A little girl had been attending Church for a while. One day, she asked her mother “Where did people come from?” Her mother answered “God made Adam and Eve and they had children and that is how all of us came.”
A couple of days later she asked her father the same question. The father said “This is a long story but the short answer to your question is that all of us evolved from monkeys.” The confused little girl returned to her mother and said, “Mommy, how come you told me that we were created by God and Daddy said we came from monkeys?” Without missing a beat, Mom said “Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his.”
As funny as that is, in a spiritual sense it does matter which family we belong to because it is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. All of us are born into this world through a physical family but this morning we are going to talk about what it means to be born again into the spiritual family of God. To do this, we will use the story of Nicodemus found in the 3rd chapter of John’s gospel. Reading from vs.1:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
From what we can see, Nicodemus was a good man. Better than many of us for sure. We are told he was a Pharisee which means he was meticulous in keeping the religious law. Besides, Nicodemus was also a ruler meaning he was on the powerful religious council called the “Sanhedrin.” If you listened to the conversation, Jesus added to his credentials identifying him as a “Teacher” of the Jews. In other words he had mastered the word of God. But, there was a turmoil inside of him that caused him to come to Jesus by night.
I am sure he had seen or heard of Jesus doing so many miracles – the blind were made to see, Leper’s were cleansed and even the dead were raised to life! No matter how religious anyone was, no one had done such miracles before. He was curious - perhaps he too wanted those gifts or powers and to get to the bottom of it he starts a conversation with Jesus saying: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs unless God is with him.”
Without really answering the question, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he wasn’t going to make it unless he was “born again.” In other words an academic or theoretical knowledge of God and some good deeds are not going to be good enough to make it into God’s family.
Nicodemus is a good example of many good Christians. They are loyal members of the Church and support it with tithes and talent. They seldom miss a worship service. They even know the scriptures pretty well. All these are great but Jesus says unless we are “born again” all this good work will not get us to heaven.
Are you born again my friends? Are you content to be a proto type of Nicodemus who came close but not close enough to inherit eternal life or do you want to leave all that religion aside and instead open your heart and welcome the Holy Spirit into your life?
There is a big difference between being born of the flesh and being born of the Spirit. Birth of the flesh gives physical life but birth of the Spirit gives eternal life. Nicodemus never understood it so he asked Jesus:
"How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus asked a very logical question that makes earthly sense. How can you be born again or born twice. And Jesus said, the new birth is of water and the Spirit. Jesus himself took water baptism of John and then we are told the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.
Physical birth comes through the intimacy of human love shared by male and female. Spiritual birth comes through the intimacy of God’s love and us in which His life merges into ours as he starts living in us. It happens when his precious Holy Spirit begins to live in us.
We have to surrender completely to the Lord and create an environment within us that becomes hospitable for a Holy God to take up residence within us. As soon as that happens, we are given new eyes and a new heart that resemble the Character of God. We begin to be guided by divine values that are filled with sacrifice and love. The will of God reigns in surrendered hearts that is never fully understood by people of the world.
Just as John the Baptist was preparing the way for people to receive the Messiah through baptism, we too must pass through the waters of repentance before we can be born from above. New Birth is God’s gift. It cannot be earned and does not come through learning or good works. It is an act of God’s sovereign grace that is given at his will and time. It may come to you at a young age or it can come to you when you are old. God will give you your gift when you position yourself and prepare your heart and mind to receive him. No book, no university or no degree can qualify us to earn this new birth. It is a gift from God to all those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
The tragedy of this story is that Nicodemus was invited to get born again but from all accounts it appears that he never accepted the offer. I hope this does not become the tragedy of your life as well. The destinies of many hang on whether or not they hear and answer the Master’s call. We all experience highs and lows in our faith lives and that is okay. However we must never settle for cheap Christianity that is more of a cultural and social lifestyle that bends its knee to everything that pleases men rather than God.
If we are careful to listen to Jesus’ words, there isn’t any ambiguity here at all. In simple and plain language He says to us, “Unless you are born again, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
Years ago while doing a bible study I asked those who were sure they would get to heaven to raise their hands. One woman in particular was very enthusiastic and waved her hand frantically. I asked her why she believed so to which she said “because I am a good person.”
I wonder if there are some here this morning who would say the same thing. It is truly admirable to be a good person but I say this respectfully that good works is not a passport to heaven! I am sure you heard the saying that we can miss heaven by 18” if God is in our head and not in our hearts. It would be a tragedy to spend a whole life in the Church and everything else and then never make it into eternal life.
Friends, a wonderful transaction took place at the cross where Jesus took upon himself our sin so that through Him we became the righteousness of God. Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that he can give us a crown of life (James 1:12) but we must be born again. We have the opportunity to be born again into the royal family of God.
When we ask for forgiveness of our sin and surrender our old lives to God we begin a new life with him. The old passes away and everything becomes new. Anyone in Christ is a new creation. The experience of receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives is the new birth – that is when we are born again.
God created us to live forever and be a child of his yet some are content with a earthly life that ends at the grave. It is wonderful what God can do with a broken heart if we give him all the pieces. You and I can do nothing without God and we will certainly fail if he abandons us. Nicodemus was trying to make it without having a relationship with God. Jesus says anyone who comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
Someone once asked what is the difference between God’s love and grace. They are both on the same level but grace always goes much further and has to stoop down to pick someone up. Friend, God is so gracious that he is always stooping down from the mansions of glory just for you and for me. It is His grace that says to us "you must be born again."
Some of you many not know the rest of the story about Nicodemus but let me read from 19th ch of John and Vs. 38 to 40 that says:
Afterwards Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, these two men wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth.
Nicodemus came close but it was not close enough. Nicodemus reminds me of many who are very religious but have stopped short of being born again. Many want to know more about salvation and eternal life but are unwilling to take the next step. Nicodemus was invited to be born again but it seems that he declined the offer.
Let me say this - if you are born twice, you will die only once but if you are born only once, then you will surely die twice. The first death is easy being lowered in a grave with your loved ones around you placing flowers on your casket but the second death is a cruel one. Rev:21:8 says the unbelieving, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. It is an eternal death that is continuous and goes on and on forever. Let me end by saying this: If you desire to enter heaven’s gates you must be born again.
