Born Again - Part 1

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Alright, if you would, please open in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, John chapter 3. John chapter 3, and the title of this morning's message is Born Again.

What It Means to Be Born Again in John 3

Before we look to our text, I just want to read something because as many of you know, words, especially these days, words are being redefined. Terms and labels get used and thrown around so much that sometimes I fear that they're losing their meaning.

In our day and age, if somebody wants to research something, if they want to look something up, get a definition for a word or a term, what are they going to do? They're probably going to go on the internet and Google it.

So what does it mean to be born again? Someone's going to go to the internet and look that up. And you might not know this, but there is a Wikipedia page devoted to the phrase born again. And I just want to read a brief segment from that.

So here it goes. In 1976, Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson's book Born Again gained international notice. Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. And the term was sufficiently prevalent, so much so that during the year's presidential campaign, Democratic Party nominee Jimmy Carter described himself as born again.

Get this in the first Playboy magazine interview of an American presidential candidate. Colson describes his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment and played a significant role in solidifying the born again identity as a cultural construct in the U .S.

So because of those two things, the label born again, everyone heard it and people started calling themselves born again. Okay, were they born again? Well, that's up to the Lord to decide. But what does it mean to be born again?

You know, it doesn't really matter what this guy says or what that guy says. What matters is what does the scripture say? And we're going to look at what Jesus said in John chapter 3. So let's start reading in verse 1.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

And Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Let's pray. Our Father, as we look to your word this morning, help us and teach us through your spirit to understand this essential truth that unless one is born again, he or she cannot see the kingdom of God.

So Lord, we ask that through your spirit, you would illuminate your word, give us discernment, give us understanding. And may you even use this message to cause one listening to be born again and to have a new life in Christ.

We pray it all in his name. Amen.

All right.

Nicodemus, the Pharisees, and Approaching Jesus by Night

So we saw in that verse there was a man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a leader among the Jews. And he comes and he visits Jesus at nighttime. And the thing to know about the Pharisees is they sought to live a very strict religious life, living in strict adherence to the law of God or the Mosaic law found in the Old Testament.

So two things to know about the Pharisees. They had two major flaws. Well, they probably had more than two.

All right.

But these two things and they're connected. Number one, the Pharisees, generally speaking, they had encountered religion, but they had not encountered God. And number two, the Pharisees did not like Jesus.

And that's an understatement. Their dislike grew to contempt and eventually outright hatred to where they plotted his murder. So the Pharisees had encountered religion, but they had not encountered God.

The closest they ever came to encountering God was their interaction with the Son of God, whom they rejected. So Nicodemus, he appears to be a little more open minded to the ministry of Jesus. And he visits and we see by night.

And there's a lot of speculation. People have wonder why by night. And there's all these different theories. My view of this. The most obvious thing is he didn't want his fellow Pharisees finding out about it.

I think that's the reason. Maybe there were other reasons. People say, well, Jesus was so busy. This was the only time he could get a few moments with him. I don't think he wanted his colleagues finding out.

I don't think he wanted them to think that he had secretly become a follower of Jesus. In fact, in John 7, verse 51, when the Pharisees were plotting against Jesus, Nicodemus sticks up for Christ. And when he sticks up for him, what does he say?

Does our law, this is John 7, 51, you can make a note of this. Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? Because the Pharisees just wanted to condemn Jesus. He said, wait a minute.

We can't do this. You remember what they said? Are you also a Galilean? Basically, what are you, one of his followers? Because all the disciples were from Galilee, except Judas, which that's interesting.

So the northern region of Galilee, this is where all the disciples were from. And just something relatable about this. The Jews in Jerusalem, they thought the region of Galilee, where the disciples were from, where Jesus was ministering.

Jesus and his disciples can't be anybody because they're up from this north hit town, Galilee. Nobody important comes from Galilee. Nothing important happens in Galilee. We understand this living in western Massachusetts, don't we?

Nobody even knows we're out here. Nothing important happens in western Massachusetts. All the action is out east. So we get that. So the Pharisees thought that no one important could come from Galilee.

So when Nicodemus goes to visit Jesus, this is potentially scandalous. So I think that's why he went by night. So the Pharisees, they had no love for Jesus whatsoever. And notice how Nicodemus addresses Jesus.

He comes to him respectfully and with an open mind. I think that's the first point. As far as being born again, if someone's going to be born again, they need to approach Jesus with an open mind. Be willing to at least listen.

And look at what he says in verse 2. He comes to him by night and he says, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And notice, Jesus gets straight to the point.

Jesus answers a question that Nicodemus didn't even ask. Why? Because Jesus knows what the issue is. He knows what Nicodemus needs to hear. Verse 3, Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Born Again Means Born from Above, Not Merely Religious

So, let's look at this phrase, born again. What does it mean? Well, there's two Greek words. The first, geneo, this is the normal Greek term for being born. So, very straightforward, geneo, born. And then the other word is anothen, which means from above.

So, literally, and I know it's translated in most if not all of your Bibles as born again. What it literally means is you must be born from above. Born again is a good translation because everyone's born once.

And you need to be born again from above. So, to see the kingdom of God, here's the point, you must be born of God to where you now are a child of God. And what do children do? Obey their father, their heavenly father.

And, you know, this idea of becoming a child of God, this totally flies in the face of what the world thinks. Most people will say this, that we're all children of God. Every person, every human being, we're all children of God.

Maybe you've heard of this, the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Well, that sounds really great, except that's not what Jesus taught. Every person alive today, and we all know this, every person living today was given life by their earthly mother and father.

But to see the kingdom of God, you must be given life by your heavenly father. You must be born of God, born again from above. John chapter 1, verses 12 and 13 says that as many as have received him, that is Christ, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And I'm not going to get too deep into this. Did you have anything to do with your own birth?

No, you didn't.

That's the way it is with the rebirth, the second birth. It's of the will of God. So every person alive has physical life, but not every person has spiritual life. Now, if you would turn to John chapter 15.

Spiritual Life, Not Mere Spirituality

So everyone was born once. Not everyone is born again. Everyone alive obviously has physical life, but not everybody has spiritual life. So the question then becomes, how do we acquire spiritual life?

Now, we need to be careful here. Jesus is not talking about spirituality.

All right.

You will hear people say things like this. Some of you have probably said this at some point in your life, but people will say, well, I'm spiritual. I'm just not religious. You've heard this. It's very common.

I'm spiritual, but not religious. Well, okay. What that usually means is they do not participate in any quote-unquote organized religion. And listen, I'll be the first to admit there are a lot of organized religions that are leading people astray.

That is true. There's a lot of false religions. Religious practices and religious organizations that are of Satan and not of God. And if you don't want to believe me, that's fine. The Pharisees, they were a religious group, were they not?

They were organized.

You remember what Jesus said in John chapter 8? You are of your father, the devil. So you don't like organized religion.

Okay.

You need to be born again to see the kingdom of God. So, yeah, there's a lot of people who consider themselves spiritual. They believe spirituality is important to not just focus on the physical, but to focus on the soul, how you feel your emotions.

And I was looking into this. One psychologist put it this way. He or she said, spirituality is the boundaryless dimension of the human spirit. Let me read that again. Spirituality is the boundaryless dimension of the human spirit.

I have no idea what that means.

Okay.

But that's how some people are defining spirituality. Okay, fine. But how does Jesus define it? And of course, spirituality is not even a biblical term. But the idea is what? The idea of a spiritual life.

Spiritual life. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.