Our great need and Christ's great remedy

The scripture reading today comes from the book of John, chapter 3, verse 1 to 21.

John 3:1–21

Please follow along on your Bible. Bulletin are on the screen.

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 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.

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,

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, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that 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?

Jesus answered him,

Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

Truly, 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 do not 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.

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 safe 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.

And this is the judgment.

The light has come into the world,

and people love the darkness rather than the light,

because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light,

and does not come to the light,

lest his works should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light,

so that it may be clearly seen,

that his works have been carried out in God.

This is the Word of God.

Great. Thanks, Anastasia.

It was a long reading, but thank you for reading to us,

and thanks for staying with us.

I have a question for us this morning.

The question is,

do you believe people can really change?

Do you believe people can really change?

Here is a quote from a movie called The Usual Suspects.

I think it's 1995.

Very young Kevin Spacey.

I don't necessarily recommend the movie,

but still.

Kevin Spacey plays a character called Roger King,

and this is what he says.

A man can't change what he is.

He can convince anyone he's someone else,

but never himself.

What do you think?

Can people really change?

Maybe you're someone who thinks the more things change,

the more they stay the same.

Maybe you're someone who thinks that people can try,

they can alter a little bit on the surface level,

but deep inside who we are is set.

Our DNA, our genes, our disposition,

our nature, our nurture is set.

There's not much we can do about it.

Well, we are continuing through John's Gospel.

As Anastasia read to us,

we're in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

and we're working through John's Gospel.

Why?

Because Christians believe that Christianity

is all about seeing Jesus,

believing in Jesus,

trusting in Jesus,

and John wants us to do that.

John wants us to help,

wants to help us see Jesus and trust in him,

and we want to grow in that more and more

as the years go by,

not less and less.

And John wants to help us with that.

And so we're in John's Gospel,

and we are wanting to see Jesus

and believe and trust in him.

And this morning,

we come to this very famous passage

in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

where Jesus interacts with a man called Nicodemus.

And in this passage,

we're going to see two things,

two very, very simple things.

The first is,

the problem and its challenges.

There's a problem,

and the problem has some challenges.

And secondly,

the solution and his invitation.

There's a problem,

and this comes with challenges.

There's a solution,

and the solution invites us to respond.

Okay, so let's dive in and take a look.

The problem and its challenges.

Keep your Bible open.

We're going to look at this passage a bit.

So this man called Nicodemus comes to Jesus,

and he comes to him.

Nicodemus, as we will discover,

is a very well-respected member of society

and of the religious body.

And he comes to Jesus at night.

Why does he come at night?

Well, we're not sure.

It could be that there's a sinister motive.

In John's Gospel,

night and darkness often signify

something a little bit suspicious.

So it could be that he's got ulterior motives,

or it could be

that he's wanting to come and ask Jesus.

He's a spiritual seeker.

He's got questions about Jesus,

but he wants to come and explore more

without giving away his identity.

He's a Pharisee.

He's a leader of the religious group.

He doesn't want to expose himself too much.

But either way,

he comes to Jesus at night,

and he comes with a question.

Now, John doesn't exactly record his question,

but it's not hard to guess what his question is.

Essentially, Nicodemus wants to know,

Jesus, who are you really?

Look what he says.

He says,

Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher

that has come from God

because nobody could do the signs that you do

unless God is with him.

In other words,

Jesus, we've seen you.

We've been watching you.

We are paying close attention to you.

And we see there's something unique about you.

We see that there's something divine about you.

But the question is,

is there more?

We know that you are a wise teacher.

You know God's word.

But are you more than just a teacher?

Are you the prophet that we've been waiting for?

Are you possibly the Messiah?

Jesus, who are you?

But of course,

Jesus, as he so often does,

completely interrupts Nicodemus

along with his assumptions

and he throws the challenge back at Nicodemus.

Look at what Jesus is.

So Nicodemus comes and says,

Rabbi, we know you're a teacher

and he's about to get to his question.

He hasn't even yet got to his question.

And Jesus interrupts him,

challenges him,

saying,

Now, by the way,

this is not John's main point,

so a side comment here.

This is very, very typical of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ,

both in the Gospels

and in our lives,

loves to interrupt,

to challenge,

and to confront you.

Throughout the Gospels

and throughout our lives,

Jesus challenges our assumptions

and our presuppositions,

both about himself,

what we view himself,

and about life in general.

And Nicodemus comes to him

and as Nicodemus finds out,

Jesus is very seldom

willing to just answer our questions

quietly, neatly,

and in a well-packaged format.

Jesus often comes

and he confronts us,

he challenges us,

he interrupts us.

And why is that?

Because Jesus doesn't just want to

affirm us,

he wants to form us.

He doesn't just want to comfort us,

he wants to confront us.

And he wants us to help us

to see reality

as it really is.

And that means

he's going to confront us

more than comfort us,

he's going to challenge us.

And that's what he does

with Nicodemus.

So Nicodemus comes

with this question

and Jesus retorts

with this profoundly

remarkable challenge.

He says,

unless you are born again,

you cannot even see

God's kingdom.

And again, verse 5,

he says,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

unless you are born

of water and the Spirit,

you cannot enter

God's kingdom.

Now, here's the question.

What does Jesus mean

when he says

you must be born again?

What does that mean?

My guess is that

for maybe some of us,

we would have heard

that phrase before.

I remember many,

many years ago,

somebody came to me

and said,

I didn't know the person

very well,

and they said,

Kevin,

are you one of those

reborn types of Christians?

Christians, right?

He kind of heard this phrase,

but didn't really know

what it meant

and wanted to know

whether I was part

of this weird cult

that call ourselves

reborn,

born again Christians.

What does it mean?

Well, depending on

your experience,

some people think

that to be born again

means you are

emotionally unstable,

maybe you have

emotional problems,

and now they've had

some kind of

emotional experience,

and now you're

an emotional fanatic,

right?

Jesus has come,

you've had a

spiritual experience,

and now you're

an emotional fanatic.

Jesus has come to

make you emotionally

all over the place,

maybe a bit unstable

with a religious bent.

For other people,

when you hear the word

born again,

maybe we think

that means

to take on some

kind of strict

moral regimen,

right?

Everything's now

black and white,

there's no gray.

Either you can do it

or you can't do it,

and you take on

the strict,

moral,

authoritarian

worldview

where everything

is just black and white.

And so now you're

morally fanatical,

right?

But what does Jesus mean?

When Jesus says

you must be born again,

he says it three times,

verse 3,

verse 5,

verse 7,

you must be born again.

Jesus is obviously

not talking about

physical birth,

okay?

He's not saying

you must go back

into your mom's womb.

He's not talking about

a style or a type

of Christianity

like emotional

or charismatic

versus reformed

and stoic.

He's not talking about

modern versus

traditional.

He's not talking about

a type of Christianity.

He's not talking about

a type of personality

or a type of Christian.

When Jesus says

you must be born again

to see God's kingdom,

he's describing

a profoundly,

profoundly fundamental

change

that must take place

deep inside

your inner being.

at a most basic

and fundamental level,

Jesus is saying

who you are

needs to be

profoundly changed

and reorientated.

Jesus wants to

recalibrate

in a profound way

who we are.

And he says that

every single person

that wishes

to experience God

or know God

must go through

this profound

changed experience

in their lives.

So Jesus is making

a very, very important

point here

that every person

who either thinks

of themselves

as a Christian

or is exploring

the claims of Christianity

or working out

whether they want

to follow Jesus

must grapple

or wrestle

with this

call that Jesus is

which is

that you must

be profoundly changed

deep, deep

in your soul

and your being

and your heart

in order to know God.

In order to be

a Christian.

In order to be

a follower

of Christ.

that Christianity

Jesus says

has nothing to do

with moral

self-improvement

moral enhancement

religious duty

social etiquette

it has everything

to do with

this radical

transformation

that takes place

in the most

fundamental part

of our personhood

and our being.

John Calvin

comments

and he writes this

he says

by saying

one must be

born again

Jesus means

not amendment

or improvement

or adjustment

of a part

of one's life

but the thorough

renewal

of the whole

of one's nature

there's nothing

in us

that is not

defective

and need of

renewal.

This is what

Jesus is saying

he comes to

Nicodemus

and he says

Nicodemus

you're coming

to me

and you're

asking for

a new teaching

or a new insight

or a new

perspective

that's not

what I've

come to

give you

I've come

to fundamentally

change who

you are

you must

be born again

otherwise

it's not

going to

work

you must

be changed

Michael Lawrence

writes this

he says

Jesus has not

come to

simply make

us nice

he's come

to make

us altogether

new

altogether

new

and over

and over

again

the scriptures

are going

to tell

us that

anyone

that's

seeking

to become

a follower

of Jesus

anyone

who calls

himself

a Christian

must wrestle

with this

profound

confrontational

challenge

Jesus

you must

be born

again

you must

be changed

something

of who

you are

your personhood

must be

so changed

that it's

almost

it's akin

or it's

similar

to becoming

a whole

new person

it's like

your old

person

must die

and something

radically

new

must

come about

okay

do you

understand

what Jesus

is saying

here

now this

immediately

throws up

two

very

profound

challenges

for Nicodemus

and I

think they

challenge

this

for us

as well

look at

what these

challenges

are

the first

one is

social

standing

counts

for nothing

for someone

like

Nicodemus

this is

obviously

a

remarkable

challenge

because

who is

Nicodemus

Nicodemus

is not

just

anybody

he's a

man of

profound

social

standing

look at

verse 1

verse 1

says

there was

a man

of the

Pharisees

named

Nicodemus

a ruler

of the

Jews

so

Nicodemus

is a

member of

high social

standing

both in

society

both in

the religious

group

as well as

in the

political

group

he's probably

a member

of the

Sanhedrin

which is

like the

religious

court

over

Jerusalem

he is

a member

that's

very

high

regarded

he's

probably

wealthy

he has

high social

standing

but look at

what verse

10 says

verse 10

Jesus says

are you not

the teacher

in Israel

in other

words

here is

somebody

that

all of

Israel

had a

had a

high

reputation

as someone

who could

explain the

scriptures

who knew

the scriptures

so people

travel from

all of

Israel

to come

and consult

his wisdom

his expertise

here is

like a

professor

a doctor

professor

reverend

Nicodemus

both politically

socially

religiously

he's very

highly regarded

and yet

Jesus

tells him

that

nothing

less

than a

radical

transformation

is what

he needs

Jesus

comes to

this guy

that has

it all

together

and he

says

Nicodemus

unless

you

are

changed

you're

in deep

trouble

and that's

profoundly

challenging

listen to

what

D.A.

Carson

says

he says

what must

be grasped

from Jesus

insistence

on the

new birth

as the

prerequisite

for entering

his kingdom

is the

fact that

this truth

is applied

to a

man

of the

caliber

of

Nicodemus

if

Nicodemus

with all

his knowledge

his gifts

his understanding

his position

his integrity

cannot enter

the kingdom

by virtue

of his

standing

or religious

works

what hope

is there

for anyone

who seeks

salvation

along such

lines

even for

Nicodemus

there must

have been

radical

transformation

the generation

of new

life

comparable

with physical

birth

now friends

this is

obviously

challenging

for Nicodemus

but I

think this

is challenging

for us

as well

and the

reason is

because we

live in

Hong Kong

what is

Hong Kong

Hong Kong

is a city

that is

comprised of

some of the

leading

people in the

world

if you live

in Hong Kong

statistically

you're way

more educated

way more

financially

wealth

way more

upwardly

mobile

than almost

every other

country

in the world

Hong Kong

is by nature

are some of the

most sophisticated

educated

most upwardly

mobile people

on the

planet

and so we

face the same

challenge as

Nicodemus

we have it

all together

we've got our

numerous degrees

we've got our

career path

lined up

and Jesus

comes to each

one of us

and looks us

in the eye

and he says

you

you must be

born again

otherwise you

have no place

in my kingdom

that's a profound

challenge

but here's the

other challenge

what Jesus

is saying to

Nicodemus

and saying to

all of us

is that this

transformation

can only come

about by

God

this is nothing

that Nicodemus

himself can do

Jesus telling us

entrance in his

kingdom is not

grounded upon

anything we do

or we achieve

it's intervention

is by God

alone

it's not a

moral self

improvement

project

it's not a

call to greater

church attendance

although that's not

a bad thing

Jesus is not

saying hey

if you give to

the building

fund

you know

I can

organize your

way into the

kingdom

no no

none of those

things

there's nothing

that Nicodemus

can do

this is only

something

that God

can do

look at verse

6

so that which

is born of

the flesh

is flesh

that which

is born of

the spirit

is spirit

he says

you want to

be spiritually

reborn

you want to

be born of

the spirit

only God

can do

that

Nicodemus

you can go

on a pilgrimage

to the highest

place in the

temple

you can go

on a 40 day

fast

you can

beat yourself

with whips

and go

on sackcloth

and ashes

there's nothing

you can do

only God's

spirit can do

this

look again

look what he

says in

verse 12

there's another one

he says

if I have told you

earthly things

and you do not

believe them

how are you

going to believe

if I tell you

heavenly things

Jesus is saying

Nicodemus

I've got a message

for you

but it's beyond

your grasp

you can't even

understand what

I'm talking about

it's beyond

your reach

there is a

solution

you need to

be born again

but you don't

even know

what I'm

talking about

and Nicodemus

is one of the

leading theologians

and academics

in Israel

if he can't get it

what hope do

any of us have it

it's kind of like

imagine somebody's

on a boat

and they fall off

overboard

right

and they're now

in the water

and you've got to

pull them up

and you see

the sharks

are starting

to circle

you see the

fin coming

through the water

and you think

we've got to

get this person

up fast

and you throw

a rope overboard

but the rope's

too short

and so they're

in the water

and they're

trying to grasp

they're trying

to grab

but the rope

is a meter

too short

and there's

no way

they're going

to reach it

and the sharks

are coming in

what is their

situation

it's hopeless

Jesus is saying

I'm trying to

throw a rope

to you

I'm trying to

help you

but you can't

even grasp

it's beyond

your reach

there's no

ways that you

can

find out

and then look

what he says

Jesus just to

just to make

things worse

he says

he says

you must be

born from above

now

if you've got

an NIV Bible

or an ESV Bible

there should be

a little footnote

at the bottom

that's connected

to the word

again

verse 3

Jesus says

I say to you

unless one is

born again

and then there's

a footnote

and again

in verse 7

he says

do not marvel

that I say to you

you must be

born again

and there's

a little footnote

in my Bible

the footnote

says this

either

born again

or born

from above

the Greek

is purposefully

ambiguous

and can mean

either

again

or from above

in fact

that word

the Greek word

anathon

in most of the

New Testament

it means the word

above

or on top

of something

Jesus saying

here

he uses this

plain words

and he says

Nicodemus

if you want to be

in my kingdom

you must be

born from above

you must be

born from

born in heaven

born of the

spirit

born of God

but that

is a problem

right

because Jesus

is saying

something needs

to happen

to your soul

that can only

happen if you

get to heaven

if you get to

reach to heaven

you get God

to do it

then maybe

you can be

born again

but the problem

is who of us

can get to heaven

I mean

none of us

can get there

right

there's no

Cathay Pacific

flights

going to

heaven

Joe

maybe you can

arrange something

about that

and talk to

the Cathay guys

but Jesus

is saying

there's something

you need to do

but you can't

get there

it's beyond

your reach

it's beyond

your grasp

how are you

going to get

born again

we sang earlier

how great

the chasm

that lay

between us

how high

the mountain

I could not

climb

that's what

Jesus is saying

you want to

be saved

you've got to

be born again

but sorry

it's too high

for you

there's a chasm

that's too

deep

and Jesus

and for the

first time

Nicodemus

hears this

and he's a

little startled

and he

he doesn't

really understand

what Jesus

is saying

so Jesus

tries again

he says

Nicodemus

you must

be born

of water

and born

of the

spirit

that's a

quote from

Ezekiel 36

he's saying

you must

have happened

to you

what Ezekiel

said would

happen

which is

that God

moves into

your life

and changes

you from

the inside

you've got

to be washed

of your sin

that's what

the water

means

you've got

the Holy

Spirit

it's got

to make

you new

on the

inside

you'll be

born of

water

and the

spirit

God's

got to

change

you

on the

inside

and so

he says

for the

third

time

I'm not

trying to

make you

new

I'm trying

to make

you

I'm not

trying to

make you

nice

I'm

going to

make

you

new

this is

not

refined

religion

this is

renewed

souls

for the

third

time

do not

marvel

that I

say to

you

you must

be

born

again

now

this

presents

another

question

for us

here is

the question

if this

is what

Jesus

is saying

means

to be a

Christian

means

deep

and

profound

spiritual

change

transformation

in our

lives

this

profound

inward

transformation

not just

surface

level

change

how do

you know

whether

that

change

has

taken

place

you

see

if

Jesus

says

listen

this

is

what

it

means

to be

a

Christian

go

to

church

at least

three

Sundays

a

month

and

you

know

tithe

if

you

can

attend

a

small

group

okay

there's

a

checklist

you

can

you

can

work

out

yes

I

made

it

I

haven't

made

it

but

what

Jesus

is

talking

about

is

a

profound

inward

change

that

there's

no

blood

test

you

can

take

hey

do

I

have

like

spiritual

DNA

in

my

veins

right

there's

no

spiritual

DNA

test

that

you

can

say

whether

you

in

the

kingdom

or

not

so

here's

the

question

how

do

you

know

whether

you

are

born

again

how

do

you

know

whether

you

really

are

saved

maybe

you're

just

going

through

the

motions

and

you're

doing

all

the

outward

stuff

but

there's

been

no

inward

personal

change

how

do

you

know

whether

you're

really

saved

well

Jesus

wants

to

help

us

and

so

look

what

he

says

in

verse

8

he

says

the

wind

blows

wherever

it

wishes

you

hear

it

sound

but

you

do

not

know

where

it

comes

from

or

where

it

goes

so

does

everyone

so

it

is

with

everyone

who

is

born

of

the

spirit

Jesus

point

is

you

can't

see

the

wind

but

you

can

see

its

effects

when

it's

come

right

maybe

you

walk

in

the

mountain

!

or

you

see

the

leaves

in

the

street

or

the

trash

gets

blown

over

right

you

can't

see

the

wind

but

you

can

see

its

effects

you

can't

see

when

it's

done

something

Jesus

saying

you

can't

necessarily

see

you

don't

you

know

your

eyes

don't

change

color

your

blood

doesn't

change

to a

different

type

when

you

become

born

again

but

everybody

does

see

the

effects

in

your

life

because

you

change

so

profoundly

that

it

can't

just

stay

inside

you

there

must

be

fruit

there

must

be

a

change

Jesus

saying

those

of us

that

have been

born

in the

spirit

who have

been

made

spiritually

new

will

show

the

effects

in

our

life

we

will

live

differently

we

will

behave

differently

we

will

think

and

speak

differently

and

it

will

be

obvious

to

those

around

us

that

God

has

done

something

inside

of

us

and

changed

us

friends

this

is

a

real

challenge

those

of us

that

consider

ourselves

Christians

this

morning

we

must

ask

ourselves

the

question

where

is

the

evidence

point

are

we

truly

saved

are

we

truly

born

again

has

Jesus

really

changed

us

in

such

a

deep

and

profound

way

that

those

around

us

would

be

able

to

tell

I

know

we

have

the

youth

in

with

us

this

morning

maybe

you

grew

!

from

this

high

you

have

been

told

the

gospel

and

you

know

the

Bible

backwards

are

you

born

again?

Are

you

born

of

the

Spirit?

Has

Jesus

really

changed

your

life?

Is

there

any

fruit

or

evidence?

Dear

friends

I want

to ask

you

are

you

truly

a

Christian?

Have

your

desires

changed?

Maybe

ask

ourselves

have

our

attitudes

changed?

Has

the

way

that

we

handle

challenge

or

difficulty

in life

changed?

have

our

ambitions

changed?

The

things

we

live

for?

What

we

look

up

to?

What

we

look

to

for

rest

and

peace

and

security?

how

we

handle

money

has

that

changed?

Are

our

relationships

different?

How

we

handle

offense?

How

we

reconcile

with

people

that

hurt

us?

Friends

are

we

more

humble?

Are

we

confessing

more

freely?

Are

we

more

vulnerable

and

transparent

because

of

Christ

and

the

gospel?

This

is

the

challenge

that

Jesus

confronts

us

with.

Anyone

that

wants

to

see

or

enter

the

kingdom

of

God

must

be

born

of

my

spirit.

The

problem

and

its

challenge.

But

thankfully

Jesus

like he

always

does

doesn't

just

leave

us

there.

And

so

Jesus

brings

us

the

solution

and

his

invitation.

And

so

listen

to

what

he

says.

Jesus

wants

to

invite

us

to

see

the

solution

to

our

problem.

And

throughout

the

Bible

from

beginning

to

end

God's

message

is

consistent

and

clear.

His

message

is

all