You Must Be Born Again

Must be Born Again

Imagine sitting in a doctor's office after months of tests, medications, and treatments. Your heart is failing. Every available treatment has been tried. Finally, the surgeon looks across the desk and says, "Your heart cannot be repaired. It must be replaced. Without a new heart, you will die."

That sounds like an impossible diagnosis. Yet on December 3, 1967, the medical world witnessed what had once seemed impossible when Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant. 

It forever changed medicine because it proved a remarkable truth: sometimes a diseased heart cannot simply be repaired—it must be replaced.

That is exactly the diagnosis Jesus gives Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Nicodemus comes expecting a theological conversation. Instead, Jesus tells him that his greatest problem isn't ignorance—it is that he needs a new birth.

    The prophet Ezekiel had promised that one day God would remove the heart of stone and give His people a heart of flesh. Now, standing before Nicodemus, Jesus announces that this promise has arrived. Entrance into God’s kingdom will not come through religious achievement but through the miracle of spiritual rebirth.

That is still humanity’s greatest need today.

No amount of morality can change the human heart.

No amount of religion can give spiritual life.

No amount of self-improvement can make a dead sinner alive.

Only God can give a new heart.

Only the Spirit can give new birth.

And only Christ can make that new birth possible.

Today, as we examine John 3:1–15, we’ll discover three great gospel truths:

1. The Sinner’s Need (A New Birth)2. The Spirit’s Work (A New Heart)

And 

3. The Savior’s Provision (A Lifted-Up Redeemer)

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word…

John 3:1–15

    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 have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to 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? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

      Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.  If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.  As Moses        lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [e]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Let us pray…

[INSERT PRAYER]

    John chapter 3 is not about reforming your life but transforming your heart. Nicodemus came looking for a theological conversation, but Jesus exposed a much deeper issue. His greatest need was not more knowledge or more religion—it was a new birth. And if that was true of the most religious man in Israel, it is true of every one of us today. So,let’s walk with Nicodemus through this remarkable conversation and discover three great gospel truths: 

The Sinner’s Need, 

The Spirit’s Work, 

and 

The Savior’s Provision.

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The Sinner’s Need

    The meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus is one of the clearest explanations of the gospel in all of Scripture. Before we examine their conversation, however, John gives us an important clue at the end of chapter two.

After describing Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem, John writes:

“But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them… for He Himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24–25)

These verses remind us that Jesus is not merely a wise teacher—He is the omniscient Son of God. He knows every heart. Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrated this by revealing His supernatural knowledge of Nathanael before they had ever met. Later John tells us that Jesus knew from the beginning who believed and who did not. Before Nicodemus ever speaks a word, Jesus already knows exactly what he needs.

John then introduces Nicodemus with three important details. He was a Pharisee, devoted to the study and teaching of God’s Law. He was a ruler of the Jews, serving on the Sanhedrin, Israel’s highest religious council. And he was recognized as “the teacher of Israel.” By every human standard, Nicodemus represented the very best of Jewish religion.

Yet this respected religious leader came to Jesus under the cover of night. Whether motivated by fear, caution, or sincere curiosity, John also presents the scene with symbolic significance. Nicodemus comes physically at night, but he also comes in spiritual darkness.

He begins respectfully:

“Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher…”

Nicodemus recognizes that Jesus is from God, but he still believes Jesus is simply another teacher.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I think Jesus was a great moral teacher”? Many people admire His wisdom while rejecting His lordship. They appreciate His teaching but refuse His authority. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones observed,

“The world is always ready to praise Jesus as a great moral teacher. It is when He claims to be the only Savior of sinners that the offense begins.”

Then everything changes.

Jesus never responds to Nicodemus’ compliment.

Instead, He answers the question Nicodemus never asked—but desperately needed answered.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

    To properly understand what Jesus is saying, we must understand the phrase “born again.” 

The Greek word translated "again" is anōthen, and it carries two legitimate meanings: again or from above.

I believe John intentionally uses a word with 2 meanings. Nicodemus hears one meaning. He understands Jesus to mean born a second time. That’s why in verse 4 he asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time in his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” He is thinking physically. But Jesus means the other meaning. Jesus is speaking about being born from above. In other words, this new birth, this new regeneration originates with God. It is not a physical birth but rather a spiritual birth that comes from heaven through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus isn’t telling Nicodemus to start life over. He’s telling him that life must start over in Christ– from above. This isn't self-improvement. It is a supernatural work of God whereby the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to a spiritually dead sinner.

The Spirit’s Work

Notice what Jesus didn’t say. He didn’t say you must improve yourself. He didn’t say you must be more religious.  He said You must be born again…

YOU MUST BE BORN FROM ABOVE

Why does Jesus use the language of birth?

Think about your own birth. What part did you play in it?

Did you choose the day you were born?

Did you choose your parents?

Did you decide your birthplace?

Did you contribute anything to your own conception or delivery?

Of course not. 

Birth is something that happens to us before we can do anything for ourselves. 

Jesus deliberately chose that picture. Like natural birth, spiritual birth is entirely the work of God. We did not initiate our physical birth, and neither do we initiate the new birth. In verses 12 and 13 of chapter 1, John writes, “But as many as received Him (that is, Christ Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Similarly, Paul declares in Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing ofregeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

    Have you ever met anyone who said, “I remember deciding it was time to be born”. No, of course not. Birth is entirely of the work of others on behalf of the one who is helpless. We do not cause the new birth any more than we caused our first birth. The new birth is God’s gracious work in us, and that new life expresses itself in repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.

    This is exactly where Nicodemus struggles. He hears Jesus speak of birth and immediately thinks only in physical ways. So, Jesus continues in verses 5–8:

“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born [a]again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

    Jesus makes an unmistakable distinction between physical birth and spiritual birth. Flesh can only produce flesh. Human effort can only produce what is human. Religion can produce morality, education can produce knowledge, and discipline can produce outward conformity—but none of those can produce spiritual life. 

Only the Holy Spirit gives life.

Notice also Jesus’ illustration of the wind. In both Hebrew and Greek, the words for wind, breath, and spirit are closely related. You cannot see the wind itself, but you can certainly see its effects. You hear it. You watch the trees bend. You feel its force upon your face. In the same way, you cannot see the Holy Spirit with your eyes, but when He gives new life, His work becomes unmistakable. New desires appear. Sin is hated. Christ is loved. The Scriptures become precious. Repentance becomes genuine. Faith becomes living. 

The invisible Spirit produces visible evidence.

Nicodemus is still bewildered, so in verse 9 he asks,

“How can these things be?”

That question reveals the tragedy of religious knowledge without spiritual understanding. Here stands the teacher of Israel, an expert in the Scriptures, and yet he cannot comprehend the very promises of spiritual renewal that God had spoken centuries earlier through the prophet Ezekiel. Theologian, D. A. Carson explains, why Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand this. He writes:

“When water is used figuratively in the Old Testament, it habitually refers to renewal or cleansing, especially when it is found in conjunction with ‘spirit.’ This conjunction may be explicit, or may hide behind language depicting the ‘pouring out’ of the Spirit.”

That is precisely what we find in Ezekiel 36, where God promises the blessings of the New Covenant: 

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:25–27)

Do you hear the similarity? 

Clean water.

A new heart.

God’s Spirit.

Jesus wasn’t introducing a new doctrine to Nicodemus; He was declaring the fulfillment of promises Nicodemus should have recognized. That is why Jesus says in the next verse:

“Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” (John 3:10)

Jesus expected Nicodemus to know these promises.

The Savior’s Provision

At this point, Nicodemus knows two things.

First, he knows he must be born again.

Second, he now understands that only God can accomplish that work through the Holy Spirit.

But one question remains:

How can sinful people receive this new life? 

______________________________________________________________________________

Let's think back to the patient who received the new heart. That life-saving operation came at an enormous cost. Before the transplant could ever happen, someone else had to die. Every transplant reminds us that new life comes at great cost. 

Spiritually, an even greater question confronts us. If God is holy and we are guilty, how can He give us a new heart without compromising His justice? Jesus answers that question by pointing Nicodemus to an Old Testament event every teacher in Israel would have known:

Verses 14–15: 

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

The new birth is possible only because the Son of Man would be lifted up for sinners.

But why does Jesus call Himself the Son of Man? 

This was Jesus’ favorite title for Himself, and it was far more than a reference to His humanity. It reaches back to Daniel 7:13–14, where Daniel writes:

“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming… And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

Every teacher in Israel—including Nicodemus—would have known this passage. By calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus is identifying Himself as that promised heavenly King who has descended from heaven and to whom the Father will give an everlasting kingdom.

John Calvin explains that Christ takes this title to remind us that the eternal Son of God truly became man so that He might become our Mediator. Yet in the very same breath Jesus declares that He has descended from heaven. He is both fully man and fully God—the only One qualified to reveal the Father and reconcile sinners to God. As Calvin observes, Christ alone can teach heavenly things because Christ alone has come from heaven.

And yet, notice what is so astonishing. The glorious Son of Man whom Daniel saw receiving an everlasting kingdom now says, “the Son of Man must be lifted up.” Before the crown comes the cross. Before the kingdom comes Calvary. The King who will one day reign over all nations must first die for sinners.

But why would Jesus compare His death to a bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness? 

To answer that question, we must go back nearly fifteen hundred years to Israel’s wilderness wanderings recorded in Numbers 21.

The Israelites had sinned against God by grumbling and rebelling against His provision. In judgment, God sent fiery serpents among the people, and many died. When the people confessed their sin and cried out for mercy, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Then He made this remarkable promise: everyone who had been bitten, if he looked upon the bronze serpent, would live.

Do you see the picture? The Israelites were dying under God’s judgment and could do nothing to save themselves. Their only hope was God’s gracious provision. 

They simply had to trust God’s promise enough to look.

Jesus says that this event was pointing beyond itself to the cross. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent so dying Israelites could live, so the Son of Man would be lifted up so dying sinners might receive eternal life. As John Calvin beautifully observed, “Faith is nothing else than a spiritual looking to Christ.” 

We are not saved by our works or our religion, but by looking in faith to God’s appointed Savior, Jesus Christ. As Paul declares in Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy.” Just as the Israelites looked to God’s appointed provision and lived, so we look to Christ in faith and receive eternal life.

This conversation was never merely about theology—it was about salvation. Every part of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus has been leading to this moment. The necessity of the new birth. The sovereign work of the Spirit. The lifting up of the Son of Man. All of it points to the glorious promise Jesus now declares in John 3:16...

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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

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As Jesus goes on to explain in the verses that follow, the issue is not whether Christ is willing to save, but whether we will believe in the One whom the Father has sent.

At the beginning of this message, we talked about the first successful heart transplant. Sometimes a diseased heart cannot be repaired—it must be replaced. That is exactly what Jesus has been saying to Nicodemus. Your greatest need is not to become more religious. Not to become more moral. Not even to become a better version of yourself. You need a new heart. You need a new birth.

And the wonderful news of the gospel is that the new heart God commands is the very new heart God provides through His Son. The Son of Man was lifted up so that all who look to Him in faith might receive eternal life.

Jesus didn't ask Nicodemus if he was religious. He didn't ask whether he knew the Scriptures or belonged to the right religious party. He simply said, "You must be born again." That question still confronts every one of us today. Have you been born from above? Have you looked in faith to the Son of Man who was lifted up for sinners? If not, today is the day to believe, for "whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Let’s pray…

[Insert Prayer]