Born Again

It's good to see you all here this morning, both in person and on the live stream.

This morning we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper at the end of the service.

If you're in the pews and you don't have one of these little packages of the elements,

you can go back to the back and the ushers would be happy to serve you with those.

And for those of you at home, this is just a heads up.

We'll transition from the sermon right into the Lord's Supper.

So that's where we're going for the rest of our time.

So the snow is falling, but we have a rich text for us to look at this morning.

So we will endeavor to get out of here in a timely manner,

but we will linger now over the Word of God for a few minutes.

So going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger.

So I heard from Keith Green a long time ago, and Keith Green was a Christian musician.

The logic of this is not very strong, so the philosophers out there don't put too much weight in this.

It's a poor analogy, but the question that it's raising is a good one.

What is being a Christian really about?

It's easy for us to think about all sorts of reasons why or what being a Christian is really about.

For some of us, it may be something that we've grown up with, a family or a social identity.

For some of us, it may be that we love the aesthetics and the beauty of the gospel

and the sense of transcendence in worship.

Some of us may love the ethics, the call to righteousness and justice in a better world and a better society.

Some of us may love the morals and family values that shape and are espoused by the church.

Some of us may love the ritual, the music, the comfort of the familiar and the regular.

Some of us may love the community and people who love us.

Some of us may love the system and the logic of doctrine that makes sense of our world.

And all of these things are beautiful and wonderful things and aspects of what true Christianity is about.

But when we come to our text this morning, which is in John 3,

Jesus is going to help us understand the very heart of what being a Christian is really about.

And remember that this is now, if you want to turn in your Bibles to John 3, that's where we'll be.

The context, the gospel of John is shaped to help us see Jesus, to lift up Jesus and the person of who he is

and the work that he did while he was here on earth.

And it's shaped, if you remember, Pastor Nick opened by preaching this grand prologue about the word became flesh,

how God came to earth and incarnated himself, took on flesh and blood so that we might know God

and so that we might have life in him.

And we've seen in the chapters unfolding and continuing throughout this,

John is slowly peeling back the onion, giving us layer after layer of who Jesus is.

And this brings us to our chapter.

We're actually going to begin, if you're going to read along with me, at the end of chapter 2.

The end of chapter 2 is verse 23 will actually be the beginning of our passage this morning.

So we're going to read and look at this.

This is the first of three encounters with individuals where Jesus clarifies who he is more and more.

And as we go, Kevin, are we using the...

Can I get rid of this or...

What are we using?

All right.

Good.

All right.

So we're going to read John and then pray and then we'll dive in.

John 2 verse 23.

John 2:23

Now when he, that is Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast,

many believed in his names when they saw the signs that he was doing.

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people

and needed no one to bear witness about man for he knew, for he himself knew what was in man.

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 are a teacher come from God,

for no one can do the 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.

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?

And Jesus answered,

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel when I said to you, you must be born again.

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.

Nicodemus said to him,

How can these things be?

And Jesus answered him,

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 had told you earthly things, and you do not believe,

how can you believe if I tell you of 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.

For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish,

but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

but whoever does not believe is condemned already,

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

God, this is the judgment.

Light has come into the world,

and people love the darkness rather than the light,

because their deeds were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light,

and does not come to the light,

lest his deeds should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light,

so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.

Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you for this passage that so beautifully reveals to us,

Lord, the greatness of Jesus and his work for us.

Lord, I pray this morning that your Spirit would enable us to hear your word,

and Lord, that you would apply it by your Spirit to our hearts.

Lord, that we would know the greatness of your power,

the depth of your love,

and the wonder and amazing grace that you have shown us in Jesus Christ.

Lord, be with us, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Friends, here is the good news.

We can be born again.

We can be changed from the inside out,

not because we are good enough,

but because God is gracious and powerful enough to work in us.

This is the big idea that John wants us to get from this picture this morning,

that through Jesus, we can be made new and transformed.

What does this mean?

Well, let's look at it.

Let's think about this and explore this passage together.

We're going to ask three questions.

One, of the new birth.

One, what is the new birth?

Two, how can it happen to us?

And three, will you respond?

So the first one.

What is the new birth?

Verses 1 through 8 tells us this well-known story of Nicodemus the Pharisee,

a law-abiding citizen,

a law-abiding citizen,

one who would be a faithful member of the Jewish ruling class.

He would know the law and keep it carefully.

He would be an upstanding man of character.

He'd be the guy that you would trust to mow your lawn,

put your mail in, and watch your pets while you went away for two weeks.

He would be someone who would be trustworthy.

And he was trusting in the religion that he knew

and the practices that he knew to know God.

And he knew a lot about God because he knew the Old Testament Scriptures.

And he comes to Jesus and he says,

I've seen the signs.

And this is a theme we've already talked about a little bit.

It's why I read the very end of chapter 2

because John recounts that many people saw these signs

and believed in Jesus because of the signs that they saw.

And Nicodemus comes and says,

you must have come from God

because of the things that you're doing,

because of the things that we have seen you do.

You've got a good thing going,

and I want to know more.

I might even want in on whatever it is you've brought.

I think that's the heart of Nicodemus coming to Jesus.

He comes at night,

maybe because he was afraid,

but I think probably more symbolically,

he comes at night

because he comes as a figure,

as a type of one who doesn't fully understand who Jesus is yet.

And he comes and he asks these questions.

And Jesus, as he is so prone to do,

here's a question,

and then he turns it back

and he reframes the question.

And he restates it to say,

you know what,

what you're bringing to me is helpful.

Okay, you think I'm from God.

That's good.

You want in on this.

I'm actually going to push this into a place

you never thought it was going to happen.

Jesus changes the question.

He says, you know what?

If you want to see the kingdom of God,

you want to be a full participant

of all the promises that God has given to Israel.

You want to know that God

the way you think you do,

you must be born again.

If you look at your footnote,

it might say born from above.

The word there could mean either of these things.

Born again or born from above.

And Nicodemus responds by taking the first part,

the being born again idea,

and he says,

Jesus, that's the craziest thing I ever heard.

His questions reveal his incredulity.

You mean I, a grown man,

have to go back into my mother's womb?

That's crazy.

I've been studying and knowing God for 70 years.

You want me to now start over like a baby?

He doesn't understand what Jesus is talking about.

And so Jesus, in verse 5,

begins to clarify.

What does Jesus mean by being born again

or born from above?

He means, he says,

it means being born of water and the Spirit.

Okay, what does that mean?

Well, there's been lots of conversation

in the church about this.

Some people seem to think that it was,

that Jesus was referring to the baptism of John

in the river Jordan

and then the baptism of the Spirit.

Some people think that it might be referring

to our physical birth

because we're born in water,

because we swim in a uterus

that has amniotic fluid.

And so that's the water

and then we're born in the Spirit

because we have,

along with that physical birth,

we have a spiritual birth that comes later.

Some people seem to think

it relates to baptism in the church

and how the church is,

brings, or is a part of baptism

by water and by the Spirit.

All of these things are

relatively possible,

but I don't think that they're

the easiest way to do it,

easiest way to understand it.

Jesus is not referring to two things

when he says born of water and the Spirit.

He's referring to one thing.

This is why I say that.

First of all, because the grammar tells us that.

If you look very carefully in the ESV,

it's helpful because it points it out.

It says,

unless one is born of water and the Spirit.

He doesn't say of water and of the Spirit,

which would have one preposition

for each element.

It's one preposition

that then encompasses

both of the two things afterwards.

The second reason why I think it's one thing

is because it's parallel to being born again

in verse above.

And then in verse 8,

he says being born of the Spirit

without clarifying more,

I think Jesus is just talking about one thing.

He's being,

he's talking about this work of God

that renews us,

makes us alive again spiritually.

And the reason why I think Jesus did that

is because I think Jesus had in his mind

the passage from Ezekiel

that was read earlier in the service.

I'm going to read again the passage,

verses 25 and 26 from Ezekiel 36.

This is the promise of God to his people

of the coming new covenant promise

and the coming new age that will happen.

He says,

I will sprinkle clean water on you

and you shall be clean

from all your uncleannesses.

And from your idols,

I will cleanse you

and I will give you a new heart

and a new spirit I will put within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone

from your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh.

You see,

Jesus talking to this Old Testament scholar

says,

this is what it's about.

This is the promise from the Old Testament.

You must be born again,

which means being cleansed from your sin,

being freed from your idolatry

and being given a new heart.

That sin has made our hearts hard like a stone.

And that by God's spirit,

he's going to take that heart out

and give us a new one

that's made alive by his spirit.

And this is the picture.

These are two elements of this one work

that the Bible calls regeneration.

An internal transformation

whereby we are transferred

from darkness or from death to life.

And remember,

in Ezekiel,

maybe you don't remember,

in Ezekiel 37,

there's this famous vision

that God gives to Ezekiel

where he takes him to a valley

and this valley is filled

with dry, desiccated bones.

There's nothing but just skeletons

lying around.

And God says,

Son of man,

can these bones live?

Ezekiel says,

only you know.

He says,

prophesy and pray.

And the spirit,

the wind of the spirit of God

blows over these skeletons.

And they are regenerated.

They are brought back to life.

And not like zombie,

scary horror film,

but they're actually brought back

to full human health

as if they had not died.

They were resurrected.

The spirit of God comes

and brings life

into these skeletons.

And Jesus says,

this is what it means

to know God.

That God is able to breathe

a spiritual life into us.

I wonder,

as you're sitting here,

if you know this experience.

Some of us experience this

in maybe a more dramatic way,

and some of us experience it

in a more gradual way.

But the signs of being born again

are very clear.

I can remember distinctly,

I grew up going to church,

I read the Bible,

I heard about Jesus,

and it didn't mean anything to me.

And then,

as God began to work in my heart,

He began to pull me

towards Himself.

And I have a moment,

but some of you may have a process,

where, like C.S. Lewis,

at one point you knew

you didn't believe in God,

and then at the end

you knew that you did.

And at one point you know

you didn't trust in Jesus,

and then further on you did.

But you know what comes with that?

A new spiritual life.

A hunger to know God.

An ability to read His Word

with greater clarity

and understanding.

A desire to love God

and to order your life

in a way to worship Him.

This is the fruit of a new life

where God becomes the center

and we are unseated.

And this is what God promises us

when He gives us a new heart,

when He cleanses us from our sin.

This is the new birth

that Jesus says we need.

He looks at Nicodemus

and He says,

it's not enough for you

to be good on the outside

or to try to reform yourself

to be a little better

than you used to be.

It's not enough for you

to simply keep the law

and to keep your hands clean

and think,

I've done enough.

Jesus says,

no,

you must be born again,

made new by God's Spirit and power.

Friends,

this is the power

that turns a political hatchet man

like Chuck Colson

into a prison minister

for the gospel.

This is what turns

a bitter and depressed

paraplegic woman

like Johnny Erickson Tata

into a joyful artist

and minister of hope

to many

as she ministers

to the disabled.

And with Nicodemus,

it's what turns

a fervently zealous

religious leader

into a humble follower

of Jesus.

You can be born again,

Jesus says to Nicodemus

and to us.

And Nicodemus then

asks the question

that leads us

to our next section

of the text.

And the question

that maybe is in all

of our hearts,

which is,

well,

how can this happen to us?

How is it

that we get

to be born again?

Again,

verses 9 through 15,

I think,

help us see this.

Jesus rebukes Nicodemus

saying,

you should know

these things.

You should know

the story of Ezekiel.

You should know

these promises

from the Old Testament.

He rebukes him

for not knowing them

and he rebukes him

for not listening

to Jesus.

Think about it.

Nicodemus in the very beginning

said, hey,

you've done all these

great signs.

You come from God.

And then Jesus says

something that he

doesn't understand

and Nicodemus

is incredulous.

Why won't you listen

to my testimony?

You want a sign?

You're looking

for some reason

to believe

my authority

about this?

And this is kind

of the flow.

The passage is not

simple to work through,

but the flow

is that Jesus

is leading up

to verses 14 and 15.

Jesus is saying,

if you want a sign,

to know why you

should listen to me,

if you want to know

how this happens

in your life,

verse 14,

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.

Just as Moses

lifted up the serpent

in the wilderness.

Now, how many people

know that one

from their Sunday school?

I didn't.

I mean, I knew it.

Jack Lauer knows it.

So, yeah, there we go.

Praise God.

We have a great

children's ministry.

We're doing well.

So, but this is not,

this is in Numbers

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21,

and I'm going to read

this to you really quickly

because it's a really

helpful passage.

passage.

The people of Israel

have been wandering

in the wilderness

for 40 years,

and now God is moving

them again towards

entering into the

promised land

after a whole generation

has died in the wilderness,

not experiencing

the fullness of the promise

because of their disobedience

and grumbling

and doubting of God.

And this is what happens

from Mount Hor.

They were set out

by the way

to the Red Sea

to go around

the land of Edom,

and the people

became impatient

on the way.

And the people

spoke against God

and against Moses,

saying,

Why have you brought us

up out of Egypt

to die in the wilderness?

For there is no food

and no water,

and we loathe

this worthless food.

Then God 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 had spoken

against the Lord

and against you.

Pray to the Lord

that he might take away

the serpents 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.

in light of the disobedience,

the grumbling

and complaining.

Think about it.

This generation

had seen God

provide for them

for 40 years,

and then he moves them along

and they're like,

Ah, we don't like

the burgers.

We'd like Chick-fil-A

instead.

Grumbling

and complaining

and doubting

God's goodness

to them.

God sends

a judgment.

He sends poisonous snakes.

And the people,

they cry out,

God, save us.

Help us.

God tells Moses

to make a metal snake,

an image,

and to put it

on a wooden pole

and to lift it up

among the gathering

of God's people.

And everyone

who was bitten

and poisoned

who saw that snake,

who saw that it was

a symbol of God's

saving presence

among them,

would not die

because of the poison

in them,

but would live.

It is a picture

of a gracious salvation

for people

who can't save

themselves.

And friends,

this is what Jesus

wants us to know

about being born again.

We are born again

because just like

that serpent

was lifted up

in the wilderness

for a disobedient people

so that they could

look on it in faith

and be saved.

So the Son of Man

will be lifted up

on a wooden cross

among people

who are dying

because of their sin,

people who are helpless

to save themselves.

When the Son of Man

is lifted up

in the Gospel of John,

it is always lifted up

on the cross

of Christ.

Lifted up on the cross

where Jesus died.

You see,

here's the logic

that undergirds us.

You see this

played out

and fulfilled

in the apostles.

We are spiritually dead

and under judgment

for our sin.

All of us,

every one of us,

and all of us

need salvation

without exception.

Just like Nicodemus,

we may be a very good man,

but it's not enough.

We could not overcome

our sin on our own.

What we see

is that the only hope

that we have

is to look outside

of ourselves

for a Savior.

And Jesus,

being lifted up,

takes the sin,

takes our sin

and the punishment

for our sin

of death,

God's judgment

and condemnation

on our sin.

Jesus bears all of that

for Himself

so that we might be saved.

It is not our work.

It cannot be our work.

It must be His work

that is able to save us.

So Jesus is saying,

how does this happen?

Look.

Look at the Son of Man.

Lift it up.

Look at Him in faith.

Believe and trust.

and you will have

eternal life.

And eternal life here

is connected to this idea

of being born again.

We often think of eternal life

as being some future thing.

And in fact,

if we're honest,

many of us think

eternal life sounds boring.

It sounds like eternally

sitting in a

pillow soft,

you know,

sort of commercial

where it's clouds

and sunlight

and nothing very interesting happens.

But instead,

what He is saying is,

no,

this eternal life

is something that can happen now,

that begins now,

and will continue for eternity.

And it does have to do with us

being caught up

in the life of God

and all of the richness

of this world that we live in

and all the signs

of the goodness of life

that we see throughout this,

even this fallen world.

We get to take hold

of that life.

Jesus said,

I have come

that they might have life

and that they might have it

abundantly,

overflowingly,

richly,

with joy and peace

and patience,

with celebration,

with mission,

with purpose,

with creativity,

with beauty,

all of these things.

And Jesus is saying

to Nicodemus and to us,

look,

look at the Son of Man,

lift it up

and take hold

of this life.

You can be born again.

And with that,

Jesus' sermon is ended.

His message

and his interaction

with Nicodemus

is ended.

There's a footnote

in your ESV.

I think John

then steps in

in verse 16.

The apostle steps in

and says,

this is commentary

now on what Jesus

has just said.

He says,

God so loved the world

that he gave

his only begotten Son.

That whoever believes in him

would not perish

but have eternal life.

One of the most famous

verses in all of the Bible.

And now you've seen

some of the run-up to it

and what the context

of it is.

John is saying,

do you see

God has loved this world?

And we need to be clear

on the grammar.

It's true that God loves us

hugely and abundantly

and overwhelmingly,

but it's not that

God loved this world

so much.

It's actually saying

God loved this world

in this particular way.

God loved the world

thus,

by sending his Son

to be our Savior.

He sent his Son

to rescue us

and God loved

not just nice people

who are trying

to get to him

and are a little confused,

but God loved the world

which in the Gospel of John

means a place of rebellion,

a place of rejection

against God.

The systems

of our world

that are fallen

and broken

and dishonor

and refuse

to acknowledge

or submit to God.

God loved the world

not because it was

a nice place

he was trying to fix up,

but because it was

a place of brokenness

and rebellion

that he was trying

to rescue.

And God's intent

throughout this

is so clear.

He came

to save people.

That's what verse 17 says,

that though he is the judge

and rightfully will judge

the whole world,

his heart and his intent

in the coming of Jesus

is that people would be saved,

not that they would be condemned.

What a terrible thing it is

that in our culture today

people believe

that the church

is all about condemning sinners.

When Jesus Christ said,

I do not come to condemn them

but to save them

by offering this invitation,

come,

will you believe?

The final verses,

18 through 21,

may feel very deterministic.

May feel like,

well,

it says if I believe

then I'm in,

but if I don't believe

then I'm already condemned

and what's the hope?

I think that's a misreading

of this text.

John is trying to help us

see clearly.

Here's the thing.

If the problem

that we've diagnosed

is right,

that all people

are under sin

and the solution

is presented

as the only one,

Jesus,

because only Jesus

has died on the cross

for our sin.

Only Jesus could do

what he did.

Because of his sinless life

he could take our place.

Because of his humanity

he could die for us.

Because of his resurrection

he shows that he

in the,

by din of his

indestructible power,

indestructible life,

is able to have victory

over sin and death

because he is a risen savior.

He alone is the one

that can save us.

Christians are not exclusive

because we think

everyone else is stupid

or we just want

our tribe to win.

Christianity is exclusive

because there's only

one solution

and it's Jesus.

Only he has done

what we need

to be saved.

John acknowledges

that some of us

don't turn to Jesus.

Some of us continue

to love the darkness

instead of the light.

Some of us are ashamed.

Some of us are clinging

desperately

to our own lives

apart from him

hoping that we can

make it on our own.

But as commentator

D.A. Carson

who by the way

if you haven't read

his commentary

it's the best commentary

on John.

D.A. Carson

he summarizes

this passage like this.

John expresses

these points

in the hope

that his readers

will beseech God

that all that they do

might be done

through him.

That is in short

that they will turn

to the lifted up

son of man

with the same desperate

unqualified faith

as the Israelites

displayed

who turned

to the bronze snake

in the desert.

By such faith

and such faith alone

can anyone

experience

the new birth

and thereby gain

eternal life.

friends

will you respond

to this call?

Jesus' encounter

with Nicodemus

then turns into

a sermon

and a call

by the apostle John.

Will you respond

to this call

today?

Maybe you're

one of those people

who loves church

because of the beauty

and the aesthetics

or because you love

the community

and the love

for one another.

but when you hear

me talk about

being born again

it feels foreign

it feels alien

it's something

you've never

really considered

before.

Maybe you've

grown up in church

and it's because

of your family

because of your

background

because of your

community

it's just kind of

who you are

but you've never

actually known

what it's like

to experience

this new power

this new life

in you.

Jesus says

come

come and believe

put your faith

and trust in me

and you will be

born again.

We're about to go

to the Lord's table

we're going to

celebrate communion

what communion is

is a celebration

of these things

is a celebration

of what Jesus

has done

for us

and for those of us

who have trusted

in Jesus

who know

that we are born

again through faith

in him

then the table

is a place

of remembering

and a place

of celebrating

together

the new

and eternal

life that we

have in him.

It is always

a sobering reminder

of the reality

of our sin

and that it

cost his death

for our salvation.

Our table

is open

to all

who've placed

their faith

in Jesus

as their Lord

and Savior

but I wonder

if there are those

this morning

who are wondering

who are hearing

about this new life

and going

that's not me

I've never

I don't know

what that is.

I pray that you

would take this time

as we celebrate this

don't eat the bread

and cup

as you're wondering

because it's an act

of faith

it's an expression

of trust in Jesus

but instead

take Jesus

take Jesus

into your heart

I'm going to pray

just a minute

and I'm going to pray

a prayer

that maybe

some of you

want to pray

with me

as we go to the table

I'm going to pray

that some of us

may invite Jesus

into our hearts

that we might

trust him

and be born again

today.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus

we thank you

for what a great

Savior you are.

Lord we thank you

for your love

that you have

shown us

Lord we thank you

for the salvation

that has worked

at the cost

of the life

of the very

Son of God

Lord we thank you

for the hope

that we have

that we can't

be born again

that it doesn't

depend on our work

but Lord that you

have done the work

needed

for us to be

truly yours.

Lord for those

of us this morning

who may

sense your spirit

calling us

to place

our faith

in you.

Lord I pray

that we might

pray these things

Lord that we

confess our sins

to you

that our sins

are

have made us

Lord unworthy

to be in your

presence

and under your

condemnation

but that we

can trust

Lord

we put our

trust this

morning in

Jesus

in his life

and in his

death for us

and his

resurrection

from the dead

Lord we trust

him for the

forgiveness of

our sins

we trust him

to be brought

from spiritual

death to

spiritual life

that we might

be born again

Lord we pray

that you might

lead us as we

celebrate the

Lord's Supper

together

in Jesus name

Amen