Easter Sunday: New Life Unhindered and Unleashed

Title: New Life Unhindered and Unleashed

Text: John 3:1-8; 16-18

ETS: Jesus taught Nicodemus that new life was required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

ESS: We must be born again from above to inherit eternal life.

OSS: [Evangelistic] I want the hearers to repent of their sin of unbelief or intellectual knowledge and truly seek life from above.

PQ: What compelling observations can we make in this passage?

UW: observations

Introduction: Today’s passage records a conversation that Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus. Studying this conversation teaches that in order to inherit the Kingdom of God, an individual must be born again or born from above. This idea, though, may cause many questions to arouse in one’s mind. What does it mean to be born again and how does that relate to Easter? More than that, how does this relate to me? Before understanding the idea of being born again, though, it is important to understand that every human has a need to be born again. Every human is sinful and separated from God, spiritually dead. However, because God did not desire it to be that way forever, He made a way for humans to be born again through sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. As Jesus hung on the cross, He realized that He had fulfilled everything required by the law and everything spoken of by the prophets pertaining to the requirements for right relationship with God or being born again. Thus, revealing that everything was happening according to the divine plan, He said, “I’m thirsty” (Ps. 22:15) and then, “It is finished.” (Jn. 19:28-30). This informed everyone that Jesus had taken care of everything. It was finished then, and it is still finished now. He has taken care of it. Furthermore, to seal the deal, all four Gospel accounts record that He rose from the dead. Matthew and Mark both recall that those searching for Jesus were looking for “Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified- He has risen” and Luke records a question followed by a powerful statement, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?…He is not here, but He has risen!” (Luke 24:5-6a). Thus, it is understood that Jesus fulfilled everything required of the law and the prophets to provide new life to every human willing to accept it, and He sealed all of it when He rose from the dead. Today, we are going to study together the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus. As we study, pay close attention to the compelling aspects of the text. This story has relevance for my life and for your life- we must be born again. Let’s read now John 3:1-8 and 16-18.

TS: Let us examine together now a few compelling observations made in this text:

Nicodemus was a Pharisee (v. 1)

Pharisees were religious “gurus” who thought they knew everything regarding the law. Even more, as Jews, they thought they automatically inherited the Kingdom. This news would have been shocking to Nico.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night (v. 2a)

A few suggestions: This revealed Nico’s spiritual deadness; this revealed Nico’s desire to have alone time with Jesus.

Nicodemus called Jesus Rabbi or Teacher (v. 2b)

Some suggests that Nico believed, intellectually, but failed to really trust. He did acknowledge Jesus as a teacher which had come from God.

Jesus responded (the dialogue begins) (v. 3)

This is where the meat of the text comes in. The conversation shifts now. Its no longer one-sided. Jesus responded, thus making it a dialogue.

Jesus gave a verdict: one must be born from above in order to inherit the Kingdom of God (vv. 3-8)

To be born again meant to be born from above- of the Spirit. Some suggest that Jesus taught that one must be born physically and then spiritually in order to inherit the Kingdom of God. It is at least understood that in order to inherit the Kingdom, one must place belief in Jesus, thus being born of the Spirit.

God loved(s) every human (v. 16)

The world in this verse refers to every human being. God loved every human, and thus He desired them so much that He gave up His only son for them.

Belief is required to be born again and thus inherit the Kingdom of God (vv. 16-18)

In order to be born again and inherit the Kingdom, one must believe in Jesus, placing their full faith and trust in Him- His life, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Those who reject Him will face condemnation.

Conclusion:

For many ages, new life, a Savior, and right relationship with God unhindered by sin remained a mystery and a promise- something that was only spoken of. However, through Jesus, this mystery was revealed and the promise was fulfilled. Through His death and resurrection, we are given provided the opportunity to be born again. Perhaps, though, many of us are too comfortable with only the intellectual knowledge pertaining to this, and thus, we have not truly been born again. Maybe it is some sin struggle that is holding us back from truly experiencing this new life. Maybe it is something else. Let me conclude with an illustration:

The Easter Egg Illustration:

pagan background: new life

Christian background: hard shell= the sealed tomb; the cracked shell= the empty tomb. The yoke= new life.

Today, some of your lives are represented by this egg: the new life God desires to give to you is still locked inside the sealed tomb, being held captive by the sin of the world and strongholds of the enemy. The enemy and his workers are rejoicing, thinking they have won you over leaving you with no hope of victory or life. However, two thousand years ago, our Savior and King, Jesus Christ rose out of the grave (crack the egg) to free every human from the captivity to sin and to give them new life through His resurrection. Your life no longer has to be defined by the sin, the doubt, the questions. Today, believe in Jesus and His resurrection and accept New Life- the life God wants to give to you, the kind unhindered by sin and unrestrained by the power of the enemy!