Series: John
Title: The New Birth
Text: John 3: 1-8
Date: Jan 3, 2021
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
John 3: 1: There was a
man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2: The same came to Jesus by night, and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3: Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. 4: Nicodemus saith
unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5: Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. 6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7: Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8: The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Proposition: Before we can
behold Christ and enter into him by faith we must be born again.
The
Lord meets us where our need is. He said
to the woman at the well who was thirsty, “If you asked I would give you
living water” (Jn 4: 10). He told the
rich young ruler who did not know he was covetous, “Sell all you have and take
up your cross and follow me” (Mt 19:21).
He said to the Canaanite woman to prove the faith he had given her, “It
is not right to give the children’s bread to dogs” (Mt 15:26). Christ meets his own at the point of our need.
When
we hear the gospel and are rebuked, take heed.
Christ meets his own at our point of need. Nicodemus was spiritually dead. Christ met him right there.
John 3: 3: Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
EXCEPT WE BE BORN AGAIN
Except a sinner be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was in religion. He was a ruler, a Pharisee, who was outwardly
keeping the law. Nicodemus saw Christ’s miracles and was
impressed. He came speaking what he thought
he knew—“we know.” So Christ met him at his point of need—"Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God.” Nicodemus needed to be born-again.
By
our first birth we are dead in sins. We
are guilty in Adam and conceived in sin with no spiritual discernment. The things of God are not carnal. That means spiritual things are not known
with carnal understanding. True worship is
in spirit only by the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2: 9: But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. 10: But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. 11: For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of
man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit
of God. 12: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which
is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13:
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14: But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 15: But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man. 16: For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A SINNER BE BORN AGAIN
John 3: 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be
born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and
be born? 5: Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6: That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7: Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
When a
dead sinner hears the gospel, apart from the Spirit of God, the sinner looks to
self. Nicodemus only thought of something he must do—"How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s
womb and be born?”
What
can a dead man do? Nothing. What did you
do to be born the first time? Nothing. The
new birth is not of us but of God. “Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that
I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
The
new birth is a “must.” We must be born
again. But the new birth is of the
Spirit of God. The new birth is not of
us. A sinner cannot make himself be born
again. We are at the mercy of God. Salvation is by the grace of God. A sinner cannot have life except God give him
spiritual life. Salvation is of the Lord
by his grace.
God
chose whom he would by grace, not according to anything in us. Christ redeemed only those God gave to him in
eternity. He laid down his life for his
people and redeemed us by his grace. The
Lord Jesus accomplished justifying his people by his blood. He made his people righteous in him. Therefore, each one who Christ redeemed must
be born again. The Spirit of God shall
regenerate each one.
LIKE BEGETS LIKE
John 3: 6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit.
Like
begets like. Flesh begets flesh.
After he sinned against God and died spiritually. Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after
his image (Gen 5:3). To be born of flesh is to be born of Adam’s
corrupt seed, conceived in sin. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and
in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps 51:5).
It means when we were conceived in our mother’s womb of our earthly father
we were conceived into a sinner because we were conceived of corrupt seed.
But God is only worshipped in
spirit, the flesh is of no profit.
Christ said,
John
4: 23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24:
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth.
John
6:63: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Philippians
3: 3 For we are the circumcision, which worship
God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh.
Therefore, since we cannot make
ourselves be born again, God the Holy Spirit must beget a new, holy spirit in
order for us to worship God in spirit.
God promised,
Ezekiel
36: 26: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you:…27: And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
The new spirit is Christ in you
the hope of glory. The old man is flesh
after Adam but the new man is after God. The old man is born of natural generation but
the new man is created by supernatural regeneration. The fleshly man is partakers of Adam’s
sinful nature but the new man is partaker of the divine nature, in God’s image,
the righteousness and holiness of Christ (Eph 4: 22-24; 2 Pet 1: 4)
Our old, fleshly nature is sin. It remains sin even after the new birth. The apostle Paul as a regenerated believer
said, “I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom
7: 18).
But
those born again of the Spirit of God the new man is spirit. “If Christ be
in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness” (Rom 8: 10).
The flesh is one with Adam and
will be until the believer returns to the dust.
But by the new birth the believer is one with Christ in spirit. “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit” (1Co 6:16-17).
THE NEW BIRTH IS
IRRESISTIBLE
John 3: 8: The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
The wind blows where it will. We hear it but cannot tell from where it
comes or when it comes nor where it goes.
We cannot control the wind. The
wind does as it will. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. The Spirit enters
whichever sinner he is pleased to enter.
He enters where he will according to the eternal will and purpose of
God.
Ezekiel 37: 1: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me
out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which
was full of bones, 2: And caused me to pass by them round about: and,
behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were
very dry. 3: And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered,
O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4: Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones,
and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5: Thus saith the
Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye
shall live: 6: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon
you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye
shall know that I am the LORD. 7: So I prophesied as I was commanded:
and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones
came together, bone to his bone. 8: And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the
flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was
no breath in them. 9: Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son
of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,
O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10: So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up
upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11: Then he said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are
dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12: Therefore prophesy
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into
the land of Israel. 13: And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I
have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14:
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in
your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and
performed it, saith the LORD.
This is why we preach Christ
crucified. Why do we declare salvation
is of the Lord, not of man? This is the
message God commands we preach. It is
only by the sovereign, irresistible operation of God giving us life that we are
given faith and know that Christ is the Lord and our Savior.
1 Corinthians 2: 1: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. 2: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified. 3: And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
trembling. 4: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words
of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5: That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Christ’s blood guarantees that all
his children must and shall be born of the Spirit. Let us thank God the sinner cannot stop it.
Amen!