John 3:1-18
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
“You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
“Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
“I have spoken to you (pl) of earthly things and you (pl) do not believe; how then will you (pl) believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven - the Son of Man.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him.”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:4
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Now, that’s a good question! We don’t even want to contemplate what that would look like!
John 3:5-6
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
This verse 5 has caused more than a little theological debate about whether baptism is necessary for salvation or if it is a testimony of salvation which has already occurred. But we’ll leave that discussion for some other day.
However, the “born again” theme is relentless throughout the NT.
Born again - New birth - New creation
John 3:6
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Jesus is answering Nicodemus’ question here. Nicodemus is thinking in the realm of the physical world. Jesus is speaking of the spirit within a person, the spiritual realm.
Nicodemus is asking, “Is it possible for me to go back into my mothers womb and come out again as a brand new me, with no history and everything starting over fresh again?”
Some people would love that!
If the doctor made a mistake during delivery and maimed the baby
If the mother was an alcoholic or drug user during pregnancy and the baby was born with deformities or neural disorders
If the child was raised in a home of hatred and abuse
If the child was raised on the edge of starvation while the parents partied
If the child’s parents divorced and they always wondered if it was their fault
So many things could make a person want to go back into their mother’s womb and start all over again.
But, Jesus is thinking on an entirely different plain.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB) says,
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!”
Not just the old one reborn for a new start but an actual new spiritual creature!
Titus 3:5 (NASB) says it this way:
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
So, what should this new creation or new creature look like?
Should we have different attributes?
Eagles see better than humans.
If we had the eyesight of an eagle we could see an ant on the ground from the roof of a 10 story building.
Does the new creation make us see differently?
1988 - Chuck Colson - Invited to Florida by Jack Eckerd - founder of Eckerd Drug - invited Chuck Colson to Fl. to speak about prison reform. At each stop he would introduce Chuck as,
"This is Chuck Colson, my friend; I met him on Bill Buckley’s television program. He’s born again, I’m not. I wish I were."
Many stops, many conversations, many books sent to Jack.
Jack got saved! Born again! A brand new life.
Next day, walking through Eckerd Drug store saw pornographic magazines. They never bothered him before. They bothered him now. Told the president of the company to get them out of the store. That decision eliminated at $3 million dollar profit. Why did he make this decision? Was it because of his commitment to Christ? Was it because he was born again and seeing through new eyes? Eckerd said,
"Why else would I give away three million dollars? The Lord wouldn’t let me off the hook."
The sale of pornography had never bothered him before. But now, since he was born again, since he was a new creation, a new creature he began to see with the spiritual eyes and not just the eyes of flesh.
With eyes of flesh he had seen the pornography as a beneficial financial profit with no thought of the moral implications.
Now seeing with the eyes of the Spirit he was seeing an immoral profit based on the satanic perversion of something that God created to be holy and beautiful.
Now he saw it and the Lord wouldn’t let him off the hook.
He was looking at the same thing with different eyes.
By the way … the Lord blessed him with additional business as families heard about the stand he took to remove the pornography from his stores and they responded.
As new creatures, new creations, we now have a sense of hearing that we did not possess before.
How many of us, here, right now, have ever heard the voice of God speak to them? Not audibly but just as real as if it were audible?
I know that I have and some of you have testified in private conversations of this happening to you. Before, we heard the voice of the deceiver. Now we hear the voice of the Master.
How do we come to know this Christ? How are we born again? What do we need to do to allow Jesus to transform us into His child?
John 3:16-18 says:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
What is this believe?
Who is this guy? (Show picture of Mr. T) That’s right, it’s Mr. T as B. A. Baracus, the big, tough, almost fearless dude from the A-Team. But, B. A. Baracus was afraid of something. What was it? Flying.
B. A. Baracus knew about airplanes. He knew that they could fly but he didn’t trust them enough to place his life in the care of the pilots or the planes.
Knowing about flying is very different from placing your trust in flying.
Knowing that planes are capable of flight is different from trusting them to carry you safely to your destination.
Knowing about salvation through faith in Jesus won’t save you.
Knowing that faith in Jesus could save you won’t save you.
It is only when you actually step on to that plane, it is only when you say to the Lord, what ever the cost I will follow you that you will be born again and transformed into a new creation. Not before.
This is so much more than just repeating the “sinners prayer.”
B. A. Baracus would not get onto the plane because of fear. Is it fear that keeps people from believing in Jesus?
Maybe in some parts of the world where a profession of faith in Jesus can mean execution on the spot, where it can mean that your family is thrown out of your home and you will lose your job. No one will give you shelter and no one will hire you. No one will allow you to even buy food if you have any money at all and your children are starving to death before your very eyes. That’s fear and that’s where it truly takes the eyes of Christ to see eternity instead of the temporal world.
But we do not find that kind of fear here in America. In reality we don’t find fear at all, perhaps some mild discomfort.
Here the greater threat is about what Jesus might ask us to give up.
He may ask us to give up something sinful. Something we enjoy.
We love our sinful pleasures. How many are kept away from Christ by a soft bed and comfortable pillow?
How many don’t want to give up some time in front of the TV in order to spend time with God in His Holy word?
How many are deceived into thinking that anything fun is forbidden once you come to Christ?
So, we ignore the eternal in favor of the fleeting sensation of sin.
That sin is like a sour ball in reverse.
A sourball has this intense, uncomfortable sour taste initially and ends up being sweet inside.
With sin, the outer taste may be sweet but you can be assured that the inner part will be not only bitter but will bring spiritual death.
So, many people put it off … and off … and off … and off …
Have you ever heard the phrase, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?” That is a lie from the pit of hell!
Just like the sourball in reverse once the pleasure is past the poison of the sin follows you wherever you go. And we would all die in the poison of that sin if not for the blood of Christ shed on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.
But we still put it off. Then the moment comes when time transitions into eternity, we move from this world into the next. And the poison of sin takes its final toll. Hell.
Hell is not a popular subject in the churches of America today but that doesn’t make it any less real. Jesus was very concerned about hell. He warned of it often.
He said it was endless. He said it was darkness. He said it was suffering. And, He said it could be avoided. He made the way! He is inviting you today! Why delay?
Revelation 20:11-15 says,
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
That sounds awful!
What a choice born twice to eternal life or dying twice to eternal suffering.
John 3:18 - God has placed the choice in your hands. Choose Life!
Invitation
