What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, 'You Must Be Born Again'?

Part 4 (Just
Jesus Evangelistic Campaign Day 25)
John 3:9-15:
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest
not these things?
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we
have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I
tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
----Today, I am continuing the daily Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign sermon
series, which is aimed at sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with
unbelievers and reminding Christians, in this important election year, to keep the
main thing the main thing -- and that is reaching unbelievers with the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and praying for their salvation, for the problem in America
is not only disobedient presidents and politicians but disobedient pastors,
preachers, and parishioners who have refused to obey God's Great Commission
and who have refused to obey God's repeated commands to "pray without
ceasing" for unbelievers, believers, and political leaders. Yes, you should pray for
the right candidate too win; yes, you should vote for the candidate that the Lord
gives you peace about voting for. But, don't get caught up in it like the world
does. Nothing much is going to change until people get saved and get their
hearts right with the Lord.

This campaign is inspired by the following three verses: 1 Corinthians 2:2 which
says, "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified." Acts 5:42 which says, "And daily in the temple, and in every
house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." And 2 Timothy 2:4
which says, "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;
that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
This series is not for Christians necessarily. However, I do hope you are one of
those saints who still loves to hear the "Old, old story of Jesus and His love" -- As
the hymn says, "For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to
hear it like the rest." This series is primarily for unbelievers, so they can hear and
understand the Gospel and be saved from sin and the punishment of sin which is
hell. This is message number 25.
Henry Drummond said, "Even to earnest minds the difficulty of grasping the truth
has always proved extreme. Philosophically, one scarcely sees either the
necessity or the possibility of being born again. Why a virtuous man should not
simply grow better and better until in his own right he enter the Kingdom of God
is what thousands honestly and seriously fail to understand."
Thus far, in His discussion with Nicodemus, Jesus has not pointed out His true
origin. He has allowed Nicodemus to believe that He is just a great teacher, a
rabbi on the level with the Old Testament prophets who also worked miracles.
However, after hinting in verse 12 that there are still some "heavenly things" that
Nicodemus needs to understand, Jesus begins to slowly reveal His true nature to
Nicodemus.
First, He reveals Himself as the one who came down from Heaven. In verse 13, He
states, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Jesus is saying that no one
knows the way to Heaven except the one who came down from Heaven -- that is,
Himself. Jesus came down from Heaven to show us the way to Heaven. The only
one who can get there (and take others there) is someone who has already been
there.
Jesus is identifying himself as someone who has a heavenly origin. He is not just
a rabbi who has been specially anointed by God. He is God Himself, come down
from Heaven, wrapped in human flesh, that He may show others the way back to
Heaven. This makes sense: You wouldn't trust someone to tell you how to get to
the moon unless they had actually been there and come back themselves. What

Nicodemus has to grasp is that Jesus knows how to get into the kingdom of God
because He is the King of that kingdom.
After revealing himself as the one who came down from Heaven, Jesus then
points out that He must be lifted up on earth. Verse 14 says, "As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." This is a
reference to an event Nicodemus would have been familiar with. During the
wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel, they suffered a plague of fiery
serpents. When they cried out to the Lord for deliverance, God told Moses to
make a bronze replica of a serpent and put it on a pole. Everyone who had been
bitten by these serpents and wanted to be healed simply had to turn their heads
and place their eyes on the bronze serpent, and they were healed of the pain and
sickness caused by the serpent's venom.
Jesus now says that He Himself, the God-Man from Heaven, would be lifted up
above the earth. Nicodemus may have thought that Jesus was speaking
figuratively. But, He was not. Jesus was literally lifted up from the earth when He
was crucified on a Roman cross.
The reason for Jesus' crucifixion is given in the next verse: "That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Just as those who
looked on the serpent in the wilderness were saved from their suffering, those
who turn to Jesus Christ will be saved from perishing in Hell, will be born again,
and will have eternal life in Heaven with God.
Im reminded of a story that has been told down through the years: On January
6, 1850, a snowstorm almost crippled the city of Colchester, England; and a
teenage boy was unable to get to the church he usually attended. So he made his
way to a nearby Primitive Methodist chapel, where an ill-prepared layman was
substituting for the absent preacher. His text was Isaiah 45:22Look unto Me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For many months this young teenager
had been miserable and under deep conviction; but though he had been reared in
church (both his father and grandfather were preachers), he did not have the
assurance of salvation.
The unprepared substitute minister did not have much to say, so he kept
repeating the text. A man need not go to college to learn to look, he shouted.
Anyone can looka child can look! About that time, he saw the visitor sitting to
one side, and he pointed at him and said, Young man, you look very miserable.
Young man, look to Jesus Christ!

The young man did look by faith, and that was how the great preacher Charles
Haddon Spurgeon was converted.

That is the truth that Nicodemus had been searching for. Entrance into the
kingdom of God is not gained by good works or keeping the law, but by looking
to Jesus Christ, the author of the new birth, and trusting Him to get us into His
kingdom. That is the whole reason for which Jesus came.
As the song says,
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high
Once you have been born again, Jesus can take you from this earth to the sky.
You won't have to suffer the punishment of Hell because He suffered it in your
place. Now, all you have to do is believe on Him and be born again.
If you have not believed on Jesus Christ as your Saviour, John 3:16 states, "For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: "That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.... For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved."
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and
rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please
pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and
that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and I want to
turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now
believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose
again. I trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord from this day forward.
Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life
today. Amen.

If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and
meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you
are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the
family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life
and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information
to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com
and read "What To Do After You Enter Through the Door". Jesus Christ said in
John 10:9, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture."
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please e-mail me at
gls@gospellightsociety.com and let us know. There is some free material that we
want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well,
and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.