REGENERATION OF A PERSON
JOHN 3:1-21
INTRODUCTION
ILLUSTRATION Experiencing the new you.
The concept of being born again is one of the biblical subjects often misunderstood to the extent that some people do not want to be identified with.
ILLUSTRATION When I was just starting my pastoral ministry, I read in the newspaper an article entitled Before I was a Born Again, not I am a Born Against.
Being born again does not mean a religion, or a denomination, and being fanatic. Being born again is a biblical injunction that everyone must understand. Please open your bibles to John 3:1-21 and as we read this try to answer the following question:
Why do we need to understand this concept? What does it mean? How can we be a born again person? How does one experience being born again?
1. Realize the necessity of being born again (vv. 1-3)
Nicodemus came to affirm Jesus ministry but Jesus confronted him by saying I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Jesus said this to emphasize the necessity of being born again for those who intend to see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the realm where God rules, that realm are in the heart of men and women who believe in Him. No one can experience being in God’s kingdom without being born again. Nicodemus was introduced as a man of the upper class and conservative in his beliefs.
As a Pharisee he belonged to the strict religious sect of Judaism in contrast to the Sadducees, who were less rigid in their beliefs and were more politically minded. As a member of the ruling council or Sanhedrin, he would have been sensitive to the prevailing doctrinal trends of the time. His interest in Jesus had been prompted by the miracles he had witnessed, and he came for an interview to obtain more information. But being religious and moral does not make a man fit for heaven; he must be born again.
What can we learn here? Being born again is a necessity for those who intend to see the kingdom of God. This is not a man-made requirement Jesus declared this to Nicodemus. Being born again is a concept that did not originate from the protestant or charismatic; our Lord Jesus Christ himself introduced it. Therefore, we cannot take for granted this command. If this is important then we need to understand what it means and how we can fulfill this instruction.
2. Understand the meaning of being born again (vv. 4-8)
When Nicodemus heard what Jesus said, he immediately expressed his skepticism. He said, how could a man be born when he is old, surely he cannot enter his mother’s womb for the second time? Jesus understood that Nicodemus perceived the new birth to be a physical birth. Thus he cannot comprehend how it can happen to a person like him. But Jesus explained that being born again is not a physical birth. Being born again is a spiritual rebirth. Physical birth is our mode of entrance into the world and brings with it the potential equipment for adjustment to the world.
To be born again, or born from above, means a to be spiritually reborn that enables a person to enter the spiritual world (kingdom of heaven) and adapt to its conditions. Being born again is an experience that only God can initiate. It is the reception of the Holy Spirit into one's life after declaring repentance from sin and faith in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus asserted that the entrance into the kingdom of God that Nicodemus desired could not be achieved by legalism or outward conformity.
It requires an injection of new life. No one can make or become born again except God. Why is being reborn in the spirit a requirement for those who would like to enter the kingdom of heaven? Note the dynamics involved:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6: 23)
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Heaven is a place for those who are alive spiritually. Man sinned and suffered the consequence, which is both physical and spiritual death. Man who is dead in the Spirit is synonymous to a man without the Spirit. Therefore if any man wants to see the kingdom of God, he must be reborn in the spirit. How can that happen? The origin and the destination of the wind are unknown to the one who feels it and acknowledges its reality. Just so, the new life of one born of the Spirit is unexplainable by ordinary reasoning; and its outcome is unpredictable, though its reality is undeniable.
3. Fulfill the requirement of being born again (vv. 9-18)
In verses 9-13, Nicodemus revealed his ignorance by asking Jesus how a person can be born again. The Lord Jesus was surprised but patiently explained how a person can be born again.
He started by using an Old Testament event, as an illustration of what man should do to be born again in the spirit. In Number 21:1-9, the Israelites asked God to deliver to them the Canaanites and made a promise that they will be faithful to Him. God granted their request and allowed them to settle in the land. But when difficult times came, they started grumbling and complaining before God about their situation, like shortage of water and food. God sent snakes and bitten the Israelites.
Some died while others asked Moses to pray for them. Moses prayed to God and the Lord told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on the pole and those who will look at the pole will be healed. IN LIKE MANNER, Jesus implied that He will be crucified and those who will believe in Him will have eternal life. John further explained in verses 16-18, that those will believe in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. Therefore, one of the things that we must do to be born again is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
a) BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
We must believe that He is the Son of God and He died for our sins, our problem. We must believe that through Him we can have eternal life and be reborn in the Spirit. We must be willing to trust and obey Him. Believing in Christ means stop believing in you.
b) REPENT FROM YOUR SINS
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:37-38)
Forgiveness means to cancel, send away, erase, and cover our sins. But the requirement is repentance. After we repent, the Holy Spirit who will initiate spiritual life will come into our lives. Sin is the realm of the Evil spirit and the Holy Spirit cannot reside in that realm. Therefore we must empty ourselves of sins, repent and the Holy Spirit will come
ILLUSTRATION Enough To Quit A Sunday school teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word repentance. A little boy put up his hand and said, It is being sorry for your sins. A little girl also raised her hand and said, Please, it is being sorry enough to quit. - Donald Grey Barnhouse
c) RECEIVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
The Spirit, however, controls you, not by the sinful nature but, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
It is important that Christ lives within us. If Christ is in us, our body is dead because of sin but our spirit is alive because of Spirit of God who lives within us. Therefore, let us make sure that we have surrendered our lives to God and asked His Spirit to live within us by inviting our Jesus into our lives as our Savior and Lord.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)
d) CONTINUE TO LIVE IN CHRIST
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)
Receiving Jesus Christ is the starting point in being born again in the Spirit. You receive a new life when you believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ but you must continue to realize the fullness of being born again in the Spirit.
4. Prove your experience of being born again (vv. 19-21)
The difference between a born again and non-born again person does not lie in the guilt or innocence of either, it lies in the different attitudes they take toward the "light." The non-born again shrinks from the light because it exposes his sin; the born again willingly comes to the light so that his real motives may be revealed. He maintains a life of obedience to God.
ILLUSTRATION Only Christianity Transforms Lives As Dr. Harry A. Ironsides preached in a certain place, he noticed a man in the crowd writing on a card, which he presently handed to the speaker. The man was Arthur Lewis, agnostic lecturer, and he proposed a challenge to the speaker to debate the subject, ¡§Agnosticism versus Christianity, and offered to pay all expenses involved.
Dr. Ironside read the card aloud to his audience and then said: I accept on these conditions. First, that you promise to bring with you to the platform one man who was once an outcast, a slave to sinful habits, but who heard you or some other infidel lecture on agnosticism, was helped by it and cast away his sins and became a new man, and is today a respected member of society, all because of your unbelief.
Second, that you agree to bring with you one woman who was once lost to all purity and goodness, but who can now testify that agnosticism came to her while deep in sin and implanted in her poor heart a hatred of impurity and a love of holiness, causing her to become chaste and upright, all through a disbelief in the Bible.
Now, sir, he continued, if you will agree, I promise to be there with one hundred such men and women, once just such lost souls, who heard the gospel of the grace of God, believed it and have found new life and joy in Jesus Christ our Savior. Will you accept my terms? As might be expected, the atheist could only walk away silently. Evangelical Christian A relationship with God transforms life.
SIMILARLY God's purpose toward us is positive. God's attitude is not that of hatred but of love. He is not seeking an excuse to condemn us but is rather endeavoring to save us.
His purpose in sending Jesus into the world was to show his love and to draw us to himself. If we are lost, it is because we have not entrusted ourselves to God, the only source of life. When we entrust ourselves to God, He gives us His Spirit who will initiate a relationship and changes in our lives.
CONCLUSION
The experience of being born again is between you and God. But the opportunity of being certain depends on you alone. Are you a born again person? Have you entrusted your life to God? If your answer to any one of these questions is no or I don’t know, then let me tell you what you should do to become a born again person: invitation.
