Born 2x

BORN 2X

[INTRODUCTION]

Is it true that when you’re young you like everybody to remember your birthday? But when you get older, you’re hoping everyone forgets it!

[Statistics]

• (World atlas) September is the most common birthday month while September 9 is the most popular birthday.

• The least popular birthdays are on the 24th and 25th of December, 1st of January, and 4th of July.

[Birthday Celebration Origin]

• Early Christians viewed birthday celebrations as pagan in nature (See Appendix)

• By Medieval times, people celebrated the birthdays of saints, then later shifted to celebrating individual adult’s birthday

• Only until in the 19th centuries, children’s birthdays were widely celebrated as important milestones from childhood to adulthood.

Therefore, all of us have a birthday!

But according to the Bible, everyone needs to have at least two birthdays.

Therefore, to have 2 birthdays, everyone needs to be BORN 2X or in a more familiar term, Born Again.

--------------- THE NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN ---------------

To understand the need to be born again, we need to go back to the creation narrative

- God created the world, then he created Adam and Eve in his image, and put them in the Garden of Eden.

- God forbids Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but they sin against God by disobeying this one simple instruction.

- Therefore, God kicked them out as sin and death were infused in them

- As the progenitors (ancestors) of humans on Earth, every human is born sinners

- All of us are dead spiritually. The Apostle Paul confirms this in

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

We are so dead! Everyone is born physically and automatically dead spiritually.

[Real Talk – Character flaws]

The song – “Gusto kong bumait pero hindi ko magawa” ("I want to be good, but I cant") is accurate to some extent.

We all have “character flaws” such as pride, greed, self-centredness, bitterness, lust, infidelity, and more.

That is why it is common for a Christian to intentionally miss worship services on account of pleasure, work, and even family activity and church ministry. Not that these are wrong, but when these are done intentionally to with no sense of remorse, I encourage you to have a self-check.

Another example is when you know that you or your marriage needs help, but because you pride is more important to you, you choose to endure rather than seeking help.

(Share more example if needed)

--------------- GOD’S SOLUTION ---------------

So, we are all dead, God’s solution is to recreate/reset men.

• He chose people like Abraham and his descendants, and eventually the Israelites.

• God gave them laws to live up to God’s standards and allowed them to sacrifice animals as temporary compensation for their sins while waiting for the seed.

• As a permanent sacrificed he sent Jesus,

o Jesus died for the sins of all humanity, to mark the end of old creation

o Jesus resurrected to mark the beginning of a new creation.

Romans 5:19 (Summarizes this) For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

--------------- BORN AGAIN DEFINED ---------------

In general, just think of the term “BORN AGAIN” as a crucial, non-negotiable part of God’s strategy to restore and save humankind from sins and return to him

[My Experience]

When I was growing up in the city of Manila, when my friends would ask me about my faith, I will answer “I am a born again Christian” softly. Funny, but this is true. Because I didn’t know what it means to be “born again”

For me, “Born Again” is just

- A movement ("born-again Christian" and the "born-again movement")

- A member of the movement, who seems always happy, praying and singing loudly, shouting, “Amen”, “Hallelujah!” and “Praise You!”

What I realized is that the term “Born Again” is not invented by men or Christian groups. The term “born again”, which is a central theme in Christianity, is a term spoken by Jesus Christ.

Actually, it is Jesus’ directive that every true Christian must be “Born Again”

[CONTEXT]

--------------- NICODEMUS ---------------

The word born again first appeared in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.

John 3:1-2 1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Prior to this conversation, Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival performing miracles. Many people saw the miracles and believed in his name. Apparently, Nicodemus witnessed it as well. And so, at night, he (strangely) approached Jesus.