YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!

(John 2:13-25; 3:1-21)

We shall study the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. To better understand the background of their discussion that night, we look at what happened in the days before. This is the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. He just did His first miracle by changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. We are told that thru this miracle, Jesus “manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him” (Jn 2:11). Jesus then went to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual Passover feast. He drove away the money changers and those who did business in the temple, saying: “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (Jn 2:16). He did some miracles in Jerusalem, not recorded in the Bible. Many in Jerusalem believed in Him because of the signs (miracles) He did there. But we are told that: “Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (Jn 2:24, 25). Many men believed in Jesus because of His miracles. But Jesus did not trust or approve their faith in Him. It was a false faith He could not accept. They saw Jesus as a miracle worker. They did not really know Him as their Savior and the Son of God.

Why did Jesus not trust these men who ‘believed’ in Him? The answer is that not all who claim to believe in Jesus, really believe in Him. There is genuine Biblical faith which stands on God’s Word and there is false faith that stands on man’s wisdom. The Bible says that all men are sinners. Sin is deceiving. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings” (Jer 17:9,10). The heart of man is deceitful and wicked. We deceive ourselves thinking that we are saved, that we are better than we really are. We are wicked because we try to deceive others and make them fall. We pretend that we can help them in their times of need. We give them the impression that we know God and have all the resources to solve their problems. We make promises that we cannot keep, giving false hope to people. We love money but we pretend to love God. We are filled with pride, greed, sexual lusts, and selfish ambition pretending to love God and men. This deception is wicked and destroys many people’s souls. We deceive ourselves and others, but we cannot deceive God. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7). To mock someone means to laugh at him, so that he looks stupid. Don’t deceive yourself: no one laughs at the justice of God! Selah! Self-deception is one reason why we hate God, because He knows the truth we try to hide. “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1Sam 16:7). Jesus looks at the hearts of men. He knows when a faith is genuine or not, when Love is true, or it is not. Selah!

Do you want to know the opinion of Jesus about men in general, and about you in particular? Then go to the Bible. God’s Word exposes the motives of our actions. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:12,13). “God knows the heart and searches the heart” (Ac 15:8; Rom 8:27). Men know that God exists, but they reject Him and His Christ. This rejection is man’s greatest sin. It ends in foolishness, emptiness and spiritual darkness, and eventually, death.  “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21). When you listen to the TV, the radio, or you meet people on the street, how many times have you seen them thanking God for their lives? Most of them refuse to acknowledge God who gives them breath. Ingratitude is a sign of rejecting God, of unbelief, of not being saved. Men do not think of their souls, of death and life after death. Men spend more time watching a football match, and women spend more time dreaming about a new pair of shoes, than thinking about their souls, about God or His Word. The tendency to think only about our bodies, about our lives on earth and totally ignore our soul’s needs, is common to all sinners. Even when men become religious and start attending church, they still do not change. They only add a layer of religious paint, to look better from the outside. They become proud and self-righteous. This is the truth about men, about us. We are born sinners, wicked and selfish in our hearts. We deserve to die and go to hell!

How can man be saved then? Salvation is a gift of God. It comes by His Grace alone, thru our faith alone, in Christ alone. Practically, we need to study God’s Word and pray. An encounter with Christ, thru the pages of the Bible, is the greatest medicine to save our souls and to heal our bodies. The great Prophet Isaiah thought he was a righteous man. He wrote 5 chapters in His Book. But one day, he saw Christ seated on the throne (see Isaiah 6). As the light of God shone on him and angels cried “Holy, Holy, Holy”, he had the revelation of his terrible state, full of sins, wickedness and deceit. He fell before God and confessed his sins. By God’s mercy and grace he got saved. From that moment on, he was never the same. He wrote the remaining 61 chapters, revealing the mystery of Christ crucified and resurrected.

Jesus said: you must be born again to enter or even see the Kingdom of God! It is not enough to read or quote the scriptures. Salvation is a miracle produced only by the Holy Spirit. None can save himself. No religion or philosophy can save your soul. Humble yourself before God. See yourself as a sinner in need of help. Ask God for His mercy and grace. Press on with faith, in prayer and fasting. Join a living church where the pastor preaches the true Gospel. Fight for your soul! God will help you. God will save you. Becoming born-again is the greatest ‘achievement’ for anyone on earth. Salvation is personal. The sermon is preached to the crowd. But salvation is one soul at a time. Selah!

We are told that Jesus did not ‘entrust Himself to man, because He knew the truth about man’. Please note that He did not trust men, but He did not abandon them. As human beings, if we discover that someone does not believe in us, we usually reject that one. Not so with Jesus! God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for sinners. Both the Father and the Son knew that men are sinners. Jesus did not die for us because we were good. He was never deceived. He knew the gravity of sin and the depth of our deception. He came and took our sins upon Himself. For God so loved the world… How big is this love? Look at the price that was paid for it. God knew that the world is in darkness, rebellion and wickedness. He loved us so much that He was ready to pay the highest sacrifice. He sent Jesus to earth knowing that we shall mock him, reject Him, and eventually crucify Him. Some people think that Jesus is more loving than God the Father. That is a lie. God the Father is the Author and the designer of the plan of salvation. Some people think that it was only after Jesus died that the Father started to love us. That is another lie. The source of Agape Love is God the Father who loves us eternally. Praise God!

We shall study the encounter of Nicodemus with Jesus. John calls him ‘a man of the Pharisees’. He could have said ‘a Pharisee’ but he added ‘a man’. This is to connect with what he said in chapter 2, that Jesus did not entrust Himself to man, because He knew what was in man. The Pharisees were the religious leaders in Isreal. They truly tried to obey God’s Laws. They were moral people. They were not caught stealing, lying, or committing adultery. They paid tithes even from their spices. Apostle Paul was a Pharisee before he got saved. Nicodemus was a Greek name. It means ‘The Victory of the People’. Some of the high social class Jews took Greek names to show that they were educated. Many trusted in the Greek philosophers, alongside their faith in Jehovah God. Nicodemus was a leader in Jerusalem, a moral man, a political ruler and a religious teacher. Even today, it is rare to find a man like him, combining good moral standards, political success and good religious behavior. He came to see Jesus by night, possibly to avoid embarrassment, being mocked by his colleagues. That shows hidden pride. But he speaks respectfully to Jesus. Though Jesus did not attend the religious schools in Isreal, he calls Jesus ‘Rabbi’ or Teacher. He must have heard Jesus preaching and he was impressed enough to call him a teacher from God. He was also impressed by the power Jesus had to do miracles. The Pharisees did not believe in miracles, but Nicodemus could not ignore the supernatural power manifested in Jesus. He saw in Jesus a Teacher from God and a Miracle worker. He too was a respected teacher in Isreal. Nicodemus was speaking to Jesus as teacher speaks to teacher. He possibly came to offer Jesus his support and guidance. Maybe in his mind he thought something like this: ‘Jesus, I see that You are spiritual Man, a good teacher of the Bible and God is with You to do these miracles. I am older than you. I lived all my life in Jerusalem. I know the political scene and the religious rulers. I can help You develop Your gifts, to establish Yourself as a teacher here. Jerusalem is not like that your village, Nazareth. Here, there are dangerous people. The Romans make things harder for all of us to serve Jehovah in peace. I offer my friendship to you as a senior colleague…’ Maybe this is what Nicodemus had in mind to say. But Jesus did not give him the chance to speak. Why? Because Jesus ‘knew what was in man’. He knew that Nicodemus, as great and famous as he was in Isreal, knows nothing about spiritual realities, about Jesus, the Savior of mankind. He was totally ignorant of the sin in his heart and the price needed to be paid for him to be saved.

Jesus totally ignored Nicodemus’ flatteries. If Jesus was only a man, hearing these good words of approval from Nicodemus, that could have been music to His ears. But Jesus was not only a Man. He was God in human flesh. Immediately, Jesus addressed the ignorance of Nicodemus and showed him the way to heaven. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3). This sentence alone cuts down Nicodemus’ pride as a Bible teacher. He knew nothing about being ‘born again’. That concept was not in his curriculum. He did not know of anyone in Jerusalem who was teaching that subject. With that revelation alone, speaking the truth in love, Jesus proved to be the teacher, leader and mentor to the old man. We see that Jesus always uses truth to direct our attention from empty religion to spiritual realities. He always points the way, from earth to heaven. When the rich young ruler came to Him, Jesus showed him the hindrance blocking him to go to heaven. For him, it was the love of money. When Jesus talked to the woman at the well, He showed her the difference between the water in Jacob’s well and Himself who is the Living Water. Lesson: like Jesus, we must point sinners to spiritual matters concerning their souls and not only encourage them about success in this world!

You must be born again! This is one of the greatest statements in the Bible. No man can understand it thru research or human wisdom. The need to be born again is revealed only by the Holy Spirit. Here we see that salvation is not by doing good works or obeying religious laws. Salvation is God’s work. It is always by Grace and thru faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation always gives glory to God. No man can boast of it. To be born again is always a miracle. In Greek, the word ‘again’ means ‘from above; it is ‘something new’. Therefore, to be born again it means to be born from above. It is a birth from God in heaven. It is not just a religious experience, some superficial change of character. It is literally heaven downloaded into your spirit. No man on earth can make you born-again. Only The Man who came down from heaven, Jesus Christ, can save you. Salvation is by the power of the Holy Spirit, thru faith in God’s eternal Word. God’s Word is preached. Sinners are drawn to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1Pet 1:23-25). Heaven invades earth. Acknowledge the power of preaching the Gospel! The authority of the Kingdom of God manifests as the sinner truly repents of his sin, and unconditionally, he surrenders to the King of kings, the Savior of men, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Nicodemus should have known something about this miracle of being born from above. Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”. As a good teacher, Jesus asks Nicodemus “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” Nicodemus said: “How can these things be?” Jesus was referring to the Old Testament. The Jews in general and the Pharisees in particular, took great pride in their Biblical knowledge. This is what God said long ago thru the Prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God” (Eze 36:25-28). The people of Isreal were always unfaithful to God. Three times a year, all Jews went to the temple in Jerusalem to serve Jehovah God. But they also served their local idols. Idolatry corrupts the soul and grieves the Holy Spirit. God promised to deliver them from their unfaithfulness by sprinkling clean water on them and by giving them a new heart with a new spirit. These promises describe the miracle of being born again in the Old Testament. Being born from above means to be born of water and the Spirit. The cleansing with water is by God’s Word. The power to change the heart is by the Holy Spirit. Jesus died so that “He might sanctify and cleanse her (the Church) with the washing of water by the word” (Eph 5:26).

The command to be born again is to be understood in these ways:

1-The New birth is absolutely necessary to go to heaven. There is no replacement for this. Salvation is justification by grace and through faith. It is God’s declaration to a sinner who has believed in the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, on his behalf. Salvation is connected with faith in God’s Word and always gives God all the glory! We are all born sinners. We are too proud to submit to a Gospel that gives glory to God alone. We want to boast about our achievements. That is why the natural man is not interested in the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected. He sees the Bible and church services as totally boring. Some churches preach that you can go to heaven by doing good or by being faithful to your denomination. But that is a lie. None can be saved, and none can go to heaven by obeying religious laws or by doing good deeds. You must be approved by God in heaven to go to God’s heaven! You must be born again!

2-The New birth is totally a supernatural work of God. Salvation is a miracle. It is the first miracle a sinner experiences to truly know eternal life. Being born again is not a decision man makes. It must be an encounter between the sinner and God, his creator. As the sinner has faith in Christ who died for him, the Grace of God and Truth, will manifest in his spirit. It is the power of resurrection working, bringing life into death. It cannot be properly described by men. It must be experienced. It is real!

3- The New Birth cannot be seen but it produces fruits. It is manifested by its effects. Jesus said: “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”. The wind is powerful and mysterious. No one can control the wind! When the wind blows you can’t see the wind. But you can see the effects of the wind upon the trees. You can feel the movement of the air on your skin. The effects of a new life manifest itself as a changed character, a different heart. The things of the world, the sinful things you used to love, you now hate. The things of the Spirit, reading the Bible, prayer, attending church, that you once found boring, you now love and practice. The change is deep and permanent. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2Cor 5:17). Religious people may pretend to be born again, but with time, you see that they are deceived. There are no fruits! The natural man cannot receive spiritual revelation. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor 2:14). Worship the Lord!