You Must Be Born Again - John 3:1-10
Let’s open our Bibles to John 3
I want to begin this morning by telling you about a man who lived some time ago. He was a very religious person, very concerned about the Law of God. He was a Hebrew, a very educated man, a man well respected by others, a Pharisee, a man zealous for God. In fact he was so zealous that he felt it his duty to squelch any other religious uprising, and he would use lethal force to do so. In fact, he would come into a meeting like we’re having here, and he would pick out certain people, maybe children, maybe mothers or fathers, and drag them out of the meeting and execute them right on the spot. He would go into people’s homes, drag out families at a time, both young and old and kill them or put them in prison. And one time, when a leader of Christianity was being stoned, he counted it a privilege and an honor to be right there, holding the coats of the men who were killing him. This man, like Osama bin Laden was a religious terrorist in every sense of the word.
But something happened to him during his lifetime that completely changed him. He was converted to Christianity and his whole world was turned upside down. Instead of killing Christians he began ministering to them. He began preaching and teaching and inviting people to come to Jesus, pouring out his life for others and eventually dying as a martyr for the cause he had once hated. What happened to this man? How did this terrorist become an evangelist? Why did he go from Jihad to Jesus? Well the Bible describes this experience as being born again. The title of the message this morning is “You Must Be Born Again.”
You may remember from a few weeks ago that we looked at an overview of John chapter 3. We saw that John 3 describes salvation by showing the requirement, the method and the results. The requirement is in verses 3-7: “you must be born again.” The method of salvation is in verses 14-16, “the Son of man must be lifted up, speaking of the cross, that whoever believes in Him” and the results of salvation are in verses 16-17 “will not perish, is not condemned, has eternal life.” Well that was the overview, today we want to zoom in a little bit, and look at the subject of the new birth, the requirement for salvation. Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 7, “you must be born again.”
Let’s read John 3:1-10:
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." 3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. " 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ’You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 9 "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. 10 "You are Israel’s teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? John 3:1-10 (NIV)
Let’s pray together: Father in heaven, please give us your Spirit that we might understand Your Word and that we might love Your Son. In Jesus’ Name.
Today I want us to notice just two things:
• Man’s condition
• God’s provision
Man’s condition is in verse 3, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” So man’s condition by birth is that he is unacceptable to God, he is not fit for God’s presence, he is not going to heaven, he will not see the kingdom of God.
God’s provision is in verses 5-6, “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” The Spirit of God is God’s provision for man’s condition. The Spirit of God washes us, and gives us new life, thereby making us acceptable to God, fit for the kingdom of God. So let’s look at these two truths in more detail:
There is a very religious man coming to Jesus in this story. Nicodemus is highly educated, entirely moral and very religious. He is a good man, an upright man. Verse 10 tells us that he is Israel’s teacher, so he is not only a good and moral and religious man but he also teaches others to be the same. You might say that Nicodemus is the best that a man can be. And he comes to Jesus by night, not wanting to be known as a follower of Jesus, yet interested enough to come.
Now Nicodemus starts the conversation with a compliment, stating that it was well known that Jesus was sent from God because of the miracles He was doing. But Jesus does not acknowledge the compliment, because He is a focused physician and wants to get right at the heart of the issue, and so Jesus says in verse 3, “I tell you the truth, no man can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Don’t you think that struck at the heart of all of Nicodemus’ accomplishments? All his righteousness? All his education and religious training? He thought that he was alright, that he was a good person, that he was acceptable to God, and here Jesus tells him he can’t see or enter the kingdom of God in his present condition?
Nicodemus does not understand this, so in verse 4 he asks how a man can be born when he is old, how someone can enter into his mother’s womb to be born again. Nicodemus is natural, earthly, physical, he does not understand spiritual things. He is right now proving Jesus’ point, that a man really cannot see spiritual truth unless he is born again.
See, take a man who is a genius, or take a man who has a PHD in philosophy, or take a man who has studied all the world’s religions and is an expert in all of them, and hand each one of them a Bible and ask them to read it and explain it. And do you know what? Not one of them will understand it, they will all come up with false explanations. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor 2:14 (NIV)
Listen, we are all by birth just like Nicodemus. We don’t get God, we don’t understand His Word, this Book is like a riddle or like just so much poetry, like it’s written in another language.
And so in verse 5 Jesus explains it a little more, saying that nobody can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Think of those terms for a minute: water and the spirit. Water cleanses and purifies and washes away dirt. The Spirit of God gives life. So we can learn something right away here: the condition of man is that we are dirty, defiled, and unclean and that we need to be washed and cleansed by God’s Spirit. “Water and the Spirit.”
You see before this happens, I am just flesh. My fleshly parents give birth to a fleshly kid and I’m just flesh: dirty, defiled, impure. That’s how we all are by birth. But the Spirit of God is able to cleanse and wash us, and in so doing He gives us a new life. That’s what Jesus says in verse 6: “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Now, I want you to notice something very interesting that Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 7. He says, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘you must be born again.’”
Oh? Why is that? Why should Nicodemus not be surprised at Jesus’ saying? Why should Nicodemus know these things? Because the truth of the new birth is all over the Old Testament. The very book that Nicodemus teaches from teaches that man is impure and unclean at his birth, and the Spirit of God must cleanse and wash and give us new birth. When Jesus said, “Water and the Spirit” it should have triggered Nicodemus’ memory, and brought up a specific passage.
Let me take you to just one place where the Old Testament teaches this. Look with me at Ezekiel 36. Now remember, we are seeing why Nicodemus should have known about cleansing by the Spirit. Keep those words in mind: water and the Spirit.
16 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 24 "’For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. Ezek 36:16-32 (NIV)
See here is the situation: the people were impure, they were defiled, unclean, they were idolatrous, worshipping other gods, and so God disciplines them by sending them to other countries, and the Jews were all dispersed into other nations. But God was concerned about His own name, so He promises to wash them, to cleanse them from all impurity, to give them His Spirit and to bring them back from captivity. And this would be like a new birth for the nation: they would have a new heart, a new spirit, indeed a new life. Do you see it Nicodemus? This is the new birth, when you are washed by the Spirit of God, born of water and the Spirit.
And so notice what Jesus is doing here: He is applying what would happen to the nation of Israel, to individuals. The nation of Israel was defiled and unclean, so are each one of us by birth. The nation of Israel needed to be washed and cleansed and have a new birth, so do each one of us. Jesus is applying the Old Testament teaching about a nation to individuals.
So let’s just summarize what we’ve read so far: the condition of man by birth is unclean, impure, dirty, sinful. The condition of man by birth is that we are not acceptable to God. Education does not make us acceptable to God. Being a good person does not make us acceptable to God. Being religious does not make us acceptable to God. Nicodemus was all of those. Yet he was impure and unclean in his natural condition. The condition of man is stated clearly in Romans 3:
Romans 3:10-18 (NIV)
10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips."
14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
And what are we going to tell people in this condition? Try a little harder? Go to school? Become a better person? Nicodemus did all of those things. And yet his condition was that he was not acceptable to God. Jesus was saying that people don’t enter the kingdom by living a better life, but by being spiritually reborn.
That’s man’s condition, but now let’s notice God’s provision: 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
God has provided for our condition by giving His Spirit to cleanse us and to blow new life into us. Now I have a story to illustrate this truth. I’m like Brian, I like stories. Do you remember when God created a body out of dust, and there it was, dead dust in the shape of a human body. But then it says, God blew the breath of life into it, and Adam became a living being. See at first, he was just dead dust, then he became a living being, when God blew life into him.
This is what the Spirit of God does, His role is to breathe life into us, to take this animated clay and make us eternally alive. Man’s condition by birth is like dead dust, God’s provision is the Holy Spirit Who washes us and gives us new life. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:5 (NIV)
So now let me ask the most important question of the entire day today. Where does this washing of rebirth happen? Where can we go to be cleansed from our impurities, to be washed from our defilement, to be saved from all our uncleanness? Where does the Holy Spirit cleanse and renew us?
In order to answer that question I want you to turn to one last Old Testament passage, the book of Zechariah. Zechariah 13:
"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. "On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more," declares the Lord Almighty. "I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. Zechariah 13:1-2 (NIV)
So in that day God would open a fountain of cleansing, and notice this fountain of cleansing would do two specific things: it would cleanse from impurity, and it would remove idolatry. And I will tell you that this fountain being opened for the cleansing of sin is a direct reference to the cross of Jesus Christ. How do I know? Context. Look at verse 7:
"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" declares the Lord Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. Zechariah 13:7 (NIV)
So on the day that the Shepherd would be struck there would be a cleansing fountain opened that would cleanse from impurity and remove idolatry. Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep was struck down on the cross, and on that day a Roman soldier pierced his side, and in so doing opened a fountain of cleansing. We now can go to the cross, we can go and see Him dying in our place and be forgiven and cleansed from all impurity and all idolatry right there at the cross. And those who are cleansed from their sins find new life in Jesus Christ. He saves us right there at the cross, through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
So let me speak a word to those here this morning that are not born again. The word Jesus said is, “you must be born again.” You may think you’re a pretty good person, you compare yourself to others and say “I’ve never done that.” But did you see your actual condition today? By birth we’re defiled in sin and in need of washing at the cross. You must be born again.
But now let me speak a word to those who are born again here this morning. You need to realize once again that your entire past life has been made null and void, has actually been crucified at the cross. See Christians are those whose past sins often come back and knock on our door and discourage us with the memory of them. The devil is our accuser, reminding us of who we were at what we did. Listen, that whole life is dead and buried and we are born again into a living hope in the gospel.
“The new birth changes us from lawless, godless self-seekers into those who love and trust. It enlightens, liberates and energizes us to serve the Lord. The new-born man has forever ceased to be the man he was; his old life is over and a new life has begun; he is a new creature in Christ, buried with him out of reach of condemnation and raised with him into a new life of righteousness.”
Remember Saul the terrorist? Listen to his words in Philippians 3:
“If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:4-8 (NIV)
Now I’m just going to close with this story:
Two brothers were convicted of stealing sheep. For their crime they were each branded on the forehead with the letters "ST," for "sheep thief." This was a common thing done in England in the early 1800’s to anyone who was caught stealing sheep. One brother immediately ran away from the area and attempted to build a new life in another country. But even there, people asked him continually about the "ST" burned into his forehead. He continued his wanderings and finally, he was unable to bear the burden, he committed suicide. The other brother heard the gospel message one day. He heard that his sin was forgiven, that in Christ there are no brandings, or scarlet letters, and he repented of his sin and found new life in Christ. He said to himself, "I can’t run away from the fact that I stole sheep. But that’s the past. I can stay here and work hard and repay the debt." The years passed and he was able to repay the sheep he had stolen and went on to build a life of integrity in England. One day a stranger saw this brother, who was now an old man, with the letters "ST" branded on his forehead. He asked a resident of the town what the letters stood for. The townsman replied, "It happened a long time ago. I’ve forgotten the particulars, but we who know that man think that the letters are an abbreviation for Saint."
Well I say to you this morning that you may have done something in your past, or been someone in your past that you wish you could undue or un-be. You may feel like you have a scarlet letter, or something branded into your forehead that you can hardly bear. Well I say to you that with Jesus there is new life, a new beginning where sheep thieves are washed and made new and become precious saints of God.
