You Must Be Born Again

If you're just joining us, we've been in John for a few weeks now. We're in John 3, as Andrew just read. You can use a few Bible to follow along with us on page 887 and 888. In John 1, the prologue, verses 1 through 18, it was clear that Jesus is the word of God and that word has become flesh to save us. He's become like us so that we might see God. Then John the Baptist, he enters the scene and he declares, Behold, the Lamb of God, Jesus is God himself who has come like us to die for us. And then we saw a number of titles, Messiah, King of Israel, Son of God, Son of Man. And then we saw that he was the bridegroom, the one who loves the church and lays down his life for her in the wedding of Cana. And then Jesus goes and cleanses the temple, showing he's a true priest, declaring his body will be destroyed, and it will be raised up again, and that is our hope. The story transitions. That little paragraph at the end of chapter 2, it transitions us now to chapter 3. The style changes. We have a lot more teaching from Jesus in the next 3 or 4 chapters. We have a lot more teaching, a lot more words from Jesus. Jesus barely says anything in the first few chapters. It's all what's said about him and what he does, but now he begins to teach. We also see a very interesting development. A Jewish man, not just any Jewish man, a Pharisee, a teacher of Israel, he comes to Jesus in chapter 3. Then we see Jesus speaking to a Sumerian woman. In chapter 4, it concludes with Jesus healing a Gentile son, and that Gentile believes. We see there the gospel spreading to all nations. As Andrew read, I hope you heard a few repetitions, a few words repeated there. The most basic and clear concept that's important for this passage is being born. being born again, being born of the Spirit. This is an essential, this is the most essential focus of our passage this morning. Now, John 1 focused on the Word. And then John quickly goes to calling Jesus the Son. He doesn't focus on Jesus being the Word after John 1. It's the Son. Here, John focuses on being born again, being born above, being born of God, being born of the Spirit. But then he leaves this theme. But this morning, that is our major theme. There are three parts to this passage. Nicodemus comes, Jesus responds to his coming, truly, truly, and he teaches. Nicodemus then asks a question, Jesus responds, truly, truly, and he teaches. Nicodemus asks another question, Jesus says, truly, truly, and again, he teaches. Jesus, Nicodemus, has a question. Jesus says, truly, truly, and again he teaches. We have three parts. Three times, truly, truly. Three points to a sermon. We must be born again. We must be born of the Spirit. We must believe Jesus is the Son of God. We must be born again. We must be born of the Spirit. We must believe Jesus is the Son of God. Our first point is verses one through three. We must be born again. 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're a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, here we have a significant figure, Nicodemus. He comes to Jesus after Jesus has cleansed the temple. And there's a few things that really stand out about this. He's not just any Jewish man. He's a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. There were very few Pharisees. Josephus states that they were considered to be experts in the laws and traditions. They were looked up to be the experts in all things, in the knowledge of God. They were the conservatives of the time. They were holding on to the truths of God and the traditions that were being challenged as Hellenism, as the Greek culture was coming into Judea. He's an educated, he's a trained man. Now it's interesting, this isn't the first time we've seen Pharisees. The Pharisees, they came to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God. They were there, they heard about Jesus. We don't know if Nicodemus was with this group. But this is there that John the Baptist had already said, I baptize with water. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Another thing about Nicodemus here, he comes to Jesus respectfully. Look at the way he addresses him. Rabbi. This is a teacher of Israel. He is calling Jesus a teacher. Rabbi. We know that you must come from God because of the signs. He's respectful. And this is over against how the Pharisees and the Jews will typically come to Jesus. They typically accuse him of being the devil, of having the devil in him. But here it's a respectful inquiry. Who are you? What is this you're teaching? Obviously, God must be with you because of the things you're doing. John makes us aware that he comes at night. He comes at night. Now, many have thought, okay, this is Nicodemus, he's wanting to be secretive in the way he comes. He doesn't want to come during the day, so he comes at night. That's a possible reason that we have recorded here that he's coming at night. Another reason may be that night here is used as a metaphor for the sinful darkness that lingers over Nicodemus' mind and his heart. If we look to John 9, 4 or John 11, 10, we see that night, just like darkness throughout the gospel, is used to demonstrate sinful darkness, a foolishness, an inability to grasp and understand the things of God. For instance, Jesus will say, if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. It's also used in the setting. Now, it's a setting here, so it's a little different, but it is used in the setting in John 13. John, the evangelist, wants us to know that Judas, he betrays Jesus at night. Again, there could be a real powerful darkness metaphor here. It fits with the story as well, because Nicodemus, he clearly doesn't get it. He comes to Jesus without eyes of faith. He comes to Jesus seeing signs and wondering about these signs, being mesmerized by these signs. But all he can say is, you're a teacher. He comes to him with interest. Now notice, he never gets to his question. He comes and he says, Rabbi, you must be from God. We've heard the signs. We've seen the signs. Jesus cuts him off. You'd expect a question to come afterwards. Jesus doesn't even allow him to ask the wrong question yet. He begins the conversation with one of the most powerful and profound teachings in all of Scripture. This is the gospel, friends. Unless you are born again, you shall not see the kingdom of God. Unless you are born again, You shall not see the kingdom of God. First thing I want to ask this morning as we think about this first section. Why do we need to be born again? Why is it that Jesus hinges everything upon being born again? You must be born again is another way of stating what Jesus said here. Unless you're born again, that is the requirement. You must be born again. Well, we can look back to chapter two, the way John the Evangelist ended it. They had some kind of a faith in Jesus, not a genuine faith, obviously, and Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew it was in them. Already hinting at the death that is in man. Man is incapable of seeing the light. Man is too committed and too focused on the darkness to see the light. Paul is very pointed when it comes to our particular problem. He says we are dead and we need new life. He says we are dead and we need new life. What this means is that we're incapable of any divine good. We do not have the capacity. We do not have the ability to do anything that pleases God. Now, yes, there's plenty of good people. that do good things for others. We think of many who are humanitarians. They're helpful. They're caring for others. But that is not doing a divine good that is pleasing to God. We all refuse God's righteous rule. We all refuse his authority. We all refuse his right and proper place above us to be the one we should worship. Paul calls for a change in our lives. We were dead, we need to be made alive. As we'll see later, Ezekiel in chapter 36, he speaks of a heart transplant. Now, this is what Christianity teaches. Every other religion, every other worldview, for the most part, they're going to tell you something different. They're going to tell you you're good enough, you just need a little help. They're going to tell you that if you just try harder, if you just get more information, the right information, if you just get something else, you're going to be okay. You see, how we define our problem changes the way we view Christ. If what we think is wrong with us is that we just are misinformed, we need more information or different information, we only look to Jesus as a wise sage, as a moral teacher. If we think we just need a little help, we only look to Jesus as a model or as an inspiration. Well, that's not what Jesus is only, and that is not our real problem. What Christianity teaches that our real problem is that we are broken to the core. We need to be remade. We need to be forgiven for a sin. We need to have a new heart. We need to be undone and remade by the power of God. The other religions, the other worldviews, they're going to say we're kind of like a car that just has misaligned tires. A little adjustment here, a little adjustment there, and you can ride smooth. You can enjoy the road. This is the predominant view in America. This is a temptation that every Christian faces and has to wrestle with. That idea that we just need a little help. This is the booming trend in America. Go to the bookstore and look at the self-help books. That demonstrates how powerful this idea is in our culture and I dare not think it doesn't affect someone here. Friends, it's not Christian. to think we're just a little misaligned. We just need a little help. No, to keep with the car analogy, we're really a car on center blocks. We have no tires. We have no gas. There's an engine under the hood, but the heads get broken. The head gasket. I don't know what I'm talking about here, but I understand these things are bad for cars. The engine block is cracked. The valves are stuck. You see, we're broken and we need a new engine. We need tires put on. We need to be gassed up. And as we're sitting there, we can't help ourselves. Someone must come from outside to actually do the work to make us usable again, to make us work again. The point is, the real problem isn't that we need just a little help. We need to be remade. This is why it's so helpful. J.C. Ryland, his classic work, Holiness, he opens with these words. He that wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin. He must dig down very low if he would build high. The mistake here is most mischievous. Wrong views about holiness are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption. The plain truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity. Without such doctrines as justification, conversion, sanctification are words and names which convey no meaning to the mind. The first thing, therefore, that God does when he makes anyone a new creature in Christ is to send light into his heart and show him that he is a guilty sinner. Let me read that last line again. It's essential to what we're studying here with the being born again and being born of the Spirit. The first thing, therefore, that God does when he makes anyone a new creature in Christ is to send light into his heart and show him that he is a guilty sinner. The first thing we must recognize is our great need for Christ. We have sinned against a holy and righteous God. We have not lived the way we were designed. We have not done what we were supposed to do. We have not said what we were supposed to say. We have refused God's right to rule. And the first thing we must see is that we are guilty. And only then can we truly believe in a Savior who forgives us. That the power, the necessity of being born again is seen when we actually think about who Jesus is speaking to here. He tells Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, you must be born again. Nicodemus comes to him and he says, you have great signs, and Jesus interrupts him. Truly, truly, he brings attention to his words, but I think here he's also correcting Nicodemus. We see this later because Nicodemus, he doesn't get it. How can these things be, he says. Truly, truly, you must be born again. The requirements are of everyone, even the leaders of the Jews. This man who would have had the greatest education, he would know everything he needs to know about the Old Testament. He would have studied it day and night for years. It wasn't a problem of his being misinformed and not having access to the right information. It was a heart problem. His heart was dark, so no matter how often he read it, how much he read it, he didn't get it. Nicodemus would do all the right things. He's a faithful Pharisee. He would obey the law. It isn't a matter of how good we are in this world. It was a matter of his heart being wicked and perverse and opposed to God. Nicodemus, he would have all the right credentials. He was born to the right family. Went to the right schools. Had all the right positions. The highest positions in Judaism. And still, he needed to be born again. The power of the message here. It's nothing we do for ourselves. It's what God does for us. We see men's plight here in the end of chapter 2 as he transitions to chapter 3. There's many signs in the New Testament. It's only those who have the heart transformation that see the signs and believe. The signs are not sufficient. Everyone looks at Jesus and is amazed by Him. What He says is profound and deep and challenges everything everyone thinks. But it's only those who have been given a new heart that truly see that there's a life here in Christ. As we think about the wrong, what's wrong with man, we have to ask this question in light of God. Again, why must we be born again? It's helpful to ask this question always. What's wrong with us in light of God? In light of God, we're creatures who have refused His right as the Creator. We are people created to be loved and to love God, and we have chosen to enjoy the loves of this creation. To love the things of this earth rather than to love our creator. We are the high point of creation. We are made in his image. We were created to reflect his glory. And instead, all we've done is try to build up our own glorious kingdoms. We were created for righteousness. And all we have done is rebel. You see, that's where that broken down car in the junkyard analogy actually breaks down. Because we're not sitting there idle. We were created with great power and with great influence and great ability to glorify God. But instead, the instruments that he gave us to glorify him, we have used them against him. Instead of mouths that were meant to praise God, we curse him. Instead of hands that were used to glorify him, we use them for our own selfish gain. Instead of hearts, They're always constantly supposed to be bent up to love him. We're loving everything else. We're not just sitting there idle. We are actively rebelling against God unless he changes us. Or every action apart from being born again is sinful. Augustine was right before the fall, Adam had the capacity not to sin. After the fall, we do not have the ability not to sin, to not sin. However, we long for the day when Christ returns and we are able, we are not able to then sin. As we look to the passage and we see our need, I hope we need to be born again because we are sinful, because we're rebellious, being born again or being born from above. It is giving a new life to us. It's a doctrine of regeneration. Our hearts are dead to the things of God, but the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us new life, gives us the opportunity to actually repent and believe. There's a change that takes place. The kingdom of God. to see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is God's right rule and God and God's people responding to him with worship. Now, God's rule is always perfect. What's imperfect is us. When he came, he began to exercise God's rule and he sent his spirit so that we would have hearts to truly respond to him. Let's consider some application from the command. We must be born again unless you are born again. First, we can only be humbled by God's grace. While we were still sinners, he loved us. While we were fighting against him, while we were rebelling against him, he pursued us in love. This is humbling. in the light of God and what he should have done, what he could have done. He could have just exercised his wrath and been righteous. But instead, he sent his son to die in our place so that he could reconcile us to himself. Friends, as we consider our need to be born again, we must understand our sinful condition. As Ryle said very clearly, very succinctly, If we don't get that right, if we don't get our problem right, everything else is messed up. If we don't really understand how deep our sin goes, how bad the corruption is, we're going to get everything else wrong. Finally, we pray for the life we pray for God to give us the faith we need, we pray for God to change us. Our second section, we must be born of the Spirit. We must be born of the Spirit. Verse four, Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water in the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit of spirit do not marvel that i said to you you must be born again the wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes so it is with everyone who is born of the spirit nicodemus ask a bad question now i realize We're always taught there's no such thing as a bad question. No, this is a bad question. He misses the point. In Jesus, he corrects them again. Truly, truly, pay close attention. There's a correction here. There's an elaboration. We just spoke very briefly about being born again. That's because Jesus elaborates on what it means to be born again here. To be born again is to be born of water and spirit. There's a couple options as to what this might be referring to. The water and the spirit could be referring to the flesh birth and the spirit birth. As we'll see later, flesh gives birth to flesh, spirit to spirit. Another option is that he could be referring to John's baptism. John himself said, I baptize with water, but he who comes after him baptizes with the spirit. Neither one of those really work because both qualifiers, The water and the spirit are referring to the one and the same baptism. There's another place we could go in scripture and see what he means by this. It's Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. I apologize, I did not get the Pew Bible reference for this, for the page number. It's Ezekiel 36. I want you to listen at verse 25 and 26. Because he's going to declare there's a water and there's a spirit change that takes place. Therefore, state of the House of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake, O House of Israel, that I'm about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations in which you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God. When through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes, I will take you from the nations and gather you from the countries and bring you into your own land. Verse 25, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart. and a new spirit I will put within you. 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 be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and I will be your God. The water here symbolizes the cleansing that must take place. It's a cleansing from the idols. It's a cleansing from worshiping things that aren't God. There's a transformation that takes place. The broken, malfunctioning heart is removed and a new heart is put in its place. The hard heart, it can't see and understand the things of God. The hard heart, it can't respond properly to the things of God. God has to put His own spirit in us to bring a new life, a new heart. To be born again, so that we can truly worship God as he has meant for us to. Jesus goes on to say, and explaining, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Answering Nicodemus now with, yes, there's a literal birth, but we're not speaking of a literal birth anymore. We're speaking of the Holy Spirit's birth. When he says flesh gives birth to flesh, it's not the Pauline sense of the flesh that's opposed to the spirit. John 1.14, the word became flesh. It's just referring to the simple, innocent human nature. Jesus Christ became like us in every way, yet without sin. Jesus says, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Nicodemus, while being a student of the law his whole life, should have known this teaching. He should have known that a circumcision of the heart was what was required. He should have known that a new life is what God was going to bring. Jesus compares the spirit to the wind. You do not see the spirit. You see its effects. You don't see the wind. You see it blowing the debris in the leaves. You see what it does to what it touches. So does the Holy Spirit. We never see the Spirit, but we see its fruits. We see it's a fact in one another. We should see its fruit in ourselves. As we think about application. God is near to us. That is just one of those sweet declarations in Scripture. One of the great themes on all of Scripture, Ezekiel ended with it, I will be your God, you will be my people. God draws near to us. There's an immediate fellowship. He's a close friend. He draws near in his love. A lot of people, they'll say Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. This is the foundation for that statement. I think Christianity is a religion that is based upon and establishes a relationship. It is a way of worshiping God, but it is correct to see that as a different kind of religion. It's a religion that reestablishes our relationship with God. You see, Christianity is not like paganism. It's not seeking a God that is in this world as if God is like the things of this world. That God lacks glory. It's not like Islam. Who has a distant God? Well, yes, he's a holy God. He's a God who gives right judgments and right declarations according to their religion. But he's a distant God. He's not like the Roman Catholic God that requires a mediated fellowship. No, the God of Christianity is an immediate fellowship with the most holy and glorious God. The one who is high above us, the one who is exalted, he comes down to be immediately with us. Christian, this is a blessed opportunity. To know God, to experience his love, to experience his friendship, This is why so many Christians are miserable. If you're a Christian and you continue to pursue sin, you're going to be a miserable person. The Holy Spirit lives inside of you. The Holy Spirit has redesigned you. You cannot find any pleasure in sin anymore. You have been redesigned. You have been reconfigured. You continue to be tantalized with it. You continue to be tempted with it. But it will continue to make you miserable. If you're a miserable person, it's probably in a sense that you have no joy. It's because you're not pursuing the things that truly bring joy. God has built you and redesigned you. He's washed you, purified you, purchased you. for a new life, to truly enjoy the things you were meant to enjoy. It's not just our pursuit of sin that keeps us from being joyful. It may be that we're hanging on to bitterness. The same can be true if we're continuing to pursue sin that keeps you miserable. If you refuse to forgive others, that also is a source of misery. When the Spirit comes upon us, He changes us. When the Spirit comes in and makes us new, there's fruit. Christian, is there fruit in your life? Has there been a true change? Do other Christians come and tell you they see the fruit? Brothers and sisters, that's what the body's meant for. We're meant to encourage one another in the fruit that we see in each other's lives. A third point, we must believe Jesus is the Son of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him. Again, a clear confrontation. Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you don't believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Nicodemus should not have been surprised. Jesus makes it clear. How is it you don't get this? You know God's Word. He's the most holy reverend bishop, and he doesn't get the most basic essential truths of God's Word. Truly, truly, our testimony is true. He declares to him what we testify. We know. And this phrase here, If I have told you earthly things and you don't believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? It's an interesting dichotomy because he's talking about being born again as an earthly thing. I think what he's saying is what happens here on earth, the circumcision of the heart, the new life that God gives on this earth, if you can't get that, I can't even begin to tell you what heaven's going to be like. I can't even begin to tell you what's going to happen when sin is completely removed. If you can't get this, You can't get what I really want to teach you. The next verse is also very interesting. No one has ascended to heaven except he who descended from heaven. I believe what Jesus is saying here is trust our word because no one else has ever ascended to heaven and come back to tell you about it. But I have descended. I have left my Father's right hand. I have left the heavens, and I am here to tell you the truth of what God has for you. He uses the title, the Son of Man. The Son of Man, we'll continue to see this through John, but the Son of Man comes from Daniel, and every time the Son of Man is referenced, He is exalted and cursed at the same time. The Son of Man is always the language that Christ uses, and He's lifted high and accursed at the same time. And then Jesus likens Himself to a serpent from Numbers 21. Let me read this passage of what Jesus is referring to. And the people Israel became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God, against Moses. Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." If you've been with Egypt, isn't this just despicable? If you've been with us through Exodus, isn't this just despicable? How many times do we see them grumbling against God? And here again, they're grumbling. Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people. so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpent from us. So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. There's a beautiful picture of the gospel here, friends. The people of Israel were cursing God. How have you saved us from slavery, God? What is this you brought us to, to die? What you've given us is worthless. And so God sent serpents to exercise his wrath against them. to bite them. And as then they cried out, God said, Moses on the staff, which represents deliverance, put a bronze serpent so that whenever they will look at that serpent, they would live. They'll be healed. Friends, we have all cursed God. We've questioned his goodness. We've refused his right. We rebelled against him. His wrath is against us. And the only way we can be forgiven is if we look to the Son of Man who is nailed to the cross, the wood of our deliverance, the staff of our deliverance. If we look to Christ and we see there the consequence of our curse, He bore our wrath. He takes upon Himself the consequence of our sin. We see in Christ the one who was cursed for our cursing God. We see a a transferal of our debt to him. That is the only way we can be forgiven. As we look to the last words of Jesus teaching, whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Friends, the call is to believe in Jesus Christ, to believe that he came To live the life we could not. To die for our sins so that we do not have to die. So to forgive us. To rise again to give us new life. Now I know this is a question that many have in this congregation. That are gathered here with us. What if my faith isn't good enough? What if my faith fails? Let me give you an analogy that I think will help. If you were to go ice skating on a frozen pond, what's more important, the strength of your faith or the strength of your eyes? What's more important, the strength of your faith or the strength of the eyes? You see, it's a genuine faith that saves you. It's the power of Christ that truly keeps you, that delivers you, that gives you new life. We question if we're going to have enough faith. Friends, it's faith that makes us Christ. And it's Christ who then keeps us. We sing the song, Oh, love that will not let me go when he loves us. He seals us. He keeps us. He makes us his own. It's not how powerful your faith is that saves you. It's the power of the gospel that you believe and you must believe genuinely. As I wrestled with this text and God saving us and us responding in faith, it led me to a song that we sang a few weeks ago. I know not why God's wondrous grace. To me, he hath made known. Nor why unworthy Christ and love redeem me for his own. I know not how the saving faith to me he did impart. nor how believing in his word wrought peace within my heart. I know not how the spirit moves, convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith in him. But I know whom I believe in. And I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Friend, if you're not a Christian this morning, there's all kinds of questions you might have. How do I know I'm born again? How do I know my faith is genuine? Friends, the key question is this. Are you convinced you're a sinner and that Christ died for sinners like you? Believe in Him. If you're a Christian, you're struggling with your assurance. My faith, it continues to wander and it's weak. Do you believe you're a sinner in need of salvation and forgiveness? Say put your faith in Christ and trust him who is able to keep you, forgive you and save you until that last day. We pray with me. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your son. For the forgiveness we have in him. for cleansing us from our idols, for giving us a new heart to worship you. May this body truly experience the fruit of the spirit that comes only from the regenerative hearts that you bless us with, hearts that repent and believe. May we continue to repent of our sin and believe in you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.