Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from John

John 3 "Born Again"

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That 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 the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:1-8)

In chapter 2 last week Jesus stormed through the temple, driving out the animals with a whip and overturning the moneychanger’s tables. Of course the religious rulers were furious with him. I think Nicodemus came to make peace with Jesus. He was a member of the ruling council and as their representative He went secretly at night to make a deal. In the eyes of the council Jesus was a radical, a reformer. But Nicodemus was old and wise and had seen a few angry young men before. Perhaps he even agreed with Jesus that the temple was becoming too commercialized and needed to be cleaned out. He approached Jesus and started off by offering an olive branch. "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Surely, Jesus would accept the old man’s offer of friendship and they could come to some kind of understanding that would save face for the council and keep this sincere young man out of trouble. But Jesus ignores the peace offering. Instead he goes right to the heart of the matter. You see, it is not enough for us to think good about Jesus. It is not enough for us to talk about peace with God, when there is no peace in our hearts. Jesus said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This is quite limiting, when you think about it. It means that no matter how good you are, no matter how many offerings you make, how many prayers you say, how many meetings you attend, how many people you help, you still won’t see the kingdom of God. It means that no matter who you are, rich, poor, black, white, yellow or brown, you won’t see the kingdom of God. Unless you are born again. You can’t have peace with God unless you have been changed from the inside out.
Nicodemus was astounded. He had spent his whole life following God, keeping the commandments, and doing all that their traditions required of him. He was respected by all as an elder and ruler. Was none of this of any use? From the outside Nicodemus looked perfectly calm. He was in control, a sterling example of a Jewish Rabbi. But inside, like all of us, he knew that there were secret sins that he had struggled with his whole life. At first he thought that these things were the follies of youth, that they would disappear with age. But instead of getting better with age, his weaknesses only grew more and more ingrained. The habits were as deeply entrenched as the lines on his brow. Nicodemus had given up hope of ever truly changing. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?"
Nicodemus is right. Changing yourself is impossible. I am already struggling with the New Year’s resolution I made last week. I have watched my father-in-law give up smoking now three times. The child development experts tell us that the first 2 years of a child’s life are the most crucial because in that time the majority of personality is formed. The farther we are away from the womb, the harder it is to change who we are. We might get a little better at covering it up, or smooth over some of the rough edges but the inside is still the same. Jesus teaches us that there are two ways to be born. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit." No matter what we do, everything that we make of this life is the result of what we are inside. Once Jesus told his disciples that "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." It is just as true with everything else that we do. If our hearts are full of bitterness or anger then the work that we do, the words that we say, even the way that we drive a car or play a game will reflect what we are on the inside. If my son is playing with his lego blocks, whatever he happens to make with them, a castle or a spaceship or a town, it will still be legos. When my daughter grabs a crayon and starts to draw on the paper, whatever she makes it is still crayon. With us too, no matter how magnificent we have become, how rich or famous, or good or pious, how skillfully we disguise the ugliness in our hearts, flesh is still flesh.
Flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. God’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and to enter it we too must be spiritual. The problem is how. We know that it doesn’t work to dress up flesh as spirit, and yet we have no other material to work with. We are flesh. Not only that but our best attempts at looking spiritual are only crude imitations of real spirituality. I felt that way ice skating with my son the other day. I looked at the really good skaters with envy and wished that I could be as graceful and elegant as they. With practice (for one hour) I started to get the hang of it. By the end of the day I was skating along pretty well (in my own opinion). But my wife looking on from the side was still laughing at how awkward I was. The other night we watched the real professionals on the television. I can’t even understand all the points on which they are judged, let alone skate anywhere close to their level. They are in their own different world that is very different from mine.
If there is nothing that I can do to reach the kingdom of God on my own. Then how can I be born again? Jesus said that you must be born of water and Spirit. There are two parts. Our part which is easy and God’s part which was hard. Our part is the water. To Jews water symbolized repentance. John the Baptist led the people to the water to repent of their sins. It is the best that we can do. It is like the New Year’s resolution or giving up smoking. We admit that our lives are messed up, that we are not as good as we would like to be, that we are not perfect and could use some improvement. The word, "repent" simply means to turn around. Instead of just continuing on life’s not so merry way, stopping and refusing to go on with it. But this is not enough. Because as we all know we are too weak to go through with it. We give in again and again and then repent again and again. There are some people who spend their whole lives going around in circles because they are constantly repenting and then falling back into sin. Repenting is very easy and not very effective. But it is the best that we can do. The hard part (the part that really works) was done by God.

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak of what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (John 3:9-21)

The hard part was done by God. You see even though we repent and promise not to sin there is no way to succeed in being spiritual because we are not. And so since none of us could make it up to heaven, God came down from heaven to us. Jesus told Nicodemus, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. In the Old Testament there is a very curious story about Moses leading the Israelites through the wilderness. At one point the people, tired and discouraged, spoke against Moses and God and as punishment for their rebellion many people were bit by poisonous snakes and died. Realizing their error, the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you." Moses prayed for them and the Lord forgave and told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole and if someone was bit by a snake all they had to do was look at it and they would be healed. Jesus said that just as Moses lifted up the serpent, even so He must also be lifted up. And so He was. Jesus Christ was lifted up on the pole of the cross and He died for our sins. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. This is the mercy of God. The Israelites complained so many times in the wilderness and yet God was merciful. He could have simply destroyed them all, but instead God provided for them a way to be saved. It is the same with us. All we have to do is repent, to say to the Lord, "We have sinned." And to believe. And He has provided the way to be saved in Jesus Christ.
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ was born of the Spirit. But He became flesh for us. Not only that but He allowed that flesh to be nailed to a cross and He became sin for us. He took all of our punishment upon Himself and died that we might live. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God then a wonderful miracle takes place. Your old self is nailed to the cross with Him. Your sin is nailed to the cross with Him and it dies. And then something else rises up inside of you to take it’s place. Jesus Himself lives in you. His Spirit is born in your heart and you truly are born again. Would you like to have a fresh start? Like I said before our part is easy. Repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. His part was hard, dying for us so that we might live in the Spirit.
If our part is so easy and the results are so wonderful, why doesn’t everybody repent and believe. Jesus compared the spiritual life to a light. When you are close to the light it is easy for people to see who you are and what you are doing. But sometimes we would rather stay in the dark where people cannot see us. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night so people would not see. He was afraid to be seen talking to Jesus lest people get the wrong idea or if later he had to oppose Jesus, he be seen as a hypocrite. Nicodemus was hiding in the dark. At the end of this gospel, when Jesus Christ had been lifted up on the cross, Nicodemus did not wait for dark to come to Him. In the light, where everyone could see, Nicodemus came and buried the body of Jesus in the tomb. Nicodemus came out of the darkness into the light and so can you. Are you willing to expose the things that are evil and replace them with good? If so pray with me now. "We have sinned, God. Help us. We need forgiveness, we need new life, we need Your Spirit. We believe that Jesus is Your Son and that He has been raised from the dead and is alive today. Lord Jesus thank you for putting my sin to death on the cross. Come inside my life today and make me born again."

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