THE JOY OF BEING BORN AGAIN

Five miracles you experience when you are born from above

Glen Gerhauser | Church on the Park | Pentecost Sunday, 23 May 2021 | Josef Roger’s Baby Dedication

Text: Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:7, NASB).

Theme: There are five miracles you experience when you are born from above.

1 - A new heart & spirit

God gives you a new heart and spirit. It's a clean and pure heart that desires to do God's will and carry out his word. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV; cf. Jer. 31:31-34).

2 - God lives within

God himself – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – comes to live inside of you. Your body is now his temple. And not only that, you live within him too. "All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God" (1 John 4:15, NLT; cf. John 14:23). "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16, NASB).

3 - Assurance

You are assured of three specific blessings: 1) You are God's child, loved by your heavenly Father; 2) You have eternal life; 3) You are forgiven, the Lord's new creation. Listen to these precious verses: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16, NASB; 1 John 3:1). "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV).

4 - Intimacy with Jesus

When a baby is born, their eyes and ears are open to the world. In the same way, when you are born again, you begin to see Jesus with the eyes of your heart and hear his still small voice. What a joy it is to experience his goodness and glory! "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28, ESV).

5 - New Growth & Transformation

The miracle of being born again starts a process of growth and transformation. What is the Father's goal? That your nature and character would become like his Son, Jesus. This supernatural transformation happens as you hunger and thirst for God, his word and putting his will into practice. Peter encourages us, writing, "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow..." (1 Peter 2:1-2, NKJV).