Saved People Have Two Birthdays!

Born Again - John 1:12-13 (Also see John 3:1-16)

12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the (power or authority or) right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:

13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

*Here God's Word is talking about sinners being saved! It's talking about believers being born again into the family of God. A few years ago, I bumped into Trish Barmore and her little boy at Walmart. They are some of our friends from McClendon. And the first thing out of that little boy's mouth was this: "I got saved on my birthday!" I said, "That's great. Now you have two birthdays on the same day."

*And he can always remember when he was born again, because when we trust in Jesus Christ, when we believe in Him, when we receive Him, we receive God's eternal life through a new, spiritual birth. This miraculous gift of new life is absolutely essential for salvation.

*And vs. 13, says believers are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

[1] That means the new birth is not by human descent. (1)

*"It's "not by blood." Our parents may have brought us to church, but they could never bring us into the Kingdom of God. Only God Himself can do that. (2)

[2] The new birth is not by human descent. -- And it's not by human desire.

*It's not by "the will of the flesh." Suppose you wanted to be saved more than anything else in the world. Well, all the want in the world by itself is not enough to save us. And the reason why is because even when we try our best to be good, we still can't measure up. We drop the ball. We trip up. We all fall short of the glory of God.

*You could be the best person in Caldwell Parish, the best person in Louisiana, or the best person in the world. But that's not going to get you into Heaven, because Romans 3:23 tells us that we all fall short.

*George Whitefield proclaimed: "What! Get to heaven on your own strength? Why, you might as well try to climb to the moon on a rope of sand!" When it comes to salvation, no one has ever been good enough! -- No one but Jesus! So, God has to do the saving! (3)

[3] This new spiritual birth is not by human desire. -- And it's not by human design.

*It's not "by the will of man." People can come up with some pretty amazing plans, but no one could have come up with God's plan for the cross. And even if they did, they couldn't have carried it out. Salvation can only come from God, and God alone!

*Only God could have lived a perfect life, and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Only God could have risen again from the dead. And only God could give the power for us to become the sons of God.

CONCLUSION:

*Jesus' death gives us life when we are born again by believing in Him. And it never would have been possible without Christmas. God was born as a little baby! Christ came into the world to save us from our sin. Christ came into the world to die on the cross for our sins.

*Jesus Christ was born to die on the cross for us. And He rose again from the dead to give eternal life to all who will receive Him as Savior, God and King.

*Open your heart to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you will receive His gift of eternal life. You can do that today, and you should! It's the most important thing you can ever do. Then do everything you can to help us reach more people with the good news about Christmas and the cross of Jesus Christ.

*Would you please bow for prayer.

(1) This basic outline is from EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Divine Light in Evidence" - John 1:6-13

(2) This section adapted from SermonCentral sermon "The True Light" by Devin Hudson - John 1:6-13

(3) George Whitefield quotation - Source: www.thegracetabernacle.org/quotes