"The Wind of the Spirit"

Intro: When Taylor and I put together my bed frame verses the girls beds.

What we're going to look at today in the Bible is how we're supposed to, how we've been designed to, relate to Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bibles…hopefully you do...we're going to be in the book of John. Once again, if you're filling out your little sheet, the book we're going to be in is the gospel of John.

The chapter is 3, and verses 1 through 8 is where we will park. So, 8 verses in the next 20 minutes, and then we'll be set for the day.

I know you don’t believe me, but I am aiming for a short one! I owe you that much. Hahahahhaha!

I want to give you some time to turn there in your Bibles, and then we'll read this text and dive in. I have three points today, and I'm eager to discuss them with you.

John 3:1-8 starting in verse 1. It says, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

John 3:1–8 ESV

1 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.”

There are three things I want us to see in these 8 verses.

Jesus is more than a teacher; he's a Savior. It's important to know that Nicodemus is a serious man. He is a serious man with serious questions.

He's come to Jesus, and he's said a lot of right things about Jesus. He called Jesus Rabbi. That's true. Jesus had followers who were following him, which is what made him a Rabbi.

He calls Jesus a teacher, which is true. Jesus is a teacher. We would do well to take seriously that Jesus as our teacher.

Jesus has much to say to us about life and about how life works for our joy and for God's glory.

So, Jesus is definitely a teacher who needs to be listened to, but he is more than just a teacher and wants us to relate to him in a way that is greater than, simply, his teaching.

If you are in school now, or you went to school growing up, you know there is a way that you relate to your teacher who is teaching you well. What a beautiful vocation education is.

Yet the way you relate to your teacher at school is not the same way, and certainly not at the same level of intimacy, safety, and protection, as the way you would with those you are close to.

For instance, maybe the way we relate to a mother or a father or husband or a wife. The way we relate is different, right?

Jesus here is confronting Nicodemus a bit because Nicodemus has about half of it right, but he's still relating to Jesus wrong. If I could make it simple, it'd be like me.

December was crazy. I've had to do so much more than usual, and when I got home many of those nights, my "Pampaw, Pampaw! Give me a hug, give me a kiss," and "Missed you."

It'd be real weird if I came in late night, and they were like, "Teacher. I have not known what to do without you. Teach me how to…" That's a different way of relating. Right?

To walk in the door and hear, "Pampaw!!!”, or “Dad!!!", is very different than to walk in the door and go, "Can I have help with math?" Those things are different.

It's not wrong to want help for math (thank Jesus' name), but the way they’re going to relate to me is not as a teacher (although I am one). They are going to relate to me as Pampaw, and Dad.

What if I walked into them exclaiming, "Pastor Derek…” How weird would that be, and how bad for our relationship?

If my relationship with my kids and grandkids has them calling me by vocation and not by the name, "Dad or Pampaw," then we're both operating out of step with God's good design.

So Jesus is confronting Nicodemus here about, "You got half of it right, but you're relating to me in a wrong way."

How are we meant to relate to Jesus, then? Great question for us all to ask ourselves because that's my next point. The first way we relate rightly to Jesus is…

1. _We must be born again, but not just of the flesh._

Okay, I have a trick question. You ready? How many of you have ever been born? Just in case that's confusing… All of us.

When Jesus says, or he talks about, being born of the flesh, he's saying that you and I are human beings. We are made in the image of God. We are the crown jewel of creation.

How many of you have a pet? A dog, a cat, a hamster? Go ahead. This is confession time for all of us. How many of you have more than one? More than two? More than three?

More than four, and it's not a farm? More than five? Okay, phew. Anybody more than five? I have mad respect if that's you.

I ask the question to make a point. We love all those little furry relationships, right? We love them deeply, and we love to see them when we get home.

We love to have them on our laps and on our beds and all that jazz, but you know what kind of relationship that is, right? It is a relationship of the flesh.

What Jesus is saying when he says we need to relate to him in a way that's different than just the flesh is because our flesh fails us and does not last.

I cannot relate to him in the way he wants to relate to me in things that I can do in my flesh. I will not be able to be good enough. I will not be able to follow the rules enough.

I will not be able to do all that I need to do in my own strength or by my own humanity in a way that helps me relate rightly to Jesus.

So he says, "If you want to relate right to me, you must not just be born of the flesh, but you need to be born of water and of Spirit." So let me talk a little bit about that, briefly.

When Jesus talks about water, the first thing likely to pop into Nicodemus' mind is John the Baptist, who has been leading this massive revival in and around this part of the world.

A revival is when the Spirit of God is drawing large amounts of men and women to be more serious about their relationship with God.

There was a revival going on around this period, and people were being baptized. John's baptism with water was a baptism of repentance.

It's a beautiful proclamation of faith, but Jesus wants more than just proclamation! He wants a revival of the heart that leads to repentance.

Repentance is turning from sin to know, love, trust, and obey Jesus. We're talking about turning away from sin.

We're going to turn away from something, but we're not just turning away from something, we're moving toward something, right?

What are we moving toward? Loving Jesus, trusting Jesus, following Jesus, and obeying Jesus.

Look right at me. You are going to repent for the rest of your life.

I want you to pay attention to this. I want to help you grasp this. How many here under the age of 18 know what's right but still sometimes do wrong? Go ahead and raise your hand for me.

Okay, so there are kids with hands up and then there are liars the liars liars pants on fire, right? Now, watch this.

Adults, how many of you know what's right but find yourself from time to time doing what you know is wrong?

Okay. I've been trying to get this into your heads for 3 years now, and Tim before me, and what ever pastor before him.

For the rest of our lives, you and I, to relate rightly to God, are going to turn away from sin and towards knowing, loving, and obeying Jesus. We're going to stumble and fall.

We're going to fall short. We're going to mess up. We're going to not do what we're supposed to do. But please hear this, we have to keep repenting and moving towards Jesus.

You don't ever arrive. You don't ever get to a place of perfection where you no longer need to repent and turn and know and love and follow and obey Jesus.

So, if you don't understand this, what ends up happening is you keep trying to do in your flesh what only the water of repentance can do.

The way for us to relate rightly to Jesus is via water and via repentance. Turning from sin and turning toward him. That's not the only word he gave here. He said water and Spirit.

The second lesson I want you to see in this section of verses is we must be born again of water and Spirit, not just flesh, but the second thing we need to relate rightly to Jesus is …

2. _We must believe._

Here's the definition of belief. Belief is not just facts about him but is knowing Jesus, trusting Jesus, and loving Jesus.

If we're going to relate to Jesus rightly as our Savior, as the one who fixes our sick hearts, we do it by repentance, but we also do it not just by knowing facts about him but actually knowing him.

It's not enough if we're going to relate rightly to Jesus to know he was born in Bethlehem and know his parents name, and to know that he liked to eat fish and was pretty good working with wood.

Those things are great, but that's not how we relate to Jesus alone. We don't relate with facts alone.

We relate via the Holy Spirit through faith. Just like repentance, for the rest of your life, you will choose to believe that Jesus is your Savior.

I love hearing my kids and grands say, Dad and Pampaw, and want them to hug me and linger and hang out with me. I can’t get enough of this!

This is how the God of the Bible via the Spirit, through our belief, rejoices in you as sons and daughters. He loves our constant affection and belief!

Just like repentance, we'll need to choose faith over and over and over again. The world can be hard and difficult. We will be disappointed. We will be lonely. We will get sick.

People we love will betray us. People who are meant to protect us won't. It can be scary out there, and if we're not careful, we will choose doubt rather than choosing belief.

Belief. This is a real mysterious thing. Jesus gives this illustration to help us understand it. The third thing we need to relate rightly to Jesus is …

3. _We need the power of the Spirit._

I want us to look at verse 8 again. Look at verse 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."

I love this. He's saying, "The way you can see that repentance (water) and belief (Spirit) are actually happening, is you'll see lives moving.

Without wind in the sails of a sailboat what do they do? They're just stuck. They can't move. Here's what happens when the wind blows. The boat moves because the wind is blowing.

One of the ways our souls are meant to be encouraged over and over and over again is watching the wind of the Spirit move in the lives of God's people. What does that look like?

Every time you get together as a family, even if you're just praying over a meal, that's the wind blowing. If you watch loved one’s be generous, that's the wind blowing?

If you have ever said, "I'm sorry for that," in the essence to make amends, that's the wind blowing. If you open the Bible at your house and read it, that's the wind blowing.

When you come in here on Tuesday night to lean into Jesus, that’s the wind blowing. When you look past your differences to serve and love one another, that’s the wind blowing.

When you serve in the way that God has gifted you, that’s the wind blowing. When we gather here in the name of Jesus, that's the wind blowing.

Me being up here and yelling loudly, that's the wind blowing, because I'm animated by the Spirit of God to plead with you to understand this and get this down in the depths of your guts.

It's the wind blowing. Have you ever seen someone invite people around the table and share Jesus with those people? That's the wind blowing.

If you read the gospel story, the birth of Jesus, on Christmas morning, that's the wind blowing. If you see believers growing in kindness, that's the wind blowing.

When you choose right over wrong because you love Jesus, that's the wind blowing. On and on and on I could go.

If you come across a friend who's serious about righteousness, that's the wind blowing. You and I are meant to relate to Jesus as the Savior of our souls and the one who makes our sick hearts healthy.

This is what you have been invited into, this is what I have been invited into, and it doesn't matter what your background or struggle is or home dynamic is.

He is making himself known through the preaching of these 8 verses, even this morning. You are invited to relate rightly to Jesus today. Let me pray for us.

Father, thank you for your word and for what's true. Thank you for the gift of repentance. Help us, over and over and over again choose to turn from our sin and to know you, love you, trust you and obey you.

We want to walk in faith. God, many of us, grown and small, have come in. We're just a little bit weary because of this or of that.

Give us the strength. Let the wind blow across the our lives, and give us the strength to choose to believe that you are our Savior, that you love us, that you're for us.

Let us believe you transcend our circumstances, and that you're working in our lives. We bless your name. It's for your beautiful name I pray, amen.