What Does It Mean To Be Born Again? (Part 2) Series

Now That’s a Good Question: What Does it Mean to Born Again? (Part 2)

John 3:9-21

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

3-20-2022

John Who?

Do you remember the name Rollen Stewart? You may not remember the name but you may remember him if you see him.

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He was known as “rainbow wig man.” He could seen at sporting events holding a sign that said John 3:16. He would sit in seats that would be visible on camera.

By the way, the sad ending of his story is that he is serving three life sentences for kidnapping and other crimes.

A modern day equivalent was Tim Tebow in college when he would write John 3:16 on his eye tape. He wore John 3:16 eye tape in in the 2009 National Championship game and Google reported that 94 million people googled “John 3:16” during the game.

John 3:16 is probably the most famous verse in all the Bible.

The Bibles that the Gideons put in hotels have John 3:16 in 27 different languages in the inside cover.

John 3:16 is on the bottom of In and Out Burger’s soda cups and on the bright yellow Forever 21 bags.

But we are also living in a society that is more and more Biblically illiterate.

One young lady was asked what she thought the John 3:16 sign she saw at a game meant. She said, “Obviously, they are waiting for their friend John and they are in the third row, sixteenth seat.”

As less and less of Americans read their Bibles, we have an opportunity to share with them the great message the world has ever heard.

Max Lucado says it like only he can:

“A twenty six words parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything about the Bible, return here.”

Born Again

Last week, we studied John’s summary of a conversation Jesus had a with a Pharisee named Nicodemus.

Nicodemus was very religious, morally upstanding and politically powerful. He had a family legacy of victory, was born a Jew (the chosen people), a brilliant theological mind, and a very healthy bank account.

But he wasn’t born again.

He was searching for answers that even his great intellect didn’t have. That led him to visit a young Galilean rabbi named Jesus at night.

During that conversation, Jesus drops a truth bomb into Nicodemus’s heart:

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Steve Lawson gives nine characteristics of being born again:

It’s not optional

Nic thought being born again was for Gentiles, for pagans, for anyone other than himself. He believed that since he was a Jew that God had to love him and that he guaranteed heaven.

I can image Nic’s jaw dropping as he comprehended what Jesus was saying. No one, not even Nicodemus, will enter the kingdom without being born again.

It’s a second birth

Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again. Nic sarcastically asks if Jesus expected him to climb back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?

His first birth wasn’t enough. He was born spiritually still born. In order to enter the kingdom, he must be born again.

It’s an unmerited birth

Just as Nic did nothing to contribute to his first birth, he also could do nothing to deserve or earn the second birth.

Charles Spurgeon said that the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.

It’s a heavenly birth

The term “born again” could also be translated “born from above.” But this birth comes from heaven.

It’s an illuminating birth

His head must of spun when he heard the words that he couldn’t see the kingdom. Was Jesus calling him blind? Yes. He was the blind leading the blind.

It’s a cleansing birth

Before God gives someone a new heart He cleanses them from the inside out.

It’s a comprehensive birth

The Holy Spirit opens your eyes to your sin and need of salvation and gives you a new heart, a new mind, a new outlook, a new worldview.

It’s a radical birth

It’s a radical change. It’s not a makeover but a takeover. Death to life. Darkness to light. Old to new.

Paul said it this way to the new Corinthian Christians:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This isn’t like joining a club. This is process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.