You Must Be Born Again

3-1-26

Hoonah-Hadley

John 3:1-8

Call to Worship Psalm 121

Daily Verse John 3:7

You Must Be Born Again

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” The New Geneva Study Bible gives verses 1-21 in John 3 the title “New Birth”. We use the word “Regeneration” to describe the act, nature or process of what Jesus is teaching here. “Most assuredly” is used 3 times in the first 11 verses in what we might call a blatantly obvious biblical neon sign. Assurance is freedom from doubt, self-confidence, certainty, guarantee. “New Birth” is short and sweet, has a nice ring to it, is inviting. “Most assuredly” leaves no room for debate. “You must be born again” has an edge to it that simply cannot be rounded off. Oswald Chamber says to preach the word in its “Undiluted sternness”. Jesus did. “Must” is a physical necessity or requirement. The words of our Lord here in chapter 3 leave no room for debate, argument, philosophy, intellectual jousting, or any other contrived human reasoning or manipulation of semantics. The goal is always the same, obedience, the truth, and, in this case, it is not subject to debate. Of course there are folks on the debate club that would argue this, even professors of philosophy or doctors of psychology, you know, folks that earn a living by chasing after the wind, spend their whole life driving nice cars, traveling the world but never going anywhere, a temporary near sightedness. Remember, it is the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord that uses the words, “Most assuredly…You must”. You can take your argument to Him if you must continue on your way, or you could trust Him, obey Him, give your life to Him, employ the red letter “Must” and be born again.

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Regeneration is to undergo spiritual conversion or rebirth. To form, construct or create anew. To replace. Being called a Christian is not the same as the nature of a Christian. Professing some form of Christian religion or denominational standard will fall silently on deaf ears if there is not something more added to it, namely, being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a name change but a renewal of your nature. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Listen to Spurgeon on the love of God. “The black back-ground of sin makes the bright line of love shine out the more clearly. When the lightning writes the name of the Lord with flaming finger across the black brow of the tempest, we are compelled to see it; so also when love inscribes the cross on the tablet of our sin, even blind eyes must see that love consist in this.” If we make one point today that you will take with you, transform you, shed the light and love of Christ over you, it is this, to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope. There are things we can do without in life, some for a minute, some for an hour, a day, even years, but the one thing the human heart cannot do without is hope. Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” A few verses from Revelations 22 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of the street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life…Blessed are those who keep the words of the prophecy of this book…Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter into the gates of the city.”

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Herein the “must”. Should we take liberties to say this is a commandment? In the least we know that it is the lifeline to salvation, the heartbeat of Calvary, our Lords blood shed on our behalf. There is no salvation without the crucifixion, no hope without the blood. Vs. 1 “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night…” The opening ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem had attracted a great deal of attention, 3 main interviews follow, each exhibit His method of dealing skillfully with 3 different types of personalities with the purpose of bringing them to belief, and ultimately saving faith. The first of these interviews was with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, zealous for the law, a ruler of the Jews, indicating he had achieved a position of leadership. He came to Jesus by night. We can only make assumptions here, so we’ll simply make a symbolic observation. Nicodemus though of high standing and a keeper of the law was living in the darkness of the world but now encounters the light. (8:12; 9:4; 11:10; 13:30) First of all he “came to Jesus”, a step of faith. Matt. 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” We could say he was a gentleman and a thinker. He addresses Christ as “Rabbi”, a compliment, and a thinker because his words implied he had observed carefully Jesus’ works, rightly concluding “no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Because Jesus “knew what was in man” (2:25) He saw that his round about approach concealed a deeper need. Nicodemus was seeking, searching, asking. Jesus response: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Assurance is a guarantee and “cannot” implies incapability. The natural man is not barred from the “kingdom”, he is inherently incapable of apprehending it. God’s mysteries are not the heritage of the learned,

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moral or religious, they are the heritage of the spiritually transformed, those born of water and the Spirit. The dialogue continues, question and answer, vs. 5 “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” It is essential, certain, a guarantee, that “unless” you have this new birth, you “cannot” enter the kingdom of God. Human birth produces people that are earthly, worldly, part of humanity. Spiritual birth is supernatural, mysterious, giving birth to Spiritual people that are part of a new family, the family of God. Vs. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The mystery and reality of the Spirit’s work Jesus describes as the wind in verse 8, “The wind blows where is wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone born of the Spirit.” We hear the wind, we feel it, we see its impact, the leaves blowing, the windmill turning, its usefulness and its destruction. So it is with the Spirit, we see its impact though its origin is unknown, its work manifests itself, seen by all. Nicodemus asks, “How can these things be?” His questioning should be interpreted as an earnest plea for the purpose of Christ coming and presence in his life. He was a seeker eager to participate in the spiritual privileges of which Jesus spoke. Nicodemus came to Christ seeking answers to questions that would ultimately lead to his destination. Likewise, our destination is determined by our response to God’s invitation. Accepting this invitation we get a new family, adopted, heirs of God’s kingdom. We get a new identity. People spend a fortune on their identity. Our identity in Christ is received, not achieved. Assuredly is a guarantee. Cannot is incapable. “You must be born again.” It’s an invitation to your eternal dwelling. Seek Him while He may be found. Amen!