You Must Be Born Again

John 3:1–11 ESV

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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?” 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. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 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.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

Introduction

How many of us who are parents remember the day that our children was born? The excitement, the anticipation, the fears (especially to a new parent), the worries, but overall the joy and pride? But how many of us NOW would want to go back through that physical birth and raising of a child again? Heavens no! As we see the number of children grow here in the church, it does tug at the heart of a parent - makes you even wonder if one more might be worth it. Then you remember if YOU have them, you can’t leave them with their parents and go home. While I love children, I don’t know that I want to raise any more!

When we read this passage, this is the bewilderment of Nicodemus - how can one be physically be born again??? This confused him, making him ask Jesus to clarify what he said “you must be born again”. Now we, with the benefit of looking back, know Jesus was speaking of the spiritual rebirth or transformation. We are born again when we realize we are a sinner, ask forgiveness of our sins, and do our best to live our lives pleasing to God. We are changed - a new life is in us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

But I also want us to look closely at the personal focus Jesus places on this passage - “you” - no one else can make the decision to restore our spiritual relationship with Jesus but us, individually, and personally. Too often today, people want to blame their own faults and sins on everyone else around us, instead of taking the personal responsibility for our actions. This week, we have seen on the television numerous examples of people who have made bad decision, have sinned, and in the course of being held accountable for those crimes have lost their lives. It is a sad time in our country, too many people will not accept their personal responsibility for their sins. But what is even more troubling is their families, communities, cities, and even our country wants to place the blame on everyone else BUT the one who chose to willingly break the law. Now, I’m not condoning illegal, irresponsible, and inappropriate actions of law enforcement, by any means, they need to be held accountable for criminal actions, but it should be done appropriately. Jesus reminds Nicodemus, unless you make a personal decision and commitment to follow God, you will have consequences for that sin - you will not enter into the Kingdom of God. Today, I want to be very clear - it is specifically up to each one of us PERSONALLY to choose whether we accept Jesus as our personal savior, or reject Him and miss an opportunity to live in paradise for eternity.

Nicodemus Asks Questions

John 3:1–2 ESV

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus was a ruler - holding some official position or rank, a Pharisee “the separated ones”, strict religionists, organized solely for preserving the law and the Jewish religion, and one of 72 members of the Sanhedrin - governing council and supreme court of the Jews.

He came to Jesus on behalf of himself and others “WE know that you are a teacher come from God”. It appears some of the religious wondered if Jesus truly was the Messiah?

They also knew the consequences of being seen in public with this man called Jesus, so Nicodemus approached at night, under the cover of dark.

The Jews were struggling under the weight of Roman law. They were looking for someone to give them relief.

They knew their “Messiah” - the “Anointed One” - was coming, but they “thought” he would come as a military leader, as a governing ruler, who would miraculously bring peace and supernaturally bring righteousness to the whole world.

They were not seeing what they thought the Messiah was going to be in Jesus, but they also saw something different in him. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God”. They had seen the miracles, and knew that only a man from God could do these things. Instead of continuing to wonder, though, Nicodemus came to simply ask “Who are you”? Jesus didn’t answer him directly, but instead looked at the heart of the question. It wasn’t the miracles that mattered, it was the need to be changed - spiritually - to be born again.

Have you ever seen or heard things that were just too good to be true? Ever wondered how some of these products we see on television can chop and dice and slice and do it all with little to no effort? Ever wonder how a pillow or set of sheets can miraculously change your sleep pattern? Ever wondered how you ever lived without the miracle appliance that can do everything but tie your shoe laces? We are inundated with things that are just “too good to be true”, that it makes it hard to distinguish between good products and junk. But have you ever had something that caught your attention and was advertised well enough that you stopped and investigated further? This is where we find Nicodemus - he knew what scripture said. He was an educated man, taught in the law and scriptures. He knew Jesus fit the description of the Savior, but had to find out for himself.

But there is one aspect of Nicodemus that was missing. Simple, complete, and full faith. Jesus knew this and explained being born again.

The Heart of the Question

John 3:3–8 ESV

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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?” 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. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 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.”

A new birth - something that was mind boggling to a literal man. First, how could the physical act of being born a second time even be possible? And second, how did it relate to seeing the kingdom of God?

Jesus however, was not explaining a physical rebirth, but the understanding that there had to be a spiritual rebirth that occurred before one could see the kingdom of God - they had to be “saved” - spared or rescued from something undesirable.

When a human is born, they are born in both the physical and spiritual sense. But because of sin, there is a separation from our spirit and the spiritual relationship Jesus wants to have with us. That relationship can only be repaired, restored, when we make the conscious choice to be born again spiritually. We must, under the conviction of sin, make the choice to accept Jesus for who He truly is.

Without this conscious decision while under conviction, Jesus tells Nicodemus and us that we “CANNOT see the kingdom of God”.

John 3:18 ESV

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This new birth is a spiritual rebirth, which Jesus explains further. He gave the source of the new birth - spirit and water - and explained it as the prerequisite to see/enter the Kingdom of God. This rebirth is not physical and material - the flesh cannot bridge the gap to the spiritual and has no power to be born again in the spirit. Jesus also emphasized the necessity of the new birth “must” an imperative, something that was absolutely necessary.

As a child, do you remember asking your parents a question, and even when they answered, it was still as “clear as mud”? Jesus explains it by pointing to the wind. We may not know how wind works, but we see the effects. While we may not fully understand how the spirit of God works, but we see the effects of His works in our lives. We must be born again if we expect to go to heaven. Jesus was trying to explain this clearly and on a level Nicodemus could understand. Unfortunately, at this time, we see Nicodemus continuing in his sin of indecision and rejection of Jesus.

Sin of Indecision Leading to Rejection

John 3:9–11 ESV

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

Even with the education Nicodemus had, the concept of being born again was more than he could comprehend. Nicodemus’ heart was touched by what He was hearing, and he did not understand what he meant, but he wanted to know. The “ruler” of the Jews, but still didn’t understand spiritual things. This was the great tragedy at this time.

How awkward would it be to have Jesus stand before us today, and ask us “you call yourself a Christian, but you don’t understand the simplest of things”?

Many of us, like Nicodemus, are in the same predicament - we still reject Jesus. We want to know about God, we want to have a relationship with Jesus, we want to play “Christian”, but we still don’t receive Jesus’ own testimony as being true.

Brothers and sisters, can I be plain and blunt? You can come to church, you can go to Sunday School, you may even read the Bible or serve on a church committee, and all these things are good, but without the transforming of our spirit through conviction, confession, and co-laboring in Christ, all these things are useless. You MUST be born again.

Closing

It is our personal decision to follow God. Period. I don’t know how much more plainly I can describe this. You MUST be born again. Peter reiterates in Acts 2:38 when he says:

Acts 2:38 ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Admit

Believe

Confess

Repent

Transform

We have a glimpse into Nicodemus later in life.

John 7:50–51 ESV

50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

He defends Jesus to the Sanhedrin.

But most will say the most telling of all is the act of Nicodemus at the tomb.

John 19:39–42 ESV

39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Most believe Nicodemus became a follower of Jesus - he was born again. Just as Nicodemus had questions, just as he was confused, it appears he finally accepted Jesus as his savior.

Today, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, I ask that you come forward and allow me the opportunity to introduce you to Him.

The altar is open.