He Came That We Might Be Born Twice

John 3:1-21

Introduction:

A college president of a well-known university with an extremely liberal theological position was asked to speak to a group of local businessmen. He told them a story that he considered quite amusing. While shopping at Christmastime, he passed by a Salvation Army kettle and stopped to put in a contribution. The elderly volunteer who stood by confronted this man with the question, “Are you saved?” He replied, that he supposed that he was, but she pursued with further questions.

It was at this point that the president said he thought that he should inform this persistent woman of his identity. He said, “I am the president of such and such university, and as such I am also president of the school of theology.” The lady gave that a moment’s thought and then replied, “It doesn’t matter wherever you’ve been, or whatever you are, you can still be saved.” The tragic part of this story is that the seminary president thought this story was funny. He thought he was acceptable to God because of his religion and position. Little did he know how perceptive the woman was who pointed out his need to be saved.

This account is strikingly similar to the passage of Scripture we will study this morning in the third chapter of John’s Gospel.

Nicodemus fails to recognize his need (John 3:1-2)

Nicodemus is a respected religious leader and teacher of his day. He thinks that because of his religion and position in life that he is spiritually O.K.

          He thinks his religion and positions make him acceptable to God:

                     Religiously, he looks really good on the outside

Nicodemus is a Pharisee. The name “Pharisee” comes from the word meaning “to separate.” The Pharisees are the separatists of their day. They are zealous for ritual and religious purity according to the Mosaic law. In their effort to keep Judaism pure of heathen influences, they add their own traditions to the law. On the outside, the Pharisees looked very religious. Surely they must be acceptable to God, or so they thought.

                     Politically, he is a respected leader

Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the highest and most powerful religious and political body in Judaism. This 70 member council (71 members when the high priest is included) was responsible for religious decisions and civil rule of the Jews under the Romans. The method of appointment to this prestigious group was both hereditary and political.

                     Professionally, he is a teacher

People looked to him to provide insight and understanding from his teaching of the Jewish Scriptures.

Nicodemus demonstrates an inadequate understanding of who Jesus is. He rightly calls Jesus Rabbi. He recognizes Him to be a Jewish teacher and an expert in interpreting the Jewish Scriptures. He is also convinced by the evidence of the miraculous signs Jesus performed that He is a spokesman who has come from God.

What Nicodemus does not yet see is that Jesus is the Messiah. Nicodemus regards his talk with Jesus as a conversation between one respected Rabbi and another to share philosophy and compare teachings. Nicodemus doesn’t comprehend that Christ and he aren’t on the same level as Jesus is from above–He is God, He is Messiah.

Jesus exposes Nicodemus’ need (John 3:3-8)

          Nicodemus needs to be born again

In John 2:25 we read about Jesus, “He did not need man’s testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.” Knowing the heart of Nicodemus, the first words out of Jesus’ mouth in response to Nicodemus go directly to the core of his need—“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order for him to be delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and to participate in God’s Kingdom, he has to be born again.

Nicodemus needed spiritual new birth. He mistakenly thought that mere physical lineage and the keeping of religious externals qualified him to enter into God’s kingdom rather than the spiritual birth Jesus emphasized.

          Nicodemus doesn’t understand how this is possible

Nicodemus responds to Jesus by citing the obvious impossibility of physical rebirth—“How can a man be born when he is old?....Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Nicodemus’ response shows that he has no idea as to what Jesus means by what He said. He is still focused on the physical realm, not the spiritual.

          Jesus explains the need for two births- one physical and one spiritual

Our Lord restated the Biblical requirements for entrance into the kingdom in different terms, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

A person enters this world when he or she is born of water, or born physically. Entrance into the kingdom requires that a person be born again of the Spirit.

“Flesh gives birth to flesh.” All that natural, physical life is capable of reproducing is physical life, and nothing else. “The Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Jesus’ point in this statement is that we can’t attain spiritual life by our efforts. The Spirit must intervene by giving spiritual life for a person to be spiritually born into God’s kingdom.

Illustration: The story is told of a man who was traveling along a road on his donkey when he came upon a small, fuzzy object lying in the road. He dismounted to look more closely and found a sparrow lying on its back with is scrawny legs thrust skyward. At first he thought it was dead, but closer investigation proved the bird to be very much alive. The young man asked the sparrow if he was all right. The sparrow replied, “Yes.” Then the man said, “What are you doing lying on your back with your legs pointed toward the sky?” The sparrow responded that he had heard a rumor that the sky was falling, so he was holding his legs up to support it. The man replied, “You surely don’t think you’re going to hold it up with those two scrawny legs, do you?” The sparrow, after a very solemn look, retorted, “One does the best he can.”    R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe, pg. 78.

We laugh, but don’t we do the same thing when we think that somehow we will be able to gain entrance into the kingdom of God by our efforts. Spiritual birth is a supernatural act of God’s Spirit. Just as absurd as the impossibility Nicodemus’ stated—“He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born”—is the belief that a person can be born spiritually and enter God’s Kingdom without the divine operation of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual birth isn’t the result of human effort, but rather it is the product of the Spirit’s work.

Nicodemus shouldn’t have been surprised at Jesus’ telling him he must be born again. The need for the work of the Spirit to bring spiritual transformation is a clear concept in the Old Testament of which Nicodemus should have been familiar.

Speaking of Israel’s yet future restoration as a nation, Ezekiel wrote, “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. 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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). The principle of these verses is in full agreement with the new birth Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about.

Although Nicodemus should have known that the work of the Spirit was needed in order to enter the kingdom of God, he didn’t. Nicodemus’ spiritual blindness was typical of the Pharisees who had long ago lost sight of God’s spiritual dealings with the nation and substituted it with ceremony, ritual, outward observance of man made traditions, religion, and legalism.

          Jesus uses the wind to illustrate the Spirit’s work in causing spiritual birth.

Being born of the Spirit is like our experience with the wind. We can see the wind’s effect, but not the wind itself. Likewise, the Spirit cannot be seen, but the effects of the Spirit are visible in the lives of those who have been born of the Spirit.

Jesus exposes the problem of unbelief (John 3:9-12)

Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. He asks, “How can this be?” Jesus gently rebukes Nicodemus’ lack of understanding. As Israel’s teacher, Nicodemus should have understood what Jesus was talking about, but he didn’t. What was Nicodemus’ problem? His problem was unbelief.

The problem of unbelief isn’t due to insufficient information or witnesses

Nicodemus had plenty of information from the Old Testament that pointed to the need for the Spirit’s work for entrance into the kingdom of God. We have already looked at the passage in Ezekiel 36. He has enough information, but his problem is unbelief.

Nicodemus and the rest of God’s people had ample witnesses who testified to the truth, but they did not accept their testimony. Plenty of people told Nicodemus the truth, but his problem is unbelief.

The problem of unbelief isn’t due to a lack of clear explanation

Jesus uses illustrations from the natural world (i.e. physical birth & wind) to explain to Nicodemus the need for Spiritual birth. Nicodemus is given a clear explanation of the need to be born again from the best teacher who ever lived on the earth, but his problem is unbelief.

The problem of unbelief isn’t going to be solved when Jesus speaks of heavenly things if people don’t believe Him when He speaks of earthly things

“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”

Jesus tells us why He has authority to speak of heavenly things (John 3:13)

Jesus is the Son of Man sent from heaven to earth

Jesus is much more than Nicodemus’ perception of Him. Nicodemus thought that Jesus was simply a man sent from God. Contrary to what Nicodemus understood, Jesus is God, sent to earth as a man. In addressing the fact that Jesus came from heaven, John underscores the reason that Jesus is uniquely qualified to speak to people about “heavenly things.” No one else ascended into heaven in such a way as to return and talk about heavenly things. Only the Son of Man, whose dwelling was in heaven prior to His coming down to earth, can give us the true knowledge and understanding of heavenly wisdom.

If the Jews didn’t believe what Jesus revealed about heavenly things, then they would be rejecting the Source for knowing and understanding them. Since new birth must come from God and not man, then one must look to God for revelation about it. God has provided that revelation in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. He came to this earth to give us an authoritative word from God about how spiritual birth is experienced.

Jesus tells us why He came (3:14-18)

Why did Jesus leave a perfect place like heaven to come into a very imperfect, dark world? Why would Jesus take upon Himself human flesh with the inherent difficulties associated with it? Why did Jesus come to earth? Why do we celebrate His birth at Christmas?

          The Old Testament illustration of why Jesus came (3:15)

Jesus provides yet another earthly analogy. He compares Himself being lifted up with the snake Moses lifted up in the desert (see Numbers 21:4-9). When the Israelites rebelled against Moses and God, God sent serpents to kill the rebels. When Moses prayed for the people, God instructed him to make a bronze serpent and to lift it up on a pole. Those who were bitten had to look upon this bronze serpent to be healed. Those who looked in faith lived while those who refused to look because of unbelief died.

In the same way, deliverance from spiritual death or condemnation will be received only by those who trust in Jesus Christ. We are all born into this world as guilty sinners under the sentence of death. We deserve to be forever separated from God and condemned. Jesus Christ took upon Himself the punishment for sins we deserve and suffered the wrath of God in our place. Those who look to Him, who trust in Him for forgiveness of sins are born again and are given eternal life.

          The explanation of why Jesus came (3:16)

                     The Father gave Jesus as the expression of His love for us

God loves us. God not only says He loves us, but He demonstrated it by the action of giving us His Son. People receive a number of great Christmas gifts, but there is no gift that compares to the amazing gift of Jesus Christ. The angel who announced Jesus’ birth declared, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). Jesus’ method of saving or delivering us from sin’s condemnation was to take the punishment for sin that we deserve upon Himself. He died in our place on the cross.

Illustration: During the Civil War, a farmer in New York was drafted to serve in the Union Army. His wife died earlier, making him the sole supporter for his children. A surprising thing happened. An unmarried man in his town who had no dependents offered to go to war in his place. For the sake of his children, the father accepted the offer. The self-sacrificing friend went off to battle and in the first conflict was shot and killed. The farmer, hearing what happened, went to the scene of the battle and brought back the body. As he buried his friend, he had carved on the tombstone, “He died for me.”

Jesus died for us and rose again from the grave victorious over death and the devil. We are the ones who deserve to die. We are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” By our sin we earn for ourselves and deserve death. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” What we deserve for our sin, Jesus took upon Himself. He took our punishment for us.

                     The Father gave Jesus to provide eternal life for those who believe in Him

Jesus died as our substitute in order that we might experience eternal life instead of condemnation. He died in our place in order that we might live. How can we receive the gift of eternal life Jesus offers? We must believe in or trust in Jesus Christ.

Illustration: Imagine you are in a small plan. The engines sputter and fail. You grab a parachute and put it on. As you stand in the plane’s doorway, the wind howls in your ears. You know the pack on your back can save you from death, but only if you jump. So, you place your trust in the parachute and jump.

In the same way, we must trust Christ alone in order to be delivered from sin’s condemnation. We must let go of our “good works.” We need to come to the end of ourselves and thinking that there is anything we can do to be good enough to earn eternal life by our efforts. Those who are included in heaven aren’t there because of anything they have done, but based solely on the gift of eternal life they received when they placed their trust in Jesus Christ.

          The clarification as to why Jesus came (3:17-18)

Many misunderstand the purpose for which Jesus came to this world. They think that Christ came to condemn the world.

                     Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world

                     He came to a world already condemned to deliver it

Jesus came into a world of condemned sinners. He came to die on the cross not for the purpose of condemning people to eternal damnation. He came to die on a cross for the purpose of providing salvation for condemned people. Christ’s death is the solution, not the problem.

                     Those who believe in Him aren’t condemned

                     Those who don’t believe in Him are condemned

While there are several issues about which we would say, “That’s a gray area, not black and white,” this is not one of those issues. It is a black and white issue. We are either condemned or we are not condemned based on how we respond to Jesus. We have a choice to make and that choice will determine whether we experience eternal life or condemnation. If we believe in or trust in Christ, we won’t be condemned.

If we reject Christ and refuse to believe in Him, we will remain under the condemnation we deserve for our sin.

Is our decision to trust Christ or not to trust Christ really the basis for determining where we spend eternity? Is it really that basic and simple?

Consider all of the following Scripture passages:

John 1:12; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:40; John 11:25-26; John 20:31;

Acts 16:31

Be careful to observe who the necessary object of our faith or trust needs to be. Today, when people hear the word faith, they think of it in these terms, “We need to hold on to our faith.” This is faith in faith. We don’t trust in our ability to keep the faith. The object of our faith is not in faith itself. The object of our faith needs to be Jesus Christ.

Illustration: Years ago, three men were fishing on the Broadback River in northern Quebec. A violent storm arose and gale force winds overturned their canoe. The men knew they couldn’t do anything to save themselves. They noticed the large ice chest that had been in the canoe now floating on the water. They pulled the ice chest underneath them, rested their weight upon it and trusted it to save them.

Just as these men trusted the ice chest to hold them up through no effort of their own, so we must trust Jesus Christ to get us to heaven through no effort of our own. We must trust Jesus, not our faith, not our religion, not going to church, not being moral, not helping the poor, but in Jesus.

If a semi truck rapidly approached your car this afternoon on highway 30 causing you to know for sure that you are a gonner, what would your thought be as you anticipated the crash? Would it be, “Here I come Jesus because of what you have done. I trust in you? Or “Look at all I have done, surely God will let me into heaven?” Those who believe and express the first will not be condemned. Those who believe and express the latter will be condemned.

John 3:18- “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.”

Jesus reveals why people reject Him (John 3:19-21)

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world.” Jesus came as light to reveal people’s need of a Savior. How did the world respond? The majority of people showed their preference to remain in the darkness.

          People love the darkness because their deeds are evil

Illustration: The gospel had just been clearly shared by an evangelist on Word Of Life Island. Anxious to do follow up ministry, I grabbed one of the students who came with our group and asked him what he thought about the message.

His response was disturbing, but characteristic of a world lost in darkness. He said something to the effect of, “I understand that I am a sinner, I understand that I need to trust Christ, but I don’t want to because sin is just too much fun.”

He saw the light and chose to back away because he loved the darkness.

          People hate the light because they fear exposure

People are sinners. They don’t sin reluctantly, but with gusto. When their wickedness is exposed, they have no intention of forsaking sin, and try to avoid coming into the light as much as possible for fear of further exposure. They work to extinguish the light. They work to “Kill the messenger.” That is what people did with Jesus. People revealed their sinfulness and rejection of the Light by nailing Jesus to the cross. They were unsuccessful in squelching the Light, in that Jesus rose again and continues to shine forth as the Light of the world.

How will you respond to the Light? Will you run? Will you persist in keeping Jesus out of your life? Will you reject Him? Or Will you trust Him? Will you as a sinner who is deserving of condemnation rely on Him to save you?

Not all people reject Jesus. Not all respond to the Light by trying to avoid it. John 3:21- “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” There are those who characteristically live by the truth who come into the light. They come into the light not because they are better than everyone else or haven’t ever done anything wrong. They come into the light and the light plainly reveals the work of God. God works to bring about spiritual birth and transformation in the lives of those who trust in Jesus. When people respond positively to the light, it is a demonstration of what God has done in their lives–To God belongs all the glory.

Implications for our lives today:

          Eternal life is experienced, not by religion and reform, but by rebirth

Just because a person is religious does not make them right with God. Nicodemus was an outstanding citizen in his community. He was a religious man, a leader, and a teacher. Just the same, he was a sinner under condemnation who needed to be born again spiritually.

If you are a person who comes this morning as a religious person who thinks that religion is going to save you, don’t be deceived. Like Nicodemus, you need to be born again. Our religion, no matter how good it might look on the outside, won’t get us into God’s kingdom. The only way to the Father is Jesus. Jesus repeated over and over again the teaching that belief in Him or trust in Him is the response we must give if we are to receive eternal life. God doesn’t demand reform, but has provided rebirth which is only available to us if we trust in Jesus.

        Spiritual birth is a supernatural act of God’s Spirit in the lives of those who trust in Jesus

We must be born again by the work of God’s Spirit. God doesn’t demand religious reform. He doesn’t demand we become worthy. He doesn’t demand that we become good enough. We will never make it into His kingdom by our efforts. We fall short because of sin. God provided spiritual birth through the death of His Son and we can take part in His provision simply by placing our trust in Jesus Christ.

It is not our efforts which save us, but God’s reaching out in the person of His Son who died in our place, took on our punishment, and who offers His righteousness in the place of our sin. If you have never done so, trust in Jesus. May this be the first Christmas when for the first time in your life, you experience for yourself what Christmas is really all about. It’s not about lights, decorations, shopping, and parties. It’s about Jesus who was born into this world as our Savior. He Came That We Might Be Born Twice.

          How should we respond to God for the love gift of His Son?:

                     We should live not for self, but for God (2 Cor. 5:14-15)

2 Corinthians 5:14-15- “For Christ’s love comples us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

                     We should love others as God loved us (1 John 4:10-11)

1 John 4:10-11- “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

                     We should show grace to others as God has shown grace to us (Eph. 4:32)

Ephesians 4:32– “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”