Our God and Father, we come before you this Lord's
Day and this Lenten season to thank you for how
you have always provided for us. So we ask you
now to grant us ears that truly hear, minds that
truly understand, and hearts that joyfully obey
you. And so in keeping, let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable
in your sight for the sake of our dear Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen. We're going through our Lectionary
readings and preaching through our gospel readings
today. We are with John chapter 3. Let us hear
God's word 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 from God For no one can
do these signs that you do unless God is with
it Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly
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, Most assuredly 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 the
sound of it, but it cannot tell where it comes
from or where it goes. So is everyone who is
born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said
to him, How can these things be? answered and
said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and
do not know these things? Most assuredly I say
to you, we speak what we do not know and we testify
what we have seen and you do not receive our
witness. If I have told you earthly things and
you do not believe, how will you believe if I
tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended
to heaven, but he who came down from heaven,
that is the Son of Man, who is in heaven. And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
and even so the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is
not condemned, but he who does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation that the light has
come into the world, and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and
does not come to the light, lest his deeds be
exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the
light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that
they have been done in God." These are the words
of Almighty God. Receive them in your hearts.
There's three things that I want you to think
about as we go through the passage today. First
of all, God is the God of new beginnings. And
everybody in here said, praise God. Am I right?
God is the God of new beginnings. Second, we
must be born from above. We must be born from
above. And finally, Jesus departed heaven that
we might be saved. Jesus departed heaven that
we might be saved. I would like to remind everyone
here today that when you hear all the readings
that we do on a Sunday, They are all linked together.
Centuries ago, people in the church saw the ability
to put together a set of readings called lectionary
readings. And they're all linked. And I'll be
honest. Sometimes when I read them, I go on because
I read them each day of the week in preparation
for Sunday. And I'll start reading them. And
sometimes I'm like, oh, yeah, I see how it all
fits together. Other times I look at it and I
go. Well, I don't know what it was they were
thinking But you keep studying and you keep looking
and reading and you begin to see The great wisdom
that God has provided for us in his church You
know in our lives we often live within our experiences
and instincts When we find ourselves in new situations,
we make assumptions about many things It's like
a small boy who was walking on the beach with
his dad The boy runs ahead and falls into a pool
of water and the boy begins to panic because
his father is not right there to pull him up
out of the water. He begins to flail around and
the boy desperately reaches out for his father,
splashing about. He's so noisy that he could
not hear the voice of his father. Or maybe if
you remember the old Charlie Brown story, wah,
wah, wah, wah, right? He can't hear, though,
because he is so busy doing his instinctive thing.
I've got to preserve myself. I've got to reach
for my father. Finally, the boy does manage to
hear his father's voice. Stand up. The boy continues
to thrash about. And the father declares, stand
up. The boy then attempts to stand up, and he
finds that he stands up with ease, and that he
is standing in water that is only to his knees.
You know, many people love the universality of
John 3 .16. That is, God so loved the world,
but they hate the particularity of John 3 .16.
That is, that through Jesus, the Son of God,
the world is saved. They want God to love the
world, but they don't want to love Jesus and
submit themselves to the simplicity of calling
upon the Son of God to be saved. There's a simplicity
to calling on and believing in Jesus to be saved.
Many think their lives are complicated. You think
that about yourself? Do you think that you're
so sophisticated, that your life has so many
difficulties and angles against you, than to
turn to Jesus? And so, for the important, for
the prideful, for those who think they are above
the simple, they believe that they must be saved
by whatever means they as an individual deem
as fit. Our passage in John 3 brings to bear
God's point that it is in Jesus only that one
can be saved. Jesus is truly the only way, the
only truth, and the only life. Life in the first
Adam is simply frustratingly leading to nothing
but death. Like a person who's been bitten by
a fiery serpent a poisonous serpent unless the
person looks to the cross Death is fast approaching
No matter if we attempt to live our lives and
what we think is normal or our regular routines
That poison we've been bitten you can't continue
on you are definitely going to die We see that
Nicodemus in our passage comes to Jesus at night.
Some have suggested that Nicodemus came by the
cover of night so that he would not be embarrassed
or discovered talking to Jesus. I don't think
it's that at all. I think we see later, just
a few chapters later, Nicodemus defends Jesus
to the Sanhedrin. Now they ignore him. We also
see at the end of Jesus's ministry when he dies
that Nicodemus is there requesting for Jesus's
body No, Nicodemus is not an unfaithful or doubting
Jew He is likely meeting Jesus at night because
Jesus has swarmed during the day. We read that
all over the place, right? The crowds come in
You see he comes at night when Jesus has a little
time And because it was common to sit on the
roof at night, in the cool, and relax, and have
long conversations. I don't think that Nicodemus's
interaction is just this short little passage.
This is what the Holy Spirit wants us to hear.
But I'm pretty certain that Nicodemus was there.
I mean, if you were there with Jesus, would you
come to your two questions and then get out?
I think not. As a matter of fact, Nicodemus declares
his faith in Jesus as a godly rabbi. He says
this, rabbi, we know, so there's him and some
others, that you are a teacher come from God.
For no one can do these signs that you do unless
God is with him. Now, I certainly think that
the gospels, as we find them in the scriptures,
are written in chronological order. In other
words, the way we see them, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
then John, that is the order in which the gospels
were written. But if we want to just narrow it
down to John, we've got to say, well, what signs
is he talking about? So we see in John 1, we
learn of the eternal creator son in whom there
is life, and that that life is the light of men.
and the light that shines in darkness, and the
darkness didn't comprehend it. So we know that
Jesus is revealed as the light to the world.
And we know that John the Baptizer came before
Him proclaiming His coming. In chapter 2, we
find that Jesus is commissioned in His baptism,
and He calls His disciples. We also find in John
2, Jesus' first miracle. That is where he takes
these stone pots made for ceremonial washing.
They fill them up so they can ceremonially wash
people, particularly the dust off their feet.
And he transforms those waters into wine. What
is wine? Wine is glorified water. You want to
understand that better? I worked at a vineyard.
We can talk later. But Jesus presides over the
water to make glorified water. Chapter two of
John continues, and we see that Jesus is in Jerusalem
for the Passover, and he cleanses the temple
for the first time. You know, this is priestly
duty. That's what he was ordained for in his
baptism to be the priest, to be the right and
true high priest, the final high priest. And
part of his duty cleans dirty houses. So he goes
and does his priestly duty to cleanse the temple
from all the unclean and ceremonially dead things
John 2 ends saying that many believed the signs
that Jesus did They believed in the sign, but
they didn't believe in him It says this though
it ends chapter 2 ends with this but Jesus did
not commit himself to them those people that
just believed in his signs But because he knew
all men and he had no need that anyone should
testify of man For he knew what was in man. He
understood the duplicity that our sin does to
us Jesus did not trust in men's acknowledgement
of who he was He knew what was in the hearts
of men Jesus rather trusted in the words of his
father who declared Jesus as his son in whom
I am well pleased. It is with these signs that
Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling
council of Israel, declares that Jesus is teaching
and doing all these signs because God has sent
him. Jesus, of course, is unfazed to have a member
of the ruling council and a teacher Actually
the teacher of Israel before him Jesus refers
to him as the teacher So it's probably that he
is one of the prominent teachers of Israel Jesus
provide this God -fearing Jew the understanding
of the fulfillment of God's salvation to the
world Now of course Nicodemus knew the Old Testament
after all he was a teacher of Israel and so he
knew that God was the God of new beginnings.
After all, there was a new beginning after the
flood. In our Old Testament reading today from
Genesis 12, we heard of God's call to Abraham.
God called Abraham to a new beginning. A new
beginning that the word says would bring blessing
to such an extent that all the kindreds, nations,
and families of the world would be blessed. Nicodemus
knew there was a new beginning at Sinai where
God establishes covenant people He knew that
there were so many new beginnings for the people
of Israel because they continually were unfaithful
and then they would fall into God's gracious
judgments and Then Israel would call upon the
name of the Lord God would then lovingly redeem
and restore them into another new beginning Israel
at the time of Christ and once again fallen into
coven grievous covenant breaking sin and So we
heard first from John the baptizer and then later
Jesus that the kingdom of heaven is in hand that
the acts of God is laid to the root of the tree
of Israel and When we think of that tree being
chopped down and the new beginnings found the
tree being chopped off in judgment we hear Isaiah
11 there shall come forth a rod from the stem
or root or stump of Jesse and a branch shall
grow out of its roots the spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him remember the spirit came
down on Jesus the spirit of wisdom and understanding
and the spirit of counsel and might the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord His
delight is in the fear of the Lord and he shall
not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide
by the hearing of his ears But with righteousness
he shall judge the poor and this word poor here
could be very well understood as the humble and
contrite Because the next verse goes on and says
this and He will decide with equity for the meek
of the earth He shall strike the earth with a
rod of his mouth And with the breath of his lips,
he shall slay the wicked. So here we see Jesus
is bringing the new and final beginning. From
the root of the foundation of all the promises
of God to redeem his people, Jesus is fulfilling
and completing this work. All these promises
that God made, all the way from the Garden of
Eden until that time. and even now is fulfilled
in Jesus. Now Jesus declares this new beginning
in verse three. Jesus answered and said to him,
most assuredly I say to you, unless one be 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? And Jesus answered, Most assuredly,
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. Now children, everybody look up here.
I stopped by all the Sunday school classes this
morning and spoke to you briefly. All right,
you remember that? I said, pay attention or take
notes. Right that one of the reasons that your
Sunday school classes go over the readings and
particularly the younger ones the gospel readings
So we're hoping that your your family at home
will read those readings with you in the week
You get it again in Sunday school, and then you
hear it in this worship service We're trying
to drive something home to you Children are you?
Because here's something very important in this
text Jesus says most assuredly That's not really
a very good translation. What Jesus is actually
saying, if you look at what he said, it is amen
and amen. Now, I have a question. At the end
of our service, children, what do we sing? We
sing the threefold what? Say it out loud for
me. I can't hear you. Amen, the threefold amen.
Right after you receive that blessing that I
sing, right? Right why do you think you sing
the threefold amen? Because the word amen means
let it be so Let it be so let it be fulfilled
so you are responding to that blessing that I'm
giving you Right I sing it Representing Christ
to you, and then you respond let it be so God
let it be so That's what you're singing with
that threefold amen and Jesus here is saying
This. Amen and amen. Let it be fulfilled. Let
it be fulfilled. So he's saying. Here's the new
beginning. Let it be fulfilled. He is transitioning
from the old creation to the new creation. Now
Nicodemus understood his status as a son of Abraham.
He was found that way in the flesh and the covenant
and all the sacrifices. So what is Jesus doing?
He's going to be the fulfillment and deliver
him from the sin found in the flesh. He's delivering
them from all the old covenant ceremonial rules.
And he's the final sacrifice doing away with
all the other sacrifices. Now, this phrase, born
again, again, is something that's been very popular
in the United States since the 1970s, probably
popularized by a book called Born Again by Chuck
Colson. Again, we have another thing looking
at how this is translated. This phrase everywhere
else except for this one is translated as born
from above, born from above. Above. This is important.
God's distinction here, of course, you see that
there's some confusion by Nicodemus, because
how do you go back in your mother's womb? You
can't do that. But you see, born of above. Remember
at creation how the waters above from the waters
below are divided? But even before that, what
happens? The waters are there. And who is hovering
over the waters? The spirit. is hovering over
the waters. What happens from the spirit hovering
over the waters? As we go through the days of
creation, the land, the dirt, comes up out of
the waters. Who's made out of the dirt? Adam.
We are. That's part of why we say at the very
end of all things, we do a funeral. If you go
to the grave side, dust to dust, earth to earth.
We return to these things. But it was there,
the spirit. And so by the spirit, the land sprung
forth and the waters. And on the sixth day, Adam
was made out of the dust of the ground and given
the very breath of life from God. The first Adam's
sin brought death into creation. And all through
the Old Testament, we read. of God using water
to cleanse ceremonial death from his people.
We see it in Numbers 8, Numbers 19, Numbers 31,
all of this getting rid of the ceremony. If you
did something that made your ceremony unclean,
you were dead and not able to enter into the
sanctuary, the place where God was. And so you
had to go and be washed. The water was poured
over you. But we especially see this in Ezekiel
where God describes a new people by the spirit
and water Ezekiel chapter 36 says this for I
will take You from among the nations and gather
you out of all countries and bring you into your
own land Then I will sprinkle clean water on
you and you shall be clean. I Will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols
Will give you a new heart and put on put a new
spirit within you I will take the heart of stone
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh
I will put my spirit within you and cause you
to walk in my statutes And you will keep my judgments
and do them So Nicodemus was familiar and I understood
the cleansing from ceremonial death by water
And Jesus is declaring that the work of the Spirit
in the waters of baptism, bringing about being
born from above. The kingdom of heaven cannot
be entered into unless a man is a new creation
by the water and Spirit. Otherwise, a person
is only born by flesh, which is an atom, and
it is already doomed by the poison of the fiery
serpent. Jesus tells Nicodemus do not marvel
that I have said to you you must be born again
He's saying do not stand in all and Wonder now
this again you've heard me talk about this before
But if you're you're new I want to remind you
of all this That many times in the Greek and
the New Testament There are two kinds of use
There's the singular you There's the plural you
if you had a old King James Bible it would say
ye for the plural one So we actually have two
different types of use here Jesus says the Nicodemus
he says don't stand in awe and wonder that you
singular Nicodemus Plural that all y 'all must
be born from above Jesus was pointing out as
he will continue to do that merely being the
biological sons of Abraham does not gain the
people of Israel into the kingdom of heaven All
men including the Jews must receive the Sun by
water and the spirit a new heart Removing the
dead heart of stone and receive a new life with
a new beginning in the flesh and God will give
his people new affections Remember, he said,
I'm going to give you that new heart, and then
what's going to happen? Then you'll be able to
obey my statutes. You'll be able to do what I
had told you to do, your statutes and your judgments.
You'll be able to walk in them. Now, for the
unbeliever, the law brings death. Romans 7 tells
us, for when we were in the flesh, the sinful
passions which were aroused by the law were at
work in our members to bear the fruit of death.
But now, having been delivered from the law,
having died to what we were held by, so that
we should serve in the newness of the Spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter or the letter
of the law. Jesus brought us to a new beginning
when he, like Abraham, left his home in heaven
and came in faith, proven by faithful obedience
to his father. So Jesus left heaven. not just
obedience, but also in faith, believing that
he will obey his father and then go and do his
father's will and bring deliverance to the world.
Jesus is that promise that was given to Abraham
in Genesis 12. Read this now with Jesus in mind.
I will make you a great nation. I will bless
you and make your name great. What does God the
Father say to Jesus? In Psalm 2, if you ask,
I'll give the nations to you as an inheritance.
And you shall be a blessing. Is Jesus a blessing?
And I will bless those that bless you. And I
will curse him who curses you. And all the families
of the earth shall be blessed. In who? Well,
in the fulfillment of the promises God made to
Abraham in Jesus. Jesus once again declares children
are you listening? Jesus again declares most
assuredly so that is amen amen so be it may it
be fulfilled That he will be lifted up as Moses
lifted up the bronze serpent During the wilderness
days of the people of Israel What happened there
Israel was short with God they were impatient
in God's provision and So they sin and vexed
God greatly Are you ever... Are you ever impatient
with God's provision for you? Are you ever impatient
for how He is working in your life? For the challenges
and trials He lays in your life? Don't be surprised
when fiery serpents come your way. They are the
judgments and the grace of God. Now Moses lifted
up that bronze serpent and all who looked up
believing in God received healing and all those
who down and Look up what happened to them? Many
died For all the reasons that they could conjure
up No, it can't be so simple as to look to that
bronze cross that dag on Moses who brought us
out here to die I don't care of all the proof
that God has put in my life to show me that He
is God, that He is the one to deliver, that He
is the one to bring grace and mercy. I don't
care about that. God, I'm calling into question
your sovereign provision for me. They wouldn't
do the simple thing and believe God in His mercy
and grace. so they perished in their unbelief.
Dearly beloved, the simple thing to do is this,
to hear the words of God found in Christ Jesus,
and believe God's promises, and so not perish,
but have everlasting life. And it's in this context
that we hear, for God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him should not perish. that have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. Dearly
beloved, Jesus departed from heaven to bring
a new beginning that we would be saved, having
been born from above by water and the Spirit.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you
would surely grant us comfort in the work of
your Son Jesus on the cross. We thank you for
sending Jesus, for bestowing your Spirit upon
us in the cleansing waters, and having granted
us a new heart. We ask you to help us, O Lord,
to follow Jesus and complete the good works that
you have prepared for us to do. We ask all this
for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who reigns with you in the Holy Spirit. World
without end.