You Must Be Born Again

John 3

You Must Be Born Again

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus^a 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again^b he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus 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?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^c 7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^d must be born again.’ 8The wind^e 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 everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you^f do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^g 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^h

For God So Loved the World

16“For God so loved the world,ⁱ that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Poor Nicodemus.  Talk about confused.  Jesus gave him a lot to think about. 

But what is “born again”?  Obviously Jesus is not referring to physical rebirth here.   It is something radical.  It is transforming.  Ask anyone who has experienced it.

My own example for instance.  I was a normal 20 something, who had been raised in a nominally Christian home.  I had been to Sunday school, had heard (and loved) the Bible stories, knew it was wrong to kill and rob etc etc, but still….I was selfish.  I was the queen of bearing grudges.  I was not kind to people, I thought the world owed me.  Now deep down inside I knew this was not what God wanted me to be or do.  But try as I might I could not permanently change myself.  No way.  That was me and I was stuck with myself. 

I went to church, and eventually went to a non denominational Bible study.  Some of the people there were decidedly odd…but the Holy Spirit was in control, and in spite of their oddness, or maybe because, who knows, I became aware of just how sinful I was, and how much I needed a Saviour.  I went home from Bible Study one night, and said a really quick prayer to the Lord.  A short prayer, but heartfelt.

I went to bed and the next few days seemed normal enough.  Then someone said something to me that normally would raise my hackles and that person would be black listed in my heart.  But that day I forgave them.  Happily and readily.  It surprised me!  Then again over the next few days certain things happened and I reacted differently.  Happily and readily.  I thought hang on.  I am not making any special effort to be different, but I am…and I realised that this was God working in my life.

That was a long time ago.  And He is still working.  We are all works in progress, because even though our hearts belong to Him, we still have bodies of flesh, with all the problems associated with that.  And we do need to talk to Him daily, to read His Word, to listen to Him for any special message He has for us.

But when you repent, you turn to Him, you turn FROM the world, and He makes you a new creation with a heart of flesh, instead of the heart of stone you had.  2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

It is all done for you.  Christ is our Saviour.  Only through His redeeming blood can we be saved.  When we repent, HE is the One who makes us a new creation.  We cannot do this ourselves.  Why would you leave Someone who has done so much for you?  Who has given you eternal life?  Who protects you, Who loves you so much He died for you.

Do we love Him and serve Him, worship Him daily, thanking Him for what He has done for us?

Or do we try to save ourselves with a gospel of works?

No brainer really.  When you have found the best…..you keep it.  You open that precious gift offered to you, and you treasure it.  You not only store it in your heart, you use it to bless others.  You tell others where they can find what is so special to you.

Be born again.