The New Birth
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Call to worship
Welcome everyone!
Announcements
Ken Cummins will be preaching next Sunday. I have every intention of being here, and I want you to do the same. I would even encourage you to invite friends and family to come as well. I have never heard Ken preach, but I know he is solid in his theology. And I am so excited to get to sit with you and hear the Word of Go0d preached to us together.
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord,
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord,
SERMON
Introduction
We ended the message last week with a comment from John that many were believing in Jesus because of his signs (miracles), but Jesus did not trust their belief. And if you remember we talked about two kinds of belief: the one who believes with their mind (a belief that God truly does exist) and the other who believes with their heart (those who believes with their hearts). One only affects the thoughts, the other affects the entire person.
In John chapter 3, we are given an example of a person who only believes with the mind. And Jesus gives us some of the richest teaching in the entire Bible about what salvation really is: “a New Birth”.
This sermon is so important for the church today because it really clarifies what it means to be a child of God in a culture that is extremely confused and often misinformed. So please do your best to listen to what the Word of God has to say…AND LISTEN as if you were a little child and hearing this for the first time.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Explanation
Lets look at some things about Nicodemus:
1) Nicodemus came to Jesus by night
Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night says something about his spiritual condition. It is darkened, his eyes have not yet been opened, he lacks true understanding so he goes to Jesus for clarification.
Light and darkness are themes in John’s Gospel. People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (John 3:16–19). Those who believe on Jesus are the “sons of light” (John 12:35–36).
2) Nicodemus believes that Jesus has been sent from God
How do we know this? We know this because that is the first thing he says to Jesus, “we know that you have come from God”.
But Nicodemus also knows that he is still lacking something. He is a member of the Pharisees who are already against Jesus because of His temple cleansing and to keep from creating conflict within the group he approaches Jesus by night, in secret.
3) Nicodemus who is clearly a believer in God, he is also a believer in Jesus, yet he still comes to Jesus searching for something
Chapter 2 tell us that Jesus knows all men
And that certainly applies here to Nicodemus. Jesus knows the spiritual condition of this man. He knows that Nicodemus believes with his mind but not with his heart.
And Jesus does not waste any time; He gets right to the heart of the issue and tells him, “truly truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”
Nicodemus does not even know what he needs, BUT HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS A NEED. And Jesus knowing his heart clarifies that his need is to be born again.
Bridge
What does it mean to be born again?
The word “again” [ἄνωθεν anōthen] in this phrase can also be translated “from above”. It’s used that way down in verse 31 “He who comes ‘from above’ (ἄνωθεν) is above all”
The point is this: The new birth that Jesus tells Nicodemus he needs comes from God (from above) and not man. That is for one to enter the Kingdom of God, he must have a new birth, a new life, that only God can give him. It does not or cannot come by way of human effort of trying to live better, nor by cleaning oneself up, nor by any other kind of human works….It can only come from God.
Now remember that one of the major themes in John is the new human creation in Jesus Christ. John 1:1 “In the beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”
The same way that God breathed “the breath of life” into the nostrils of Adam and began the creation of the human race, so God MUST breath spiritual life into the lives of people to cause them to become a new creation or God’s children.
The only way you and I can have our sins forgiven and have eternal life is if God Himself would reach down from heaven into our lives and breath new life into us.
1.) Being born again is a work of God, not a work of man
1.) Being born again is a work of God, not a work of man
Application
This is why I no longer lead people through a sinners prayer. When we lead people through a sinners prayer, we are taking salvation which is only of God into our own hands, into our own timing, into our own methods and offering words for another person to repeat that is suppose to save them.
Most often, (not always) but most often those people are never born again from above, they have simply repeated a prayer, but have not had the breath of life breathed into their soul.
Now the danger in this, is that many people find their assurance of salvation in a prayer they repeated at some point in their lives RATHER than in the evidence of a new life that God has created in them.
What I am asking you to do is see that this new life, a saved life, a Christian life, a forgiven life is something that only God does in His timing, in His way, and we must not think we can make it happen by having someone repeat a prayer or by being baptized.
2) God gives spiritual life through the Holy Spirit
2) God gives spiritual life through the Holy Spirit
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Explanation
Nicodemus is confused about what jesus says because he is thinking about this “born again” in natural ways and says, “how can a man be born when he is old?”
A man who is born of a woman can only be born one time. He does not get the chance to do it again. The next major event in a man’s life from a natural standpoint is not to have another birth, but to die!
But Jesus is speaking about this in a spiritual sense, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”
Now this is a deeper clarification of what Jesus means by saying that Nicodemus must be born again and also applies to each one of us today. If we have not been born of the water and the Spirit then we will not enter the Kingdom of God (heaven). That means one cannot be saved, cannot be a Christian, cannot be a child of God unless they have been born of the water and the Spirit.
What does it mean to be born of the water and the Spirit?
Some people think that to be born of the water means to be baptized and then they receive the Holy Spirit. But that is not what Jesus is talking about.
Jesus is referencing the promise God made in the OT of what will happen in the New Covenant that the Messiah will bring through His death and resurrection:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Two things that we can see here that happens when one has been born again:
There is a Cleansing
God says “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean”
This is a promise for purity. Not purity as in earthly perfection, but purity as in having ALL of one’s sins washed away.
It’s the picture of someone who has lived a life of sin, (as we all have), and come to the Lord dirty, stained, and full of filth that we have done all of our lives.
Those sins we do, they do not simply fall off of us, even if we forget them. They are always on our account.
One who murders another person will always be considered a murdered!
But when one is born again, he is washed clean by the forgiveness of God. All those sins, no matter how bad, how secret, how dark, how hideous to us and the world they are gone forever in the sight of God. God symbolically washes them away and never holds them against us!
Now we may still remember them, and the world will likely remember them, but God will not.
Renewal
“Moreover I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you”
Not only does God cleanse us from our sins, but He creates a new person.
He gives us a new heart:
The “heart” stands for the whole inner being of man. Its not the actual organ that beats within our chest, that has nothing to do with who we are.
The heart is everything we are on the inside: emotions, thoughts, desires, will, dreams, everything within us is our heart.
And God says I am going to take that hard calloused heart of stone out and give you a heart of flesh!
He gives us His Spirit
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances”
Notice the word “cause”. That is our faithfulness is not dependent upon our strength or might, but by God’s power.
It is by the power of God that one becomes a Christian and it is by the power of God that one lives like a Christian! It is by the power of God that one obeys the Scripture! It is by the power of God that one dies to this world and lives his life totally for God!
We do not have to worry about how we will be faithful when we come to Jesus…if we are truly born again then it is God who will make us faithful!
God will take your desire to fleshly desire sin and make you hate sin!
God will take your love for this world and the things of this world and allow you to see it for what it really is: PERISHING AWAY AND TEMPORARY!
God will take your weak will that always gives into temptation and give you the ability to stand firm on the solid rock of Jesus Christ!
He will do things in you that you did not think was possible!
Do not be scared of failing! Do not be scared that you are not strong enough to stand! God will make you stand if you give Him your life!
3) The evidence of the presence of the Spirit in one’s life is in the change He brings
3) The evidence of the presence of the Spirit in one’s life is in the change He brings
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”
The point is the flesh and the spirit are two different spheres of reality
You and I see flesh. We see the natural things like our bodies, this world, you and in looking at each other today.
But what we can see is the spiritual sphere that also exists today. But just because we do not see like we see each other, does not mean it does not exist!
(v 8) “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit”.
Just think about the wind as it blows outside this building. If you walk outside and look up into the blue sky can you tell how much wind there is or how fast it is blowing? No.
But if you look at the trees over the OG clubhouse and see them whipping back and forth then you can “see” the wind and can gauge how much its blowing because you can see its effects.
POINT: The same is true for the spiritual sphere in this world. You look out into this world, you are not going to see the Spirit of God. But what you can SEE are the affects of the Spirit of God in the lives of people.
You can see the lives that have radically transformed by Holy Spirit power of God and there is no other explanation as to why they have been so radically changed other than what they testify: GOD DID THIS TO ME!
If one needs proof that there really is a new birth, just evaluate the lives of those who have experienced it! Look at the before and the after of when God gave them a new heart and when they had the power from on high come into their lives and free them from their idols! If you want to know if Jesus is really real, just study the life of one who lives among you and there you’ll find your answer!
No man can live a life truly devoted to God without the power of God living in Him!
Application
This is one of the measuring sticks we use for church membership. We look for the evidence of the Spirit’s work in one’s life.
And one of the greatest evidences of that is that a person is no longer living in idolatry, but are now living under kingdom principles.
And according to the OT promise from God, it is He who will work this evidence in people’s lives so it doesn’t depend upon the person, but upon God;.
4) Belief is the only human requirement for salvation
4) Belief is the only human requirement for salvation
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
Explanation
“Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?”
Why did Jesus expect Nicodemus to understand this born again theology that is only part of the new covenant?
Because it was declared to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel 600 years ago! And it was also given through through the prophet Jeremiah. So Nicodemus who was a “ruler” of the Jews should have had a grasp on one of the most clear OT prophecies concerning the new covenant.
If Jesus was talking about baptism and then receiving the Holy Spirit when talking abut being born again, how was Nicodemus supposed to know this?! This was not a thing until Pentecost!
But Jesus did expect Nicodemus to know the OT.
Nicodemus asked, “How can these things be?”
In other words, how can one become born again, cleansed from all their filthiness, empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey God and have a new heart?
And Jesus gives him the answer that is so simple yet so profound:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up”
During the days of Moses, the people were wandering through the wilderness and began to grumble against Moses and God. And God sent fiery serpents among them that began to bite them.
And they cried out for mercy, and God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put him on a pole and anyone who looks at the serpent will be healed.
Jesus said in the same way He will be lifted up and “whoever” believes in Him have eternal life.
This is the true gospel (good news) by which the church stands on, by which the church preaches, by which the church proclaims to the world that can make people new.
Whoever believes in Jesus: that is to anyone! Whoever is an open invitation to the whole world! Gender does not matter. Intelligence does not matter. Status does not matter! The only requirement to be born again is to believe!
What does it mean to believe?
It must mean more than just to believe that God exists! Nicodemus believed in God and believed that Jesus came from God! But he was not born again.
When the people were bitten by the fiery serpents, they had to do what God told them to live. Now we can imagine this may have seemed silly or ridiculous to look at a serpent on a pole for healing. But this was God’s way to heal them. To be healed they had to trust and do what he said.
This is the essence of believing. It is to put one’s trust in God and willing to do whatever He tells us to do. It means to see God as trustworthy with your life. And if you trust Him with your life, then you will be healed from your sin, and made new. But if you do not trust Him with your life, then you will die just like many Israelites did who were forced to bear the consequences of their sin.
Where does belief take place?
This is a matter of the heart. It has nothing to do with a place, nor a certain set of words one utters with their mouths. Belief is what happens deep down inside of a person that begins to change everything outwardly.
Conclusion
Jesus told Nicodemus, “you must be born again” or you will not enter the kingdom of God. That same statement applies to each one of us today.
No kind of religion can save us. No church membership. No water baptism. No amount of fasting and praying. Certainly we would all agree that Nicodemus was very religious. He was at every temple service, fasted twice a week, studied Scripture meticulously, Would be at considered at least a pastor and church leader today. Jesus told him you will not see the kingdom of heaven unless you are born again.
No amount of Bible knowledge can save us either. No matter how many times we’ve read the Bible, no matter how many sound our understanding is of these doctrines. knowing them cannot save us. Jesus said Nicodemus was a teacher in Israel and yet he still needed to be born again.
Not even seeing supernatural works from the very hand of God can save us. Nicodemus saw the miraculous signs Jesus did which drew him to Him. Even talked to Jesus face to face, yet Jesus still said to Nicodemus, you must be bore again.
If God has not made you a new person, a person who no longer lives in sin, a person who obeys God the way God intended for His people to obey Him, then you need to be born again. And that can happen in an instant simply by seeing God as trustworthy and trusting Him with your life. Make that decision today to hand it over to Him fully, for He promised WHOSOEVER BELIEVES WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!
~PRAYER~
RESPONSE
PUBLIC INVITATION
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
OFFERING
We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.
BENEDICTION
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace.’”
