John 3:1-21 in the ESV Bible says, “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 a man be born 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 the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said 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 is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you 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 to 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. 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be to everyone. I am happy to meet everyone again! Today, we will discuss part 6 of the series, the Gospel of rebirth.

What is a true Christian? He is neither someone who attends church service from young nor one who is already baptized. He is also not one who agrees with Christian doctrines or regards Christianity as a more noble religion. Apostle John gives us a clear definition that a true Christian is one who is reborn. In other words, those who attend church service, agree with Christian doctrines and enjoy Christian fellowship may not necessarily be Christians as they may not have been born again. What does it mean to be reborn? This is our lesson for today. We are going to talk about Gospel of rebirth. 

Old Testament religious leaders came to seek and follow Jesus

In John 3:1-21, it mentioned about a Pharisee who came to see Jesus at night. His name was Nicodemus. What kind of person was he? He had a unique identity for he was a Pharisee who was passionate about Jewish laws and the orthodox religion. In modern day language, he was a religious fundamentalist because Pharisees were against the Roman rule. They were conservative about religion and held fast to the Old Testament laws in The Bible.

It was also mentioned that Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. We know that the Jews had a council which handled civilian affairs. It would deal with all kinds of unresolvable civilian issues so people at the council were like judges. Here, Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews because he was a member of the council. This was his second identity. 

He had a third identity. He was addressed as the teacher of Israel. The article ‘the’, not ‘a’ was used to describe ‘teacher’. It implied that he was a highly respected teacher. He was so familiar with the Old Testament laws that his teachings were renowned. Thus, he was called the teacher of Israel.

The writer of this passage seemed to intentionally inform the readers that Nicodemus was a person who represented the Old Testament religion. Hailing from such a background, Nicodemus was someone with good knowledge of religious doctrines and the ability to teach others the laws. However, he still needed Jesus as he was not reborn. He clearly understood that he had some inner needs or inadequacies which could not be satisfied with his own effort so he came to seek Jesus.

Why did he come to see Jesus at night? There were a few possibilities. Firstly, he was too busy in the day. It was difficult for Nicodemus or Jesus to take time to sit down together and have a slow and good discussion. Therefore, after he had finished his work, he came to see Jesus at night. This is also the scenario of modern people. Secondly, a reason with greater possibility, it was out of fear that Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night. He was a Pharisee. If he came to see Jesus openly in the daytime, it would draw criticisms from the Jews, the Pharisees or people in the council as the Pharisees were dissatisfied with Jesus and a lot of conservative Jews criticized Jesus and rejected Him. This point was proven when he became a secret follower of Jesus. We can see the name of Nicodemus in John 7:50 and John 19:39 who had later believed in Jesus Christ.

When Nicodemus came to seek Jesus, he praised Jesus right from the start. This showed that he had some knowledge about Jesus. He said, “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.” (verse 2 in the Bible). The students would call the teacher “Rabbi” out of respect. Nicodemus was quite generous when addressing Jesus in this way. Why? It was because he himself was a great rabbi in Judaism but he addressed Jesus as the teacher instead. Besides, Jesus had not acquired any former qualification of rabbi so Nicodemus addressed Him as a rabbi out of respect. Moreover, he said that Jesus was “a teacher who came from God” (verse 2a). The reason was because from the perceptions of Nicodemus and others, Jesus could only do these miracles if God was with Him. He saw the uniqueness of Jesus which the average rabbi or teacher did not have so he came to see Jesus.

Jesus’ answer was strange as He did not respond in the normal courteous way saying things like, “Thank you for your address.” Instead, Jesus answered without any relevant question from Nicodemus. He simply told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” It was because Jesus knew the purpose of Nicodemus’ visit at night – he had an urgent spiritual need which could neither be found in the laws nor be satisfied in his religion. It was pertaining to the question of eternity. Therefore, Jesus went straight to the issue. He told him, “You must be reborn. One can only enter heaven when he is reborn.” 

What is this ‘reborn’ about?

Why did Jesus say, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God?” What does it refer to? In the original Hebrew, ‘reborn’ is understood to be ‘born from above’. It points to ‘another special experience other than the physical birth.’ In other words, this special reborn experience is from heaven and is supernatural. If a person’s physical birth is from his parents, it is a life of corruption inherited from Adam’s flesh. It is a sinful life. He knows good and evil in the logic reasoning but cannot make the right choices in life according to his will. Just like Paul said in Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Such a life cannot enter the kingdom of God and see it. Thus, our lives need to be ‘born again from above’ when Jesus said, “You must be born again.”

Nicodemus could not understand what Jesus had said and was astounded. As an orthodox and religious Jew who adhered to the laws strictly, as well as a circumcised professional religious leader, Nicodemus must have thought that he naturally had a part in the future kingdom. However, Jesus insisted that such a person must be born again. How do we respond to Jesus’ call to be born again? 

How to receive a life that is reborn?

Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible clearly tells us in Jeremiah 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Thus, humans cannot depend on themselves. They need to be changed which cannot be brought about by education or knowledge but rather, the whole life has to be transformed. The Bible calls it being reborn, a life that comes from the Holy Spirit.

How can we have a reborn life? According to John 3: 5-8, firstly, this is clearly the work of God. John 1:13 in the ESV Bible says, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” And 1 Peter 1:23 mentioned about the truth in this area, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”  

Dear brothers and sisters, rebirth is not about self-cultivation and transformation through education as those are of the flesh. Those “born of the flesh are from the flesh”. It is also not ‘born of fleshly desires’ or ‘from the will of humans’. Here, it tells us that it is “born of God.”

Therefore, it is the work of God. Nicodemus was startled! Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, “You are the teacher of Israel. Don’t you understand?” It means that “You are a teacher who is good at examining the Old Testament, don’t you understand it?” In the Old Testament, Ezekiel 36:25-27 clearly talks about the new life through cleansing by water and the Holy Spirit. It says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean…And I will give you a new heart...And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” This passage points to the new order in the Messianic era. People will be cleansed and experience new lives. Such an experience has nothing to do with the Jewish traditions, laws, devotion and godliness. It is purely from God’s amazing work.

The New Testament always uses water to symbolise the Word of God. Paul says in Ephesians 5:26 in the ESV Bible, “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” James 1:18 in the ESV Bible says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth.” 1 Peter 1:23 in the ESV Bible says, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” In other words, reborn is accomplished with the cleansing Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters, you need to be reborn. Remember, it is not done through the transformation of environment or education. It is obtained through God’s spirit entering our lives to transform us and give us new lives.

Let us pray together.

Dear heavenly father, we know that Christian faith is unique. You do not transform us through education or morality. You work in us through our human nature because it is corrupted. Our lives are in bondage of sin because of the sins that Adam had committed. We cannot extricate ourselves from it. We have a tendency to sin and be controlled by sins. However, today, we are born again through the Holy Spirit. New lives have sprung up in us so that we have the strength to resist our old lives. Therefore, we live new lives to witness for you and glorify your name. We thank the Lord for giving us the Gospel for rebirth. In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.