01.26. Miracle of Another Kind
Miracle of Another Kind
In our text Jesus explains to a man named Nicodemus about the new birth. John the Apostle will in the rest of his gospel tell us about Jesus sign miracles and state "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." John 21:25 The miracle we look at today might not make the list of the miracles that many would give of Jesus. However, I submit to you that this is the miracle of all miracles.
We would like to think that all of heaven takes notice when a child is born or when two lives are joined in marriage. We can speculate that all of heaven takes notice when a child of God comes home from this world or when a child is aborted. We don’t have to wonder or speculate if all of heaven takes notice when someone is born again. Luke 15:7 states, "…joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
Synonymous Terms: John 3:3
Jesus looks at this man who comes to Him at night and states you must be born again. The world does not understand what we are saying sometimes because we talk in religious talk that they do not understand. There are many synonymous terms that we use to describe the new birth. We say born again, saved, and redeemed. We speak of Jesus find the lost sheep or being a child of God as we make reference to our faith. Who Need a New Birth? John 3:5
It is obvious from the fact of who Nicodemus was that religious people need to be born again. Jesus not only includes religious people but He states, "…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The world is full of people today who are saying it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe something and believe it with all your heart. This premise goes on the assumption that man can somehow get to heaven by his faith alone regardless of the object of his faith. This fails to take into account the lack of righteousness of mankind. Man is a fallen being that has not redemption within him. Romans 3:10-18 is a picture of whom mankind is.
Perhaps the great part of the miracle of the new birth is that God would redeem mankind at all. After all it is man who crucified the one sent to save them. It is mankind that treats God as if He is only a curse word. A man who has not experience the new birth is the enemy of God.
Why do we need a new birth? John 3:6
As most of us know it was just this past week that during a youth service at a church in Texas a gunman walked into the church and shot 15 people including himself eight of which died. This simply points out the fact that death can come anywhere anytime at any place. We hear about we need to do more to keep our children safe and I am all for that. However might I state that we need to do more than just keep them safe while they are here on earth we need to teach them about the urgency of being born again and keep them safe for eternity.
As I was going out of the church the other day I noticed the children playing in the playground. One boy was swinging on the swings. I realized that when our children go to school they are in danger because the boy was swinging upside down with his hair dragging the ground. I would not take much for him to fall and it be fatal. I am not trying to scare you simply to say that we need to be born again because we are not assured of tomorrow, even our children.
The new birth is a birth of the spirit. We all know that birth is essential for life physically but it is also essential spiritually. Sin separates mankind from God. After Adam and Eve sinned notice their response. Genesis 3:8 "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."
Though we want to we cannot get away from the fact that we are sinners. Isaiah 29:15 "Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?" The fact that man is a sinner makes him reject Jesus. John 3:19-20 "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."
Mystery of New Birth: John 3:4, John 3:8
There are many things that cannot be explained apart from God. How does a dog know to care for its young? How does a bird know how to build a nest? In a Reader’s Digest article entitled Secrets of the Fall Bill Bryson stated concerning the changing of the leaves in the fall,
"What is all the more remarkable about this is that no one knows quite why it all happens. In autumn, trees prepare for their long winter’s slumber by ceasing to manufacture chlorophyll, the chemical that makes their leaves green. The absence of chlorophyll allows other pigments, called carotenoids and xanthophylls, which have been present in the leaves all along, to show off a bit. These pigments are what accounts for the yellow and gold of birches, hickories, beeches and some oaks, among others." (October 99, p 99)
Jesus uses an illustration of the wind, which while we might explain it in scientific terms as we can the turning of the leaves but cannot really explain it, to illustrate the mystery of the new birth.
Hidden Force: We cannot see the wind just as we cannot see the Spirit of God at work visually on the heart. We can only see the evidence of it. A changed heart, a life straightened out, a drug addict healed.
Touches All: 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." There is not anyone on the earth that cannot be touched by the wind. The wind blows and touches the rich the poor the young and the old. The gospel is likewise for all, the Jews and the Gentiles. The wind is not bound by national lines or race line. It is as free as the wind.
Makes A Remarkable Impact: 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Should Make Us Testify of Him: Psalms 107:1-2 "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy"
Jesus said, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26
1 John 4:13-15 "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."