Born Again: The Greatest Spiritual Accomplishment

Understanding the concept of being born again is crucial for experiencing the kingdom of God.

Jesus explains that being born again is necessary for seeing and experiencing the kingdom of God.

The process of being born again involves being born of water and the Spirit.

Fear of man can hold people back from making wise decisions for Christ and experiencing eternal life.

Music Music Today, we are going to speak about probably one of the most important subjects that is so very vital to every human being on this earth. This message is entitled, Mankind's Most Outstanding Need in Life is to Be Born Again. We are going to begin this word by looking at probably the best explanation of being born again in John's Gospel, beginning in John 1, verse 1. teacher, for no one can do these signs, these wonderful works and miracles, and produce the proofs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again, anew from above, he can never see, know, be acquainted with, and experience the kingdom of God. Verse 4, Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born? Jesus answered, I assure you most solemnly, I tell you, unless a man is born of water and even the spirit, he cannot ever enter the kingdom of God. What is born of from the flesh is born is physical, and what is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not, do not be surprised or astonished at my telling you. You must all be born anew from above. Verse 8. The wind blows, breathes where it will, and though you hear it sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered by asking, How can all this be possible? Jesus replied, fuse our evidence, that of myself and all those who are born of the Spirit. Verse 12. If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth, and yet none of you believe me, how can you believe and trust and adhere to rely on me if I tell you of heavenly things? And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man himself, who dwells in as his home in heaven. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert on a pole, so must it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up on the cross, in order that everyone who believes in him, who cleaves to him, trusts and relies on him, may not perish, but have eternal life and actually live forever. Verse 16. For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that he even gave his only begotten unique son, so that whoever believes in, trusts, clings to, relies on him, shall not perish. Verse 16, For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that he even gave up his only begotten unique Son, so that whoever believes in, trusts in, relies on him, shall not perish, come to destruction, or be lost, but have eternal everlasting life. 17. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge, to reject, to condemn, and pass sentence on the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through him. You see, this timid, anxious man, Nicodemus, was ashamed and afraid to confess Jesus openly in spite of his convictions and the reality of Jesus' mission that he was indeed the Messiah who was the prophesied one to come. Joseph of Arimathea was as well a secret disciple of Jesus as was Nicodemus. They feared the authorities and were afraid of losing their positions in life, so they came out in the dark to talk with Jesus and to take him down from the cross and bury him. Fear of man will hold many back from making wise decisions for Christ. Proverbs 29.25 declares, The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high. Jesus came to this earth with a divine mission. In verse 3 of our opening scripture, Jesus told Nicodemus, I assure you most solemnly, I tell you, unless a person is born again anew from above, he cannot ever see, be acquainted with, and experience the kingdom of God. Jesus' mission was a divine mission of benevolence and goodness that carried the blessing of eternal life for all the whomsoever's would choose him as their hope of glory. Wherever Jesus went, some of the Pharisees tried to be present, so they endeavored to ensnare or catch him in something he said or did In the account of John chapter 9 verse 32 through 41 where Jesus healed the man who was born blind, the Pharisees threw the blind man out of the synagogue because he defended Jesus by saying in verse 32, Since the beginning of time, It has never been heard that anyone open the eyes of a man born blind. And if this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything like this. They retorted, You were wholly born in sin from head to foot, and do you presume to teach us? So they cast him out, threw him clear outside the synagogue. Verse 35 Jesus heard that they had put him out. And meeting him, he said, Do you believe in and adhere to the Son of Man or the Son of God? He answered, Who is he, sir? Tell me that I may believe in and adhere to him. Verse 37, Jesus said to him, You have seen him. In fact, he's talking to you right now. 38, He called out, Lord, I believe, I rely on, I trust, I cleave to you. and he worshipped him. Then Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment, as a separator, in order that there may be separation between those who believe on me and those who reject me, to make the sightless see and to make those who do see become blind. Verse 40. Some Pharisees who were near, hearing this remark to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But because now you claim to have sight, your sin remains. And if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But because you insist, we do see clearly, you are unable to escape your guilt. Jesus purposely ended his conversation with regard to spiritual blindness. Did you catch that? The real purpose for our precious Lord's coming was for the purpose of the salvation of mankind. But we see also that the result of his coming was the condemnation of those who refused to believe. They preferred to remain spiritually blind. How sad for them! The religious leaders were blind and would not admit it, so therefore the light of the truth only made them all the more blind than they were before. The blind man admitted his need of his Savior, and he received both physical and spiritual sight. The Pharisees, who were listening to what Jesus was saying, were disturbed by what he was saying, and they asked, are we blind also? They were really expecting a negative answer here. Jesus had already called them blind leaders of the blind, so they had their answer. They were blinded by their pride and self-righteousness by their tradition and their false interpretation of the precious word of God. Jesus' reply was a mystery to these people when he said, if you were blind, you would be better off, but you claim to see, therefore you are guilty. Their blindness would have at least been an excuse for not knowing what was going on, but they did know, and therefore they were guilty of their sin of deception for themselves and the great deception and blindness they caused for others who followed and listened to them. Jesus had performed many mighty miracles, and these religious people ignored the evidence and the works that would define the Messiah who had come when Jesus walked upon the earth. They were jealous and schemed to kill the Son of God. Jesus is the light of the world, and only people who cannot see the light of life are the ones who are blind. The same kind of people are in the church today. They refuse to see themselves as spiritually blind. The man born blind was both physically blind and spiritually blind. Yet Jesus opened his physical eyes and the eyes of his spirit to see the light of truth. The reason for this blind beggar's success is because he listened to the word and believed it. He obeyed it, and lastly, he experienced the wonderful grace of God at work in his life. The Pharisees obviously had good physical vision because they followed Jesus to find fault with him, but they were spiritually blind because they chose not to believe the one who is called the word of God Almighty. They toyed with God's grace. Had they sincerely listened with the intention of learning the truth, they would have believed on Jesus Christ and would have been born again. The Pharisees saw the blind man who was healed. They could not deny this was the same man who sat by the city gate and begged for years. They saw the awesome works of Jesus throughout his ministry during those three years. Even Nicodemus was impressed with the miracles of the Lord. In John chapter 3, verses 2 and 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miracles and signs that you are doing if God were not with him. In reply, Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Nicodemus had honestly and clearly scrutinized the evidence of the miracles and knew the truth that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. In John 7, verse 17, Jesus declares, If any man desires to do his will, God's pleasure, he will know have the needed illumination to recognize and can tell for himself whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking for myself and of my own accord and on my own authority Jesus is in effect saying, if anyone has an honest and sincere desire to obey God, it will lead him or her in the divine ability to embrace the holy doctrines of the Bible. So also in this endeavor, the individual will find that their heart is corrupted and inclined to do evil, and they will see and feel the truth of the life of depravity that they have had or are living. The eyes of one's spiritual ears and eyes are being opened here. They will acknowledge that they are a sinner and need to be born again. They will acknowledge their own weakness instead of trying to hide them or use them as an excuse for their failures. And most of all, they will see their need of their precious Savior's pardoning mercy. They feel and know that their life is polluted, and they need the purifying influence of precious Holy Spirit to set them free. It is so true that man never thought the first thing they ever needed before being born again was the need of forgiveness of their sins. In John 3, verses 16-18, the Lord tells us, 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. Verse 18, He who believes in him is not condemned, but he does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. God so loved the world does not mean that God approved of men's conduct but rather that he had kind-hearted feelings towards them and was earnestly desirous of their everlasting life and eternal joy. God hates evil and wickedness but he still desires that all mankind would repent of their sins and come to him who can only forgive them of their sins. God showed his love for the world or all of mankind when he gave his son. The world was in ruin, exposed to the wrath of God. All people were in a hopeless condition without the grace of God and his son Jesus Christ the Messiah. Understand, please, God gave his son. Man had no claim on him. Salvation is a gift, an undeserved gift. Jesus Christ is our salvation. God didn't send salvation to us. He sent his Son, who is our salvation. Jesus was given up to the extreme of suffering, even bitter pain of death on the cross. and his death on the cross was for the entire world. He tasted death for every man. Apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 declares, But we are able to see Jesus, who was ranked lower than angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because of his having suffered death, in order that by the grace, the unmerited favor of God to us sinners, he might experience death for every individual person. Jesus Christ experienced death for every human being. And it was for all the world that he tasted death in order that all the whomsoevers would be born again that they might inherit eternal life. 1 John 2.2 declares he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. It pleased our Heavenly Father to give His Son into the hands of men. Galatians 1.4 declares, Who gave and yielded Himself up to atone for our sins and to save and sanctify us in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order in accordance with the will and the purpose and plan of our God and Father. what Jesus Christ did for all of mankind was a pure act of love it was an expression of eternal compassion and desire that sinners would not perish at the hands of Satan but would have the choice of choosing Christ's generous offer of living forever as an heir of our Savior and Heavenly Father God the Father gave His only begotten Son This is the highest expression of love, dear Church. The depth of this awesome love is that our Heavenly Father was willing to give His only Son for our benefit. His purpose was out of love for us, so that we would not have to live in eternal sorrow and suffering. Our great God put his son in the hands of sinful men, so that he would be slain like an innocent lamb going to the slaughter, so that you and I could become the children of the living God. Again, his purpose was out of love for us, so that we would not have to live in eternal sorrow and suffering in hell. Our being born again and fashioned after the likeness of God is the ground of our heirship. Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 through 7 declares, But when the proper time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born subject to the regulations of the law, to purchase the freedom of ransom to redeem and atone for those who are subject to the law that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us and be recognized as God sons Verse 6 And because you really are his sons God has sent the Holy Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father, Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave, a bond servant, but a son. And if a son, then it follows that you are an heir by the aid of God through Christ. You see, God the Father has sent his Son into the hearts of those who recognize the need, that they needed to be saved from eternal damnation. And their sins became very apparent that they were guilty sinners. They knew in the inner depth of their hearts and souls that they needed a Savior to rescue them from their guilt, their offense against God and man. The moment a man or a woman is born again, they become Christ-centered. We were all self-centered in ourselves with me, myself, and I. Now we have a new protocol to our new life, which is to be centered in Jesus Christ. In Galatians chapter 4, in verse 8, we read, gods that really did not exist. Verse 9, Now, however, that you have come to be acquainted with and understand and know the true God, or rather to be understood and known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly and worthless elementary things of all religions before Christ came, whose slaves you once more want to become? As Paul was preaching to the Galatian church here, He was reprimanding some in the congregation who were turning back to their old lives, centering upon the worthless things that led them back into sinful practices. They turned away from Jesus Christ, who was supposed to be the first and the last focus in their lives now. The new way in Christ is to recreate the old creature into a new creature in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 declares, Therefore, if anyone is engrafted in Christ the Messiah, he is a new creation, a new creature altogether. The old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and the new has come. Hallelujah! A new creature in Christ means being Christ-centered, demonstrating the same ideals, the character and nature of the one who saved us. Paul, in one of his prayers in Philippians 1, verse 5, said, I thank my God for your fellowship, your sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership in advancing the good news, the gospel, from the first day you heard it until now. And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ, right up to the time of his return, developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it into full completion in you. So Paul tells us that this wonderful work is an ongoing process until the Lord Jesus Christ comes to take us home. Our first and foremost call to this wonderful life in Christ is to first admit that we are sinners. Secondly is to ask Jesus Christ for forgiveness and to pardon all of our sins. And thirdly is that we ask Jesus into our lives to help us to live this remarkable call and to live in holiness, which is also called living a life of righteousness. And this is all called being born again. This is our most outstanding and foremost need in life. and it must be understood that we have been given a new life and that we are bound to give account of it one day as we stand before the Lord our Maker. In Luke chapter 12 verses 46 through 48 Jesus declared, The master of that servant will come one day when he does not expect him in the hour of which he does not know and will punish and cut him off and assign him his lot with the unfaithful. Verse 47, And that servant, who knew his master's will, but did not get ready or act as he would wish him to act, shall be beaten with many lashes. 48, But he who did not know and did things worthy of a beating shall be beaten with few lashes. For every one to whom much is given, of him shall much be required. And of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more. Being born again of God by his Spirit is ground of our being called the children of God. We are heirs of the eternal kingdom. This wonderful new birth in Jesus Christ is called being born from above. This is a miraculous spiritual birth, being born again, and it is not of this earth life. It is supernatural, and it is from God Almighty alone. The kingdom of heaven awaits all of God's spiritual children who are the heirs of his eternal kingdom. Let us hold fast to what the good Lord has given us in wisdom and understanding and knowledge. For time is short, and we know not the hour or the day our precious Savior Jesus Christ will return for each one of us in his time.

Playlist coming soon.