To Be Born Again

Our Awakening To Life In Christ

Bible Passage: John 3:1–21

It is not lost on me of this certain honor and privilege of standing in the pulpit before you today. I know the importance, task, and incredible amount of preparation and work that from Sunday to Sunday, God’s appointed servant stands here to deliver God’s divine words and works to his people for instruction, admonishment, and most of all, transformation. Just as Pastor Salem did so for 50 + years, Pastor Gary and now Pastor Mike, I am humbled, appreciative, and grateful to stand in and carry on the legacy of helping build and equip God’s Church through the preaching of His Word. I know how hard it is for each pastor to give up the pulpit and I know that Pastor Mike found it difficult to do so, but as he is away and with family we pray for rest and renewal and as we are here, let us look now at our appointed text together.

As we read earlier, we are looking at the nighttime discussion between Nicodemus and Jesus. And of course, found in our text today is perhaps the most famous verse in all of Scripture. Growing up in the church, being a son of a pastor’s kid, and weekly discipleship training at the church of where I grew up, John 3:16 was quoted, memorized, and brought up often. And how could it not? Within this one verse contains so much: the mission of God, the heart of God for the world, man’s invitation to be with God through belief, and man’s reward from that belief. It’s incredibly striking, no wonder this verse continues to be such a bedrock - I'd imagine within our coming to faith in Christ journeys, this verse was used in our conversions as it was for me. But what I’d like to do with our time today is discover perhaps more at large the overall context and consider deeper, the theological discourse of Jesus and Nicodemus.

And the best way that I know how to set all of this up and start from a common understanding within our western culture is halloween. As parents of young children, Megan and I enjoy taking our kids to church fall events like trunk or treat, fall festivals, etc. But take away the candy, the jack-o-lanterns, and decorations. The appeal of it all is really dressing up, putting on the costume, the mask, and donning another identity for one night. My kids were the original power rangers this past halloween and the one before it they were spider-man. When in costume and behind the mask, we found that our kids were doing the things that belonged to their respective character(s). They felt as if they were actually who they were when in costume and behind the mask. There was a sense of self, identity, purpose, and safety. Now, as we are older, we may not have a physical mask that we hide ourselves in, but we do perhaps have false identities and false masks of self that we take up every so often. The one(s) that hides, retreats, and flees to other sources of safety and comfort that we feel will protect and validate. This is perhaps true of us, I know it is of me and certainly true of Nicodemus. He wore plenty of masks, ones that he thought he could hide behind and operate best from. And what we’ll find together is that in all of the accolades he has worked up to put on his best front, he is still in lack.

1. Begin Anew: Spirit's Transformation

John 3:1-8

I shed a little bit of light on the masks that Nicodemus wore, let’s discuss the most obvious ones here - He’s a Pharisee, A Rich Man, a member of the Sanhedrin court. Layer after layer of accolades in which would hold him up in very high esteem. The common person of that day would know who he is. The Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish court of that day, although still limited by Rome and their oppression, but right after Rome, the Sanhedrin still had massive influence in the Jewish society and culture. Seventy members sat on the council and within the group there were even degrees within themselves of the upper echelon of the Sanhedrin and the lower. One would need extensive knowledge of the Torah, a distinguished reputation, and an insatiable hunger for truth to be invited to the council. Nicodemus embodied these qualities to great extent, perhaps more so than some of the others and one of the duties of the Sanhedrin was to examine, assess, and deal with anyone suspected of being a false prophet or teacher. Up until this point Nicodemus has heard reports of Jesus’ signs and wonders and even made witness of the miracles that Jesus performed. Because of this, Nicodemus took it on himself to examine him personally. The Scriptures make it clear that this interview process took place at night. Two schools of thought here of why it possibly happened at night. The first is that Nicodemus might’ve been alarmed if someone from the council or even a common person reported back to the council that Nicodemus was talking to Jesus out in broad daylight. This reasoning has been debunked due to the Pharisee’s quest for truth and to guard the truth if a religious leader is actually a false prophet. This doesn’t hold up compared to the other, which the other reasoning for why at night is so that Nicodemus could have an uninterrupted, fully attentive interview with Jesus. This seems more likely - scholars also point out that when studying or preparing for anything of great substance, the nighttime hours seem to be the best time to do so. But what if there is more to the nighttime hour than just these two reasonings? A supernatural reasoning that supersedes anything else - what if the darkness represented another mask that Nicodemus wore? Not just a physical darkness, but a spiritual darkness? A Pharisee from what we’ve discovered together, is on an insatiable quest for truth - will do anything to find it, stand by it, and hold others accountable towards it. But something that we haven’t brought up yet is that Nicodemus has an open mind - one that might be too open for a member of the Sanhedrin. But witnessing Jesus perform and do miracles has triggered his quest for truth all the more. Nicodemus’ lack for real truth has caused him to be at the end of himself and be in the company of a person that he wouldn’t find himself engaging theology with. Perhaps he would to accuse him of false teachings, but not out of curiosity and further consideration - what if all of his strivings, accolades, and reputations still aren’t enough? What about you? I ask this very question to myself as well? Our strivings, efforts, and works are never enough, just like Nicodemus, let us come to the end of ourselves if God would have it, to see the need to be born again. There is something that is stirring within Nicodemus’ soul - it’s not the desirability of him wanting to be born again. It’s the possibility of him wanting to be born again. It’s the strict rule set of the law that he has followed tenaciously. It’s his warped quest for truth that he has mistakingly hung his spiritual hats on. You see, Jesus didn’t agree to meet with Nicodemus because of his religious activities and high achievements. He met with him because Nicodemus was in spiritual darkness, in spiritual bondage, and at a spiritual impasse and wanted to set him free. How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, these are Jesus words. What is he saying? He’s saying, whatever riches you possess, these can be materialistic, finances, or knowledge that you collect, that you store up, the more your soul and worth becomes attached to them, the less and less you are to be dependent on God. You may not be striving for academic progression or intellectual elitism, perhaps there have been some things in your life that make you feel disqualified, unworthy, or unacceptable for you to be born again, for you to be set free by Jesus. Friend, as long as you have today and have breath, and just as Jesus met with Nicodemus in his spiritual darkness, Jesus desires to meet you in yours. You can be born again, to live your life in the love of God displayed through the work of Christ.

Nicodemus and Jesus go back and forth about being born again. He took Jesus’ words quite literally about appearing out his mother’s womb for a second time, but then Jesus introduces a concept and a reality that is only reserved for his followers in which what we would call today a “Kingdom Mindset.” Scripture simply calls it being born again. What is it then to be born again? Jesus brings up a lot of indications of what it looks like in our text. First, it’s a confession and an agreement that we are indeed in spiritual darkness - that we need a Savior and that we are dependent upon him. Eph. 5:8 says for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the LORD. After Paul’s conversion in Acts 26:18 as he is appealing to King Agrippa, God reveals to Paul his mission: “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Much like a physical birth we were at one time dependent on our parents for everything - a spiritual birth is no different, we are dependent on God for all of life life and for godliness as 2 Peter reminds us. Jesus makes a clarification here in verse 5, that unless one is born of water and of 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. Jesus is not teaching that the new birth comes through water baptism. No amount of pure filtration or cleanliness of the water cleanses you - New Testament baptism is actually connected with death - it’s the death of our old self that was in darkness and it’s only by faith, the rising out of the water, that our new self emerges that is in union with Christ, the masks that we wore, the false identities that we kept up have been loosened and the chains of our old life have rusted and we can be free to live in our new identity in and with Christ.

2. Belief: Embrace Jesus’ Sacrifice

John 3:9-15

Which brings us to our second mark of being born again, is receiving this new life by faith. Have there been times in your life, where the Scriptures just jumped off the pages and came alive? Have there been times in your life where the lights in your spiritual house just came on and Scripture brightly illuminated your inner being? I know this has happened to me and this either has been and is true of you or can be true of you. Jesus would liken this situation to 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.” We see, feel, and experience the wind’s effects but never the wind itself. During our ministry time in Georgia there was a hurricane watch - really our families first ever experience of being in the storm’s path. We decided to leave the house and because the church of where we were at the time was really close and had stronger structures we decided to make a bee-line for the church. The wind was ferocious, the rain was relentless, and strong tree branches were flung around like twigs. The city sounded an alarm for folks in the area to take cover and do what needed to be done for their safety. We arrived to the church to wait out the storm for it to pass. The rain was battering the ceilings with loud and hard splashes, the wind was howling aggressively as we waited for the storm to pass. Once passed over and it was safe to go outside, we visibly saw the effects of the storm. It was clearly evident. Just as the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we may not know when, how, or why the Spirit works in the ways that He does, but his effects are visibly seen. There is also a warning here for us as well as Jesus questioned Nicodemus’ teachings and asked if he was a true teacher of Israel - it’s easy to sit in discussion groups, to study and to read the intellectual truths of Scripture. But the essential thing is to really experience the power of Christianity in our lives. Nicodemus was guilty of just discussing and talking about Scripture, but not living in the power and presence of following Jesus. While it is important to have intellectual grasps on our Christian faith, even more so should the things we think, understand, and agree about God motivate our lives in such a way that the things we do, the people we encounter, and the responses we say should reflect the Spirit’s work in our lives as the effects of the wind does towards the natural world.

This is after all, a supernatural experience - our faith in Christ and our continuation of our belief in Him. Jesus brings up a peculiar story found in Numbers 21 in reference to verse 14 & 15: 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.

In Numbers 21, Moses has delivered God’s people out of Egypt, out of bondage, and out of slavery. They are now in the desert wandering about, journeying onwards to the Promised Land that God has provided for His people. In the meantime, God’s people, the Israelites, were complaining about the same food they have to eat over and over, the intensity of the heat, and the continued wandering. They thought to themselves that Egypt was a better place to be than in God’s Hands. God desired to correct His people, so he sent serpents into their camp. The snakes bit and induced venom into the people’s veins and some died because of it. The remaining ones who were bitten, repented of their sins and asked Moses to pray to God for deliverance. Moses prayed and asked God to deliver them from the serpents, God’s responsive commanded to Moses was to make a fiery serpent pole out of one of the snakes that were already in the camp. So Moses took one of the snakes, dressed it in bronze and staked it on a pole. If anyone, who was bitten or to be bit looks upon this snake pole, then shall they live. Why was this referenced in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus?

This is a story of stern correction. A story of grace. And a story of faith. The Israelites who were bitten, if they looked at the bronze serpent in faith that God were to heal them at his word and at his command, then and only then, would the venom’s power recant. It was not the bronze serpent who gave life, it was only a symbol that God grafted for the Israelites to turn from their sinful ways, desires, and wishes, and turn back their thoughts to God. God’s remedy for life for the Israelites in this story wasn’t to make an antidote or a remedy or to kill the snakes off, it was to look upon that one and only bronze serpent that was lifted up to live. The venom in the snakes represents our sin - we have been greatly stricken with sin, grief, and despair. Our only hope is to look upon the lifted state of Christ on the Cross, believe in His Name for salvation, and then, and only then, will we find eternal life and live.

There are two meanings in Verse 14 that the Son of Man must be lifted up. The first sensible meaning is Jesus being lifted up on the Cross, the second meaning is Jesus being lifted into glory. Philippians 2:9 says: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above all names.” When Jesus ascended into Heaven after the resurrection, Jesus was being lifted into glory. Being lifted onto the Cross and being lifted into glory are absolutely connected. One could not happen without the other. If Jesus resisted the Cross, resisted the scorn, resisted the slander, then He would not have received the glory. As Christians, this applies to us - we’ve been called to take up our crosses. If we resist or refuse, take the easier path, than we too would not receive the glory. Without the cross, there is no crown. So then how do we on this side of glory - take up our crosses, be obedient, and press on even through much suffering, hardships, and troubling times?

3. Boundless Love: Living In His Light

John 3:16-21

Our third and final mark of being born again is to live in the light and love of Christ. God in all of his splendor, glory, and might could’ve come into this world two thousand years ago and smite us for all of our wrongs. But instead, he chose to become God incarnate, God in the flesh, and become one of us. He chose not to condemn, but rather than to save. He chose to bear the cross that wasn’t His to bear and die the death we deserved from the wages of our sin. He chose to become the lifted up one, first on the cross, and then into glory so that whoever looks upon Him, who trusts Him, and who believes in Him would live and have eternal life with Him. See the extravagant love he has for you and for me as we too follow Him into His glorious light. The light that blinds all darkness. The light that exposes and reveals every evil work from every evil-doer. The ones who hates the light and loves the dark will be exposed and judged. But the ones whom walk in the light will have assurance, provision for this life and the next, and the testimony that has been clearly seen that their works have been carried out in God.

A story perhaps to wrap it all up: In the nineteenth century in the dead of winter, a snowstorm crippled a town called Colchester, England. A teenage boy was unable to travel to the local church that he usually attended so he made his way to a chapel close by that was still holding services despite the severe winter weather. Once the teenage boy arrived a barely prepared layman was standing in as the main preacher was absent due to the weather. His text was Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” What this ill-prepared lay minister didn’t know was that this teenage boy was experiencing deep-seated doubts of his salvation. As the unprepared minster continued with not much to say except for repeating his main text and then he exclaimed “A man need not to go to college to learn to look. Anyone can look - a child can look. Noticing now the teenage boy, itting to one side of the aisle, he pointed to him and said, “Young man, you look miserable. Look to Jesus Christ!” The young man became startled, perhaps because he was called out, or perhaps these were the words that Christ used through this barely prepared substitute minister to turn this teenage boy unto Christ for salvation. This teenage boy was none other than one of our great Church fathers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

As we close, Philip Paul Bliss, an American hymn-writer and composer wrote “Hallelujah! What A Savior” the hymn goes as follows:

Man of sorrows, what a name. For the Son of God who came. Ruined sinner to reclaim. Hallelujah what a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude. In my place condemned He stood; sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah what a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we; spotless lamb of God was He; Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah what a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die; It is finished was His cry; Now in Heaven exalted high. Hallelujah what a Savior!

When He comes our glorious King, all his ransomed home to bring, then anew His song we’ll sing: Hallelujah What a Savior!

Commentators have observed that when Nicodemus approached Jesus it was in the “midnight of his confusion.” When day broke and when Jesus was killed on that cross, it was He and Joseph of Arimathea who buried Jesus in the tomb. It was Nicodemus’ “sunlight of confession” that he was indeed born again.

Perhaps today, you need to look upon Christ for salvation, perhaps you’ve recognized by the Spirit’s power the love he has for you. The life that he desires for you to have in him and the joy he brings every step of the way. If this is you or if needing prayer for something particular, I invite you to walk down this aisle, one of our deacons, Dave Vilhauer would love to pray for you and I would love to follow up with you afterwards.