New Birth

Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Vision Series for 2024.

I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles open, but also the St Paul's app, which has an outline

for today's message.

In the latter half of 2009, I received a letter from RMS, New South Wales Roads, requesting

that I front up to a vehicle inspection station with the vehicle that I'd purchased about

18 months earlier.

The letter stated that there was, for RMS, some concern that my vehicle wasn't adequately

repaired from a major accident that it had had earlier, something that I was unaware

of at the time.

I wasn't concerned because it was a great vehicle, no issues at all, drove really,

really well.

I arrived at the inspection station, handed over the vehicle, the keys, confident of where

I stood.

After about 45 minutes of sitting there twiddling my thumbs, two inspectors came in, sat either

side of me, and gave me the classic good news, bad news report.

Well, the good news is your vehicle is in fantastic order and certainly roadworthy.

The bad news is that this is not your vehicle.

This is what is known as a rebirthed vehicle.

They explained that the rebirthed vehicle is a stolen vehicle.

Someone purchases what is called a repairable write-off, most likely from interstate, and instead of

going through the costs of repairing the repairable write-off, they steal a vehicle that is exactly the

same and transfer the numbers from the repairable write-off to the stolen vehicle, and then sell it

as a repaired vehicle.

That way they don't go through the costly process of repairing it.

It looks good.

In fact, it looks exactly the same as what the original vehicle did on the outside before the accident,

but all the identifying markers of the original vehicle are gone, and the stolen vehicle

are attached to it.

And then, of course, the original vehicle that they purchased interstate is chopped up and discarded

or thrown in the bottom of the Parramatta River.

I was then told by the inspectors to sit tight as major crimes were on their way.

And four officers turned up, and within two hours, my vehicle, I watched it being loaded on the

back of a police truck, and with it, $25,000 gone.

They said, the vehicle that you have insured is most likely in the bottom of the Parramatta

River right now.

That's the good news, because if you had an accident with this vehicle, you weren't insured

for it.

All this happened.

The good news is that as a result of my case and the evidence that I gave, you can now buy

a second-hand vehicle with confidence.

There is now a national register that identifies the entire history of every vehicle.

You're welcome.

This all happened on the day before our second child was born.

One day, I'm dealing with rebirthing, and the next day, I'm dealing with an actual birth.

And when she was born, the first time I looked at her, I went, oh yeah, she's ours.

Immediately identifiable as ours, belonging to us.

At birth, we are all identified genetically as we share the genetic makeup of our biological

parents.

We also inherit an ethnic makeup, depending on where you're born.

You're also likely to have a national identity.

And certainly for many years, as you were growing up, you share the socioeconomic identity

of your parents.

That is, our birth identifies us in every possible way.

And as we just read, Nick read out to us, Peter describes becoming a Christian as being

reborn, a new birth.

This new birth doesn't change who we are ethnically, nationally, genetically, socioeconomically, but

it does change our lives in such a way that we are fundamentally different people.

Fundamentally different people.

You may not look different on the outside, but you are fundamentally different on the inside.

Totally different on the inside.

And that's what this vision series is all about.

Over the course of this term, we are building up towards Easter and the celebration of the

death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of humanity.

And as we build up to Easter, I've kind of reversed everything.

I can't kind of change the date for Easter.

As we build up to Easter, we're going to be looking at the resurrection.

And specifically, the resurrection impact on our lives now.

What it does for us.

And we're going to be going through sections of 1 and 2 Peter as we do that.

And for the first four weeks, I'm focusing on the first 16 verses of 1 Peter.

So you're going to see that Bible reading again and again and again.

Again, if you get your Bibles open and have it there with you, that'd be fantastic.

Today, I want to lay the foundation of the new birth.

What is the new birth?

What does it do?

How does it grow in us?

And who makes the new birth possible?

That's kind of the three points for today.

So what's the new birth?

Verse 3, just read out to us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth.

All Christians, that is, everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ, are described as being reborn.

It's a new birth.

That is, every Christian is born again.

That term is not just for a certain kind of Christian.

You know, there's Christians and then there's born again Christians.

That's not biblical in any way whatsoever.

All Christians are born again.

And we're not told much here about what the new birth is that the Christian has received.

We know from other parts of the Bible that the new birth is a new life and a new vitality.

New life and a new vitality.

When a person is born again, they experience new life.

That is, we are told in Ephesians that we are spiritually dead.

And being born again, spiritual life comes into you.

God puts his very life into us.

His eternal life into us.

And the new birth comes to us in different kinds of ways.

That is, there's no one type of experience that everyone must have.

For some, their experience of new birth is like lightning bolt.

And you can identify, which someone like I can identify,

on the day, 30th of May, 1993, when the lightning bolt struck.

For some, it's a gradual process where it's hardly even recognisable.

So it's important not to insist that it happens in a certain way.

Even though the new birth comes to us in different ways,

and at times this new birth might be subtle,

it is nevertheless astounding and powerful.

The New Testament, the original New Testament word for it,

is palagenesia.

Palagenesia.

It means regeneration.

The book of Titus tells us that when we are born again,

we experience regeneration.

And Titus uses the word palagenesia.

In Matthew 19, verse 28, Jesus says this,

Matthew 19:28

Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things,

when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,

what Jesus is talking about there in Matthew 19,

is the end of all things.

When he rules the universe,

God's power will come into the world

and renew the entire world.

He'll make it all right.

Everything that's wrong, everything that's stained,

everything that's evil, everything that's deformed,

broken about this world will be fixed in that moment,

in a twinkling of an eye by Jesus Christ

at his second coming.

Death and evil and suffering will be gone.

All tears, sadness, anxiety will be wiped away.

And despite all the superpowers and the wealth

and the technology of the world,

we cannot fix it.

So think of what is required

to bring about that kind of renewal

in our world.

And Jesus describes that time

as the renewal of all things

and he uses the Greek word,

palogenesia,

in Matthew 19.

So the Apostle Paul here,

sorry, the Apostle Peter here,

in 1 Timothy,

sorry, the Apostle Paul,

has the audacity to use the exact same Christian word

to describe the new birth

of the Christian in Titus.

Palogenesia.

The renewal of all things.

The tremendous power

that renews all things at the end

comes into the life of the Christian now

in order to effect rebirth

through faith in Jesus Christ.

Can I just say,

therefore,

if you are a Christian,

you, like me,

are putting up with a whole heap of stuff

in our lives that we don't have to.

The potential for change

in our lives is astounding.

Incomprehensibly astounding

because that power

is present right now.

This is the new life we get

with the new birth.

So particularly,

where does this new birth operate

in the life of the Christian?

What does it do?

The new birth

operates

especially in the hopes

of the Christian,

which is what we read there

in 1 Peter 3.

The new birth,

the reason the new birth

changes our,

changes the Christian so much

is because it changes

our hopes so much.

If you change a person's hopes,

you change everything about them.

Back in verse 3 again,

Praise be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy,

he has given us new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ from the dead

and into an inheritance

that can never perish,

spoil,

or fade.

This inheritance is kept

in heaven for you.

The direction

of every person's life

is set

on what they hope

the most.

So if you offer

a person

a life-giving,

imperishable hope,

then their life

is changed forever.

All of us,

every human being,

has certain desires

and expectations.

And there are desires

like meaning,

significance,

security,

purpose,

and then you work out

what you think

will fulfill

those desires.

And whatever we believe in

to fulfill those desires

is what we set

our hopes

and our hearts on.

Which is another way

of saying,

we are all hope-driven

people.

And our hearts,

in order to

fulfill our hopes,

might be set

on our careers,

might be set

on money,

might be set

on accomplishments,

it might be set

on status,

it might be set

on love,

romance,

beauty,

our children,

might be a political

hope,

might be social

causes.

every single person

chooses something

to believe in

that will fill

their hopes.

We are

unavoidably

hope-based

creatures.

Proverbs 13,

12,

in the Old Testament

tells us

that hope deferred

makes the heart

sick.

we experience

our present

in radically

different ways

depending on

what our future

hope actually

is.

Imagine

I have

two people

and I

give them

the exact

same

pair of

scissors

and I

say,

I want you

to cut

the church

grass

with these

scissors.

Pull one

of them

aside.

Their

experience

of that,

I mean I

heard the

groans already,

you know like,

their experience

of that

cutting the

grass with a

pair of

scissors

will be

quite

different

based on

the conversation

I have with

each of them

privately.

I say to

one of them

at the end

of this

job,

when you're

all finished,

I'm going

to give

you $20.

to the

other

person,

I say

at the

end of

this

job,

when you're

all

finished,

I'm going

to give

you $200,000.

One

is going

to whistle

when they

work,

the other

will not,

depending on

the end

goal.

And when

they have a

break,

one of them

is going

to go,

I can't

believe we're

doing this

for this.

Like,

this is,

you look at

the conditions

we're dealing

with here,

the other

one's going

to go,

I don't

care that

it's going

to be

30 odd

degrees today,

I don't

care.

Hope makes

all the

difference

of our

current

experience.

My point

is we

are hope

driven and

the new

birth changes

our hopes.

The new

birth gives

us a hope

that is

imperishable.

And that

is the

contrast with

every other

hope that

this world

offers us.

It

perishes,

it fades,

it spoils.

Put your

hope in

a career,

you'll have

to retire.

Put your

hope in

money,

you're never

secure.

Hope in

your family,

it's

potentially

the last

one left.

So how

does this

new hope

grow in

us?

How do

we wrench

our hearts

away from

hopes that

will fade

and perish

and put it

into a

hope that

will never

perish,

fade or

disappoint in

any way?

How do

you make

that shift?

There are

multiple ways

that that

happens in

the New

Testament,

but the

main way

that 1

Peter talks

about growing

in new

life and

new hope

and therefore

to become

more like

Jesus in

character,

more stable

in life,

more loving

and joyful,

the more

shaped into

his image

and his

priorities.

The 1

Peter speaks

about one

way primarily

that that is

affected in

your life.

The new

birth grows

in you

and the

hope grows

in you

and it's

surprising for

us.

It's

suffering.

Suffering.

In fact,

I think I

would declare,

I'm assuming

someone else

would say the

same,

that apart

from the

book of

Job in

the Old

Testament,

1 and 2

Peter,

but particularly

1 Peter,

are the

greatest

books of

the theology

of suffering

in the

Bible.

Suffering.

Now,

I'm going to

say a lot

more about

that in a

few weeks,

so I don't

really want

to steal

all that

thunder now,

but here's

a taste.

Verse 6,

In all

this you

greatly

rejoice,

though now

for a little

while you

may have

had to

suffer grief

in all

kinds of

trials.

These have

come so

that the

proven

genuineness

of your

faith,

of greater

worth than

gold,

which perishes

even though

refined by

fire,

may result

in praise,

glory,

and honour

when Jesus

Christ is

revealed.

The first

words of

verse 6

say that

the Christian

rejoices in

their

hope.

rejoices in

their hope.

The word

is in

actual fact

a present

tense.

You're

rejoicing in

your hope

now.

What makes

that remarkable

is that the

words suffer

grief are

connected to

it.

And the

words suffer

grief actually

mean to be

in agony,

lots of

pain,

pain.

It doesn't

say you

used to

rejoice but

unfortunately

now you're

suffering

agony.

Nor does

it say that

because you've

got lots to

rejoice about,

you're not

actually really

in pain,

you know,

get over

yourselves,

move on,

take some

Panadol,

have a lie

down,

it's not

really that

bad.

both the

feeling of

the agony

and the

rejoicing

are both

present

tense.

They are

concurrent

activities.

And what

1 Peter

says here,

when we do

both of those

things at the

same time,

it's like

putting gold

into a

furnace.

it refines

you and

grows you

as the

suffering

drives you

deeper and

deeper and

deeper into

your real

hope,

the hope

that can

never perish,

spoil or

fade.

And yet,

this is

almost never

our view

of suffering.

in a

day and

a culture

that suggests

our personal

happiness

is of

the highest

importance,

then anything

hard,

anything

difficult,

anything

unpleasant

is considered

bad,

wrong and

evil.

And it's

God's job

to take it

away from

me in

order that I

might be

able to

rejoice.

we

therefore

cannot

possibly

imagine

because

we've

been so

marinated

in such

a culture,

we cannot

possibly

imagine

why God

would allow

suffering and

hardship

come into

my life

at all.

So,

imagine a

forestry

worker.

They have

marked out a

bunch of

trees,

they're going

to cut

them down

and they're

going to

get set

off to

the sawmill

and then

they come

in to do

their job

and they

notice at

the top

of one of

this tree

they're about

to cut

down,

there's

this bird,

a lovely

bird,

making a

nest,

it's building

a nest

in the top

of the

tree in

the forest

where it

goes,

you know,

so they

bang on

the tree,

make lots

of noise

to get the

bird to

move on

and much

to their

delight the

bird flies

and moves

to the next

tree.

Oh,

starts

bang on

that tree,

bang,

bang,

bang,

lots of

noise,

get the

bird to

move on,

bird moves

on to the

third tree,

oh,

here comes

the forestry

work of

the bird,

what is

wrong with

this person?

Like,

seriously,

give me a

break here,

I'm just

trying to

build my

nest,

trying to

raise a

family,

you know,

like,

what is

wrong with

this forest?

Bang,

bang,

bang on

the tree

again and

the bird

gets up

and flies

off and

lands on

a rock,

starts to

build the

nest and

notices the

forestry

worker leaves

them alone.

The older

we get,

we realise

that every

tree,

every hope

will come

down.

will

come down.

We don't

believe it

when we're

young.

When we're

young,

we think

that whatever

tree that

we try to

plant our

nest in

will be

there all

the time.

As you

get older,

you realise

every tree,

every hope

will eventually

come down.

And yet

every generation

thinks it'll

be able to

do what no

other generation

has been

able to do

before it.

Our hearts

are not

designed to

be completely

fulfilled by

anything or

everything in

this life.

We simply

don't realise

the greatness

of our souls

and the depth

of our desires

and our hopes.

And the best

thing that God

can do for us

while we live

in this body,

in this world,

before Jesus

comes back,

is to bang

on every tree

that we build

our lives on.

until we

reach the

solid rock,

the sure

foundation that

is the

gospel of

Jesus Christ

alone.

An

imperishable

hope,

a greater

hope,

a sure

foundation.

The worst

thing that can

happen for us

is to be left

to our own

devices to

build our

nests at the

top of the

tree,

build our

lives on

something that

will in short

time come

crushing down.

So who

then makes

this new

birth

possible?

How can

Peter say

that if you're

a Christian,

this new

birth,

you have a

new birth,

you have a

living and

perishable

hope?

How's that

possible?

How can

he say

that when

we know

of ourselves,

we constantly

fail God,

we fail each

other,

how can

he say,

we even

fail ourselves,

how can

we possibly

have that

kind of

hope,

sure hope?

None of

us have

loved God

and loved

our neighbours

ourselves all

of the time.

We haven't

done it,

we never

will.

How can

Peter promise

us a hope

that will

never,

ever perish,

never come

crashing down,

never fade?

Verse 10,

concerning this

salvation,

the prophets

who spoke

of the

grace that

was to

come to

you,

searched

intently

and with

the greatest

care,

trying to

find out

the time

and the

circumstances

to which

the Spirit

of Christ

in them

was pointing

when he

predicted

the sufferings

of the

Messiah

and the

glories

that would

follow.

It was

revealed to

them that

they were

not serving

themselves

but you

when they

spoke of

the things

that have

now been

told you

by those

who have

preached

the gospel

to you

by the

Holy Spirit

sent from

heaven.

Even

angels

long to

look into

these

things.

What is

the gospel

that the

prophets

revealed

centuries

before

and that

the apostles

preached?

What is

the gospel?

It is

that Jesus

Christ

suffered.

He

suffered.

The

Son of

God,

the

Creator

of all

things

came

as

the

rescuer

and

the

ruler

of all

of

humanity

in

weakness.

Not in

triumph,

in

weakness.

He died

on a

Roman

cross

for the

sin

and the

failure

of

humanity.

He

died

the

death

that we

should

die.

We,

the

weak

and the

perishing,

have a

glorious

and

imperishable

hope

in

Jesus

Christ,

the

glorious

and

the

eternal

one

because

he

perished

in

shame

for

us.

Our

new

birth

and

glorious

hope

are not

based on

our

performance.

It is

based on

the

performance

of the

imperishable

one,

the one

who died

but rose

again

and lives

forever

and reigns

forever.

The

Christian's

ultimate

glory

is

assured

because

he

emptied

himself

of his

glory.

So it's

all his

work.

So what

are we

called to

do then

in order

to build

this hope?

If you're

a Christian,

what do

you do?

It says

there that

the angels

never get

tired of

looking at

what Jesus

has done

for us.

In fact,

the word

there

means,

the word

too long

there means

to lust

for something.

The angels

are lusting

after the

work of

Jesus.

That is,

there's nothing

greater for

an angel

to do

than to

look at

and ponder

more and

desire more

what Jesus

Christ has

done for

humanity

in salvation.

I find

that astounding

because it's

a present

lusting.

What I find

astounding

about that

is that

how long

have angels

been around

for?

people,

I'm

assuming

they're

around

for a

long

time,

like a

lot longer

than a

human

being,

you know,

for millennia.

and it

says here

that their

hearts

never grow

weary

of the

gospel.

Searching

it out,

its

implications,

seeing

connections,

never grow

weary of

it.

And that

is how we

heal our

hearts

of the

despair

that we

have.

keep

looking at

the

gospel

and his

living

hope

will

grow

in our

hearts

and it

will

change

us

more

and more

into the

likeness

and the

priorities

of Jesus

Christ.

Never

get tired

of the

gospel.

Lust

after the

gospel.

Now,

I'm also

mindful that

not everyone

here is a

Christian,

tuning in

either building

or tuning

in online.

Very

mindful of

that and

you are

very welcome.

We

love to

have you

here,

that you

might

discover

something

of this

living

hope.

And I've

realised that

I've covered

a huge

topic in

a very

short

time.

I've

got a

few more

weeks to

go.

And I've

made

statements

and claims

that I

haven't

unpacked

that are

very worthy

of being

unpacked

more and

more.

I'm aware

that on

any given

Sunday,

we are

all at

different

stages of

this journey

of understanding

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

And so

maybe I've

made some

assumptions

today that

are not

your

assumptions.

And I

would love

to invite

you to

explore that

more with

us.

Have the

conversations

about that.

At the end

of this

month,

we are

starting a

seven-part

course called

Alpha that

explores the

big questions

of life

and the

Christian

faith.

It's a

relaxed,

it's a

safe place

to explore

deeper,

and I

want to

just invite

you to

be part

of it.

Get your

phone and

get to

the QR

code and

be part

of that,

to explore

with us

what this

new birth

is,

what this

imperishable

hope in

Jesus

Christ is.

But maybe

you've already

taken the

steps of

exploring it,

but today

it's pressing

in on you.

Pressing in

on you.

God is,

by his

spirit,

pressing on

you to

take that

next step.

Take the

next step of

coming to

Jesus and

receiving new

birth today.

If that's

you,

I'd be

delighted to

have a

conversation

with you

afterwards.