SERIES: “BE NEW”
“THE NEW BIRTH”
JOHN 3:1-21
Welcome. I haven’t seen a lot of you since last year. How are you doing? I pray that you prosper this year – physically, materially, and most of all, spiritually.
Last year we had a theme – “Days of Discovery.” Most of our sermon series dealt with discovering something: Discover the Lessons of the Tabernacle, Discover Grace, Discover Vision, Discover Forgiveness, Discover Purpose, etc. This year we also have a theme: “The Year to Be…” Most of the messages this year will center around the theme of being. We start off today with the series: “Be New”.
It’s Day 4 of the new year – 2009. How are your resolutions progressing? I had one fellow tell me that he kept every resolution that he made last year. They’re in an envelope sitting on top of his file cabinet.
Did you ever wonder what it would be like if our pets made resolutions for the new year? Perhaps it would sound something like this:
• I will work on comprehending that the cat is from Venus and I am from Mars
• I will no longer be excited by the can opener
• Grow opposable thumbs, break into the pantry, and decide for myself just how much food is enough
• Get out of the castle more. Maybe swim counter-clockwise for awhile this year
• January 1st: Kill the sock! MUST KILL THE SOCK!
• January 2nd-December 31st – Relive victory over the sock!
• I will not chase the stick UNTIL it leaves his hand
New Year’s resolutions are all about change. I want to do something new this year. I want to be something different than I’ve been in years past. One of the themes of the Bible is that God wants to make us new. God is not stale or boring. He is the author of life and wants us to experience life the way He designed us to experience life. Our Call to Worship this morning came from Is. 43:18-19 where God says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
We’re going to look at a man this morning who wanted something different for his life – something new. He came to Jesus seeking newness. He was a little stunned by what he heard but the words of Jesus led him to know that he could become new through a “New Birth”.
Jn. 3:1-21 – Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I
tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we
speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
What does it mean to be “born again?” How does it happen and how can we know that it has happened to us? Why is so important? Let’s look together at this meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus and see what we can learn.
CONFAB
Jesus has come to Jerusalem just before the start of Passover. He has already been baptized by John in the Jordan and chosen some of His disciples. When He enters Jerusalem, He sees that His Father’s house – the Temple – has become something it was never intended to be. It was to be a place of worship and prayer. Human greed has turned it into a place of material profit.
Jesus becomes angry and drives these unscrupulous people from His Father’s house. His righteous anger stirs the wrath of the religious leaders who were profiting from this unspiritual enterprise. The people marvel at this prophet from Galilee who would dare stand up to these religious leaders.
We also find out that Jesus has been performing miracles in Jerusalem. John 2:23-25 – Now while he was
in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony
about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Joshua Bell is one of the world’s greatest violinists. He’s won a Grammy Award for a violin concerto. Several years ago he won the Avery Fisher Prize, given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement. His instrument is a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin, which is the finest instrument, worth over four million dollars. People pay hundreds of dollars to hear him play. A magazine said that his playing "does nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live." One composer says that "he plays like a god."
But in January 2007, Bell took part in an unusual experiment. He donned a baseball cap, pulled out his Stradivarius, and played incognito as a busker at a subway station in Washington, D.C. Over a thousand people walked by. Only one person recognized him; few even stopped to listen. For his 45-minute experiment, Bell collected $32.17, excluding the $20 he got from the person who recognized him. Some people gave him pennies. Despite being one of the world’s greatest violinists playing one of the most valuable instruments in existence, people passed him by. They didn’t realize the value and beauty of what was right before them. I think this describes how people related to Jesus. They found him interesting but not very valuable.
In the midst of the confrontation with the religious leaders and the performance of miracles, someone is watching. His name is Nicodemus. John describes him as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin. He’s been watching Jesus and listening to Jesus and Nicodemus has questions.
So he comes to visit with Jesus at whatever place Jesus is staying in Jerusalem.
John points out that Nicodemus comes at night. Some commentators have suggested that Nicodemus came at night because he didn’t want anyone to see him visiting with Jesus. However, the Pharisees considered night time the best time to study scripture. The business of the day was done and the study of scripture could take the foremost position. More than likely, Nicodemus simply wanted a concentrated time with Jesus without any interruptions.
CONFUSION
A five-year-old girl asked her mother where she came from as a baby. Her mother told her about a big white bird called a stork that brought her in a basket.
Grandma was visiting. The little girl went into the next room where Grandma was watching TV. She asked her grandmother where her mother came from when she was born. Grandma repeated the story about the stork. The girl then asked her grandmother where she came from when she was born. Grandma told her that her mother – the little girl’s great-grandmother – had found her underneath a big leaf of cabbage out in the garden.
The little girl was confused. She went outside and sat on the front steps of her home. One of her friends rode up on a bicycle and noticed the look of consternation on the little girl’s face. The friend asked, “What’s the problem?” The little girl replied, “There hasn’t been a normal birth in my family for generations!”
Nicodemus starts his confab with Jesus with a respectable statement: “I know that you are truly from God because of the miracles that I’ve seen you perform.” Nicodemus even uses the title for a respected teacher; he calls Jesus “Rabbi”.
Jesus immediately does away with polite conversation and makes a stunning statement: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” The phrase, “I tell you the truth”, is translated in other places as “Truly, truly…” The KJV uses, “Verily, verily…” It was a statement that meant, “Listen up and listen good. What I’m about to say is extremely important.”
Nicodemus is stopped cold in his tracks. John the Baptist preached about the coming kingdom of God. Jesus preached about the kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven.” Obviously, Nicodemus thinks, a good Jew like himself ought to automatically qualify for citizenship in the kingdom of God. He is a descendant of Abraham and a Pharisee. Nobody was as righteous as a Pharisee. Not only does he have the birthright, he’s also earned his way into the kingdom of God.
That’s what had Nicodemus confused. He had done everything right. He had the right pedigree. He had the right view of Scripture (as opposed to those liberal Sadducees). He was even a teacher of Scripture – one with a great reputation. In vs. 10, Jesus refers to Nicodemus as “the” teacher of the law. He wasn’t just any teacher of the law. He was one of the foremost teachers of the law. But what John the Baptist had been teaching about the kingdom of God and what Jesus had been teaching about the kingdom of God didn’t fit his conceptions concerning the kingdom of God. So Jesus went right to the heart of Nicodemus’s questions: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
John Piper comments: ““So one of John’s points is: All of Nicodemus’ religion, all of his amazing Pharisaic study and discipline and law-keeping, cannot replace the need for the new birth. In fact, they may well make more obvious the need for the new birth.”
The teaching of being born again bothers people. Why? Because it teaches them about their condition without the new birth. Rom. 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That’s a difficult statement for a prideful Pharisee to swallow.
Eph. 2:1-3 – “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you
followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those
who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” How can that be? I’ve done everything I can to show God just how respectful I am. Whether a person considers himself righteous or unrighteous, very few people like to have their true condition exposed.
Nicodemus responds to Jesus with this statement: “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
In the original language of the New Testament, there were three forms you could use to ask a question. The first form was a question that had an obvious answer of “yes”. For example, “Is the sky blue?” If asked during the daytime, the obvious answer is “Yes”. The second form was a question that had an obvious answer of “no”. For example, “Is my hair black?” The obvious answer is “No” because my hair is blonde. The third form was a question that sought information. Its answer was open-ended. For example, “How far is it to Indianapolis?” Nicodemus utilized the second form: “Can a man go back into his mother’s womb and be physically reborn? Well, obviously not. It’s impossible.”
Jesus very quickly pointed out that the birth He was referring to was spiritual not physical. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Jesus was saying to Nicodemus, “You wanted to talk about the things concerning the kingdom of God. I’m telling you right now that you cannot enter the kingdom of God or even begin to comprehend the kingdom of God unless you’ve experienced this new birth. It’s not physical renewal but spiritual renewal.”
Nicodemus had a difficult time understanding the concept of being “born again”. That’s okay because a lot folks who claim to be Christians don’t understand what it means to be “born again”. It’s a term that is tossed about and talked about but never quite comprehended by those utilize it.
When Jimmy Carter ran for President of the United States, he claimed to be a “born again” Christian. Chuck Colson, who served as legal counsel for the White House in the Nixon administration, wrote about his conversion to Christianity and the book was titled, Born Again. Many writers refer to “born again” Christians as those who have simply said they believe in Jesus Christ and that they expect to go to heaven when they die.
The fact of the matter is that there is no other kind of Christian than one who is “born again.”
The phrase translated as “born again” literally means to be “born from above” or “born anew”. It’s when God comes into your life and makes everything different for the better. God doesn’t change things just to change them. He changes them so that you can be new and fresh.
When you’re born from above, you receive a new heart and a new spirit. The Spirit of God moves in and does His thing. Your thought processes change and your attitudes change. The things of God become more important than things of the world. You think about lost people and your heart breaks. You see people suffering and your heart reaches out to walk beside them and aid them in their suffering. You see things differently. You hear things differently. Your attitude moves from thinking about how to serve yourself to thinking about how you can serve others. “Born again” is not a term that signifies a system of theology. It’s a term that signifies a series of changes that make you more like Jesus Christ.
Nicodemus saw the miraculous things that Jesus did and it made him say, “I want to find out more about this Jesus.” But just being interested in knowing more about Jesus didn’t put Nicodemus in the kingdom of God. Jesus said that only being born again would do that. Again, quoting from John Piper: “What happens in the new birth is not merely affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in yourself.”
COMPREHENSION
In other words, the ones who will enter the kingdom are those who have a newness that involves a cleansing of the old and a creation of the new. Understand that, spiritually speaking, old and new do not go together. Mt. 9:16-17 – “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Nicodemus knew that when Gentiles wanted to convert to Judaism that they were immersed in water and then treated as if they were newborns. It was considered that their old lives were washed away. Their old relationships were null and void. They now stood to develop new relationships in the community of God’s people. Nicodemus would also have been well-acquainted with John the Baptist baptizing with water for repentance.
Clearly, Jesus taught that this new birth came through a process involving both “water” and “Spirit”. It’s certain here that Jesus was talking about submitting to baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is not a message in defense of baptism so we won’t spend a lot of time on the issue. That’s going to be disappointing to some of you but time constraints keep me from spending a lot of time on the issue of baptism. Just know that Jesus was making reference to it and that if you have any questions concerning this subject or would like to discuss it in more depth, please see me after we’re finished this morning. I’ll be glad to set aside some time this week so that we can “reason together.”
What Jesus was telling Nicodemus that his old way of life was getting him nowhere in the kingdom of God. The new birth was spiritual and had nothing to do with religion but had everything to do with relationship.
God was concerned about lost relationships because of sin. He sent His Son so that lost people could have relationship with Him. The new birth was only possible through faith in the Son.
Clearly, the New Testament continues that teaching. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Life – true life- the born-again, newness and freshness of life comes only through relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s when we commit to His Lordship that we enter into the kingdom of God. A kingdom has to have a king. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Why is new birth available only through Jesus Christ? Jesus explains it this way: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Do you really want to know about the kingdom of God? I’m the only One who knows what it’s all about. I’m the one who came down from heaven.
Why am I the only One who can give you the new birth? Because I’m the One who paid the price for your new life. When Jesus talked the serpent that was lifted up, He was referring to something recorded in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. The people of Israel had sinned grievously against God. God sent a number of poisonous serpents to bite and kill these rebellious people. The only way to be saved was to do what God told you to do. In this case, God had Moses put a brass serpent on a pole and lift it high in the air. Anyone who looked to the brass serpent was saved from the poisonous snakes.
Jesus was lifted up on the cross. It was there He paid for our sins. Life abundant and eternal is in Him. It’s only when we do what God tells us to do – to look to Jesus Christ and trust in Him for our salvation that we experience spiritual birth into a new life.
CONSEQUENCE
Those who refuse to look to Christ desire to stay in the dark. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
In the beginning of his gospel, John puts it this way: Jn. 1:4-5 – “In him was life, and that life was the light
of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Simply put, without Jesus and the new birth He offers, you are dead in your sins. Life, real life, is not possible. But He is both light and life.
I heard about an old country doctor who was summoned way out into the boondocks to deliver a baby. These people lived so far out that there was no electricity. When the doctor arrived, the only people at the house were the mother – already in labor – and her eight-year-old son.
The doctor asked the boy to help him. The only light in the place came from lanterns so he had the young boy stand by the bed and hold a lantern up high so the doctor could see while he helped the woman deliver the baby.
As the boy held the lantern, he closed his eyes but he could here his mother in labor. He could hear the doctor instructions for his mother push, push, push. After a while, the boy heard his mother cry out in delight. He looked down and saw the doctor lift the newborn by the feet and spank him on the bottom to clear his lungs and help him get his first breath.
The boy heard his mom gasp and as he looked down again, he saw the doctor delivering another baby. The boy held the lantern high like he was supposed to but he sure was shocked. Again, his mother cried out and when he looked again, the doctor was delivering a third baby.
Just then, the eight-year-old blew out the lantern. The doctor asked testily, “What did you do that for?” The boy said, “I think the light’s attracting them.”
If you want new life through new birth, the light of Jesus is quite attractive. It drew Nicodemus and it drew many others to Him throughout His ministry.
In the new birth, the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ in a living union. Christ is life. Christ is the vine where life flows. We are the branches (John 15:1ff). What happens in the new birth is the supernatural creation of new spiritual life, and it is created through union with Jesus Christ.
The consequence of failing to recognize Jesus for who He is that we fail to experience the new birth. Jesus says that without the new birth, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Later on, Paul says that this new birth into new life as a new creation is so important that it overshadows everything else. Gal. 6:14-15 – “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”
CONCLUSION
In July of 1976, Israeli commandoes made a daring raid at an airport in Entebbe, Uganda. 103 Jews were being held as hostages. In less than 15 minutes, the soldiers had killed all seven of the kidnappers and set the captives free.
As successful as the rescue was, however, three of the hostages were killed during the raid. As the commandoes entered the airport terminal, they shouted in Hebrew, “Get down! Crawl!” The Jewish hostages understood and lay down on the floor, while the kidnappers, who did not speak Hebrew, were left standing. Very quickly, the rescuers shot the upright kidnappers.
Sadly, two of the hostages hesitated – perhaps to see what was happening – and were also cut down by the volley of bullets meant for the kidnappers. One young man was lying down and actually stood up when the commandoes entered the room to affect the rescue. He, too, was shot with the bullets meant for the enemy. Had these three heeded the soldiers’ commands, they would have been freed with the rest of the captives.
Are you ready to heed the words of Jesus concerning the new birth? Have you experienced it in your life? Have you placed your complete hope and trust in Jesus Christ? Jn. 3:16-18 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
When Nicodemus questioned what Jesus said about the new birth, it seems that he was confused over Jesus’ terminology. I think Nicodemus understood what Jesus was saying. I think what Nicodemus was saying was, “I’ve been this way so long, can I really change?” And Jesus said, “You can’t change yourself but I can change you completely.”
That’s what Jesus says to you today: “I know you think that you’ve done so much and done it for so long that nothing can really make a change. But if you’ll trust Me, if you’ll put your complete hope and faith in Me, I can change you into what I want you to be.” Will you follow Him?
