What does it mean to be born again? Understanding the spiritual depth of this teaching leads us to marvel at what Jesus has done for us and what our new life in Him looks like!

TRANSCRIPT

Good morning St John's. How are we good to see you guys thank you for

allowing me to go on a vacation. We went and saw my family in Seattle my parents and

my two sisters then also we had a friendship reunion of some men that I

went to Seminary school with in St Louis at the time it was just us and our wives

about 15 years ago or so in St Louis well we had a reunion with about with

all of us and each of us has about four or five children and we brought them all so it was complete chaos in Fair Play

Colorado's where we reunited so thank you for that and I'm grateful to be back

do you long for a world where there's no more suffering where there's no more death

do you long for a world where there's no more pain and there's no more crying and

tears do you long for a world where there is not Brokenness where there's not that

personal Brokenness and discouragement that can come from just circumstances or

relational conflict or whatever it is I think all of us would say Amen we long

for a world where there's perfect love we long for a world where there is

perfect peace we long for a world where there's Harmony between our creator and

each other so in this text that Christy just read

to us Jesus actually has something to say to us about that

let's dive back into it John chapter 3 verse 3. Nicodemus is a Pharisee he's coming to

Jesus and he's like we know you're you must be a man of God because you do miracles well uh Jesus has a propensity to go

deeper does he not so here he goes Jesus answered him

truly truly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of

God right out of the gate we see this phrase kingdom of God for Nicodemus of first

century Orthodox Jew he is thinking about the future the kingdom of God would come in the

future and there would be the resurrection of the body and life Everlasting Orthodox Jews still believe

that till this day so that's what he was thinking the question is what is Jesus thinking

here what is Jesus telling us in this passage of scripture and in his ministry

well check this out Matthew chapter 19 verses 19 or rather verses 28 and 29.

Jesus says these words check this out with me he says

truly I say to you in the New World this is a Greek word that means regeneration

something that was not there that has been brought to life

so he's talking about that new world that's coming at the end of time and it says when the son of man will sit

on his glorious Throne this is the visible and imminent second coming of Jesus where he will reign over all the

Earth and it will be completely made new the Apostle John right before he died

gets a vision of what this new world will look like it's in the Book of

Revelation there's a vivid description of it in chapter 21 of this new world

that you and I we all long for check it out it says this

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and Death Shall be no more neither

shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have

passed away doesn't that sound beautiful I can't wait to be in this new world

this place where there's no more death no more suffering no more pain

but I want you to see something this morning remember that word regeneration

it's also used by Paul to talk about you in the present now check it out Titus

Chapter 3 Verse 5. this is what Paul says about us today

he says Jesus saved us not because of Works done by us in righteousness but

according to his own Mercy by the washing of regeneration there's that word that was used for New World in

Matthew 19 and renewal of the Holy Spirit

so when Jesus says

you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God he's answering the question

where this new birth comes from the answer is it comes from the future

it's a Divine Life that's coming from that new world

that new life that we all long for in the new creation it's coming from that

world from the future but it's coming to you now in the present in your life it's a Divine Life

that is implanted in you and it's the the Greek word is born again again is anathen in the Greek it

could also mean from above so here's what I would tell you today is New Life from above is better than life

derived from below down here this is a new life that you receive from

the Lord and it results in the gift of eternal life the Assurance of your salvation and I would tell you this it

has come now but it is also not yet fully realized so you get it partially now but it will

be fully achieved when you see Jesus face to face and his kingdom will have

no end I've heard so many testimonies over the years from people who have

received this new life this new birth then all of a sudden the light bulb

turns on and they're like okay now I can understand the scriptures now I can

understand what God's telling me before the Bible seemed distant and archaic but

now it's just like this light bulb turned on I've heard testimonies of people say now I have meaning and

purpose it's no longer me myself and I figuring out what's right and wrong and what I should do but rather it's God

giving me meaning and purpose and I'm flourishing I've seen people say I now

have a community that loves me I now have God's people who are praying for me I now have a community of believers who

would give up their life for me these are testimonies of people who have the

new birth occurring in them new eyes to see and a new mind to understand

so when Jesus says You must be born again it's from the future but it's invading your present in a powerful way

but what I want to do this morning is I want to go back over that depiction of

that new world because it's so gorgeous it's so beautiful I think our hearts

long for it as human beings and so let's look at it again Revelation 21 and this

is actually in verse 4. it says God will wipe away every tear

from their eyes and I'm going to highlight two words here Death Shall be no more neither shall there be mourning

nor cry I'm going to stop right there death and Mourning will not be a part of this new world

as you know sickness disease in this life results in physical death

and that is how we get there how many of you right now are

experiencing some sort of sickness or disease or maybe it's a loved one that

you have maybe it's your mom or your dad or it's somebody near to you

um I got a phone call I think it was Thursday

that my mom we just had this intense pain in her stomach

so they took her to the doctor and the doctor wasn't really sure thanks be to God my older sister

just keeps on going doesn't take I don't know for an answer so she just took her

to another doctor so and thanks be to God she did because

the second doctor that my mom went to they realized they needed to do a surgery

and they needed to do a surgery to remove a tumor from my mom's stomach

and so by the grace of God that tumor is gone and my mom's okay and she's doing

better now but with that said when Jesus says You must be born again

to enter the kingdom of God the New Testament shares this good news

that when you receive this new birth yeah physical death you know may happen unless Jesus returns

first but here's what can't touch you as a believer it's called the second death

the second death in The Book of Revelation is God's judgment towards those who reject him

when you receive this new birth you're saved from that and you have the gift of eternal life and I'm grateful to God

that my mom is a someone who's received that new life and so she has the gift of

eternal life and the second death can't touch her no matter what this life will

do to her and so the truth for today is this new life

from above is also New Life while here below for you and for me

and by God's grace my younger sister is a really strong believer

loves the Lord leaning her children to love the Lord and

by the grace of God now what's happened is this we become ambassadors to our mom of that

new life now we're not just talking to her and just as a distraction or a diversion but

we're opening up the scriptures to her we're speaking New Life to her we're getting that that peace and love from

the new world and it's coming to us in this life so that we can share it and be

ambassadors of that hope for our mom because she's also received the gift of eternal life and so I pray that you

would see that connection that I'm grateful that AJ read the mission statement this morning do you see the

connection St John's that you and and I we are ambassadors of this hope we are

ambassadors of this new life and so when you are born again it's from the future to the present and

you get to share that new life with those who are suffering all around you

and so let's go back over the passage and I want to highlight two other words

it says this and I'm going to start right here

it says neither shall there be Mourning nor crying nor pain anymore

no more crying no more pain and I take this to mean

no more pain of division on the Earth no more pain of disharmony on the Earth

no more pain and sorrow of War on the earth and Division

and so what I would tell you is this uh this week I experienced some conflict

by the grace of God God brought me together with those who the experience

was with but the good news is this they are born again

they are believers who have that new life implanted in them they are led by the holy spirit of God

and so instead of us just having like 60 Minutes of like boxing and revenge or

something like that and bitterness it turned out to be really quick shift

really quick turn towards forgiveness life peace there was an eagerness to

maintain the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace this happened why it happens because we

are born again from above we are able to share that good news with others and so my brothers

and sisters in Christ this morning you are born again you are a reception

you have received that peace from that new world that's coming and so you get to be an ambassador of

peace with those near to you those around you in the name and by the power of Jesus Christ

now I don't pretend to know everyone who's mad at you right now

um probably if you're a human being there's somebody mad at you right now right

um every situation is different every conflict is different

but I do believe that Romans chapter 12 verse 15 is a very powerful verse and it

can apply to your side of the street check out what it says

so much as is possible on your side of the street

this is my paraphrase live at peace with everyone

live at peace with everyone you are born again

you've received that new life from above you've received the gift of peace to be

an ambassador of peace in your relationships to the people around you and so I'm going to tell you this as

well now before we jump into verse 4 and 5 here

um and that's what it really is some of you maybe this teaching

could be distant to you like born again maybe that there's associations attached

to that you know what is that and so perhaps there's still a little disconnect for some of you

well I want you to know this there wasn't there was a disconnect for Nicodemus too

check out what he says he's like this how can a man be born when he is old

can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born maybe this is a representation of in

some way shape or form where you're at like what is what does this really mean but Jesus has these words to say

truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot

enter the kingdom of God and so what does Jesus mean when he says

water and he says the spirit Scholars are pretty much in Unity on the

spirit right we receive the gift of the spirit into our lives but then there's a

lot of debate about what does Jesus mean by water like what is the water about

but here's what I would ask you is what what usage does Jesus have with

water in the New Testament in our church

yeah it's okay to say it you got this Neil said it say it louder baptism

so the New Testament also ties in water in the spirit in regards to baptism as

well so this is Titus 3 verse 5. let's just look at it one more time it says he

saved us not because of Works done by us in righteousness but according to his own Mercy by the washing that's a

washing with water of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit and I also want you to know this

the church fathers for the first 400 years of the church were unanimous

on these understandings of these passages and then here it's very explicit Acts 2 38 this is Peter's first

sermon on the day of Pentecost where the church was born he responded to the crowds and he said

these words repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the

Forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and then here it is for you who have

children living in your home look at what it says for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who

are far off everyone whom the Lord Our God calls to himself and so what I would

tell you is this when you received the gift of holy baptism into your life

Paul says your old self was buried but your new self Was Made Alive

he said you became dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ sounds a lot

like Born Again doesn't it and so check this out Paul also says

this you who are baptized you have Union with

the resurrected Jesus Christ the same Jesus that was raised from the

dead that we celebrate his victory every Easter you have physical and spiritual union

with Jesus who lives in you and so this is the same Jesus who is

raised from the dead by the glory of the father this is the same Jesus who is

raised from the dead and death no longer has dominion over him Jesus who is Made Alive to the father

you are connected to that risen Jesus Christ

so this is why at our church baptism is a huge deal

we spend a lot of time uh if there's a family that's like hey I want to get I want my baby or my child to receive this

gift we do a lot of emphasis on what this means this isn't just like hey I

want my child to get a blessing make sure they go to heaven this is much deeper than that this is death to sin of the old self and

you life by the power of the Risen Jesus to bring Resurrection unto life now

Big Time stuff if you're out there and

you have been baptized and you know the promises of the Lord I just pray that

you know the power of your new birth In this passage of scripture I pray that you would see the power of it for your

life but there may be some of you that might say this this morning

I've been baptized but all of this seems kind of

Divine and distant kind of just seems a little distant from me and from my mind right now

I can relate I was baptized as a baby but then subsequent to it I didn't get a

lot of teaching Jesus says Go Make Disciples by baptizing and teaching right

not just baptism only but baptizing in teaching

so in my life as I look back on it spiritually I believe I was starved to death

I didn't get the nourishment spiritually that I needed and so I believe I was starved to death

but this next story that I'm going to dive into with you became my story

and I pray that this story that I'm going to dive into would be your story and you would know that you would have

an appetite for the word of God again and you would be drawn to it look at what Jesus says in this story Luke

chapter 15 it's the parable of the lost son who wanders away

indulges in sinful living indulges in Rebellion but then God convicts him

and this is what he says I will arise and go to my father

and I will say to him father I have sinned against heaven and before you I

am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants

and he arose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion

and ran and embraced him and kissed him and the son said to him

father I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your

son but the father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe and put it

on him and put a ring on his hand and choose on his feet and bring the fat and calf and kill it

and let us eat and celebrate

the son realized that he was lost and he needed to come home

the son realized I need to come to the end of doing it my way and I'm going to surrender to my

father's way repentance is a return home

to the father it's going back to your father to get the new life

and did you see what the father says there wasn't like this long rebuke and

teaching moment but rather it was [Music]

put the best clothes on him let's give him the best food

and let's celebrate let's have a party for my son was dead

but he's alive again he was lost but now he's found

the father welcomes all With Arms Wide Open and he receives anyone who withdraw

near to him and believe and so

do you long for that new world where there's no more death

where there's no more Mourning there's no more suffering no more crying

where there's no more pain do you long for a world where there's no Brokenness in your family

and there's perfect peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

Jesus says these words you must be born again to enter the

kingdom of God and that new life that you received

gives you power from above while you are here below

to be an ambassador of his peace to others and to be an ambassador of his hope to

those who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit

and now May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding may he guards your heart may he guard your mind

through faith in Jesus Christ amen