“The Must of the Master”
John 3:1-11
Scripture Reading
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
I. The Message of the New Birth
a. The seeker – He was rich, respected, religious and a ruler. Nicodemus refers to Jesus as “Rabbi” which was an acknowledgment of respect because this word means teacher and he also acknowledges that the blessing of God was on His ministry for God was “with him.” We can only speculate why he choose to come to “Jesus by night.” It is said that the “Rabbi’s” studied at night, or he was afraid of what the Jews might say, or to avoid the crowds or maybe just so their conversations would not be limited. For whatever reason, he is there.
b. The Savior – One of the things that Jesus demonstrates here in this sequence is His omniscience. Listen to what is said in chapter 2:23-25;
John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
The Lord was aware that there were many who were following Him because of the miracles that He performed and Nicodemus seems to have been in that number. He was an admirer but not a true believer.
c. The statement – Notice that Jesus begins this statement with the words “Verily, Verily, I say unto you…”
Barnes: An expression of strong affirmation, denoting the certainty and the importance of what he was about to say.
Clarke: The repetition of amen, or verily, verily, among the Jewish writers, was considered of equal import with the most solemn oath.
Jesus “cut to the chase,” put his finger on this man’s pulse and gave him his unerring prescription for the soul.
Someone asked George Whitfield, “Why do you always preach ‘You must be born again?’ He replied “…because you must….!
II. The Manner of the New Birth
1. It is super natural, not natural
Being born again is not about human efforts (1-2).
If anyone “deserved” eternal life, it would appear that Nicodemus had all of the right qualifications. He seems worthy of eternal life. But this story reminds us that salvation is not about human effort or merit. It is not for sale! We are reminded that:
A. If position could save you then Nicodemus would have been saved.
He was a man of the Pharisees, one of the 70 who comprised the Sanhedrin. In essence, he was a member of the Jewish Supreme Court. The Pharisees were right in many areas of doctrine, but they made one primary mistake: they externalized religion. Outwardly, they lived above reproach. They were considered the religious elite. They went to great lengths to obey not only the law but also the man-made rules of tradition that kept them from breaking the law. Nicodemus was a part of the religious elite. He had a distinguished religious position.
But a certain position does not save you. Being a deacon does not save you. Being a pastor does not save you. Being a SS teacher does not save you. Being a member of the board at non-profit organizations does not save you. Positions do not save. Being born again is not about human efforts. It is not about positions.
B. If popularity could save you then Nicodemus would have been saved.
The name Nicodemus means well liked or popular. Here was a man who was well known and respected in the community. He was popular. He was recognized as a spiritual leader. Mothers pointed to Nicodemus and told their children, “There is a good man. There is a good role model.” He was extremely popular.
But popularity does not save you. Being recognized as a “Christian” person does not save you. Being recognized as a spiritual leader does not save you. Being born again is not about popularity.
C. If prestige could save you then Nicodemus would have been saved.
Jesus identified Nick as “the” ruler of the Jews. He was the one to whom people turned for spiritual answers. He was recognized as the spiritual adviser, the religious guru, the one who spent his life studying the Scriptures. His position was one of spiritual prestige, but he did not possess eternal life. He was “the” man when it came to religious matters but he was not saved. He was not born from above because prestige does not save you.
D. If piety could save you then Nicodemus would have been saved.
Nicodemus possessed great religious knowledge. As a member of the Pharisees, he knew and lived what was considered right and wrong. His first words to Jesus, “we know” express a certain level of spiritual knowledge. Yet the reality is that Nicodemus did not know. He was ignorant of spiritual truth.
He was religious to the core. The Pharisees went to drastic measures to make sure they obeyed the letter of the law. They fasted and prayed and studied the Scriptures. They lived spiritually disciplined lives, but they were lost. He was religious and lost.
Do you know why? Piety does not save. You can come to church, tithe, go to SS, lead a class, be a deacon, read your Bible, pray, witness, and practice spiritual disciplines and yet still be lost. You can do all the things that pious people do and be without Christ. Piety does not save. I have heard so many people say, “I live a good life. I try to do what is right. I go to church. Etc.” but pious living does not save.
ILL - John Bunyan tells the story of how God’s grace began its supernatural work in his soul. These are his words; “Upon a day, the providence of God called me to Bedford, to work at my calling; and in one of the streets of that town I came to where there were three or four poor women sitting in the sun talking about the things of God; and being now willing to hear them discourse, I drew near to hear what they said; but I heard, yet understood not; they were far above, out of my reach; for their talk was about a new birth!” A this, he goes on to say, at this I felt my heart begin to shake, for I saw that in all my thoughts about salvation, the new birth did never enter my soul!”
ILL - In this month’s “ONE” magazine there is an article about a good friend of mine by the name of Chad Donoho. He is the son of Home Missions church planter Cliff Donoho. Up until last week Chad was the minister of youth and music at the Northport FWBC in Northport, Alabama. He has resigned to become a joint project home mission’s church planter with his dad Cliff in the Tallahassee, Florida area. To make a long story short, Chad’s testimony is one of having been raised in a Christian home, attending a Christian college, singing in a southern gospel group but not being born again until age 22!!!!!
Being born again is not about human efforts. It is not about position, popularity, prestige, or piety. Then what is it about?
2. It is about relationship, not religion
Being born again is about a personal relationship (3-15).
Being born again is not about religion but about relationship. It is about being born from above. It is about new birth, transformation. Let’s talk about this new birth. What is new birth? What is it all about?
A. The new birth is about a spiritual birth (3-6).
Being born again is not a physical act. It is not a mental or emotional decision. It is not a moral life style. Being born again is to be born from above. It is a spiritual transformation that comes only through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says, “Unless one is born of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The new birth is a spiritual birth. It is a spiritual transformation that takes place when one surrenders their life to Jesus Christ in faith. It is a spiritual act.
* Too many attempt to make salvation physical (doing this or not doing that), but in reality, it is spiritual.
B. The new birth is a sovereign birth (7-8).
New birth is God-initiated and God-controlled. Through his illustration of the wind, Jesus emphasizes this point. Just as the human mind cannot understand the depth and details of how the wind blows, neither can sinful humanity understand how the new birth transpires. Let me say here that while unbelievers may know little of how Christianity “works”, they can observe how the children of God function in society. They can see the effects of the wind. The Christian’s life is a testimony of the unseen reality of God’s sovereign grace. The new birth is a sovereign act of God.
C. The new birth is a supernatural act (9-12).
Once again, as Jesus explains to Nicodemus, the new birth is a heavenly matter. Explaining salvation in natural/human terms is impossible. New birth is a supernatural experience that cannot be tested or diagnosed. It cannot be placed in a test tube and examined. New birth is not a scientific formula. There is no secret combination or recipe. You see new birth comes only through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural process that produces supernatural results. You cannot explain the reality of genuine salvation. It cannot be explained. It can only be experienced thru God’s grace. Transformation cannot be explained.
* Man born blind in John 9. I cannot explain it all. I just know one thing: I was blind and now I see. And that is the testimony of everyone who is born again. I cannot explain who God can transform a sinner into a saint. I just know that I was lost and now I am found. I was blind and now I see. I was on my way to Hell and now I am on my way to heaven. The new birth is supernatural. It is beyond human explanation.
D. The new birth comes only through a Savior (13-15).
It is all about relationship, a relationship between a holy God and a sinful people. How can this be? How can a holy God have a relationship with a sinful people? B/c He came down (v.13). And why did He come down? So that He might be lifted up on the cross (v.14), and those who look up, those who believe in Him, should not perish but have eternal life (v.15).
As the Israelites in the desert, we have all been struck down by sin. Sin has sunk its fangs into our souls and we are dying. The venom has made its way to our hearts and we are dying in our sins.
But God saw us in our sinful hopelessness, and He made a way. He sent a Savior, who was lifted up on Calvary’s cross. And now the message rings, “Believe in Him. Believe in Him. Believe in Him, for those who believe will not perish but have eternal life. Look to the cross. There is healing in the cross. There is a Savior. The new birth comes through a Savior.
Being born again is about a personal relationship. It is not about human effort. It is about new birth. A spiritual birth that is: initiated by God, brought about through the death of a Savior, and transforming in its power, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
III. The Marvel of the New Birth
a. The mystery of the new birth – You can have a library filled with bible helps and commentaries; you can memorize whole chapters of the Bible, you can have a godly heritage, you can have all this and more and still “miss the meaning” of the new birth!
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Corinthians;
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
b. The metaphor of the new birth – Someone has said that “…history is His story!” It is the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said in,
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Numbers 21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
c. The must of the new birth
There were 3 preachers in a coffee shop discussing the time when life began. They each gave their opinion of when life begins.
One preacher said "Life begins when the child takes his/her first breath."
The other said "NO," then he finished, "It begins when the child is conceived."
But the last preacher said "You both have the wrong answer! Life begins when the last child leaves home and the dog dies!"
I’m afraid that all three of these preachers were wrong. WHEN DOES LIFE REALLY BEGIN? I am glad to say that life begins when you give your sins to Jesus and are born again.
For twenty centuries men have been wondering what Jesus meant by these strange, mysterious words that the Lord spoke to an aged ruler. What can it mean? It can mean only one thing! Somebody wrote;
“I wish that there were some wonderful place,
Called the Land of Beginning again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches,
And all of our poor, selfish grief,
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat, at the door,
And never put on any more!”
The words, if they mean anything, mean that there is such a place. A man may have a fresh start. The glory of the new birth is that even if we are old, we can begin again. Someone said, “There are two kinds of progress. There is the progress that moves forward from infancy towards youth, towards maturity, and towards age. But there is a higher progress, a progress that moves towards infancy. “Except ye be converted and become as little children,” Jesus said, “…ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God.”The only way of becoming a little child once more is by being born again. It is the glory of the gospel that it offers a man this chance.
Have you been born again, born from above? Do not tell me how religious you are. Tell me, have you been born from above?
