Sermon by Owen Rogers on John 3:1-7 and Romans 4:1-5,13-17.
I can’t remember the last time I was asked, “Have you been born again?” Nor can I remember how I answered. But the fact is: I have been born again. I was born physically by my human parents; and I was born spiritually by the work of the Spirit of God.
If you are asked, “Have you been born again?” how would you answer?
That depends on what you understand the term ‘born again’ to mean.
Today we heard of a man named Nicodemus. Let me fill in the background to this story.
Nicodemus lived in Jerusalem because he was a member of the Sanhedron, the ruling council of Judea. Jesus was in Jerusalem, along with many others, for the Passover Festival. He had come from Galilee, where he lived, and where he had recently turned water into wine for a wedding feast. When Jesus got to Jerusalem he cleared the traders out of the temple. This radical action led to a run-in with the powers that were about Jesus’ authority to do what he had done. Jesus was very much the subject of discussion and speculation during that passover. Many believed he was the Messiah and Nicodemus went to check him out.
Picture in your mind Jerusalem at night. Nicodemus has found out where Jesus is staying and he’s heading round to see him because he wants to ask him some important questions. Is he going at night to keep it secret? The rest of the Pharisee party were rather suspicious of Jesus and may not approve. Maybe he’s going at night because he’s too busy during the day. Maybe night time is his best opportunity for an uninterrupted conversation.
Either way, what was the big question he wanted to get answered?
What questions would you want to ask Jesus – one to one and with plenty of time to discuss them?
Nicodemus, figured that Jesus’ miracles were clear evidence that God was with Jesus. But he wanted to get closer. He wanted some insight. He wanted confirmation/assurance.
Jesus spoke in a riddle to Nicodemus. He said that in order to be a part of God’s kingdom, a grown-up man must be born again. Now that’s impossible! How does one do the being born thing over again? It hardly bears thinking about. Yet this is a visually memorable image that Jesus was painting!
Jesus was explaining that to become a child of God and belong to his family you have to start again. God would give people a fresh start to begin a new life, just like a newborn baby. Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus how anyone who has faith in Jesus would have life for ever. This is the best promise that Jesus could give to anyone – and it’s available to everyone.
Notice that Jesus first says you can’t see the kingdom of God unless you’re born again. I think he’s saying that we cannot understand spiritual things unless God’s Spirit helps us. So the spiritual rebirth brings understanding.
And then Jesus says you can’t get into the kingdom of God unless you are born again. The easiest way to become a citizen of any nation is to be born into it. Some say our grandson is half kiwi and half ozzie because his parents are one kiwi and one ozzie. In fact he is an Australian citizen because he was born there. Just like I am a New Zealand citzen because I was born here, even though my father was born in Wales. Each of us was born into a nation here on earth. It is the same with God’s kingdom – to become a citizen you have to be born into it. That doesn’t require another physical birth. It’s a spiritual kingdom so it requires a spiritual birth. The term ‘born again’ also means ‘born from above’, and any human can be born again, from above, spiritually.
What is spiritual birth? When Jesus says that everyone needs to be ‘born of water and the Spirit’ (verse 5), he is probably referring to Ezekiel 36:25-27: ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you…’ Only a holy person can get close to a holy God. No one is holy because all have sinned. However, many times in the Bible God promises to make people holy. And it is made very clear in the New Testament that he forgives the sins of those who repent thus making them holy. He does this for people who trust him in faith.
On what basis can all this happen? Just as all who looked at the bronze snake lifted by Moses in the desert were healed (Numbers 21:9), so all who ‘look’ in faith to Jesus, God’s Son, lifted up on the cross to bring us salvation, will receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:14,15).
Justified by faith alone
In our reading from Romans 4 Paul calls on the example of Abraham to clarify this concept. In 3:28 Paul had said that people are ‘justified by faith apart from observing the law’. Does the story of Abraham back this up or not? Paul goes back to the time when God established his covenant with Abraham, and points out that Abraham was exercising faith in God’s promise before he was given any covenant requirements to obey. He was justified, put ‘in the right’ with God, on the basis of faith, not on the basis of any good deeds. Paul argues that all who share Abraham’s faith, whether or not they are Jews, also share with him in the promise of acceptance by God (verse 16).
So, what can we say about old Abraham, the man God first called to take a journey of faith? Did he actually do anything to make God want to be his friend? If he did, he’d have been able to be pretty proud of such an achievement! But no, the Bible simply says, ‘God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him’.
It’s a bit like this – you work hard all the hours for which you are employed and you get paid. It is only right that your employer pays you. But God doesn’t accept us because of what we have done. The Bible simply says, ‘God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him’: in other words, they trust him.
Then the Bible says, ‘God promised Abraham and his descendants that he would give them the world’. Again, Abraham didn’t deserve this; he just trusted God. It was a promise from God with no conditions attached.
And this promise of being accepted by God, simply because of trusting him, wasn’t just for Abraham. It was for you and me too! That’s right – for you and me too!
We don’t know what Nicodemus made of all this but we do know that he believed enough in Jesus to help bury his body, identifying himself as some sort of follower. Given the opposition to Jesus and his followers, this was a brave thing to do.
What do we make of it? The promise of life with God, now and for ever, is still true for us if we believe. John 3:16 sums it up well. In fact it is a key verse for everyone to know by heart. I recommend you memorise it if you haven’t already, and think and pray about what it means.