Born Anew

Born Anew  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  57:45
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Prayer: “Lord, your word says that you will give us a new heart. It says that you will give us a heart of flesh and put a new spirit in us. We want that, Lord. Take our old heart of stone and throw it away. Replace it with a heart of self-giving love that looks like yours. Amen.”
to introduce this message you may want to have a bottle of coke or soda with you in front of the congregation. As they watch, shake it vigorously and then act like you’re going to twist off the cap
Hello, church! I’m so glad to be with you today. I have this bottle of coke with me. I want to use this bottle as an illustration of the incredible love God has for every one of us. What happens if I do this? [SHAKE BOTTLE] What’s going on inside the bottle? [Tremendous pressure building]. Now, what happens when I twist off the cap like this? [Pretend like you’re about to twist off the cap, but stop short…what are people’s reactions?]
Okay, I’m not going to actually remove the cap, but what if I did? What would happen? It would’ve sprayed everywhere! Everything up here around me would’ve been wet. It would be messy!
When I shook the bottle there was tremendous pressure building inside. And if I had removed the cap, the water would’ve gushed out with tremendous force.
God’s love is just like that. His love bursts forth, it gushes forward, just like the pressurized water from this bottle. For all eternity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have existed in a community of self-giving love. The church fathers called this “perichoresis” which is like an eternal dance of love. The three persons of the trinity love one another and have a deep connection with one another. They know each other and have tremendous joy and love together. There is no fear or insecurity in their communion.
God’s love is so great that he wanted to share it beyond himself. So God, who is a Creator, created the universe. God’s creation is simply a bubbling overflow of his love! We are the object of his love. His love is so great that he has to share his life and love with all of creation. His love bursts forth, it gushes forward, just like the pressurized water from this bottle.
So, the next time you open a bottle and it accidentally sprays everywhere, remember that’s how much God loves his creation! His love FOR YOU cannot be contained.
Today we’re going to look at a story from the Gospel of John. A Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and they have a very interesting conversation.
Part of today’s key text you will know, but I want us to read it in context, so we are going to read quite a bit of scripture to get to it. Turn with me if you will to John chapter 3.
John 3:1–17 ESV
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, 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 saved through him.
Nicodemus is a Pharisee who comes to Jesus at night, possibly in secret. Was he afraid of being seen by others? Maybe. He definitely wanted to meet Jesus in person. We are not sure at this point if Nicodemus was coming to Jesus in sincere faith or if he was just curious and wanted to know more. Maybe a little of both. Sometimes Pharisees would come to Jesus in an attempt to trick or trap Jesus, but that’s not what’s happening here. Either way, Jesus was approachable and welcoming to all who came to him.

In Christ We Are Born "Anew"

Nicodemus knew that Jesus was distinctive and unique. He confesses to Jesus,
John 3:2–3 ESV
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.”
The word translated “again” in the Greek is “anaothen” which can be translated several different ways. It can mean again, or anew, or from above.
Nicodemus took Jesus to mean “again” in the literal sense because he asked,
John 3:4 ESV
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?”
By being born “anaothen” Jesus meant anew. A rebirth from within by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,
John 3:5 ESV
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Water and spirit are a reference to baptism. The church historically has always connected these two. Only in the last one or two hundred years have we separated them, meaning someone can now “be saved” by praying the Jesus prayer only without being baptized. Different churches have different views on this! But here, in this passage, Jesus is referring to baptism when he talks about being born of “water and the Spirit."
In baptism, we are buried with Christ and born anew. We are united with Christ in his death and raised from the water with him in His resurrection.
Our life is completely renewed in baptism which is why it’s a sacrament. After baptism, our focus locks onto the crucified and resurrected Christ who now dwells in us by the Holy Spirit! Our life starts to look like the life of Jesus: we are daily crucified as we pick up our cross and follow him, but we are also daily resurrected with life, love, and joy — because we now have entered the “perichoresis,” the eternal dance of love within the Trinity. We are immersed (“baptized”) into the life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When this happens we have “entered the kingdom of God” that Jesus speaks about! (3:5). Wow! And that happens now, in this life.
Nicodemus simply responds, “How can this be?” (3:9).

God Loves This God-Hating World

It’s clear that Nicodemus did not understand being “born again” or being “born anew” like we do today. We have the benefit of 2,000 years of church history and Biblical studies to use as hindsight, not to mention the Holy Spirit.
He asks a good question! How can it be that we are born anew? Like, not doctrinally, but in reality? How can I experience this renewal in my life, practically today? Isn’t that a great question? Jesus responds by pointing to his own crucifixion.
John 3:14–15 ESV
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.
Jesus is referencing a story in the book of Numbers which Nicodemus would’ve been familiar with. There was a time when poisonous snakes were killing many of the Israelites. Remember, the Israelites were in the wilderness among dangerous creatures. To remedy this,
Numbers 21:8–9 ESV
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.
Jesus is saying this is the first step to experiencing this renewal in your life, being born anew. The first step towards a total transformation. Jesus is comparing himself to the bronze snake. Jesus knew he would one day be lifted up on the cross for all to see. Anyone who looks to Christ on the cross receives life. What did Jesus say in John 12
John 12:32 ESV
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
The Greek word here is “helkysō” which literally means “to drag” or “to pull”!
John, the writer of the gospel, continues,
John 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Now we come back to where we started. Do you remember my bottle of soda water and how God’s love is like that water, ready to gush forward because it’s meant to be shared?
God loves the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to endure the cross. And this is even more mind-blowing: God loves us even when we hate him back. God loves this world, this God-hating world. He doesn’t love only those who love him back, God loves absolutely everyone. Jesus came and died for absolutely everyone.
Jesus didn’t come and die because God saw us as his enemy. It’s actually the opposite: Jesus came and died because we saw Him as our enemy. God has never considered us his enemy. God has never hated his creation. God’s core nature is self-giving love and everything God does flows from that core.
Our nature is quite different. We are the ones who considered God our enemy.
Colossians 1:21–22 ESV
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Part of being “born anew” is seeing our Father with brand-new eyes for who he truly is: Love. Colossians says we THOUGHT we were God’s enemies, but that was only “in our minds.
God loves this God-hating world and Jesus died for it. Jesus was lifted up for it. And he will drag “all people” to himself. A huge way we partner with God in this mission is to love our own enemies. In fact, if we are Christlike, we will consider no person our enemy. Why? Because God never considered us his enemy, even when we hated him and didn’t understand him. We should regard no one as an enemy. Everyone we meet is someone to be loved, to be served, to be blessed, and to be prayed for. One day they too may be dragged to Jesus and then we will be brothers and sisters.
Also, once we are born anew, we receive a new heart! God rewires our internal hardware!
Ezekiel 36:26–27 ESV
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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
This is an Old Testament prophecy about God’s upcoming New Covenant commenced in Christ’s death and resurrection. Isn’t this amazing? (Sounds like Jesus talking about being born anew, doesn’t it?). Our new heart is like God’s heart, full of self-giving love for those around us, including those who regard us as their enemy.
Why does God love this God-hating world?

Jesus Came To Save The World, Not Condemn It

And finally, the gospel writer drops this zinger in the conclusion of our text today:
John 3:17 ESV
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.
Maybe this is “the something” distinctive and unique that Nicodemus intuited about Jesus. Nicodemus was part of the Pharisees and we know that the Pharisee's vibe was not to save the world but to condemn the world. They were more condemning than loving. And because of that, they had it backward from God, and they modeled to people an angry God who demanded you follow the rules.
Jesus gave off a completely different vibe, and John the gospel writer nails it right here. Jesus was the opposite of the Pharisees. Jesus demonstrated a God who was completely upside down from their understanding. God does not condemn the world but came to save the world through Jesus.
Can you see how that shift is pretty substantial?
God is not going to condemn this world that he made, full of wonder and beauty, nor is he going to condemn the billions of people he made in his image. He is not going to condemn anything or anyone. His mission is much more difficult! He is going to save everything and everyone who believes!
God did not send Jesus into this world to condemn us but to save us. The Greek word for save here is “sozo” which means to heal, to restore, or to make whole. Jesus does not come to offer us some flimsy salvation that’s activated only when we die and go to heaven. Jesus comes to “save” us today, in this life, to heal us, restore us, and make us whole.
That’s the kind of salvation the world needs, isn’t it? This world needs to be healed. It needs to be restored. It needs to be made whole again. And this is why Jesus came, to do EXACTLY that.

Born Anew

I want to conclude today by asking you some questions for consideration:
1. Have you been born anew? If not, would you like to be?
2. Have you been water baptized? If not, would you like to be?
3. Do you see God as angry and condemning? Or do you see him as loving and saving?
Let’s pray together.
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