“Born Again” (John 3:1-8)

Conversion Stories

Conversion stories always inspire us. One of my favorite conversion stories is Charles Spurgeon’s conversion. His nickname was “Prince of Preachers.” His preaching and ministry still impacts the world today. But until his conversion, for years he remained under deep conviction of sin. One Sunday morning in January 1850 because of a snow storm he was not able to go to his home church. Instead, he had to go to a Primitive Methodist church near his home. That morning the minister did not come. He was snowed up. But one lay speaker went up into the pulpit to preach. The text was Isaiah 45:22, “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” At the end of the sermon the preacher looked at Spurgeon and said, “Young man, you look very miserable.” And he continued, “and you always will be miserable—miserable in life, and miserable in death—if you don't obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.” Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live.” Spurgeon describes his conversion as follows: “‘Look!’ What a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to HIM.” What a beautiful and powerful conversion story it is!

In today’s text we find another wonderful conversion story. The story of Nicodemus’ conversion. Outwardly, Nicodemus was a privileged Pharisee, a respected ruler of the Jews, and a knowledgeable Bible teacher. But inwardly, he was spiritually bankrupt. He always studied and taught about God. But ironically, he never experienced God. He followed all kinds of religious rules and duties faithfully for life, but there was no joy, no power and no life in his religious life. The harder he tried, the more frustrated he became. But then, he saw Jesus. He was different. Jesus had something that he did not have. One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, how can I be saved?” This is the most important question in life. Today Jesus shows Nicodemus and us the scripture way of salvation.

Know Thyself!

As soon as Nicodemus comes to Jesus, Jesus gets right to the point. He says, “I tell you the truth, unless a person is born again, it’s impossible to see the kingdom of God!” Nicodemus thought that if he stopped doing one or two bad things, and took up two or three good others, then he became a good Christian. We think that to be a Christian is just to be a little bit better than we are now. But Jesus is saying, “No! You are incapable. Your nature is wrong!” (cf. Rom 8:7-8) John Calvin rightly commented, “By the word ‘born again’ Jesus means not the amendment of a part but the renewal of the whole nature. Hence it follows that there is nothing in us that is not defective.” That is why we need to be born again. Our nature is opposed to the truth of God, and therefore we need entirely new one. The only cure, the only way to be saved is to be born again.

Nicodemus was honest. He didn’t pretend everything ok. He cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Help me!” Other Pharisees must have felt exactly the same as Nicodemus did. They knew something was wrong. But they pretended everything ok. So Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:31-32). Genesis 1:2 describes the state of the earth before creation. But symbolically it also describes our state of mind before the Word comes. It says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” Our hearts and minds were formless, barren, empty, and we were darkness! But when the Word came, “Let there be light!” our life became orderly and meaningful, and we became light! So the very first step to be a born-again Christian is to admit our spiritual state. We are broken. We are blind. We are sick. We are sinful. We are helpless. We are powerless. We are hopeless. We are darkness! We must cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!” This should be our prayer.

Come to the Light!

Nicodemus exactly knew his own desperate spiritual state. Not only did he know himself, but also he boldly came to the light. This is the second step to be born again. Nicodemus did not back down. He came to the light. He came to Jesus! And Jesus exactly knew what Nicodemus needed most and said directly, “You must be born again.” But Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus said. So he asked, “What does it mean by that?” So Jesus expounded further and said, “You must be born of water and the Spirit.” In the Old Testament, water and Spirit are easily joined as the life-giving gifts of God. (cf. Isa 44:3) But, Nicodemus still didn’t get it. So Jesus used the analogy of wind to explain the mysterious regenerating work of God through the Holy Spirit. The wind analogy reminds us of Ezekiel 37, the vision of the valley of dry bones. The Spirit of God leads Ezekiel to the middle of a valley of bones. There are tons of bones, and they are very dry. God asks him, “Can these bones alive?” Ezekiel answers, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” God says, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord!’” So Ezekiel prophesies. The bones come together, bone to bone. Tendons and flesh appear on them. Skin covers them. And God says to him, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, O the Spirit of God, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.” Ezekiel prophesies, and the breath enters them. The bones, the slain come to life and stand up on their feet, a vast army. We are dry bones. We are the slain, but when the Spirit of God enters us, we come to life and become a vast army. This is what it means to be born of water and the Spirit.  

The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is mysterious. We don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. But one thing we do know. The wind exists. Some people have dramatic conversion experience. So they have clear testimony, and they remember the exact hour when they were saved. But others have gradual conversion experience. They don’t know the exact hour when they were saved. They have several turning points. Each of us has our own unique conversion story. But we must have one thing in common. We must come to Jesus and believe in him. If you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior,” then you are born of the Spirit (Rom 10:10), because the Bible says, “Except by the Holy Spirit, no one cay say, “Jesus is Lord!” (1Co 12:3).

Remain in the Light!

The third step to be a “born again” Christian is to remain in the light. Falling in love is rather easy. But staying in love requires sacrifice! One rich young man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?” And Jesus said, “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Then come, follow me!” When the young man heard this, he went away sad. He came to the light, but he could not stay in the light. He went back to the darkness. Once we come to the light, we have to choose between the two. We have to choose either to keep up or to retreat back into the dark. Nicodemus chooses to keep up. To remain in the light is a joyful experience, but at the same time, it is a painful experience. It is an experience of death to self and to the world. Once Nicodemus used to enjoy privilege, honor, and comforts of life. But when he resolved to remain in the light, he had to give up all those things. When the Pharisees criticized Jesus, Nicodemus had to defend Jesus and said, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” (John 7:51) And he lost his old friends. Later on, after Jesus was crucified, no one dared ask to take his body away. But Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus boldly revealed their identity and asked for Jesus’ body (19:39). Nicodemus risked his life to remain in the light.

To remain in the light is an experience of “dying to self.” When the prodigal son came back, his father had a big party for him. It was definitely a joyful feast, but at the same time, it was a painful place for the son. He must have felt that he was sitting on pins and needles. Imagine that all his family, relatives, friends and elders of the town came to see him and say to his father, “Oh, let me see. Your prodigal son came back?” For the son, the party was the place to shed tears of repentance. It is the experience of death to self. When we resolve to remain in the light, our sinful nature, self-centeredness, vulnerability, weakness, wickedness, and all the darkness are exposed. And we become so embarrassed, and we are tempted to hide and retreat back to the dark. But we must resolve to remain in the light because this is the only way that leads to life.

Life by the Spirit

What does it mean to be born again? In Ezekiel 47 God gives us an answer through the vision of the living water. The water was coming from the temple. At first, it was ankle-deep. God measured off another thousand cubits. It was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand. It was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but it was now over his head. The water was the life-giving Spirit. Wherever the water did flow everything became alive. To be born again is to be flooded under water, not just ankle-deep, not just knee-deep, not just waist-deep, but over the head. Now the water is in control. The Spirit of God is in control of us. This is what it means to be born again. This is what it means to be born of water and the Spirit. Are you born again? Apostle Paul says, “I die everyday. I mean it!” (1Co 15:31) This morning I want you to join me in confessing with a sincere heart: “Lord, I die to self everyday. I live by the Spirit everyday. And Lord, lead me in the way everlasting!” Amen.