Born Again
John 3:1-22
Introduction:
“Born again.” How often have you seen this phrase in a news story or a magazine feature? It seems like everything and everyone is born again. A restaurant changes its menu, and its labeled “born again.” A man changes jobs, and his career is “born again.” A quick search on the internet produces hundreds of sites, many of them are religious. But there is an odd assortment of other uses for the term “born again.”
Born again- A trademark line of skin creams
Born again- Used book store
Born again- A cd title by the Notorious B.I.G. with explicit lyrics
Born again- Motorcycles
Born again- Bear, a company that recycles furs into teddy bears
Larry Flynt, the publisher of a pornographic magazine has claimed he is born again. Jim Jones claimed to be born again, and yet he led hundreds to death and sorrow.
One of the greatest of all Biblical terms has been stolen, emptied of its meaning, and dragged through the mud, so that being born again can mean almost anything or nothing. We need to rescue it and return it to it’s proper place. Today when a person says he is born again we cannot be sure what he means. The mere use of the word tells us almost nothing.
The truth, however, is that when one is really born again, there is repentance, a work of the Spirit in the life, and a change so that the whole being is brought into new life. Lets look in detail at this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, in which our Lord explained what it meant to be born again.
Verse 1 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.”
If we had lived in Christ’s day and had been forced for some reason to choose a man to represent us, a man who would embody the best of our culture, education, ethics, and piety, Nicodemus would have been a good choice. Nicodemus had everything and yet was a failure spiritually because he had never found God.
Notice his achievements. First of all, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. One of the primary characteristics of the Pharisees was their seriousness to God’s Law. Let me give you an example using the Sabbath law. The Bible simply said to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, and on that day no work is to be done. Now the Pharisees were not content with that, so they spent hour after hour and generation after generation defining what work is and listing the things that may or may not be done on the Sabbath day.
The kind of thing they did was this. To tie a knot was considered work; but they had to define what a knot was. They said that certain knots could be tied and certain knots could not be ties. For example, the knot of a sailor and the knot of a camel driver could not be ties and if you tied them on the Sabbath day you would be guilty of breaking the Sabbath. You were even guilty if you untied them. Any knot that you could tie with one hand was perfectly legal. A woman could tie her sash, and you could tie the straps of your sandals. (Give example of man at well.) That was the kind of thing which to the Pharisee was a matter of life and death; that was religion; and to them was pleasing and serving God.
Nicodemus was also a politician. John says that he was a member of the Jewish ruling council. That means he was a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a group of seventy men who had jurisdiction over every Jew on earth. It conducted trails, investigated heresies, and wrote laws. Nicodemus was a member of this governing body.
Nicodemus had everything, power, position, prestige, wealth, but something was missing. He needed to know God. Perhaps you have a long list of achievements but still sense something missing. Maybe you were told that you would find fulfillment in a higher education, power , prestige, or money and you still feel lost. Like Nicodemus your greatest need is to know God.
Verse 2-3 “(2) 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. (3) In reply Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Do you feel like you missed part of the conversation? Just as all of us have experienced physical birth which made us a part of this earth; if we want to go to heaven and belong to the heavenly kingdom, you must be born into it also. You cannot evolve into it from the other.
Verse 4- “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!”
Nicodemus did not understand what the Savior was talking about! Jesus was speaking about spiritual things and Nicodemus thought only of physical things. The situation is no different today. When you talk with people about being born again, they often begin to discuss their family’s religious heritage, their church membership, religious ceremonies, and so on. None of these things can save you.
Matt. 7:21-23 says, (21)“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. (22)Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? (23)Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’” (Flu shot illustration)
Verse 5-7- (5) “Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (6) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (7) You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again.”
Is Jesus making this clear to you today? You have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God! He said it three times; you must be born again! The world says that there are many ways to God, But Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me” (John 14:6).
Jesus explains that there are two elements to this new birth: water and Spirit. We know what the Spirit means. The Spirit works in the believers life to regenerate them. But what does it mean to be born of water? Some say that this is a reference to a literal baptism and conclude that you have to be baptized to be saved. The Bible clearly teaches that you are not saved by baptism or any other external rite of religion. The Bible teaches that you are saved by God’s grace.
What Jesus may have been referring to here is what John the Baptist’s, baptism signified. And that was repentance. John the Baptist had stirred the entire nation by his ministry and stress on repentance. Nicodemus knew what Jesus meant. He realized that very day John the Baptist was baptizing people in water as a symbol of their inward repentance. The baptism did not actually do anything. It just symbolized what had already occurred on the inside.
In other words Nicodemus saw very clearly that no one is born again if there is no repentance and along with repentance comes the work of the Spirit in the believers life.
I’m not saying repenting saves you. But God does not save anyone who does not want to be saved. The work of the new birth is a work of God within the believer, but He does not go around grabbing folks around the neck and make them hold still while the Spirit inserts new life! No one can give themselves new life, but each person must acknowledge his or her sins, as John’s baptism symbolized.
Now I’m not saying you have to be baptized to be saved. I’m not adding a work to salvation. Jesus will say in verse 16 that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Real belief will produce repentance and regeneration. What I am telling you is this: without repentance there is no salvation.
Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here.”
Mark 1:14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.”
Luke 13:3 “But unless you repent, you too will perish.”
Acts 17:30 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.”
Acts 20:21 “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”
Even in the Old Testament God’s message was repent.
Noah’s message from the steps going up to the Ark was not, “Something good is going to happen to you!”
Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel for proclaiming “confession is possession!”
Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, “I’m ok, your ok!”
Daniel was not put into the lions den for telling people, “Possibility thinking will move mountains.”
John the Baptist was not beheaded because he preached, “smile God loves you.”
The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, “God is in heaven and all is right with the world.”
Instead what was the message of all these men of God? Simple, one word: “Repent.”
What does repent mean?
(Illustrations: Turn around; tobacco, and Wabush)
Wabush, a town in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada, was completely isolated for some time. But recently a road was cut through the wilderness to reach it. Wabush now has one road leading into it, and thus, only on one road leading out. If someone would travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, there is only way he or she could leave - by turning around.
Each of us, by birth, arrives in a town called Sin. As in Wabush, there is only one way out—a road built by God himself. But in order to take that road, one must first turn around. That complete about face is what the Bible calls repentance, and without it, there’s no way out of town.
Verse 8- “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound, but you can not tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
You can see the effects of the wind but you cannot see the wind. The same is true in the believers life. You can see the effects of the Spirit’s work in the believer but you cannot see the Spirit.
Verse 9-10- “(9) How can this be? Nicodemus asked. (10) You are Israel’s teacher, said Jesus, and do you not understand these things?”
Nicodemus still does not understand how it all happens, and Jesus is suprised at his ignorance. To help Nicodemus understand the new birth, Jesus used another illustration. Look at verse 14 and 15.
Verse 14-15 “(14) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (15) that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”
The story in Numbers 21 was certainly familiar to Nicodemus. Back in Moses’ day the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness from Egypt to the land God had promised them. God miraculously gave them food and water but the people complained about not having real food and real water. Then God sent snakes that bit the people and those who were bitten began to die. The people asked Moses to intercede with God.
God told Moses to make a brass serpent and lift it up on a pole for all the people to see. Any stricken person who looked at the serpent would immediately be healed. When people looked by faith, they were saved from God’s judgment.
Just as the serpent was lifted up on that pole so the Son of God would be lifted up on a cross. Why? To save us from sin and death. The whole world has been bitten by sin, you have been bitten by sin; and you are dying. You will continue to die eternally until you look to Jesus Christ in faith. We are all sinners. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. God sent His Son to die for the whole world.
Verse 16- “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.”
Nicodemus, you know how this is all possible. God loves you so much that if you believe in Jesus Christ you will experience this new birth. This new birth will make you a citizen of God’s kingdom and an alien on earth. You see all you have to do is look to Jesus Christ in faith to experience this new birth. Now I’m talking about real faith here and not some intellectual decision. You may ask what is real faith, real belief? (Illustration: High wire artist.)
The end of verse 16 says that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When a Christian dies he is made even more alive than before. Amen.
Verse17-18 “(17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (18) 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.”
God has divided the world into two categories. There are two kinds of people in this church today. Those who believe and have eternal life and those who do not believe and are already condemned. You see everyone here is one or the other. You are either saved or condemned.
Verse 19-21 “(19) This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. (20) Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (21) 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.”
This is the verdict. Why will sinners not come into the light? Because they love darkness. They want to persist in their evil deeds and that keeps them from coming to the light.
Conclusion:
Are you like Nicodemus. Your greatest need is to know God. You must realize you are a sinner and repent. You must be born again. When Jesus says “must” we had better listen. Have you been born again? The question is not have you had a religious experience, but have you been born agin?
In a moment an invitation will be given. You will have an opportunity to walk down and talk with someone. Lets settle your salvation, today while God is giving you the opportunity.
Christians, let me talk to you for a moment. How long has it been since you fell on your face before God and repented of your sins. Repentance should characterize your life in Christ. This invitation is for you to, to come and bow down before God and repent and recommit your life. Take advantage of this. Don’t be shy or let your pride stand in the way. Want you come.
