There was a group of tourists who were visiting a picturesque village and came upon an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one of the tourist asked, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.”
Very true, only Adam and Eve did not enter this world as babies. That’s how it is in the physical realm and it is also how it is in the spiritual realm.
1. YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN
JOHN 3:1-8. Nicodemus came to Jesus because he had eternal questions on his heart. He wanted to know the answers to the questions of how to be right with God. Inside all of us is a longing to know why we are here, what’s our purpose, how can we have peace with God, and what about after death? Jesus has answers, look how it said Jesus answered him. Jesus wants to answer the questions of our hearts. Here is the answer- you must be born again. Notice someone can be old physically, when they are born spiritually. But here Jesus says that we enter the kingdom of God by birth, spiritual birth. In verses 5-8, Jesus explains to Nicodemus that He is not talking about a physical birth, born of water. When we are born physically we are encased for nine months in water. When that water breaks, we are born. Jesus says here that it takes two births to enter the kingdom of God, the physical birth being born of the flesh and the spiritual birth, being born of the Spirit.
JOHN 3:16-18 This scripture explains what it takes to be born again. When Jesus says believe here he is not talking about believing the way a lot of people think about believing. There was a man named Charles Blondine who was a tight rope walker who lived about a hundred years ago. He strung a wire across Niagra Falls. He would walk across the falls doing different things. He walked on stilts, He carried a man across on his back. Once he walked half way across, sat down and made and ate an omelet. Amazing! One time he pushed a wheelbarrow across and back. Then he said to the crowd how many believe I can go across pushing the wheelbarrow with a man in it? The crowd yelled yes, yes. Then he asked, “Who wants to go?” The crowd was silent. Finally one man came forward. That man believed. I remember when I was born again. I asked God to forgive me of my sins, and Jesus to come into my heart. I meant business. It wasn’t just a feeling, just an experience it was a total changing point. I went from death to life. From the old person I used to be to a new creation.
JOHN 1:11-13 This says He came to His own, meaning Jesus who created mankind came to those He had created and was not received. But to those who did receive Him, He gave the right to become children of God. This is an incredible privilege. In this world it makes a huge difference sometimes who your daddy is. I read a story about Richard Roberts. He was trying to get a loan for a car and he went from one bank to another getting turned down. Finally he went into another bank and said will it help if I tell you Oral Robert is my dad? He got the loan. This is extremely important our being born again change everything. The fact that God is our Father changes everything. One of the saddest things I can think of is for a Christian not to know who he is and not to realize what it means to have God as our Father.
Turn to 1JOHN 5:4&5 This is how the Bible says it.
2. WE MUST GROW UP IN CHRIST
GAL.3:26-29-GAL.4:1
This is again saying that through our faith we are heirs, which means we are children of God and that He as our Father has given us an inheritance because of what Jesus did. But I want you to notice what it says in 4:1, This means that our immaturity will limit us. Which also should give us a great desire to mature. Its not wrong to be a baby, we have already seen that, that is how we begin. But even though babies are extremely cute and loveable and when you are around them for a little while it makes you think you really want one until the diaper changing and the crying for unknown reasons. Grand parenting is really nice cause you can hand them back to their moms in the rough time. But my main point is although babies get a lot of attention, and they get everything done for them they miss out on so much. For just one example to bring clarity I love to read. I don’t know when I started to read probable 1st grade, but until I learned how to read I couldn’t and I missed out on the blessing of reading.
MARK 4:13-20 3/4s of the people who heard the Word produces good things. Why because they grow up and mature in the Lord. Fruit is produced on mature plants. Notice that some produces even a hundred fold.
An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I’m not making much progress, but I’m established!” One spring when he was hauling some logs, his wagon wheels sank down to the axles in mud. Try as he would, he couldn’t get the wagon out. Defeated, he sat atop the logs, viewing the dismal situation. Soon a neighbor who had always felt uncomfortable with the farmer’s worn out testimony come along and greeted him, “Well, brother Jones, I see you’re not making much progress, but you must be content because you’re well-established! Sometimes we get comfortable but I want to encourage you today lets not stay babies lets grow up in Jesus.
When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for nesting material. Then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave they are very comfortable. That’s when the mother eagle begins”stirring up the nest.” She pulls out the fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked out, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually the growing eagles begin to fly. God wants us to fly. He wants us to have incredible experiences and to be all that He has called us to be but in order to do so we must grow up in Him.
EPH.4:11-16
This shows us one of the signs of immaturity: instability not being able to stand. We saw this also in the parable of the soils. When persecution comes because of the Word, giving up. This sounds good, this sounds good, that sounds, good. Not being in balance. Up and down, Up and down, committed to the Lord for a while then not. High in the Lord then low in the Lord. I’m not saying this in a condemning way, what I’m saying is that as we mature we become stable. And our commitment to God shows up in every part of our lives. In other words we become like Jesus. This also tells us how we grow by hearing the Word and doing the Word by being a part of the Church. Just like babies learn to grow in a family, God puts spiritual babies in families to grow. The best place for a baby to learn to be a responsible adult is in a family and the best place for spiritual babies to grow up is in the Church, the family of God. 1TIM.3:14&15. Some of the important things taught in a family is responsibility. How many of you parents have your children doing chores. It is so important that they learn how to stick with a job till the end, how to overcome problems in doing chores, how to think the best way to get things done. How many of you realize it’s the same in the Church. When you do things it grows you. Children learn a lot about how to love their brothers and sisters, how to respect others, how to not demand their own way all the time, how to do for others. Babies are all about me, me, me. It’s in the dealing with others that we learn how to love. satan loves it when Christians don’t mature. Their immaturity makes their witness of no effect, and renders them close to powerless. he likes us to remain like slaves.
1PET.2:1&2 This tells us to desire the Word that we may grow, in other words we ought to want to grow.
Three areas to grow in is: 1. Our faith. As we begin to grow we will develop our faith. It took me years to come to the place where I could trust God. And I still have a lot of growing in this area. MARK 11:22-24
2. In love. EPH. 5:1&2 PHIL.1:9
3. In obedience. 1PET.1:13-16
G - GO TO GOD IN PRAYER.
R - READ YOUR BIBLE DAILY.
O - OBEY WHAT YOU LEARN IN THE BIBLE.
W - WORSHIP GOD FROM YOUR HEART.
T- TELL OTHERS WHAT GOD IS DOING IN YOUR LIFE.
H- HEED THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE.
