John Pt. 11 | John 1:1-15

Reformation Day and the Theme of the New Birth

Well, to begin with, I definitely want to wish everyone a happy Reformation Day, right? Being that we're not Roman Catholic, we are a Protestant church. I feel like before I preach, I should sing that Martin Luther song real quick, but I won't.

Or part of me wants to, right? Like I just want to, you know I can't sing, but I'm just saying like, I feel like I want to, right? I want to pronounce, but I'm not going to, I'm not going to, but if you would, this is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to have you to turn to your Bibles, the Gospel of John chapter three, verses one through 15, the Gospel of John chapter three. Let's pray. Father, Lord, in the name of your precious son, Jesus Christ, I stand before your people with the book opened on this glorious day that we celebrate the Reformation and we are going to be looking at the kingdom, your kingdom, Lord, please, in Jesus' name, give your people ears to hear, eyes to see, and I pray that you open their heart today for your word, in the beloved name of Jesus, amen.

So our theme for this Lord's Day is the new birth and this is part two of our theme and my proposition is this, that the kingdom of God is realized in the new birth. The kingdom of God, the kingdom that we live in, it's realized in the new birth.

Regeneration Precedes Faith and Repentance

Last week we saw that the new birth is something that's done to us, right? It's not something that we do, it's done to us. It's not something that we have the capability to do ourselves. We can't cause ourselves to be born again.

In the history of human existence, no one at any time has been able to cause themselves to be born, right? Their natural birth. We did not visit our parents before our birth and tell them that we are their future son or we are their future daughter.

We didn't have anything to do with our natural birth. When it comes to being born again, we have to view this in the same way, right? If we didn't go to our parents prior to our birth, our natural birth, right, we didn't convince them or come to them in some kind of a vision and ask them to come together to have us, nor do we plead with God for us to be born again.

And since that is true, we had nothing to do with our first birth, so too, that's how we have to see this. It's true that those who are born again had nothing to do with it. So just like you had nothing to do with your first birth, if you're born again, I can assure you no matter what your pastor told you or walked an aisle, shook a hand, signed a card, or was told to do certain things, if you're truly born again, I can assure you, you had nothing to do with it.

It was done to you. What happens to the unbeliever is called regeneration. And we looked at regeneration last week, didn't we? We focused on the doctrine of regeneration. Regeneration takes the unbeliever, someone who doesn't believe, and transforms him or her into a believer.

Regeneration precedes faith, but faith is followed by repentance. Now this repentance, where I'm talking about that follows regeneration, is a turning from sin and living in obedience to the gospel. That's what follows regeneration.

The repentance that's unto salvation, that is, when we stop trusting in man-made, creative ways to get to God, and we trust in the only way there is to the Father, and that is Jesus Christ. Right? So we're speaking of two repentances here.

There's a repentance unto salvation, then there's the repentance that you're transforming life in sanctification that takes place after the initial regeneration. And that is given to us, and that is faith.

So faith is us believing. It's us trusting. Repentance, the initial repentance unto salvation would be a turning from dead works to belief. So for the Jews, at the time when Scripture was being wrote, was being spoken, when Jesus was on the earth, their trust was in the Mosaic law, the sacrificial system.

They were to stop trusting in Moses and trust in Jesus. So their initial salvation was to stop trusting in one thing and to trust in something else, which is God's plan, which is Jesus Christ. If you're, in our context, if you're a Mormon, like my friend Brayden was a Mormon for 19 years, his initial repentance was to stop trusting in Mormonism, the false Jesus of Mormonism, and to trust in the true biblical Jesus.

For you and I, who probably wasn't in cults or anything like that, for me, my God was the man I looked at in the mirror, someone who I created, who I trust. I trust in myself. My initial salvation, repentance unto salvation, was that I had to stop trusting this man in the mirror and trust God.

And how do you trust God? Through Jesus Christ, as well as the repentance from sin. All this is done in regeneration. Right? God gives you the ability to turn from whatever it was that you're trusting in and to trust in his son.

That's the repentance and faith unto salvation. But after that takes place, repentance from sin and obedience to the word of God kicks in. You do not stop sinning in order to become a Christian. But guess what Christians do?

They start rooting out sins in their life. Can't put the cart before the horse, right? How much sin do I have to stop before God accepts me? Come on, let's not be ridiculous, right? The birth takes place first and then the life of the Christian begins.

He gives us faith to trust in Jesus Christ and he grants to us the ability that repentance is involved of turning from sins. And last week we saw the purpose of regeneration. Now, why is it that we don't have the capability to turn to God on our own?

Why is it that something has to happen to us, right? Why don't we have the capability to turn from sin? We don't have the capability to turn to God and to trust him, nor do we have the capability to turn from sin.

And the reason why we don't have the capability is because of sin. Humanity as a whole has fallen into sin because of the first man, Adam. And last week also we looked at this, how because of Adam's sin, we are born dead in our trespasses and sins.

We are clothed in the garment of Adam's unrighteousness. The Bible says that, it basically calls Adam our federal head. When you're born, Adam is your federal head. And you remember as I was going through covenant theology, I kept saying a sentence, a term, as goes the king, so goes the kingdom, right?

As goes the king, so goes the kingdom. Adam being the covenant federal head, as went Adam, so goes those that are under Adam. Because of Adam's sin, we live a life of sin. We are born dead in our trespasses and our sins because of what Adam has done.

But we can't put the blame all upon Adam because when we're born, we sin, right? Adam is not on us, forcing us to sin, but we do have his nature. We inherit that broken image of God. We like Adam know God's transcendent law and we choose to rebel.

We chose to rebel. We chose to transgress God's law. The Bible tells us that sin is transgression of the law, 1 John 3, 4. The wages of sin is death, Romans 6, 23a. The soul that sins shall die, Ezekiel 18, 20.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3, 23. The sinner doesn't want anything to do with God the same way like a criminal doesn't want anything to do with cops. When you're dead in your trespasses and sins, like Ephesians 2 tells us, and you were dead, listen to it, and you were dead, speaking to Christians, in your trespasses and sins, meaning that they were physically alive, but some part of them was dead.

This is speaking about our spirit. This is speaking about what God has to regenerate. Something in us has to become alive. You can picture a dead man, right? A body laying down, composing, decaying, someone that there's no life in.

I went to a funeral this past week of my aunt, right? Her body was in the casket, but there was no life in the body. There's nothing that she can do. There's no movement. There's nothing there. Transform that thought to the spirit.

That's what the Bible is telling us. You were dead. And what we were dead in was our trespasses and our sins. Our sins keep us from having the capability to trust what God has for us, that's Jesus Christ, and to turn from our sins in repentance.

The spiritual dead cannot make spiritual decisions. We're physically alive. We can make decisions, but we cannot make spiritual decisions because we're spiritually dead. When we're born into this world, it's kind of like being in jail, right?

In jail, you are confined to an eight-by-eight room. I'm just throwing that number out there. I've never been in a jail cell, so I really don't know the exact size of room. Maybe they differ. But just imagine you're in an eight-by-eight room.

There's certain things that you can do, right? You can do jumping jacks. You can do push-ups. You can write a letter. You can draw a picture. There's certain things that you can do, but you can't leave the jail cell.

Like, you can't walk out of your cell, high-five a guard, and walk out and leave that prison. You are confined to what you are able to do, of what you're told to do. You eat, sleep, and all your activities are done by another man telling you what to do.

That's how it is when you're born into this world. We have capabilities. We're able to do things. We're able to make certain decisions, but we are born spiritually dead, and we cannot make spiritual decisions, such as believing in God, believing in Jesus Christ, and turning from our sins.

These are things that God gives to us through regeneration. And as we looked at this passage, I want our attention to be focused on Jesus' response to Nicodemus. So our text is found in the Gospel of John, and we're going to read all 15 verses, but then we're going to come back and focus on one verse, and that is the response.

So if you look at the Gospel of John, I want to read it all together so we can see what's taking place here. Verse 1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.

Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can these things, I mean, Nicodemus said to him, how can these things, how can a man, excuse me, how can a man be born again when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who was born of the spirit.

Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered him, you are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things. Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness of what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

So look back with me at verse three. This is what we're going to focus on. Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. We understand from what we have learned so far that whatever the kingdom of God is, unless one is born again, right?

That is regeneration, unless he's born again, regeneration, God intervening into time. Unless that happens, no one can see. This is talking about your eyes, with your eyes. You cannot see the kingdom of God.

Regeneration is the sovereign act of God's hand the moment the gospel is being preached, given to a man or a woman, faith to believe. So regeneration takes place when the message is preached. Titus 3, 5 tells us that he, speaking of God, he saved us, not, listen, not because of works done by us in righteousness, right?

You're not saved because of good works. But according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. So what is the message? First Peter, chapter 1, verse 3 tells you the message.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, according to his great mercy, remember Titus, by his own mercy, first Peter 3, 1, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The message by which brings life, but causes men to be born again for regeneration to take place is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried.

And on the third day, he, Jesus, rose again from the grave. The Bible emphatically declares that that is the message. If anyone be born again, it's under that message. And many people only believe this and have an intellectual concept of what this is.

We need the heart and the mind to both connect. You can have this in your mind. You can be taught that Jesus died for your sins according to the scriptures and not be born again. You have to believe with your heart, the Bible tells us.

Like nothing in this world can take away this belief that you have in Jesus Christ living a perfect life for you as a substitute and dying as a substitute on that cross and was buried and he rose again from the dead, right?

This is something that's scientifically impossible. We went over this. We don't see men dying, being buried and coming out the grave. And yet what I'm telling you to believe is that God entered into creation, took on flesh, died, buried and came out the grave.

It's scientifically impossible for this to take place unless you're God. And then if you only have an intellectual belief in this, this is something that can be snatched away. But if you believe with your heart, if God has opened your heart to believe, this is the message.

This is what washing and regeneration of the renewal of the Holy Spirit is, is that God is causing you to believe something that you have never seen. And that's what being born again is. You went from not believing.

There's no way that you can believe. Hearing the message of what Jesus Christ has done. Now you believe and nothing can change it. Nothing can change your mind. You believe. And so if that takes place, the question is, what is the kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God as the Reign of God

We see in the Old Testament scriptures that God took one man and made from him a people. And God set this people apart and began to establish a kingdom people. And these people were known as the Israelites.

And God had a man or men to rule in his place over the people. From Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, from Jacob to Joseph, from Joseph to Moses, from Moses to Joshua, from Joshua to the judges, from the judges to Samuel, from Samuel to Saul, from Saul to David, so on and so forth.

And we are told that the last ruler that would rule would come from the house of David. He would be a son of David, one that would obey and sit on the throne of David forever. This means that the Davidic kingdom is the kingdom that God, that was in the mind of God throughout all eternity.

It was eternally in the mind of God. But someone had to keep the covenant. This takes us back to Adam, right? Adam in the garden where he disobeyed, where Adam disobeyed. Someone had to obey. Someone had to have God's transcendent law and would be able to keep it.

And therefore, if he kept it as goes the one who kept it, so goes his people. Someone had to keep the covenant. And God's earthly kingdom people were not able to produce a son to keep the law, to keep the covenant, and to sit on the throne of David.

So because they were not able to produce a son and to keep the covenant, to keep the law, to sit on the throne of David, God himself sent his son. And ladies and gentlemen, this is not plan B, right? Jesus, God was not in heaven.

The father was like, oh, Adam messed up. How am I going to redeem them? What am I going to do for Jesus to volunteer? Like that's not what took place. This is not plan B. But in his divine decree before the foundations of the world, Jesus in the gospel is plan A.

Jesus in the gospel is plan A. This was the plan before the plan. The plan before creation that God would send his son in the incarnation born in the house of David, a son of David. But not only a son of David, he is the son of God, the son of man, the long-awaited Messiah.

So what is the kingdom of God? I want to read to you a translation. As far as I know, there's not a book form. If you know of one, let me know. I'd like to have it. It's Young's Literal Translation, John 3 .3.

Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say to thee, if anyone may not be, listen, born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God. The reign of God. Young's Literal Translation translates the kingdom, the kingdom of God as the reign of God.

The Greek word here for kingdom is a Brasilia, Brasilia, yeah, Brasilia. Brasilia, which means reign. The word kingdom means reign. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. And instead of man ruling in the place of God, God, the son in the incarnation is both God and man.

And he rules the kingdom. The reign of God is Jesus ruling. Jesus is God, right? We already walked through this in chapter one, so we don't have to go back through that. Jesus is the second person of the Godhead.

He is God. The reign of God is Jesus Christ ruling the people of God. And thanks to the availability of scripture, we have the word of God. And so we're able to look into the word of God and see the word of God speaking to us about the kingdom of God, the reign of God.

Psalm 103, 19 says this. The Lord has established his throne. Think about this. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, not on earth, in the heavens. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens.

And his kingdom rules over all. Where's his throne? It's in heaven. And his kingdom rules over all. Psalm 45, 6. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness.

David in 1 Chronicles 29, 10 -11 says this. Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.

Yours is the kingdom, O Lord. And you are exalted as the head above all. Daniel 2, 44. In the days of those kings, now think about the time of the incarnation when Jesus is coming into the world, the kings ruling in that days.

In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. Nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end.

And it shall stand forever. Daniel 7, 27. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole of heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.

His throne is in heaven. He rules from heaven over all kingdoms. His kingdom will break to pieces every other man-made kingdom. And they will look at Him and serve Him one day. The Israelite people were looking for the Messiah and for this to take place.

They knew these scriptures. They were looking for the Messiah. They believed that once the Messiah came, that He would usher in the kingdom of God and thus usher in the age to come. The age of righteousness and peace.

The kingdom of God and the age to come go hand in hand. You see, the Jewish people had already undergone many mistreatments, right? They had gone through persecutions. They had gone through wars. They had been in slavery, right?

They'd been enslaved. They knew what slavery was like. And at the time when Christ came, you can say that they were enslaved to Rome. Not so much of the tyranny that they had under the Egyptian pharaoh, but they were enslaved to Rome.

And they had what we would call somewhat of a premillennial eschatology when the kingdom of God came, right? The kingdom of God comes and then everything ends with this kingdom. His kingdom would come and it would be on earth and that would be it.

It would be righteousness and peace. They were expecting a David-like king to come and with him signs and wonders in the sky. And what they got was a meek and mild man from Nazareth. Whose signs were not cataclysmic, but that of feeding thousands with a sack lunch, healing the sick, the blind and the lame and raising the dead, right?

There was not stars were not falling. The moon wasn't turning the blood, the sun not giving its light. That's what they were expecting, but that's not what they got. What they wanted they couldn't see and what they saw they didn't want.

They were expecting the kingdom of God to fall from heaven and to crush anyone that was in their way. They just like many of us now did not understand the already and not yet facts of the kingdom. If you will turn into your copy of the scriptures to the Gospel of Luke.

And as we're going through this today, I wanted to let you know that all this is is an introduction to the kingdom. That's all this message is today. It's just an introduction to the kingdom. Look with me.

The Already and Not Yet Kingdom

Luke chapter 17 verses 20 and 21. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them. The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, look, here it is or there.

For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. From this passage of scripture, it's very clear that they were looking for a tangible kingdom, right? And we're looking for something with four walls that had borders.

Had an army guarding it. Wall so high no other enemy could get through. They was wanting something. They was looking for something tangible. We get that from verse 20. Verse 28 being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come.

Jesus tells them that it's not something that they can observe. 20B. The kingdom of God is not coming in the ways that can be observed. Think signs, right? This this cataclysmic things taking place in the heavens.

You can't. You cannot see it, right? Right. Like that's the message is. That we get from from Jesus that the kingdom is not something that that you can see. I mean, he tells Nicodemus, right? He says, well, I mean, you can see it, but you have to be born again.

He tells Nicodemus. The only way to see the kingdom is to be born again. One cannot see it with their natural eyes. So these Pharisees, they they're wanting to see something tangible. Jesus is like you.

It's not something that you can see with your eyes. I mean, verse 21. Nor will they say, look, here it is. If someone points to you and say, look, there's the kingdom of God run. That's not a people to associate yourself with.

If if ever there's a time that you can say, look, there's the kingdom of God. It's visible. It's tangible. It's got walls. It's got a border. It's got an army. Then what we're reading about what we're talking about being born again no longer is something that happens.

No, no. If the kingdom of God was on Earth, it was tangible. It was visible when you say, look, there it is. Or hey, here it is. No longer would being born again take place. Regeneration would be no more.

If it's something that you can that the unbeliever can see with their eyes and enter into with their feet. It's no more is no longer there, nor will they say, look, here it is or there. He says, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

It's a kingdom within kingdoms. And the Bible gives us little glimpses of this, right? Think about God's kingdom people when they were without a kingdom. Were there not God's kingdom people? When God established the Israelites through through Abraham, were they not his people?

Were they not a kingdom people? He was their king. Remember when they was asking Samuel to give us a king? What do they do? They rejected God as their king. They were a kingdom people without a physical human king.

And so when they were in slavery in Egypt, they were a kingdom within a kingdom. When they were taken to Babylon, they were a kingdom within a kingdom. Now it's it's bigger. We are a kingdom within kingdoms.

We are few are his people. If you have been born again, you've been regenerated. You are his kingdom people. And guess what? You're living in a world that does not serve him. That's rejected him as their king.

And there's no way won't care what eschatology you are. There's no way to deny this. We serve a God and a kingdom that cannot be viewed by outsiders. Matter of fact, they think we're crazy, right? I think we're crazy.

You believe that God entered creation, took on flesh, lived a life he couldn't live, died, buried, rose again. You believe that snakes talked? We're looked at as funny. And so the kingdom of God is here, but there's more to come.

So that's what I want to focus our attention on the remaining in our remaining time together. The message of John the Baptist was that the kingdom of God was at hand. This means that it was near. It was nearby, right?

It's at hand. It's nearby. We're coming up on Thanksgiving, right? Thanksgiving is nearby, right? It's coming up, right? We're about to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is near same way. Think about that.

It's at hand. The kingdom of John said the kingdom of God was at hand. It's near. It's almost here. It's right around the corner. Jesus in Mark chapter 1, verses 14 and 15, it says this. Now, after John, speaking to John the Baptist, was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled.

The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The kingdom of God came in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Turn with me to the gospel of Matthew. The gospel of Matthew chapter 12. I'm going to read verses 22 through 28, but I want us to focus on 28.

Then a demon oppressed man who was born, I mean, who was blind and mute was brought to him and he healed him. So they bring a demon possessed man. I mean, a demon oppressed man was brought to Jesus. He was blind and mute and Jesus healed him.

So that man could, that man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, can this be the son of David? Now, right here, thank King. They're wanting to know, is this the King? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demon, that this man cast out demons.

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, every kingdom divided against itself. Notice he doesn't deny there's kingdoms on earth. Divided against itself is laid waste. No city or house divided against itself shall stand.

And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

Verse 28. But if it is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Ladies and gentlemen, ask you a question. I know we're Baptist. We don't like to talk, but I want to answer.

I want you to answer in such a way that the camera can pick you up. Did Jesus cast out demons by the spirit of God? Come on. Yes. Then the kingdom of God has come upon us. That which was at hand, was nearby, came in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Colossians chapter 1 verse 3 says this. He has delivered us from the dominion, thank kingdom, of darkness and transformed us to the kingdom of his beloved son. The reign of God is the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are in his kingdom now. If he's been born again, he has transformed us from one kingdom to another kingdom. But the kingdom of God is future. Hebrews 12, 28a. Therefore, let us be grateful to receive something that something else was coming to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Second Thessalonians 1 5. This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God. First Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 through 11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. Neither sexual immorals nor adulterers, nor adultery, adulterers, nor man who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

So this is something that you inherit. And it says, and such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of God.

This meaning that those who have been justified will inherit the kingdom of God. The Beatitudes Matthew chapter 5. And he opened his mouth and he taught them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. When are we going to be comforted in the future kingdom of God? Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. When do we inherit the earth?

In the future kingdom of God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the poor in heart for they shall see God.

When do we see God? Right? Like all these things take place. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who persecute you for righteousness sakes theirs is the kingdom of God.

There's something else that awaits us. The kingdom of God is already. Right? It came when Jesus, if he if he cast out demons by the spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come upon you. But there's also something else to come.

It's kind of like when I walk into this church this morning, I'm just going to throw out an analogy. Walk into this church this morning. I opened the door and I stepped foot into the church. But I also had a foot that was outside the church.