Born Again

[prayer]

Review

Last week we talked about Jesus clearing the temple of distractions right? He was filled with Zeal or passion and overcome with the need to help believers worship.

This week we are getting into some really serious things as we talk about what it means to become a believer and what it means to be born again.

Read the word

John 3:1–9 “There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

“How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him.

“Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

How can these things be? asked Nicodemus

What are you thinking?

Its kinda hard to imagine. Even Nicodemus who was incredibly bright questioned Jesus here. People had never heard of this concept.

He even asked

“Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

It is a hard concept but we can break it down into two parts.

To be born is a physical act. Something that we all have to go through. It is flesh and what is flesh is flesh.

There is then spiritual rebirth. Water and spirit. This is the change that happens inside you.

A lot of faiths when you talk about reborn, they move to reincarnation right? The belief that once you die, your soul or spirit will be reborn into a new life form. This could be based on how well you lived your life. A reward or punishment.

Christians believe you only get one life on earth.

Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—”

So how can you be reborn.

Jesus is saying that instead of having to physically die over and over and over again, you let your selfish desires die. You let your old self die and allow Jesus to make you a new creation in the here and now with him.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So you don’t physically die, but you let the selfish part of you die and invite Jesus to live within you. If you believe that Jesus was the son of God, believe that he lived a perfect life and his sacrifice on the cross covered our sins forever, and believe that three days later he rose from the grave having defeated death, then you have the spirit within you.

But what does that look like

Now when you are flesh born, you come out as who you are as a person right? You have your hair color, your eye color, and all the genetic information for you to be grown up! As we talked about in health class, no two of us are the same!

What is amazing is that we experience the same thing when we are born again!

When the spirit washes over us, we are changed completely on the inside. The person you were is gone. What is pretty amazing about this change is that we all can do it together. With Christ as our center, we are the same. We are a family. Suddenly all our differences don’t really matter anymore.

Now, I am sure you are saying, but Chaplain, I like who I am. I have spent a lot of time being this awesome.

I agree! I like who you are too!

Being born again doesn’t make you a blank slate of perfect obedience, a statue in chapel services, or a worshiping mindless zombie. You are not made perfect in that moment.

You will still like art, futbol, and video games.

You are still you.

Which is a good thing! God gave us all free will for a reason.

To paint and sing and dance and to be different.

Now does this mean some things might fall away? Yes, and it should! You will find that you don’t want to watch sinful things or be center yourself around people who don’t believe.

It is our motivation, heart, or reason for doing these things changes! You get redirected toward God instead of away from him.

That is really all you can hope for.

But how is being born again different?

It is like this.

Selfish Creations.

We are all very selfish creations. We like what is ours and we want to keep it to ourselves. This can be a toy, a game, a person. It can really be anything. We also do what makes us happy at any time. How can WE be happy.

When the spirit is invited in, you start to feel a pull. Something tells you to help others, share, or be kind.

Now, here is the thing. We don’t always act on it right? That is ok for now! We are all growing in faith. What is important in the beginning is that you feel that tug and you start to pay attention to that tug.

That tug will help pull you toward being a better person and loving others. Once again, we are not made perfect right away. Accepting the spirit is the starting point. A way forward in your love for Christ.

How about this one.

Teaching how to apologize.

When you call someone a bad name or push someone, your teacher makes you apologize right? You may not really mean it, but the teachers are teaching you how to apologize.

It is super important that you learn how , even if at first it is just words. When the spirit comes into your life, you actually start to feel sorry for your actions and you start to actually forgive people that hurt you and love them.

The Compass

You all know I was in the Army for 10 years? We did a lot of moving around in the woods and desert with a compass.

Do you know what a compass is?

Well, the compass, when used correctly, will tell you exact the direction you need to go. It always points to magnetic north. It is consistent and never changing.

But sometimes we still got lost!!!!

Sometimes there is a large river in the way that we had to go around it and find ourselves way off course.

Sometimes there was a place that was not safe to go through, so we had to choose another route.

Important

Or sometimes the walk was so long and so boring that we kinda just forgot to keep our eye on the compass and would wander way to far to the right or left.

But when we remembered…or the distraction of conversation or routine boredom fell away.. the compass was there helping to pull us back on course.

That is the holy spirit.

It is not magical guardrails or motorway barriers that keep you on course. It is a guide to help you when you mess up.

Because I will say it again. We all mess up.

Now here is best part!

If you truly believe and invite the holy spirit inside, if you put that compass in your hand, it stays with you forever.

That compass can never never be lost, misplaced, stolen or destroyed. EVER

It is with you forever.

You may wander, you may drift.

You may even be going in the opposite direction, but eventually you will look up and realize you are not where you should be and you will feel the weight of that compass in your hand.

And when you look down, you will know exactly how to get back to God.

Lets Pray