The New Birth.

THE NEW BIRTH.

John 3:1-21.

JOHN 3:1. Nicodemus was a member of the strictest sect of the Jews: the Pharisees. No doubt he sought to keep all the man-made rules of his religion, as well as the law of God which was given to Moses. Nicodemus was a religious man; an upright man; a leader; a teacher; respected in society: yet Nicodemus knew within himself that something was missing in his life. UNTIL WE COME TO FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS INDEED SOMETHING MISSING IN OUR LIVES.

JOHN 3:2. Because of his position, fearing what people may think of him seeking advice from Jesus, Nicodemus made his approach to our Lord secretly, and at night. Better that than not at all! Nicodemus had a good opinion of Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, addressing Jesus with the respect due to a teacher and to a holy man. “We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles (signs) that thou doest, except God be with him.”

JOHN 3:3. In reply Jesus declared: “EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” So, Nicodemus was missing something. With the generality of mankind, he was presuming upon his own ability to qualify for heaven. If anyone thinks they can get to heaven by their own good works, they will surely fail: “You must be born again.”

JOHN 3:4. Still this teacher of the Jews faltered: "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter the second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

JOHN 3:5. Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

JOHN 3:6. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” says Jesus; “and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To be born again, or born anew, is to be born from above, to be born of God. It is a spiritual birth in which God’s Holy Spirit bears us into the family of God, male and female individuals becoming heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

JOHN 3:7. Jesus said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

JOHN 3:8. In a play on words that works in both the Greek and Hebrew languages, Jesus continued,’ The wind blows where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.”

The same word means both WIND and SPIRIT, and is also used to signify the BREATH of God! So, just as God first breathed the breath of life into the clay which He had fashioned into man, and just as He is said to out-breathe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments [which is the literal meaning of ‘inspiration’ (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16)], so God breathes into His people the breath of the new life in Christ Jesus. This is not to the credit of the preacher, nor of the convert to Christianity. It is all to the praise of God Himself!

JOHN 3:9. Poor Nicodemus was still struggling: “HOW CAN THIS BE?” Man cannot easily concede that heaven is attained not by his own merit, but only by the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. Folks love to think that they are good enough, and no-one, they imagine, should say otherwise.

People need to get away from the notion that they are good enough for God, or that they can co-operate with Him in the mighty work of their salvation from their sins. We must rather learn to turn to Him, wholeheartedly, relying on Him alone for our salvation, trusting not in our own righteousness, but in the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We all need faith to believe these things, and to put our trust in Him: without Him we can do nothing!

JOHN 3:10-12. Jesus wanted to tell Nicodemus more things but, like so many of us, Nicodemus was dull of sense. Mere man cannot grasp the realities represented to him in “earthly” things, as Jesus put it. Jesus wanted to speak of “heavenly” things.

JOHN 3:13. “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

Jesus was not merely ‘a teacher come from God,’ (cf. John 3:2), but a sharer of the divine nature, who was ‘in the beginning with God’ (cf. John 1:1-2). He is the One who (in the incarnation) “came down from heaven,” and He is (since the ascension) “the Son of man which is in heaven.”

JOHN 3:14. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” This refers back to an incident during the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel (cf. Numbers 21:4-9), and forward to the crucifixion.