You Must Be Born Again - Part 1

John 3:1-8
May 1, 2022
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

There are many important days in your life. There is the day of your school graduation. There is the day when you turn sixteen or twenty-one or thirty or whatever day when you officially become old. There is the day when you land your first job and get your first paycheck. There is the day when you get married.

There is the day when you learn the truth about Santa. There is the day when you get your first pimple. There is the day when you eat the best hamburger or the best sushi you will ever eat in your life. There is the day when you achieve that five-star rating for your Animal Crossing island. There are many important days in your life.

But there is one day that is arguably THE most important day of your life - more important than any other day. I’m talking about the day when you were born. Your birthday. Or as our esteemed Michael Shin would say, the day of your birth.

In today’s passage, our Lord Jesus Christ describes his salvation as being born again. Dear saints, you have been born again.

This is really amazing and wonderful and fascinating. Think about it. When it comes to being born, you have no memory of it. You were not aware that it was happening to you. You did not think to yourself, “Wow, so this is what it’s like to be born. What a day. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.” No, you were crying and breathing and moving around and being all cute and naked. Moreover, you did not choose to be born. Think about it. You being born was not up to you. You didn’t decide to be born on the fourth of March (Grace!) or the twenty-first of October (Fabian!) or the eleventh of July (Chris! Philip!) or the eighth of November (Jean!). Being born wasn’t your plan. It wasn’t your will or your work. It didn’t happen because of you. Being born. Isn’t that fascinating? Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that amazing?

I hope you think so. Because your salvation is described as being born. Again. You have been born again. You have been spiritually born again. This is Jesus’ salvation of us. Today let’s learn about how amazing and wonderful and fascinating Jesus’ salvation really is.

The story of today’s passage is a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. Now Nicodemus was a Pharisee. This means that he was a very religious man - but not in a good way. Nicodemus was prideful and self-righteous before God. He thought that he was really great at obeying the law of God. And because of that, he believed that he deserved to be rewarded with the kingdom of God. This was basically what the Pharisees and Nicodemus were all about.

So therefore Nicodemus just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand what the kingdom of God was really all about. He didn’t understand true salvation. And he didn’t understand who Jesus really was.

But Jesus knew Nicodemus. Praise the Lord that he knew Nicodemus. Remember what we learned last Sunday. Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to certain people because he knew all of them. He knew what was in man. Remember, Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God. So Jesus knew what was inside Nicodemus’ heart and mind.

And Jesus knew that Nicodemus needed to be born again.

So Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. And Jesus explained to Nicodemus what it means to be born again.

This is a wonderful testament to Jesus’ compassion and grace and patience and love toward Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and the Pharisees were against Jesus. Nicodemus lived a proud and self-righteous life. Nicodemus was a sinner. And out of either pure ignorance or sarcastic ridicule, Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” But Jesus still spoke to him. Jesus still explained to Nicodemus what it means to be born again. This is the compassion and grace and patience and love of our Lord.

And this is what Jesus said.

Jesus said that unless you are born of water and born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. What does it mean to be born of water and born of the Spirit? The meaning of these two gospel truths is found in two gospel-glorious verses in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-26.

First, what does it mean to be born of water? In Ezekiel 36:25, God gloriously declared that he would sprinkle clean water on his people and cleanse them of their sin. This was the salvation of God. So, to be born of water means to be cleansed of your sin. To have your sins washed away from you. And unless you are cleansed of your sin, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. That’s what it means to be born of water.

Second, what does it mean to be born of the Spirit? In Ezekiel 36:26, God gloriously declared that he would give his people new hearts and put the Holy Spirit within them. This was the salvation of God. So, to be born of the Spirit means to have the Holy Spirit dwell in you. To have God, to have the third person of the Triune God, be with you. And unless you have the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in you, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. That’s what it means to be born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus needed to understand these two gospel truths. He needed to understand that he could never have the kingdom of God through his obedience to the law of God. That is prideful and self-righteous. The only way to receive the kingdom of God and be saved is to be cleansed of your sin. Nicodemus needed to be cleansed of his sin. And the only way to receive the kingdom of God and be saved us to have the Holy Spirit dwell in you. Nicodemus needed to have the Holy Spirit dwell in him.

All of this means that being born again is not of Nicodemus’ choosing. It is not up to him. It is not his plan. Instead, being born again is of God’s choosing. It is up to God. It is God’s plan. It is God’s will and God’s work. It happens because of God.

Nicodemus cannot cleanse himself of his sin. Nicodemus cannot somehow on his own get the Holy Spirit and then put the Holy Spirit within himself. Nicodemus has no ability or power or sovereignty to do such things. Nicodemus can only be saved by the grace and the mercy and the love of God. Nicodemus can only be cleansed of his sin by the saving work of Jesus - his life, his death, and his resurrection.

Dear Highland, do you know what this means for you if you are a Christian? This means that you are a Christian because of the grace and mercy and love God in Christ Jesus. The only reason why you are saved and forgiven of your sins is because of the blood of Jesus that cleanses you. You are not saved and forgiven because you are a good person. You are not going to heaven because of your obedience to the law of God. The only reason why the Holy Spirit dwells in you is because God chose you in eternity before he created the heavens and the earth and because God made a promise, God made a covenant of grace, to save you from sin and from death. You are a Christian because of the grace and mercy and love of God. Praise the Lord. You are born again.

Dear Highland, do you know what this means for you if you are a Christian? This means that you are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You are born again. You were once spiritually dead in your sin. But now you have been made spiritual alive in Christ. God took away your heart of stone that was dead and God gave you a new heart of flesh that now beats for his glory. You have new life. New resurrection life. You are a new creation. Praise the Lord. You are born again.

Dear Highland, do you know what this means for you if you are a Christian? This means that you ought to have deep joy and humility in Christ Jesus. Being born again brings great joy. Isn’t it fascinating? Wonderful? Amazing? Let there be renewed joy in your heart and mind today. Being born again is a huge part of the most important thing in your life: your salvation that you have in Christ Jesus. The most important thing in your life is set. No one can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Being born again is very humbling. Remember, it wasn’t your choice. It wasn’t your plan. It wasn’t your will. You being born again didn’t happen because of you. You being born again happened because of God. Praise the Lord. You are born again.

In closing, would you like to know what happened to Nicodemus? I can tell you. Today’s passage doesn’t tell us what happened to him. But at the end of the book of John, we can good evidence and good confidence that Nicodemus, by God’s grace and mercy, became born again.

In John 19:38-42, when Jesus was crucified, when Jesus died, and when Jesus was buried, we are told that a man named Joseph of Arimathea oversaw Jesus’ body. This Joseph asked Pontius Pilate and got permission to oversee the burial of Jesus’ body. So Joseph took Jesus’ body. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus. Guess who was there with Joseph of Arimathea.

Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus by night, was there. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. And together, both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices. There was a garden with a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. And Joseph of Arimethea, a disciple of Jesus, and Nicodemus, who was most likely also a disciple of Jesus, laid Jesus there.

That’s what happened to Nicodemus as someone who was born again by God’s grace and mercy and love.

The Nicodemus who was a Pharisee was the Nicodemus who brought myrrh and aloe to Jesus. The Nicodemus who didn’t understand the kingdom of God nor the way of true salvation was the Nicodemus who buried Jesus. And the Nicodemus who didn’t understand who Jesus really was would go on to witness Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

That’s who Nicodemus became as someone who was born again by God’s grace and mercy and love. Praise the Lord. Can’t wait to meet him in the new heavens and new earth.

Can’t wait to see Jesus face to face. Come, Lord Jesus, come soon!

May God’s grace be with you all, Highland.

Soli Deo Gloria