THURSDAY 17 March 2022 “Born Again?” John 3:5-15

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

No matter where you live in the world, probably there is a place, not far from you, where something historical happened. Perhaps the event is honored by a marker of some type, or maybe the story is recorded in some historical books. If it’s really significant there may be an annual festival of some type remembering its significance in history. Yesterday I left you observing an event that was so significant historically it is recorded in the Bible, although the exact place it happened does not have a plaque or a monument.

Nicodemus, a learned scholar, a Pharisee and respected member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, had come to see Jesus at night because he was deeply troubled. He had questions that needed answers. But his questions were so radical, they needed to be discussed privately so Nicodemus could keep probing until the answers made sense to him. His first question was WHO is Jesus? Jesus was new on the public scene and yet the messages He was speaking and the miracles He was doing were so far beyond anything anyone else was saying or doing, Jesus not only could not be ignored, He must be investigated! What POWER enabled Him to do these miracles? How could He courageously teach and make the claims about God which He was making, without the normal pedigree of a prophet or a Pharisee?

Jesus had made a radical statement which threw Nicodemus into an intellectual frenzy! Jesus had said “I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John records that for us in John 3:3. And then in response to Nicodemus’ obvious confusion, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth 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.” (John 3:5,6) Human birth with a water gush, Nicodemus understood, but a spiritual birth accomplished by the Holy Spirit of God was something neither Nicodemus nor any other great scholar or spiritual leader had contemplated before! What could it mean? How were these two births similar and how were they different?

You and I, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends, have the advantage of a complete Bible and 2000 years of ongoing spiritual teaching and understanding. We know that BOTH births are SIMILAR in this way:

They are both works of God! You and I did not conceive ourselves in or birth ourselves from our mother’s womb. God did that, right? So a Spiritual new birth is equally a work of God. That’s what Paul meant when he wrote: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) The theological term is REGENERATION. Born Again, a new spiritual creation in Christ.

But the two births are also quite different as they both affect great change in us! In ‘water birth’ we move from life in the womb, with our little bodies attached to our mothers through an umbilical cord, to life outside the womb without an umbilical cord. Once born, God sustains our life totally independently from our mother or any other person. The spiritual sin nature with which we were born and we inherited from our parents, like that umbilical cord, has us linked to the devil’s kingdom of darkness and evil, for the natural sin we speak or act is an outflow of our sinful human nature, nurtured by evil.

But as God births a new, holy, pure, God honoring spiritual nature in us, we can now live rescued from our sin bondage and directly connected to the Holy Spirit of God who is alive in us! Paul wrote it this way: “Those who live according to their sinful nature have their mind set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit of God have their mind set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit of God is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God… You are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Holy Spirit if the Spirit of God lives in you.” (Romans 8:5-7,9)

Now my friends, there was no way scholar Nicodemus could possibly understand this concept of spiritual regeneration, becoming a new creation in Christ, nor the idea that the Holy Spirit of God would actually live within people who had been born again by the Spirit of God! But he was fascinated, intrigued by what Jesus was saying, so rather than dismissing it and walking away, Nicodemus leaned in, listening intently! May I ask, do you have that kind of spiritual hunger to pursue God’s answers for your questions, even if it stretches you greatly, my friends?

So Jesus next said “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man.” (John 3:13) Here Jesus was claiming something He would claim many more times… that He had come from heaven, from the presence of God in heaven, to earth, for the purpose of explaining God, explaining heaven, explaining how a person can get from earth to heaven… and then Jesus would return to heaven when His mission was completed. Three years later, on the eve of His crucifixion Jesus said to His disciples: “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (John 16:28) And a little later that evening Jesus prayed: “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do. Now Father, glorify Me in Your presence, with the glory I had with You before the world began.” (John 17:4,5)

Can you imagine friends the brain strain Nicodemus was experiencing in this discussion with Jesus that night? I imagine Jesus paused often, allowing Nicodemus to wrestle with what Jesus was saying, and try to filter it through all the Old Testament Scripture Nicodemus had studied and even memorized, and all the debates and discussions Nicodemus had engaged with other scholars.

Jesus continued: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14,15) Nicodemus knew well the story of the bronze snake Moses had made and lifted up on a pole when God had sent a plague of deadly snakes to punish the complaining, rebellious Hebrews. That story is found in Numbers 21. There was no magic in that bronze snake they had fabricated. Nor in the pole on which it was hung. The pole was simply so people could look from a distance and see the snake. The healing miracle was in their faith... that looking at this bronze snake and recognizing the snake bite was the justice punishment for their rebellion against God. Then trust God to heal them from the snake bite, was the same faith God called them to use when they had slain the Passover lamb and put the lambs’ blood on the door frames of their homes in anticipation of the angel of death passing through. (Exodus 12)

Faith: Faith in God to do what He promises. Faith in God’s power to do things no human being can do. Faith in God for a place called heaven none of us have ever seen, and a pathway to heaven, new birth resulting from our faith in Jesus Christ and His truth, His death on the cross, and His resurrection!

Nicodemus, the Old Testament scholar, was being asked by Jesus to apply the same great faith of those Old Testament heroes as he trusted what Jesus was telling and teaching him. Once again let’s pause and ponder, right along with Nicodemus. What do you think about ‘regeneration’, the new birth the Holy Spirit will accomplish in you if you trust Jesus? How do you explain it? Are you sure you’ve experienced it? What do you think about heaven? Jesus says it’s a real place where God, the holy angels, the resurrected Jesus and all the saints who have preceded us in death are now… and the only way to get there is through Jesus! Do you understand and believe that it’s all true?

What do you understand about life saving FAITH? Do you understand that just as you didn’t bring yourself into existence, God did that… so your spiritual rebirth, and your eternal destiny in heaven are all dependent upon God to accomplish for you? Could I invite you to re-read the conversation between Jesus & Nicodemus thus far, and tomorrow we’ll see the very powerful conclusion which includes the most famous thing Jesus ever said! Oh my… do you perhaps feel a bit like Nicodemus must have felt? Here’s a song that might help you ponder these great, life changing and life saving truths…

Today’s Scripture is John 3:5-15.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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