You Must Be Born Again

1:10That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. 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, so it is with everyone. Who is born of the Spirit? Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 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. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

2:12This is God's word. You may be seated. The annual performance review. I don't know about you, but if you walk into that review and you get that question, that would make me feel uneasy, right? That I'm not noticed, that I'm not doing anything or the right thing. I think many of us would agree that the annual performance review is a necessary evil, right? I mean, the awkwardness of walking in and being evaluated, having to tell your superior, your boss, what you do, it's like, you should know what I do.

2:59I just Think that there could be some reform in this area, but that's not the subject of our sermon this morning. The point is, this performance-driven mentality, friends, I think in so many ways has really infiltrated everything about our lives. I mean, think about it. What area of your life are you not constantly either evaluating your own performance, being evaluated on your performance, or comparing yourselves to others? Essentially, comparing your performance to another. From your relationships to the groups you're involved in, to your job, even ministry, in countless ways, this performance-driven mentality really has infiltrated everything that we do and everything that we think. Now, I'm not against the results, I'm not against getting things done. I'm type A, I'm the administrative pastor here, and that's what I do: get things done, right? Maybe not as fast as they should always be done, and all of that, but I'm a big fan of those things. But the problem is when we allow our performance to determine our worth, when we begin to believe that we're only as good as what we do, I think that is the problem. That is dangerous.

4:30And in so many ways, we've allowed this thinking to truly become our theology. Functionally, we act as though what we do is going to earn us favor with God. Our religious activities, our participation in religious duties, functionally, you can look at your life as I have done mine, and you can see that in so many ways, this has really become our theology. Today, we see a really extreme example in this interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus. And I think it's going to be helpful for us because I think what we're going to see is Jesus turn all of this thinking, right, Nicodemus' theology, he's going to turn it on its head and say, no, no, no, no, you got it backwards. That's backwards. And rather than earning our worth before God, we will see that our worth and value is not determined by what we do, but who we know. Ultimately, that those who trust in Jesus will receive new life. And so, Christian or non-Christian in the room this morning, friends, we have to see that there are tremendous implications wherever you find yourself. Tremendous implications.

6:01Because at the heart of what Jesus is communicating through John in John chapter 3, 1 through 15, is that the gospel is against earning. The gospel is against earning. And that's what I hope we will see this morning. And so as we turn to our passage in John 3, John begins and he recounts this interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus by saying that Nicodemus approaches Jesus at night. And we know that every detail that God inspires these men to write is extremely important for us to consider. And this is important for us to consider because Nicodemus was a Pharisee. So he approaches Jesus at night. One of the reasons is probably because he was a little bit concerned about what his Pharisee brothers thought about him going to Jesus.

6:59He was a part of the Pharisees, which believed primarily that their strict adherence to the Mosaic law and then all these other commands that they added to it were going to earn them favor with God. And so by going to Jesus, that was going to be a problem. If you're familiar with the scriptures, you know that there was much tension between Jesus and the Pharisees. And so I want you to look at Matthew 23, verses 25 to 28 on the screen. This will help you. Help us kind of see that tension.

7:34Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. If that's not enough, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you're full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Now, saying those things would create some tension, obviously. I mean, if someone says these things to you, I don't know about you, but I struggle with anger, and so I'd probably be a little bit upset and a little bit angry.

8:36But this was just evidence of the tension that was between them already. Because Jesus came to show with his life and teach with his miracles and the things that he said. He came to show that the way to God was not through righteous, religious acts, but rather through him. He was the way. And that's what created the tension. And yet, Nicodemus comes at night because I think he was curious. I think he was intrigued by Jesus. In fact, I think he was amazed because of the signs, the wonders, the miracles that Jesus was performing.

9:25As a Pharisee, he knew the Old Testament, what we would call the Old Testament today. So, from creation, from turning the water into wine, right, one chapter back, the raising of Lazarus, right, it's easy to see why and how he would have been amazed at Jesus. But though Nicodemus saw these things and acknowledged that Jesus came from God, he had missed the point. We see that throughout this text. The point of Jesus' miracles, the point of Jesus' teachings, were to reveal who Jesus was and what he came to do.

10:16Jesus was God's Son, and he came to seek and save the lost. And I'm sorry, Nicodemus misses the point. John Piper wrote, Reflecting on this passage says this, and I really appreciate this. He says, it's not enough to be amazed by the supernatural, but one must experience it. It's not enough just to see and be amazed at what God does, what's going on around us, but one must experience the supernatural. And essentially, what Jesus is teaching in verse 3, he's saying exactly that. Jesus is saying, it's not enough, Nicodemus, for you to be amazed, for you to see those things and be amazed at me.

11:13You must be born again. You must be born again. And Nicodemus's response is telling, isn't it? To be sure, he's curious, as all of us would be, I think, like, wait a minute. You want me to enter again and then be born again? I don't. So clearly, there was a little bit of confusion. But also, I think what's behind that is that Nicodemus was interested in what he could do. What he could do. And friends, I think for us, our natural response to God To His Word and His works is God, what must I do?

12:07You show me how to earn this, and I'll do it. You show me how to earn it, and I'll do it. And I think what Jesus is showing Nicodemus throughout this text is that there is another way, a supernatural way, the only way to see God, to enter into God's kingdom, to truly have new life. One must be born again. That's what I think Jesus is trying to communicate. But before we dive into all of this about the new birth, friends, I want us to understand the crisis that this presents.

12:52It did for Nicodemus, and it surely does for us. The crisis is that Nicodemus and we have a hopeless condition apart from God's grace and mercy. We are hopeless. That's the crisis that this presents. Listen, for Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, right? He adhered to the law or sought to perfectly. But what he's going to learn is that on his best day, it's not good enough. As a sophomore in high school, that's what broke me. I'm the firstborn.

13:41I'm type A personality. I was raised to be a good moral kid, and I'm grateful. But I thought that I could be good enough until I heard the gospel. And I heard that on my best day it wasn't good enough, that I had missed the mark of God's perfection because of my sinful nature and my sinful choices. And later I read Isaiah 64, 6 that all of our righteousness is like filthy rags before God. And I was broken.

14:20Friends, our only hope in our hopeless condition is for one to act on our behalf. For someone outside of us, for God to act on our behalf. Because by nature, we're bent towards sin. By nature, we trust in ourselves and not God. You're probably familiar with Apostle Paul's words in Romans 3. Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And in Romans 1, we see a commentary. For what this means, I want you to look with me on the screen. Describing our hopeless condition, Paul says this: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, the creation, us, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

16:03Friends, the critical thing for us to see Jesus was trying to help Nicodemus see, trying to help us see this morning, is that we have a great need for God to supernaturally cause us to be born again, because it's not something we can do on our own. And apart from God, we are dead in our sin. So. What is this new birth? Right? Nicodemus was confused. We read that and we think, like, how am I going to explain that to my kids? Right? How are we going to explain that to kids in children's ministry? Right? So, what is he talking about?

16:46Well, it's clear throughout the text that Nicodemus was confused. Look at verse 10. Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Jesus says to him. So, Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, a Pharisee, it's clear that he doesn't understand, and Jesus thought he should. Jesus thought he should. And so, knowing this, Jesus meets Nicodemus that night, right? He takes the night house call. All right, I just want that. I want to pause and just say, our ministry to others who are lost is not always going to be convenient, but it's worth it.

17:29And Jesus takes the night call, and he meets Nicodemus where he's at. Right? He's got questions. And so, Jesus answers his questions. And praise God that John included it for our edification. So, what we see in this interaction is a number of characteristics about the new birth. And so, I want to just walk through those with you. The first characteristic of the new birth is that the new New birth is given by God's Spirit, and it's not something we can do for ourselves. The new birth is given by God's Spirit, and it's not something we can do for ourselves. I alluded to this earlier, but I want you to see in verse 6 and in verse 8 Jesus showing Nicodemus this truth. In verse 6, we see this flesh and spirit comparison. And Jesus is saying that the things of the flesh, this physical world, physical birth, those are things that we generally understand, right? They make sense to us. We can wrap our minds generally about those things.

18:42But the new birth, the things of the Spirit, those are supernatural, and they don't always make sense to us. And so we need God to help them make sense to us. Okay? So this is not something we can do on our own, but this is brought about by God's Spirit. And then in verse 8, we learn that the Spirit moves and works on its own without man's control. Similar to the wind, you can see its effects, you see what it does, but you can't control it. It's solely the act of a gracious and loving God.

19:23That's the first characteristic, that this new birth is brought about by God's Spirit, and it's not something we can do. For ourselves, and we're going to get intensely more practical as we go, so bear with me. Second characteristic of the new birth is the new birth is new life. The new birth is new life. Think about this. Jesus repeatedly calls Nicodemus to be born again. Nicodemus was physically alive. He walked to Jesus' place. He's living, moving, and breathing, and yet Jesus is saying that he's dead.

20:05Jesus is telling Nicodemus, You're dead. Spiritually, you are dead. Nicodemus was blinded by his sin, by his spiritual death, and he couldn't see what was going on in him and around him. And just as one is born into the world physically, Jesus is telling Nicodemus, You must be born spiritually, Nicodemus. You must be born spiritually because the old you, the old man, is dead. And new life happens at new birth. Remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 16 through 18? Look with me on the screen. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him. Thus, no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. There's that new language. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All of this is from man. No.

21:16All of this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Okay, so that's the second characteristic. New birth is new life. And then finally, more practical, the third characteristic of new birth is that new life is found in Christ. New life is found in Christ. And we see this starting in verse 11 through the end of the section. So the Pharisees, Nicodemus, they were amazed at the things that Jesus did, the works that he performed, but they failed to see who he really was, God's Son, that he was deity.

21:59But Jesus' teaching is pretty clear, right? Remember John 14, 6. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, not except through your good works, but through me. Others also testified to this truth. John himself states the sole aim of this gospel, of this book, in chapter 20, verse 31. I love this verse. These things are written so that you may believe in Jesus, that Jesus is. The Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Okay, more of that language.

22:41So they saw him, but they didn't receive him as God. Instead, they challenged his teaching, they mocked him, everything that you could imagine to go against him, and ultimately they killed him. Ultimately, they killed him. And friends, what Jesus is trying to teach Nicodemus and us this morning is that being born again is receiving, not earning, new life in Christ. Now, you may be thinking, how? Well, I'm glad that you're asking because that's what I have to talk about next. Okay? Well, how does that happen? Right? If we know that this new birth is by God alone, something that God does in us, and if we understand that we are dead spiritually, our condition, friends, is hopeless apart from God acting on our behalf.

23:44And if Jesus's teaching is true, that we need new life to save us from our desperate and lifeless state, this is the most important question that you could ever answer. Answer in your life. This is the most important question you could ever answer in your life. Do you believe that? Your life hangs in the balance. No one gets to walk out of these doors and ignore what Jesus says here. And so it's critical that we allow this to affect us so that we change and turn to Christ.

24:37But it's important that we allow this to affect us for the friends and family in our lives, for your children. This is life and death. And friends, I functionally believe that I can earn God's favor. And I'm scared to death, my kids believe it as well. That's how critical this is. There are many that you know who are physically alive, but spiritually they're dead. And they need God to intervene in their life. They need you to tell them about Jesus so that they can be born again. That is the weight of. What we're talking about this morning. And so, how do we get this new life in Christ?

25:39Faith. I know you're probably disappointed in my answer. You expected something more profound. I'm not the guy. Sorry. Faith. It's the same old thing, but it's the gospel. And I want to remind us of what Jesus says in Matthew 11. Look on the screen with me. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

26:29Now, think about this in light of the heavy burden that Nicodemus was carrying. The burden of fulfilling every single requirement of the law on top of hundreds of additional commands. Think about what this would have been like for Nicodemus to hear. But if we're honest, for us to hear it, it feels much the same. Think about that. Our attempts to be perfect, our attempts to be blameless, our attempts to perform. And Jesus says, No, come to me.

27:19Come to me and find the rest that your souls need. I think these are some of the sweetest words in the Bible. So, how do we receive this new life? We're born again. We look to Jesus as our only hope. We turn from trusting in ourselves, and we turn to Jesus and say, if you are the way, the truth, and the life, then I'm trusting in you. Even though I don't know completely what that means, you're my only hope, Jesus.

27:56This is faith. This is faith. Now, listen, my favorite part, don't miss this, verse 14 and 15. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Now, you may have read this in Numbers 21, possibly, maybe not. I love the book. Of Numbers, but you should read it sometime if you haven't. What's happening is the Israelites are wandering through the wilderness. They've sinned against God, and so their wandering is God bringing about judgment on them. And in this particular instance, I'm sure they're grumbling, they're a little bit upset at God, and so they're complaining and all that. And so God says, all right, and he sends snakes.

29:00How about that? He sends snakes. Well, obviously, a little bit freaked out about that. Serpents everywhere, running, screaming, millions of people wandering in the wilderness. And so they're freaked out, to be sure, which will cause you to change. But they approach Moses, and there seems to be some repentance in their hearts. And they approach Moses and say, save us. Ask God to save us. And so Moses, or God comes to Moses, and he says, all right, here's what I'll do. You take one of those serpents and you put it on a pole and raise it up.

29:48And for anyone who looks at that serpent, they'll save their life. Whoever looks at the serpent up on that pole will live and not die. And that's what Jesus says to Nicodemus. That's what he's quoting. That just as the Israelites who sinned and disobeyed God, who were wandering in the wilderness, lost and hopeless in their sin, just as they looked up to the serpent who was raised up on the pole, that took a lot of faith to believe that by looking at that, they would be saved. Just as the Israelites did that, we who look in faith to God's Son, Jesus, who was lifted up on the cross, who died for our sin, who would resurrect and then ascend to the right hand of the Father, everyone who looks to Jesus in faith, they will be saved.

31:02Think about that. Numbers 21. Nicodemus knew it by heart. And Jesus says, Yeah, that, that's about me. That's about me. Friends, apart from God, we are dead. Physically, you're living, moving, breathing. But spiritually, apart from God intervening by His Spirit in our lives and causing us to be born again through faith, we have no hope. But praise God because He didn't leave us that way. And He didn't do it from afar, right? I mean, He could have like created the world and then, kind of like a globetrotter, He could have just set the thing in motion and then said, I'm done. No, He sent His Son to enter in that we would have a great high priest who intercedes for us that completely understands all of our fears, our hesitations, our concerns about faith, our doubts about faith, that through Him we might be born again, reconciled to God. This is the best news. This is the good news of the gospel.

32:35Friends, wherever you find yourself, Christian or non-Christian, this morning, I hope that you've been reminded. I hope that you've maybe seen for the first time that nothing you do can earn you a right standing, can earn you favor, can earn you forgiveness. The list goes on. Before God. But it's only through faith in Jesus that we can be born again, that we can have hope both in this life and the life to come. I pray that you would turn to Him this morning.

33:15You might not get another chance. No one knows what's going to happen when we walk out. And God forbid, but this might be your only chance. Let's pray. God, I pray for Christians in the room this morning, those who have turned to you, though it be imperfectly, but have trusted in you for new life. God, I pray that they would marvel at the amazing grace that they have received. That through faith they have been given the gift of eternal life. And it's not because of their own effort, but it's because of what you have done in and through them to raise their dead bodies from the grave.

34:32And God, this has countless implications for this life and the life to come. And so, God, I pray that you would help us to rest in you, that we would know that we can't earn your favor despite our many attempts to do so, despite the many ways that the culture around us has made us to believe that our performance and what we do is what determines our standing before you. And, God, for those who may be exploring Christianity, asking questions about Jesus, who are wondering about all that we're talking about, I pray that the truth would not fall on deaf ears.

35:28God, that you would cause many to see the state of their soul, the beauty of the gospel, that you are the giver of life and the one that can change their helpless condition. God, I pray that we would all look to Jesus, that we would trust in Him and not in ourselves, because only Jesus can bring the rest that we need. In our souls. God, we're grateful for your word. I thank you for inspiring John to record this for us.

36:14What a life-saving message. We praise you and we thank you. It's in your beautiful name that we pray. Amen.