John 3:1-8 | You Must Be Born Again

You Must Be Born Again

John 3:1-8

Intro: Have you ever had the experience of missing out on something you had hoped to do because you lacked the sufficient requirement? Maybe you were heading to Canada but when you got to the border you realized you had forgotten your passport and were turned away. Or you arrived at a concert but realized, at the entrance, that you had left your tickets at home. Or you went to the car rental desk but were turned back because your drivers license had expired. These are all experiences of being turned away because you lacked a necessary document. In our text this morning, Jesus tells us of a necessary experience if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven. Everyone who has this experience will be allowed to enter. No one who lacks this experience will. We must be born again.

Chapters 3 and 4 present to us two people on polar opposite ends of the religious spectrum. Nicodemus is a man at the very top of the religious ladder. He is a Jewish religious leader. The woman at the well is at the very bottom – she is a Samaritan, a woman, divorced 5 times and currently living with her boyfriend. And yet both Nicodemus and the woman at the well need the same thing – they both need to be born again.

I. The Encounter

:1“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. “

We don’t know how old Nicodemus was at this point in his life. He is very likely in his later years as he is not only a Pharisee but a member of the ruling counsel - the Sanhedrin. He is very likely a wealthy man. But he is clearly a bothered man. He has just seen Jesus drive the traders and money changers out of the temple with a whip. Jesus is clearly consumed with a passion for God’s house - something a Pharisee could appreciate. And the miracles

Jesus performed seem clear evidence that God is with him. And yet, Jesus doesn’t seem to fit the mold of a Jewish teacher. He doesn’t quote the respected Rabbi’s. He is known to befriend tax-collectors and sinners. And he doesn’t seem friendly to the men of Nicodemus’s class - the Pharisees and rulers. Who is he? And so, Nicodemus comes to Jesus with his question. And he begins on a very conciliatory note.

· “Rabbi” - a term of respect.

· “We know” - that is the leaders and rulers of Israel.

· “That you are a teacher who has come from God for no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Nicodemus is an astute man. He is able to connect the dots. He is able to see, in the signs the Jesus performed, that Jesus is a man come from God. Many people were unable to make that connection. Some of the leaders charged that Jesus did them by the power of the Devil. Other’s followed Jesus because of the signs – but never stopped to consider what the signs were saying. What they were pointing to.

So, Nicodemus is doing well. He’s off to a great start. He has come to Jesus because he recognizes that there is something unique about this man. And he’s most likely come to ask him some questions. To interrogate him a little. To give him an exam of sorts to ascertain just who Jesus is. But whatever plans Nicodemus had for the conversation, they were quickly set aside for the plans Jesus had for the conversation.

Jesus does not thank Nicodemus for his kind greeting. He doesn’t congratulate him for his astute assessment of the meaning of the miracles. He takes the conversation in an entirely different direction altogether. Rather than submitting to Nicodemus’s exam, Jesus places Nicodemus under the microscope. And with the weightiest seriousness Jesus shines the spotlight of truth on Nicodemus’ false assurance.

“Truly, truly I say to you” – that means, “listen very carefully”. What I am about to say is of eternal weight and significance.

“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Notice how Jesus is challenging him. This is Nicodemus, the Jewish religious leader. In the minds of any Jewish person of that day, if anyone was going to be in the kingdom of God, it was going to be men like Nicodemus. And Nicodemus undoubtedly shared that conviction. Surely, if anyone had grounds for assurance, it was Nicodemus. And yet, in one stroke, with one sentence, Jesus exposes him as a lost man. Nicodemus might have all the religious accolades in the world, he might have an impeccable religious resume, he might be a tremendous success story when it comes to the Jewish religion. But he lacked the one necessary thing.

Jesus couldn’t be more clear. There is an essential, non-negotiable, necessary condition which must be met if one is going to enter the kingdom of God. You must be born again. No one will enter who isn’t born again.

II. The Necessity of the New Birth

It is helpful to compare the new birth, which is spiritual in nature, to physical birth. Imagine two angels on a cloud somewhere and older wise angel and a young naïve one.. And one says to the other – I wonder what it would be like to be human, to fall in love and have a family. What would I need to do to have that? And the older angel says, “Well, the first and essential thing is that you would need to be born a human.” These are blessings which belong to humans and the only way to experience them is to be born a human.

What is true in the natural realm is equally true in the spiritual realm. Heaven is a wonderful place! No more sorrow, no more death, no more pain, no sin. Just endless glory in the presence of Jesus Christ. What needs to happen for you enjoy that life? What needs to happen to enter the kingdom of God? Jesus tells us. We must be born again. It is a non-negotiable, irrefutable fact of the spiritual world.

It's very interesting that Jesus says this to Nicodemus – but He doesn’t say it to the woman at the well. Why is that? Well, because Jesus knows what is in man. Jesus knows that Nicodemus, being a religious, Jewish man – is utterly convinced that he is a sure bet for the kingdom of God because of his religious observance. But he is tragically mistaken. And so Jesus, in great love and compassion, seeks to lead Nicodemus to life by showing him this religious observance will account for nothing on the last day. Nicodemus will not, cannot, enter the kingdom of heaven unless he is born into the kingdom of heaven!

This is an important truth for a religious community like ours. There are many people in solid reformed churches who do not understand the necessity of the new birth. They believe that because they grew up in a Christian home, maybe went to a Christian school, married a Christian spouse, and attend a solid, Reformed church that they are certainly members of the kingdom of heaven. But it doesn’t work that way. John chapters 3 and 4 tell us that it is just as easy to be lost from the church pew as it is to be lost living a sexually immoral lifestyle. Nicodemus was just as lost as the woman at the well. The difference seems to be that the woman at the well knew she was lost. Nicodemus thought he was fine.

Nicodemus responds with shock and some peevishness.

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?”

Jesus has clearly rattled him. His response is a little snarky. “Are you suggesting a full-grown man needs to enter again into his mother’s womb? That’s just silly.” But Jesus is patient, and persistent.

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.

Jesus doubles down on the necessity of the new birth. And then gives some insight into its nature. What is this thing Jesus calls new birth?

III. The Nature of the New Birth.

New birth is a cleansing, Spirit-filling work of God. It involves “water and the Spirit”. There is a great deal of debate about what Jesus means by this. I think the best explanation is found in Ezekiel 36.

Ezekiel 36:25–26 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 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.

The water symbolizes the need for cleansing from sin. The Spirit is the power of God which gives spiritual life. Both are necessary and essential. Unless you are fully cleansed from your sin and born of the Spirit of God – you cannot enter the kingdom of God. This isn’t hard to understand. It’s the simple reality of the spiritual world.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The flesh is only able to produce children of the flesh. Natural born babies. Nothing man does can produce spiritual birth. Not our religious practices. Not our orthodox theology. Not our efforts to be good. Only the Spirit can produce spiritualty born children.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.

Secondly, this is a sovereign work of God.

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.”

The wind blows where it wishes. It is under no human compulsion to blow one direction or the next. We have no control over its speed or duration. We can only hear its sound. . We can’t control the wind – we can only hear it and see what it does. We can see the trees swaying. We can feel the wind blowing sand into our face and causing the waves to crash along the shore. But we have no control over it and contribute nothing to it.

Begg, “No infant contributes in any way to their birth. Their birth is not conditioned on their acceptance or rejection of the idea. The reason we know we are born is that we are enjoying life today. It doesn’t matter at all, if you do not know the day you were born again. Some do, and some don’t. The new birth isn’t something we do. It’s something God gives.”

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. We can’t control whom the Spirit brings to life. He is sovereign. He goes where He wills. We can only see the results. Because new birth is a sovereign work of God, we need to accept that it isn’t something we can do.

IV. The Effects of the New Birth

What are the effects of a new birth? What will you see when someone is born again? In Ezekiel, God talks about a “new heart”. New desires. New convictions. New insight. A new, and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. A love for Christ. A trust in Christ. It might not be splashy. It might not feel miraculous.

Charles Simeon – What is the chief evidence of a new birth? A humble, contrite, spirit.

How can you tell if you’ve been born again? Do you have a humble spirit before God? Do you grieve your sin? Do you trust in Christ? Are you amazed what Christ has done for you?

Don’t get confused here. The presence of indwelling sin does not mean that you have not been born again. We are going to battle with indwelling sin until the day we die.

Paul – wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this bondage to death?

The presence of sin in your life is not an indication that you are not born again. Unless you refuse to confess it as sin, unless you refuse to repent of that sin, unless you are making peace with your sin, making excuses for your sin. But if you are in a battle with your sin – that’s because the Spirit is waging war with the flesh (Gal 5).

But if there is any genuine desire for Christ, desire for a life that is honoring to the Lord, that is the fruit of the Spirit.

Notice, very important, Jesus is not demanding Nicodemus to get born again, to experience the new birth. There is no command in the Bible that says, “Be born again”. Jesus isn’t telling us what we need to do. He’s telling us what God needs to do. The Biblical question isn’t what must I do to be born again? There is nothing you can do to make yourself born again. The question we need to ask is: what must I do to be saved? And the simple, glorious, Biblical answer to that is - Believe! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

That’s what Jesus tells Nicodemus. Look at verse 14.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus of a story from the OT that Nicodemus would know well. The story of God’s judgement on Israel because of their sin. Poisonous snakes came into the camp and people were dying. But God instructed Moses to raise a bronze serpent on a pole and lift it up. And anyone who was bitten by the serpent could be saved. All they needed to do was to look on the bronze serpent. And Jesus says, “so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

You may have heard the story of the conversion of Charles Spurgeon. He was converted by a simple sermon preached on the text of Isaiah 45:22, which in the KJV reads,

22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.

What impacted Spurgeon was the preacher’s simple explanation that all that was necessary to be saved was to look to Christ.

“My dear friends this is a very simple text indeed. It says “look”. Now looking don't take a deal of pain. It ain't lifting your foot or your finger. It's just look. Well, a man needn’t go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool and yet you can look. A child can look. However weak or a poor man may be, he can look and if he looks the promise is that he shall live.”

Application:

What does Jesus want us to know in this text?

* our great need. We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless we are born again.

* our great dependance - we cannot give spiritual birth to ourselves. Only the Sovereign, Holy Spirit of God can do this work. We are flesh and can only give birth to flesh. In our strength, we can only give birth to more weakness and failure. We cannot raise our dead soul or change our stony heart. We need God.

What does Jesus want us to do?

1) If you have already experienced this new birth - give thanks to God! Be awed and astonished and overjoyed that God has been so kind to you! Live the new life God has freed you to live.

2) If you haven’t yet come alive to the things of God, or you are not sure if you have ....go to Jesus. Jesus is the fountain of life.

“For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’