. Solías ser un evangelista de la oscuridad. Ahora necesitas ser un evangelista de la luz. Usa la misma energía que tenías para la oscuridad ahora para la luz. Estabas orgulloso de la oscuridad. No calles sobre Jesús. No, sal ahí fuera y di, mi vida entera es de Jesús. Él me cambió. Soy una persona diferente a la que solía ser. Y así es como lo diría la Escritura. Con esto terminaré. Colosenses 2.12 ¿Por qué fuiste sepultado? Tal vez no viste el bautismo así. Fuiste sepultado con Cristo al bautizarte. Y con Él, resucitaste al confiar en el poder de Dios, quien lo resucitó. Bien, ¿qué pasó?

Cuando Jesús murió en la cruz, los sepultaron. Al tercer día, quitaron la piedra. Él salió de nuevo. Vida. Cuando te sumerges al agua, eres sepultado con Cristo. Y luego emerges de nuevo. Hundiéndote con los viejos hábitos. Volviendo a lo nuevo. Ahora vive una nueva vida a la luz de Cristo por el resto de tu vida. Eso es el bautismo. Eso es el bautismo. No se trata de un símbolo vacío. No, no, no. Estás viviendo literalmente, en una vívida ilustración, tu muerte y tu resurrección en el nombre de Jesús. Eso es el bautismo. El bautismo no es algo que haces porque tus padres te lo digan. Si fuiste a confirmarte. at 12 years old without believing, but now you do believe in Jesus, you must go into the tank yourself and draw a clear line. Yes, my parents are not the ones who decide. I have decided that I belong to Jesus for the rest of my life. And the old me has died, and the new me has come back to life in the name of Jesus. And I would say it like this, guys. If you are still dealing with the guilt for things you did in your past, shame. If you are still fighting the same sins with which you were dealing 5 years ago, 10, 15, 20 years ago, maybe I would propose this to you. Could it be that you haven't given your past life a proper burial? Leave your old self in the tank and come out renewed. Next week, the devil will whisper to you,

you did this looking for you to feel guilt and shame. And in fact, you can agree with him. Yes, the old Johnson used to do that. But guess where I left him? In the tank. I am not who I used to be. I have risen with Christ. And the kingdom of God now lives within me. Not for me, but for Him. It is only possible for Him. Why? Because at some point we were submerged in darkness. And then we were born again to be submerged in life. And then we went to the waters of baptism to wash away the darkness and give our old life a proper burial. And this, guys, for some of you, this is your time to draw a line in the sand. This is your day to say, I will not go back. This is what I love about baptism. It is your physical demonstration to remember for the rest of your life and say, officially, I am a new person. Because I came down with the old and rose with the new. And now I live for Jesus for the rest of my life. Many of us have already made that decision. Many more will do it today. Bow your heads and let's talk to God about this. Jesus, we love you. And I thank you, God, in the name of all of us here. I thank you that you did not abandon us in darkness. God, we are no longer people of darkness

because the sun has come. The light of God has come to illuminate the darkness, to rescue the captives, and we no longer belong to the kingdom of the enemy. Now we have been taken to the kingdom of the beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We are new. We are no longer who we used to be. And I think this is the question that the Holy Spirit wants us to struggle with, even if it is only for a moment. What is it that we still hide from Jesus? What are we still trying to control? In what area do we want to be our own God and manage everything? We need this revelation, friends. What we hide is controlling us. You don't control that. That controls you. And Jesus came so that we could have life, and life in abundance. Not so that we would come week after week, still chained up. He came to set us free. So today is the day to bring to light those ugly things. Today is the day to get out of that cycle of sin, to get out of the cycle of self-medication, whether with pills, alcohol, or whatever. Get out of the cycle of the search for love. Get out of the cycle of clinging to sadness. Get out of those intellectual arguments, or self-idolatry, of trying to be my own God. Today is the day that we get out of the darkness and take a step towards the light. And I love this. I love this about Jesus. I love this about Jesus.

He is able to find you in the darkness, but he refuses to completely abandon you in the darkness. And right now, this rescue mission is in full effect for some of us in here. Thank you, God. So here's the thing. If you're ready to be honest with God, I invite you to pray with me. Some of the members of the family that surround you will pray with you. Maybe it sounds like this. Let's pray this way. Say, Jesus, I've been living in the darkness, and my life is full of things that I'm not proud of. I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. And right now, I take a step towards the light. It shines upon me. This is what honesty sounds like, friends. God, I've tried to save myself, but I can't. So right now, let's go from honesty to trust. Some of you have just entered the light, but now it's time to invite the light of Christ to enter you. Let's pray this way. I trust in you, Jesus, so that you may save me. You are the Son of God. You died on the cross to take away my sin. And you rose again. You are alive. So right now, all thanks to Jesus. And please, receive forgiveness for my many evils. I live the love of God, and I am clean, and right now I am a son of God. I am a new person, and I will live in the eternal light of God for the rest of my life.

We pray in the holy name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's celebrate that! Thank you for being part of Victory Church in the Pando application. We hope this content has been a blessing for you, but we want you to know that you are not finished yet because we want to hear you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even what content you would like us to create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you are important to us, and we would love to continue creating things in the future that bless you. So send us a letter and we look forward to hearing from you soon.