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.
[Slide]
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.
Nicodemus’ last words are “How can this be?” In other words, “I don’t get this Jesus. How does it happen? What are the causes? What does it me for my life?”
Jesus asked the obvious question, “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”
Turn to John 3: 11
Prayer
Our Testimony
Very truly I tell you, 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?
We will not hear anymore from Nicodemus. Jesus is now teaching the teacher.
When Jesus says “we speak of what we know” why is using the plural? He could be using that for emphasis. He could be including His disciples. He could be speaking of the Trinity.
Just like Nicodemus begin the conversation with “we know you are a teacher from God,” now Jesus says, “we speak of what we know.”
Jesus has testified to what He knows and what He has seen but you people have rejected it. “You people” represent Nicodemus’ fellow Jews, Pharisees, and religious leaders.
He poses another question to Nicodemus. Jesus gave him a very easy analogy of birth and Nic didn’t understand it at all. It was pointless. Like talking to brick wall.
How would Nic ever understand if Jesus went deeper and talked of “heavenly things,” like the kingdom, or the Trinity, or God’s love for the world?
Heaven Sent
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”
The “no one” here is not absolute. Obviously, Lazarus came back from heaven.
When Jesus died on the cross,
“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (John 27:51-53)
And Paul was caught up to the “third heaven” and “was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.” (2 Cor 12:4)
In the Bible, it’s exceeding rare for someone to come back.
In 2010, a book was published called “The Boy that Came Back from Heaven,” written by Alex Marlarkey and his father Kevin. Six year old Alex was seriously injured after a car accident and was in a coma for two months. After he woke up, he told a fantastic story of heaven, Jesus, and angels.
The book was a best seller and sold more than one million copies.
But in 2015, Alex wrote:
“I did not die. I did not go to Heaven. I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.”
But one One has come back from heaven - Jesus.
In John 6, Jesus is the bread of life:
“For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)
“Son of Man” is Jesus favorite designation for Himself. It’s a name for the Messiah from Daniel 7.
Lifted Up
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
Jesus takes Nicodemus back to a story in Numbers 21 that is a word picture for why He came from heaven.
Remember, that Nic would have known this story from childhood. In Numbers, the Israelites are in the desert and began to complain about the manna that God provided.
To punish them, God sent “fiery serpents” to bite them. This could mean that the snakes were red but, more likely, that the bite was very painful and resulted in a high fever and death.
“The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” (Numbers 21:7)
Moses interceded for them and God told him to “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:8)
The snake was to be made of bronze. Bronze is made in fire and in the Bible represents judgement.
Moses told them that if they were bitten all they had to do was look at the snake and they would be healed. And that’s what happened. While there were some that probably laughed at Moses and died, others looked to the snake and lived.
The bronze snake wasn’t magical. It was their faith in the God that gave the snake the power that saved them. All they had to do was look and believe.
Dr. Barnhouse wrote that if this happened today, we would have formed the Committee for the Extermination of Fiery Serpents. We would wear badges, issued membership cards, elects officers, hold rallies, presented pictures of mounds of dead snakes and played down the death stats. All of this instead of simply looking!
Jesus, the Son of Man, tells Nicodemus that this story is a word picture for why He came.
Humans are infected with the venom of sin and under the curse of death. (Romans 3:23) God provided an antidote for this curse.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
In order to provide the cure, Jesus will be “lifted up” just like the bronze snake. He was actually telling Nic how He was going to die.
He will be “lifted up” on the cross and die for our sins and He will be lifted up from the grave and exalted to the highest place.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
You can’t earn salvation and we could never deserve it. All he can do is look and believe - put our full faith and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, in our place, to pay the penalty for our sins.
And by doing that, we will be granted “eternal life in him.”
One commentator says it this way:
Numbers 21 Jesus says, "That is a picture of me. I will be made sin (that is what a serpent always stands for, sin), lifted up to die. When that happens, if you will look at me and believe that I am dying for you, in your place, God will forgive your sins and you will receive the life of God.”
Most Famous Verse in the Bible
Then John give a summary explanation of what Jesus was saying to Nic.
This is perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible. Martin Luther called it “Gospel in miniature.”
It’s the verse that most Bible translators start.
“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.”
The “for” connects it back to verses 14-15.
What’s the motive behind Jesus’ coming?
God’s love in the foundation of the whole rescue mission. This word is agape - unconditional, holy, infinite, perfect love.
He so loved:
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:8-10)
What was the object of His love?
This would have rocked Nic back on his spiritual heels.
For God so loved the world. This word means the “sinful world.” Nic thought God only loved his kind, the Jews. But God set His love on the whole rebellious world.
What action did God take - He gave His only unique Son.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
Who can receive this gift? Whoever. Do you know what “whoever” means in the Greek? Whoever! Anyone! From the worst sinner to the most religious person.
What is the means of receiving this gift? Simply believing.
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36)
What’s the result? Two fold.
You shall not perish. We often skip over this part. In verse 18, John writes:
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)
Hell is real and it will be full of religious people who thought they could get their own the own merit.
Nic couldn’t see it. The world can’t see it.
Watch this atheist try to explain John 3:16.
Steven Lawson sums it up:
“If you are only born once, you will die twice. You you are born twice, you will only die once.”
But that’s not why God sent His son:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)
But for those who believe, they are promised eternal life.
“However, as it is written “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (I Cor 2:9)
This life starts now and last forever. Notice the present tense in this verse:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
This is the greatest news ever! An unknown author put it this way:
God - the greatest lover
So loved - the greatest degree
The world - the greatest number
That He gave - the greatest act
His only begotten Son - the greatest gift
That whosoever - the greatest invitation
Believes - the greatest simplicity
In Him - the greatest Person
Should not perish - the greatest deliverance
But - the greatest difference
Have - the greatest certainty
Everlasting life - the greatest possession
The Verdict is In!
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people 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 their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Many people do attend Bible believing, Bible preaching churches because they want to hide in the shade of the their sin. But those who “lives by the truth” live in the light.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 1:7)
R. Kent Hughes writes:
“…when one is really born again, there is a radical repentance, a radical work of the Spirit in that person’s life, a radical change so that the whole being is brought into new life. The results are discernible - they can be seen.”
Video: Radically Changed
Application
George Whitfield, the great evangelist of the Great Awakening, preached all over the east coast of the US and he had one message, you must be born again. A lady came up after a service and asked why He kept saying that she met be born again and without hesitation he said, “Because you must be born again!”
Charles Spurgeon was a fifteen year old teenager. He had been raised in a godly family. His dad was a preacher. His grandfather was a preacher. But he wasn’t saved. He didn’t get it.
On a Sunday morning he went looking for a church. He had to travel through some heavy snow when he stumbled across a small little church. The regular pastor didn’t make it that day because of the snow.
At last a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or a tailor, or something of that sort, went up to the pulpit to preach. Now it is well that preachers be instructed, but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to the text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say.
"Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isa 45:22 NKJV)
He said, “This is a simple text indeed. It’s says look. Now looking don’t take a deal of pain. It ain’t lifting your finger or foot it’s just look. Well, a man needn’t go to college to look. You may be the biggest fool and yet you can look…even a child can look.”
Sprugeon says, “The preacher fixed his eyes on me and said, ‘Young man you look very miserable and you will always be miserable if you don’t obey my text.”
Then he shouted, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! Look to Him and live.”
Spurgeon continued, “I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said, I was so possessed with the one thought. I had been waiting to do fifty things but when I heard that word look…I looked until I almost could have looked my eyes away.!”
Spurgeon looked and believed and was born again on Jan 6, 1850.
A.W. Pink makes the point that the human race fell by a look in the garden and is rescued by a look to the cross.
The writer of Hebrews encourages us to look to Jesus:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
What must you do?
This seems like a nice life verse until the wreck happens, the diagnosis is bad, the divorce papers come. Then they are more than a life verse. They are a life vest.
Examine yourself to see if you truly born again.
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
If you are born again, then you will love the church, treasure His Word, make prayer a priority, worship in spirit in truth, and love others extravagantly and intentionally, not perfectly, but with a clean conscience and a heart to obey.
2. Admit your need.
Nic knew there was something missing.
It’s not enough to be religious or moral. It’s not enough to be good because you can’t be good enough. The Holy Spirit helps us to see that we are in a desperate situation - helpless, hopeless, and hellbound.
?We cannot earn our salvation and we certainly don’t deserve it.
4. Trust Jesus completely.
We aren’t told explicitly that Nicodemus trusted Christ for salvation and was born again but it is implied when he arrives with Joseph of Arimathea to claim Jesus’s body after His crucifixion.
Paul wrote to the Romans:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
5. Accept the free gift
Maximus has a sweetheart and colored homemade cards for Duane Henrichs. I took the cards to him. He could have just thrown them on the bed but he opened and read them and was overjoyed by Max’s kindness.
