"Born Again," Part 3, John 3:1-21

This message was shared at Faith Christian Center on Sunday, January 24, 2009 in the morning service. It is the tenth message in the sermon series titled, “The Jesus Story: 20 Days that Changed the World.” It is a study on the Gospel of John.

Bubba tried a new shampoo for the first time and was so pleased with it that he mailed off an enthusiastic letter of approval to the manufacturer.

Several weeks later, he came home from work and discovered a large carton had come in the mail. Inside were free samples of the many products the same company produced: soaps, detergents, tooth paste, and more, along with a thank-you note from the manufacturer.

"Well, what do you think?" asked his smiling wife.

Bubba replied, "I think that next time, I'm writing to Toyota."

I thought you would like that!

From my quote library; speaking of the power of the Holy Spirit:

“Don’t just get the power to the people, but get the power through the people.”

I’m here today to share with you about the power of Jesus Christ to change a life.

Isaiah McGarry is coming to read for us today.  Let’s welcome him as he comes.  Our text is John 3:1-21.  However for brevity this morning I would like to only look at our focus today which are verses 1-15. 

To help us have context, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a member of the conservative branch of the Jewish religious council have come to Jesus to ask Him some questions about the things that He has been teaching.

John 3:1-15 - Now 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 him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."  4 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?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its 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."

9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel  11 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.  12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ESV

From our text this morning, there are three perspectives that Jesus discusses with Nicodemus about being “born again” in the Spirit.

·  That we are born from “above.”

·  That we are born of water and Spirit.

·  That the power of God and Christ’s obedience changed everything for all who would believe.

This morning’s focus is on the subject of how we become followers of Jesus Christ.  When we grab hold of these truths, it will mold the way that we look at our salvation, our re-birth in Christ.  It will also impact our witness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as well.  The first perspective is,

I.  A Follower of Christ is Born Again or “Born From Above.”

3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

The term, “Born Again” hasn’t seen very many good days in recent years.  It’s been used by sneering secularists against God for several decades now, especially after Charles Colson’s book by the same title came out.  The title itself demands change in the life of a human being.

Being born again is the doorway to the Kingdom of God and the power of the Spirit flowing through our lives.

The phrase, “born again,” “born anew” or “born from above” runs throughout the New Testament. 

1 Peter1:3; 22-23

James 1:18

Titus 3:5

Romans 6:1-11

1 Corinthians 3:1-2

2 Corinthians 5:17

Galatians 6:15

Ephesians 4:22-24

Hebrews 5:12-14

Nicodemus and those who served along side him in the Jewish religious ruling council, the Sanhedrin, thought of their devotion to God in light of all the external things that they did.  It was all about how they looked in front of the people; the things that they said and did in order to keep the Law of Moses to the ‘nth’ degree.  As we mentioned nearly two months ago, I shared with you about the Meshnah, a code of conduct for following the Law of Moses. 

Jesus is communicating to Nicodemus that in order to inherit the Kingdom of God, it is more than mere external behaviors or legalism.  It requires an inner change.  This change is only possible when one is “born again.  While a bit confusing to Nicodemus in that moment, to be born again means to come into a new world and to conform to that new environment.  Scripture tells us that we see with new eyes and a new heart as we enter into a new family.

When one of our children is born into this world, everything is brand new and it is a whole new world for them.  In order for them to survive, they need to conform to breathing air and eating food.  The same is true of coming to know Christ as Savior.  I’m reminded of the chorus we sing with the line, “This is the air I breathe,” going on to sing about our being desperate for Jesus and His presence.  It’s theologically correct.  When we are born again we must conform to our life in the Spirit.

I’m reminded again and again of the lives who many of our people who’ve come to know Christ in recent years here at Faith.  Some had led lives that they were not proud of, even outside of relationship with Jesus.  But when Jesus entered their lives, everything changed; lifestyle choices, business dealings, drunkenness was no longer an issue, families no longer being abused – the list goes on and on.  Husbands and wives received transformed versions of their former spouse; children receive transformed parents, and so on and so on.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church,

Philippians 3:10 - that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, ESV

Let’s talk about what happened that day.

Jesus died on the cross.  We know that this is true, not only because He was literally beaten to a bloody pulp by the Romans, but because John 19:34 tells us that while He hung on the cross, a soldier pierced His side with a spear and out flowed blood and water – a scientific fact that denotes that death had already occurred.

He died on the cross.

But three days later He rose again from the dead.  How did that happen?  Was He just laying around in the tomb?  Did an angel come and ask Him to get up?

In John 11 we see the incredible scene of a friend of our Lord’s named Lazarus who died and was put in a tomb.  Jesus told those in attendance to roll the stone away and called Lazarus to come forth.  He did – he rose from the dead.  How did that happen?  Through the power of the Spirit.  It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

Romans 8:9-11 - 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ESV

When we come to know Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us.  The same power raised Lazarus, that raised Jesus dwells within us.  But not only that we are born of the Spirit, born from above.

We are speaking of what changed our lives – it is the power of the Holy Spirit, by way of the shed blood of Jesus on the cross.

Sociologists tell us that our community, the American community is very “spiritual.”  That does not make one Christian.  People are looking for what is real and so they will combine theories, teaching and philosophies to make something that they think will satisfy.  This is what is at issue.

When one is in places like Africa where there a great need is to address the issues in their lives surrounding evil spirits and the need to miracles and healings to take place, it helps to know the Savior who within Himself is ultimate power.  Powerlessness in the Christian life is in reality, an oxymoron. 

Being born from above is to be born of the Spirit.  That power, flowing through Jesus, and us.  In Ephesians 1:19 the Apostle Paul describes that power of the Spirit within us as being, “immeasurably great.”

The passage goes on in verse 20, describing that power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Jesus at the right hand of God in the heavenly places.  And one day, because we were born again by the power of the Spirit, the Scriptures say that we will rule and reign with Jesus.

This discussion about the power of the Spirit changing our lives leads us to our second perspective this morning,

II.  A Follower of Christ is ‘Born Again’ of Water and Spirit.

5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

There has been some confusion about this issue of being “born of water.”  Some believe that you must be baptized in water to enter the Kingdom of God.  The thief who died on the cross next to Jesus who came to Christ had not been baptized.  Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is not be works we are saved, but by grace through faith.

The text tells us that Nicodemus was known as a great teacher and yet he is having difficulty understanding this concept of being ‘born again.’  And so Jesus puts it into terms that he can understand.  Nicodemus understood what John the Baptist was doing in the wilderness, baptizing people as a symbolic cleansing of their sins.

Nicodemus understood who the Essenes were.  Many of you have heard me speak of them before.  The Essenes were a group of Jews who very strictly followed baptismal rituals that were symbolic of the cleansing away of sin.  It was the same ritual used in the pools around the Temple that people would go through to symbolically cleanse themselves prior to going into the courts of that spiritual edifice.  The Essenes took it several steps further in being much more frequent in these baptisms, even several days from the Temple  In the Essene compound discovered at Qumran, which is near Herod’s infamous fortress at Masada, they found these pools that this group would use.
 

John the Baptist was a member of this group.  What John was doing in the wilderness was merely a step further for this group and under orders of the Holy Spirit to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.  The people came from every where into the wilderness to be baptized by John for the remission of their sins.  They could have merely come to the Temple and walked through the ritual pools.  

But they went the distance because of what John was preaching.  He will telling them about something more than just getting dunked, going through water; he was telling them about a rebirth of the soul, where there was repentance from sin and about the coming messenger who would endow them with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-33).

To be born of water and the Spirit means that the spiritual rebirth is conditional; confession of sin and repentance of sin by an individual is part of this transformation.

People who converted to Judaism would be physically washed and given new clothing.  This gave them the right to walk around and be received into the community.  However, those who had born a Jew were known as the children of God.  But Jesus tells Nicodemus that this is not enough.

It is likely that a breeze was blowing that evening as they discussed the Spirit in our text.  Jesus used the wind to describe the movement of the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit moves where He wants and not where we try to make Him move by our outward activities.  In other words, Jesus wanted Nicodemus to know that the Pharisees didn’t control the movement of the Holy Spirit.

When the Spirit comes on and in a person, it is a radical experience.  The Spirit blows in, filling the sails of our soul, thereby providing spiritual power.

Neither do we control the movement of the Holy Spirit.  But we come with our hat in our hand and say, “Lord, I am a sinner.  Thank you for Your incredible work on the cross and the power to save me from hell.  I’m sorry for my sin.  Save me from my sin.  Help me Jesus.”  Right now Jesus is drawing you, wooing you by way of the Holy Spirit.  There is a tugging at your heart right now if you are outside of relationship with Jesus Christ.  In fact, right now we are going to pray for anyone that would like to receive Jesus Christ as Savior.  This is your day and time.

----- PRAYER TO RECEIVE/RE-COMMIT TO CHRIST -----

III.  A Follower of Christ Becomes a ‘Follower of Christ’ Because the Son of Man Was Lifted Up.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

In Numbers 21, the children of Israel had sinned and so God sent what were described as a bunch of fiery serpents into their midst.  Many were bitten and died.  So the people began to repent.  The Lord told Moses to build a pole and put a bronze serpent on it so that everyone who was bitten would look on it and live.

This is where we get the medical symbol today, from this event that took place in the Bible.

Jesus Christ did the same for us.  He was lifted up like that serpent so many centuries ago, so that whoever looked upon Him and His ultimate sacrifice would be healed spiritually.

In June of 2008, a Romanian hiker who lost his life high on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to save his wife and a friend from the 70-mph winds of a freak June blizzard, national park officials say. The story was reported on June 13 by Associated Press.

When it became obvious the trio of friends could not find their way back to base camp in whiteout conditions, they dug a snow trench with their hands. Then 31-year-old Eduard Burceag lay down on the snow and his wife and a friend lay on top of him. Later, when they begged him to switch places, Burceag refused, saying he was OK.

"In doing so, he probably saved their lives," park spokesman Kevin Bacher said Thursday. Mariana Burceag, also 31, survived the storm, as did the couple's good friend, Daniel Vlad, 34. All three of the hikers were from Romania.

It was a selfless act, giving his life so that those whom he loved could live.

Jesus committed His selfless act to save those whom He loved by going to the cross and pay the ultimate sacrifice for us to be received into heaven. 

So now what?  What do we do with what we’ve heard this morning?

ü      Receive Jesus Christ as Savior.

ü      Remember the power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us.

ü      Appropriate the power of the Spirit in our own lives by praying for others, and sharing this power with others.  Don’t just get the power to you, but through you!

Jesus was inviting Nicodemus to move outside of his theological box.  Jesus was calling this learned man who had devoted his life to the Scripture and the Mishnah to experience the very things that he had learned.  When you live a powerless life for so long, the things one knows about the Scripture may be truth, but it is not lived out supernaturally.
 

The founding of the modern Pentecostal movement is an excellent example.  At the turn of the last century at a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas, Charles Parham led his students to study the Scripture about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and then to come back together and seek the experience of it.

Nicodemus was being challenged by Jesus to experience the new birth of His salvation.  Something happens there by way of the Spirit.  We must never take the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives for granted, regardless of whatever spiritual gift that we possess.