Conversion! What does it look like for God to transform a life, to truly change a life? We’re going to look at seven different encounters with Jesus and try to understand a bit more of what happens in conversion. We’ll begin in John chapter 3. We’re going to start in John 2:23 and then read down through John 3:21. We’ll hit a very famous verse in this passage, but we’re starting in chapter 2. Hopefully this encounter with a man named Nicodemus helps us to understand a bit of what it takes to have a true conversion, early on here in the series.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

John 3

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

How many of the followers are real? That continues to be the question related to this ongoing saga with a popular social media platform. A company that created this easy way for people to share opinions and then through the mere click of a button, anyone could choose to become a follower. It was some years ago that we actually referenced this phenomenon. A typical person on that platform had a few hundred followers, but many celebrities enjoyed followers in the millions. Over time, the company learned that many of these followers were not actually real. The numbers had been artificially inflated with these fake accounts and it generated a boost in influence. So they had this fateful Thursday back in 2018 where they cleaned house. They eliminated tens of millions of accounts and there was this dramatic drop. In just 24 hours an NBA star lost a million followers. A famous musician dropped three million. A company was purged of eight million. The CEO of a company dropped 77% of the followers.

The response by a lot of these popular figures was an overwhelming sense of disappointment. Some were upset at the company for allowing this kind of inflation. But others actually grieved the loss of their apparent influence. To be sure, they actually liked having followers, but sometimes that wasn’t as precious to them as the way the inflated numbers made them feel. It’s hard to blame them. The allure of popular interest and importance, however superficial, can exert a powerful draw on our hearts. We can become so enamored with the size of our following that we lose all concern for whether any of those followers are real. For popular figures even in the reach of our own influence, asking how many followers are real is a question that can threaten our deeply cherished sense of significance.

That’s what makes Jesus so compelling. He is unlike any other leader because He is not concerned about the numerical sum of any theoretical following. He’s concerned about the spiritual life of His actual followers. He actually cares. He cares that our lives have been truly impacted. He is not like some self-help guru that is happy to have you subscribe to his channel or order their books or attend their conferences or receive the packages or give to the cause without ever truly experiencing real life change, so long as you just keep producing for them. Jesus actually cares.

The Apostle John was one such follower who had experienced true supernatural life change. He had been transformed. He had believed in Jesus and become a genuine follower and found that Jesus was unlike anyone else who ever lived. He saw all kinds of signs and wonders performed by Jesus, but in the end, his most earnest desire was why he recorded this gospel. It was a desire not that we would know about all of the powerful signs, but that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ. If you look at John 20, he explains why he wrote all of this.
John 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

He didn’t take the time to write all of those down.

John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That word “Christ” means Anointed One or Messiah. He is the Chosen One of God who was sent to die in our place for our sins. John didn’t want to write all of the miracles so that you would be impressed with Jesus as some sort of influential figure, but so that you would have enough to see that Jesus is the promised Son of God who was sent to save you from your sins by dying in your place and that by truly believing in Him, you would have life. That’s what John’s desire is. He underlines that in chapters 1 and 2. He arranged his whole account to help us see the signs that point to Jesus as this true Messiah that God promised.

He unfolds these signs in a few different situations, the first of which is in chapter 2. There is a miracle at Cana where water is turned into wine. It’s a sign that starts with a wedding. After this account, Jesus enters into the temple and we see sort of a shock and awe moment where Jesus starts to cleanse the temple from superficial and false worship. It had been a tremendous problem. You see it if you look at the very end of the Old Testament, where the prophets had been sent by God to talk to His people and say, “You’re doing this all wrong. You’re doing it in an outward sense. You’re using God for your self and you’re tainting and corrupting.” Jesus comes and He confronts it in person. He confronts their superficial worship. “You’re taking advantage of people. You’re turning the place of worship into a market place where you’re profiting at other people’s expense.” So Jesus comes and He cleanses His temple and He’s saying, “You guys are missing the point. The whole temple is defiled.”

In fact, what John says in chapter 1 is that Jesus is God come in the flesh who is now tabernacling or dwelling. He is living among them. You’re missing the point of the temple. Greater than the temple, greater than the cleansing you would seek, even greater than these sacrifices that you would trust in, ultimately, they are all pointing you to something greater. He is right in front of you and they’re missing it. Jesus is coming and they’re not trusting in Him truly. It’s a big shake-up. It’s this powerful movement. It’s one that doesn’t go unnoticed. We’ll see here that Jesus enters into a number of conversations over the course of the next couple of chapters. John wants to show us what it looks like when He is working in real life with people from different backgrounds and different contexts. This is what it looks like when Jesus goes to work, and it’s supposed to be compelling.

That’s what we want isn’t it? Don’t we want Jesus to go to work? If you want Jesus to go to work and to see His power on display, would you say Amen? (Amen!) That’s what we want. We want to see, “Well, that was Jesus. That’s the power of God.” That’s the kind of thing that gets you up on a Sunday morning. Okay, we’ll come. Let’s see if God does something. Not just now, but through our lives. I want to see God work. I want to see His power on display.

If you have followed Him long enough, you know what He wants. He wants lives to be changed for His glory. He wants us to make disciples and followers. We’re here following Him together and He wants us to go make disciples, people who have their lives transformed. Then they go and tell others so that their lives would be transformed and they would all give glory to God. God wants us to see the beauty of His power on display. You could use the word changed lives. Really, you want to see conversions. Conversion is that word of turning. It’s a change. You want to see a life that actually turns and changes people’s lives. That’s what John is about to describe. He describes a number of these encounters with Christ where people turn.

This idea of conversion from Scripture is the kind of change that we’re hoping to see in others and even what we believe has taken place in ourselves. But what is it? Here’s one definition. Grudem describes conversion as “Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.” That word conversion just means to turn. It’s to turn from sin to Christ. It is two sides to the same coin. The turn from sin is what we call repentance. A turn to Christ is what we call faith. This is what we long for.

We long for a repentance that is not just a heartfelt sorrow for sin or even a renouncing of it, but a sincere commitment to forsake it and to turn towards Christ. We understand yes that sin is wrong and we agree with and approve what God says about it as evil. But then conversion is to personally decide to trust instead in Jesus. You change not only how you think and even how you feel about it, but it’s a change of your will. I am after Jesus. I’m following Him. It’s a decision of trust, to repent of sin and believe in Christ for salvation. It’s to embrace Him as Savior and Lord over your life. That’s the act of faith. This single act of conversion, this turning, this life change and the evidence of it is that both of these attitudes continue through the course of a Christian life. These mark what it is to be a follower of Jesus. It’s to turn from sin in repentance and to trust in Jesus by faith.

That’s what we want, isn’t it? We want life change. What is it that brings these conversions about? What can we learn from watching God work? We’re going to take a few weeks to unpack that. After all these stories of conversions, we’re going to understand a bit more of what life change truly involves. But we’re going to start here in chapter 3 because we need to remember that not every conversion is true. We need to remember what it is that true conversion takes. What does it take? Through this account in John chapter 3, we’re going to summarize it with this statement: True conversion takes a regenerating act of God. It’s a supernatural change that is so radical that Jesus describes it as a spiritual rebirth. True conversion takes a regenerating act of God. It’s this idea of new birth or being born again. Regeneration is the word we sometimes use. Regeneration defined again is a secret act of God in which He imparts to us a new spiritual life. It’s not something decided by us or done by us. It’s something in one sense you can say that happens to us. It’s an act of God where He imparts a new spiritual life. It’s where we are made alive to God in an instantaneous one-time event.
That’s not to say that sometimes we can’t pinpoint exactly when that event occurred in real time. But it isn’t a process. Regeneration is a miracle whereby the dead is made alive in this radical and irreversible way. It’s this divine gift of eternal spiritual life into a spiritually dead sinner. It’s where God through the Holy Spirit, in accordance with this preached Gospel, instantaneously brings spiritual life to a sinner, bringing him out of death and into life. This is what is involved when it comes to God’s saving work. If we want to see people’s lives changed by this message of the Gospel and that they would actually turn in true conversion, then we have to remember it takes a regenerating act of God.

We’re going to look at some stories of conversion over the next couple of weeks. But this truth is foundational. So we’re going to take this morning to unpack just a few basic truths about regeneration, about what conversion takes. As we look at regeneration, we’re going to ask, why is it needed and how does it happen? First, let’s look at why regeneration is needed. We’re going to look at

#1 The Obstacle We Face: We Are Spiritually Dead In Ourselves

The thing in our way, the thing that is keeping us from actually being a follower of Jesus is that we are spiritually dead in ourselves. Our natural state in ourselves is one of being spiritually dead. That’s a significant obstacle, wouldn’t you say? That’s the obstacle that we actually see on display here in John chapter 2.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

He was there. They saw the power of Christ and they believed.

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Here is why regeneration is needed. This is the obstacle that we face. In ourselves we are spiritually dead. John connects this idea of what is going on in man straight into this encounter with this man, Nicodemus.

He comes and expresses, I’ve seen some of your signs. This is a good deal. He expresses interest in Jesus.

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

He smacks him right in the beginning with a strong clarity about the obstacle that he faces. You must be born again. You need regeneration.

Now, to be spiritually dead is not to say that we aren’t physically alive. It’s not to say that we’re not making choices day by day. It’s not that we’re not doing all kinds of wonderful and meaningful things throughout the week. It’s not that we’re not very religious in many respects or that we aren’t interested in Jesus for a variety of reasons. It’s going to include a number of people who are here, who are coming this morning for some kind of reason. The reason could be religious or social or interest in Jesus. But even if any of those things are true of us and more, none of these facts prove for us the case that we’re genuinely spiritually alive. There are all sorts of wonderful things that we can do while we’re spiritually dead. None of these have saving power to rescue us from the nature of the condition in which we all have been born. By nature we are a spiritual corpse. That means we’re entirely unresponsive to the spiritual truth proclaimed and the external call of the gospel. You see, sin has permeated and we’re spiritually dead. It’s what Paul describes as our natural state in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2:1–2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

There is movement. There are things happening. He says you were

Ephesians 2:2 …following the course of this world,

You were doing stuff. You were a follower. Yes, you walked

Ephesians 2:2-3 …following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

He includes himself. We’re moving, living, working, walking, following, wanting, and by nature doing what we desire, yet destined for destruction. He says this is the way not just of us, but of mankind. This is how we all enter the world because of our forefather, Adam. He rebelled against God. He sinned and there was a fall, a plummet into spiritual death. So now we’re spiritually separated from the life of God, experiencing this slow decay of our physical flesh until we’re actually fully separated from God both physically and spiritually in accordance with being under His wrath and condemnation. We are without hope. You see, this is a desperate condition. God describes us not only in that way, but He also uses the analogy of saying that we’re all spiritually blind. We can’t perceive or see the reality of who God is. He says your heart is made out of stone. You cannot respond or turn to Him. You’re spiritually dead asleep.

Perhaps you heard about what happened to that Boeing airliner over Ethiopia back in August. There were a couple of pilots in a two hour flight and it was a near 200 capacity plane. They were flying and were supposed to land at the capital, but the plane just kept flying right on past. They were 37,000 feet high and the plane just doesn’t descend. The air traffic controller starts calling and there was no response. Almost thirty minutes later, there is an onboard alarm that sounds. I don’t think it is yet confirmed, but apparently, that woke the crew up. They had fallen asleep. In all the warnings coming out, they were unresponsive.

We’re in a far worse state. We’re not only asleep, but dead asleep. We’re entirely unresponsive. We cannot follow God on our own. This is the great obstacle we face. The stumbling block that we can’t overcome is the spiritual deadness of our sin. We can make lots of efforts. We can manufacture all sorts of attempts. But just like a tree that is dead to its roots, no amount of ornaments hung or fruit stapled can ever make us truly alive. It’s actually quite shocking how convincing are the decoys, the smokescreens, the diversions, the guises that we’re tempted to point out that in actuality do not prove genuine spiritual life. Of all of these, John is able to point out right early on here that they are nonfactors that actually don’t overcome our obstacle of this spiritual deadness. These are nonfactors that might surprise us. The first nonfactor is your most sincere religious experiences. That doesn’t overcome this obstacle, whether it’s the spiritual power that we’ve witnessed or even the spiritual beliefs that we might have expressed. This is pretty shocking stuff!

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

Jesus is performing signs. They saw the signs that He was doing. They believed in His name. They saw His power. They experienced spiritual power. We’re not sure exactly what miracles or signs had been performed. For sure there was the temple cleansing, but we know John said he didn’t record everything that had happened. There had been the miracle at Cana, but Jesus was doing things that were undeniably supernatural. They had powerful religious experiences that had led them to express some beliefs. They encountered these signs. They believed in His name. Those kinds of experiences of religion and that expression of religious belief in Jesus’ name would typically cause us to be convinced that they’re true followers of Jesus, except for the next phrase. It’s one of the most terrifying verses that far too many overlook.

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

We’re told here that while they believed in Jesus, He did not entrust Himself to them. In fact, the Greek word there for belief and entrust is the very same word. It’s a non-reciprocal belief. They expressed a belief in Him, but there is a sense in which He did not believe in them. What is John getting at here? I thought the whole point was that people will believe. Here are some people believing and it’s not good enough.

John is making a point very early in this gospel that there is not only one kind of belief. There is a kind that is true, which is what John is after. It’s accompanied by eternal life. This is the kind that he is desiring. But there is also a kind that is false. There is a kind of belief that is alive, but there is a kind of belief that is dead. This is the same word for the New Testament word for faith. It’s the same word for trust. There is one kind that is a trust that is a superficial trust. It’s a false trust, a false faith, a false kind of belief. What John is highlighting here is that even our most sincere religious experiences, the powerful spiritual religious encounters that we have or even the religious beliefs we express, they in themselves are no guarantees that we’re actually spiritually alive. That’s the sobering note that is described for us by Jesus’ half-brother, James.

James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

You believe in God? You believe Jesus is real? You believe the Bible and the things that God has said? Good job! So do the demons and it causes them to shudder. The word there means it doesn’t bring them comfort. It actually brings them terror. The word is the word for frigid or freezer. They shudder when they think about God. They believe it, sure. But James’ point is that there is a kind of faith, a kind of trust, a kind of belief that isn’t saving and it doesn’t change the fact that it’s only a matter of time for those demons before they are consumed by the fearsome wrath of almighty God. This kind of belief does not rescue them from that. The point is made clear by Jesus when He tells the parable of the soils. The seeds of the gospel are sown and it lands on different soils.

Matthew 13:3–5 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up,

With that kind of faith and belief there is something happening. There is life, yes, for sure. But He says

Matthew 13:5-6 …since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

It wasn’t true belief.

Matthew 13:7-10 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Why are you telling stories like this? What’s that all about?

Matthew 13:11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Matthew 13:14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,

You see, there is going to be a hearing, but not a listening or a getting it.

Matthew 13:14 …and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

You see, there is a sight, but then there is an insight.

Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

He describes that people hear the words of the kingdom.

Matthew 13:19-23 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

There are going to be a lot of people who hear the gospel message and even believe it in one sense, but they don’t actually listen. They don’t actually trust in a saving way. They don’t actually disclose their hearts fully to Christ and live in the light. So there is a sense in which He is not fully disclosed to them. You can look in John 6 where Jesus talks to them. There are followers there. He says

John 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

You can be right there, right in the midst of all the action. You’re seeing God work and watching His power. You can even be saying you believe. You can be a part of the twelve disciples and yet, Jesus sees right through you. This is a sobering reality that we need to understand. All of our religious experiences are not enough to overcome this obstacle of our deadness.

Somehow we get the idea that God is desperately in need of us. We think He is willing to save us on our own terms and in our own time, whenever we get good and ready. We think He is just begging for us to just believe. But that’s not true. There is a false conversion. Jesus is not looking for any old conversion. He’s not saying, “I would love to have more followers. I would love to just have more people come in here.” Jesus is not happy to trust Himself to anyone who is just begrudgingly conceding He exists or is even impressed with His power.

The obstacle of our deadness is far too great to overcome with even the most sincere religious experiences and even our most impressive religious achievements, whether it’s in our service or in our status. Perhaps nowhere can we find a greater example than in the case of this man, Nicodemus. This is the first of a number of individual accounts of encounters with Jesus. In chapter 4 we’re going to see a famous account of the woman at the well in a few weeks. But here we see this man who my dad used to call “Nic at night.” (Laughter!) It’s a contrast between as one pastor says, this religious nobody in the day and this religious somebody at night. Here he is and it seems directly correlated with what was going on in chapter 2 of this surface level belief, in this man Nicodemus. Here is a man that Jesus can see right through. This is a man of great religious service.

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

He was a part of this ruling party that had been very religious. They knew the Old Testament likely better than almost anyone in this room in terms of memorization and study. They were devoted to that. They were living out the law as best they could and teaching. He was well known in that regard. A ruler of the Jews means it is likely he was a part of the Sanhedrin. It was an important group of seventy men that had been passed down from Moses and had gathered together, including Pharisees and Sadducees, to help rule over the realm and the issues of the day for their nation. He was a pretty significant individual who served in a variety of capacities. His name, Nicodemus, means innocent blood. You could say it’s even like a pure blood. There is no corrupt blood. This guy is the real deal. So here he is. He is a ruler of the Jews. He is sincere and very religious in his service and in his status. He is elite. He is a man of influence. This is the pinnacle of religious achievement. But the obstacle of our spiritual debt is far too great to overcome with even this, our service or our status. It’s too great to overcome with even our noble religious acknowledgments. You can see what Nicodemus says and the respect he shows for Jesus. He comes and he shows respect for the uniqueness of Jesus’ impact.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi,

This means Teacher. This is an expression of respect. We can assume that none of the other Pharisees would have stooped to recognize Jesus with this title. This young guy has come and He is doing some things that are almost threatening, but Nicodemus is willing to come to Him and willing to call Him even Rabbi, Teacher. This guy is from nowhere and He doesn’t have any of the formal credentials and the resume that Nicodemus and the other Pharisees would have so cherished for themselves, but Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus as such. He calls him, Rabbi. He has a respect for His impact of what is going on. He also has a respect for the uniqueness of Jesus’ origin. He says

we know that you are a teacher come from God,

He is acknowledging some significant things about Jesus. Now surely, he is not speaking for all the Pharisees. I’m not sure who he is talking about by saying “we.” It’s not likely that he brought some of his own followers into this evening rendezvous. It’s possible that some in his circles are intrigued by Jesus in this positive way. But it almost seems like he is sort of hiding behind the cloak of his status, almost like bridging these two worlds that seem currently at odds. He is showing up and it’s in the night. We don’t know exactly why it’s in the night. John pretty typically uses this idea of night and it seems clear that he is kind of giving us this sense of darkness as a bit of a metaphor to help us understand there is something dark. There is a darkness. There is a limitation to what Nicodemus sees or what he wants to be seen. He is here at night. Almost after all the action, it’s this after party rendezvous where it’s sort of a VIP discussion. Here he is, talking with Jesus in this private discussion. The compelling reason here is that

for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

He recognizes and respects Jesus’ divine empowerment. He has a lot of respect for Jesus. He can see that something is happening. He is a religious man. He is stooping to make some acknowledgments. He’s kind of a religious noble and he is making these acknowledgments about Jesus, about His impact, about His origin, about His empowerment. He is offering some compliments. Now, that would have been quite a buttery delight to any other young up-and-coming religious leader of the day. You could almost feel like he is doing Jesus a favor as they connect. But that’s not how Jesus sees it. Despite all of these acknowledgments, despite all of Nicodemus’ achievements, despite all of the experiences that are going on, Jesus is going to take the opportunity to make one thing exceedingly clear.

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

You can almost imagine Nicodemus’ shock. This isn’t how this normally is supposed to go. “I’m kind of a big deal. I’m showing up. I’m giving you some honor. I have a lot of status. Yes, you’re kind of a celebrity on the rise, but I’m expressing some compliments. Usually in this private kind of audience, you return the favor.” But Jesus doesn’t need favors and He is not returning the favor. He doesn’t need surface level followers. He is not looking for fans or boosters. He’s not trying to make an alliance. He is on a mission to change lives for real from the inside out. He cuts right through the butter of Nicodemus’ pleasantries and He tells him what he most needs to hear. There is one way to the kingdom of God and the only way that you can see and enter that kingdom is through a spiritual new birth, being born again.

You probably have a footnote in your Bible there because the word is ambiguous in Greek. It could literally mean to be born from above. You need to be born from above. You need to be born again. You need to have new life from God, Nicodemus. This is what true following Jesus looks like. If you want to see the kingdom of God, if you want to enter the glories of heaven, you can’t get there through your religious experiences, through your religious achievements or all of these religious acknowledgments. There is a kind of religion, a kind of belief, a kind of spirituality that is enjoyed by plenty of counterfeit followers. Jesus is taking the time to address a real one. He is not concerned about the following or how you can add to it or what is going to happen. I’m actually addressing you to the heart. You need to be born again.
So here, Nicodemus faces this obstacle, which is actually the same obstacle we all face. We’re spiritually dead in ourselves. This is who we are, however religious we may count ourselves to be. Paul knew that his Jewish brothers, he says in Romans chapter 10, there are so many Israelites, there are so many of my brothers that

Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

He is praying that they would be rescued from their sin.

Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

They thought they could do it. There is a sense of earning. There is a sense of status. Jesus is saying you have to recognize that you have a problem. You have to be born again. You need to be regenerated. The stumbling block of self-righteousness of this Pharisee is that he is so consumed with status. This would continue to be a stumbling block. They couldn’t get over themselves. So Jesus had to tell them you’re whitewashed tombs. Inside, you’re dead man’s bones. In fact, you go and make converts. There are lots of conversions. You travel all across the seas to go make a conversion and you make them in the end, twice a son of hell as yourself. These are not the kind of conversions He wants because you’re not rescuing them from the obstacle of their own deadness. You’re giving them self-righteousness and it’s never able to rescue. This is what Paul said in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead

This is who you are. You’re dead spiritual corpses. But this is the answer. This is the act.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

It’s a gift. Nicodemus is thinking about the movements and the politics and the power and all of that stuff. He’s talking to Jesus and Jesus stops him. “I don’t need anything you have to offer, Nicodemus. You need life from God.” You’ve encountered God’s power. Maybe you’ve expressed belief in His name. Maybe you’ve served in His work. Maybe you have a status that is revered by God’s people. You could be celebrating Jesus’ impact, His origin, His empowerment. You can say Jesus is a big deal, but you are tempted to think “We make a great team.” You show up and you’re just so tempted to think as you come to church or whatever it is, “I’m also kind of a big deal.” This is who we are.

Jesus talked about the Pharisee who comes. He’s religious. He’s prayerful. He says, “God, thank you that I’m not like him. Thank you that we’re not like them.” There is another man, the publican who comes and beating his chest, says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” We’re reminded of what Jesus says. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

We’re missing what His powerful signs point to, what His God-given name declares. We’re missing what His work is truly about, what His people actually need, what His impact is intended to cause, what His origin qualifies Him to do, what His empowerment in the end guarantees. Jesus came to save sinners, among whom, as Paul would say, I am the foremost. This is the starting point. This is the obstacle we need to overcome, our spiritual deadness. It only occurs by a regenerating act of God. Jesus confronts Nicodemus right in the beginning. “You can’t just say I’m a mighty prophet. I’m a wise leader. I’m a good teacher. No, that’s not enough. You have to admit not just that I’m a big deal. You have to admit, Nicodemus, that you are not. You must be born again.”

We’re so tempted to think that the way we enter heaven or the way that we follow Jesus is through comparison with others and that we can earn our way there. That can never get us over this obstacle of spiritual deadness. We comfort ourselves by looking around us, whether it’s here or on social media, and we try to take comfort by saying, “Well, at least I’m not like that person, or at least I’ve done this.” Has that job worn you out yet? Do you come to church and think, “Have I done enough?” You can never do enough. That’s why we look to a Savior who is able to say it is finished. He is the God who can give the gift of grace and says be born again.

If you think this idea of status or celebrity is kind of disgusting and it’s hard to stomach and you think this is just our new culture, it was a problem right from the beginning in the early church. When you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, there were different preachers. They didn’t have podcasts, but there were preachers and people were saying, “I like this preacher. I like that preacher.” They would baptized by this guy and this guy. Paul is like, “No, this is not a status thing.” In fact, he says the gospel is not about that.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

God did this!

1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

God wiped that out. In fact, He chose a bunch of people who were nobody’s so that everyone would see there is only one Somebody, and it’s Him.

1 Corinthians 1:31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

So all of us come and when we come and we sing, we don’t say how great are we? We say there is only one who is great and that’s Jesus. In fact, the rest of John chapter 3 is going to show us how much it’s not about us, but it’s about Jesus. He’s going to use the picture of John the Baptist to show how desperately we need to decrease so that Jesus would increase. Here is Nicodemus who thinks he is offering Jesus an olive branch, but Jesus doesn’t look at it like that. So here he is and Jesus is exposing his self-generated niceness and contrasting it with the Spirit-given righteousness of God. Here is where we come to how it happens. This unfolds in more time than we will have this morning.

#2 The Miracle We Need: We Need Spiritual Life From God

The image that we’re given is a picture of new birth. You can think about having a challenge physically, maybe an issue with your heart. You go into the doctor and say, how bad is it? Maybe they say, we’re going to need to do an angiogram or we might need to do a stint or we might need to put you on a medication or maybe we need to do a bypass. But there is one thing where they say, you need a new heart. Here’s what Jesus says. How do we enter the kingdom? He says you need a new birth. You need a new life. You might say, “I have these struggles. I have these situations. I have these sins and I think I was born this way.” Jesus says yes. You need to be born again. So Jesus tells Nicodemus you need to be born again. You can see a few realities of this new life. It’s essential.

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

It is essential. There is no other way. You must be born again.

4 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?”

It doesn’t seem like he is totally ignorant and just sort of responding with “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He sort of responds in a very Rabbinic way. He is kind of engaging in the metaphor but still asking what are you talking about? What is this start over thing you’re talking about? So he’s saying I don’t quite know what you mean. Jesus explains a little bit further.

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

This is not only essential, it is spiritual.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh,

That’s the natural normal birth.

and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

So this is essential and it’s spiritual.

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

You should know this. This reference to water and the Spirit Nicodemus should have known very well. There is a chapter in Ezekiel 36 where God says I’m going to give you a new heart. He is describing how He is going to sprinkle your heart clean with water and give you this new heart by His Spirit. So Jesus is like, you should know this. This is essential. It’s spiritual and it’s real. It’s real because even though it’s spiritual in this sense, do you know like the wind? Maybe it’s at night. Maybe the breeze is blowing. You can see the trees shaking.

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

Yet, it’s real. You can see the effects.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

This act of God is essential. It’s spiritual. It’s real and yet, it’s somewhat unpredictable or uncontrollable. You can’t tell what God is going to do and how the Spirit is going to work. He moves as He wills. The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force like Star Wars that you learn to control and manipulate, like so many religions would say. No, this is God Himself at work doing what He wills. It’s real, yet it’s not something that is controlled by man. That’s what John would say in John chapter 1. It’s supernatural.

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

How does this work?

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

You’re the big shot, right, and you don’t get what I’m talking about? This stuff is Old Testament 101. This stuff is what you should know. You spend your entire time studying and teaching.

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

You’re not receiving what we’re testifying to be true.

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

You’re not getting it, Nicodemus. You’re not recognizing that this is supernatural. If anybody could receive it through normal earthly means, it would be Nicodemus. Yet he didn’t get it. It’s only supernatural.
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

I came down and this is the message. He uses someone that Nicodemus would remember from his Sunday School.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This would be a very simple Sunday School lesson from Numbers chapter 21. Do you remember that story, Nicodemus? Do you remember when the people were rising up and speaking against God and complaining.

Numbers 21:5–9 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

God gave them a way to be saved. Here’s how we’ll decide the people who are trusting in me. Just make the serpent and they have to look at it and say “I need God to save me.” They look at the object of contempt and they will be healed. They look by faith. Trust in God that there is only one cure, one hero. Don’t go out and look for all kinds of things. Just look at the serpent and God will save you. Look to what He provides. Jesus says to Nicodemus

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

In fact, if you look at John, who are the ones who lift up that Son of Man, which is going to be used as a reference to the crucifixion? The Pharisees are the ones who will lift Him up. Jesus is saying you have to look to me. And what do you receive?

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Here in verses 16-21, we have a unique section. It’s unclear whether or not this is Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus continuing or whether it’s actually the Apostle John inserting some explanation here, kind of weaving through the story line from chapter 1 into this section and even at the end of chapter 3. I think the Apostle John is actually speaking here and clarifying. As you wrestle with what is this eternal life? What is this belief? I thought there were people that believed? Isn’t this good? John enters and he says let me make the message clear.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,

This one who is going to be lifted up, you’re going to see it. It’s Jesus. He was crucified on the cross. He did that so

that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

He provided this way to rescue, to save those who would believe. He describes this lifting up and this image or the analogy of light.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

There are going to be some people who withdraw from the light because they don’t want their works to be seen.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The act of God that regenerates is also the act of God that sanctifies. It justifies, sanctifies and glorifies. This work of grace is going to be the same work that actually gives life to this tree and then bears fruit. This is the work of God that John is already starting to explain. The result of regeneration is that there is going to be fruit that is going to be produced.

I had someone come up right after the first service and say, how do we reconcile what is going on here with the people who believed and yet here is this other belief ? There is some difficulty here and it’s almost like we need some sort of pastoral second discussion that helps us walk through this. I think that’s why John wrote 1 John. We need some pastoral help on navigating what this idea looks like, being genuine, believing in the light. We can read 1 John.

This is the miracle. If we want to see lives changed by Jesus through true conversion then we need to remember that it takes a regenerating act of God because we in ourselves are spiritually dead and He’s the only one who can bring true spiritual life. Here is a word of encouragement to some people who don’t have this dramatic story of conversion. I hear a lot of times, “My story isn’t impressive,” but here’s what happened. You look at Nicodemus and you ask, “Did he get it?” Right here it’s like he kind of just seems confused. There is no conclusion. If you keep reading in John, there is a moment where some of the people and the Pharisees want to arrest Jesus.

John 7:43-52 So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

He starts to endure some opposition. But he speaks up for a moment. Later on in John 19, you can see Nicodemus coming after Jesus has been crucified. He has died for our sins and now He is being taken away.

John 19:38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate game him permission. So he came and took away his body.

Do you know who else is there with him?

John 19:39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

Here is this guy who is a religious leader. He is like, how do I do a do-over? How do I have a restart? I’m already graduated suma cum laude, here. I have a PhD and I’m a leader. Jesus said, be born again. He goes away, but you can tell he’s been thinking about it. I think at some point there is a moment and we’re not even told when because it doesn’t matter. There is a moment of conversion for Nicodemus where he said, I believe in Jesus. It doesn’t matter where you are at, but that turning, that conversion, that belief is a miracle. It’s a regenerating act of God to which God receives all the glory. Do not feel bad for a minute of it.

Tornadoes are a strange phenomenon. I remember coming out of my childhood home in Michigan in the morning after a tornado. I was kind of surprised. You would see two houses side by side. There would be one that was just destroyed and the other one is untouched. There would be trees and one is uprooted while the other one still has its leaves on it. You can look online and you can see where photos are carried hundreds of miles away and then flower beds are undisturbed. There was this one Sunday that a roof got ripped off a home, yet this couple had a pound cake that they had baked and it was still sitting there on the glass stand untouched. That’s what it’s like with the work of God’s Spirit.

He can transform anyone, anytime, anywhere. There is a person who is sitting in this room that can be untouched, be unimpressed, and just sit there. They leave church unscathed, believing that not much happened. There are other people who are like, I just got destroyed. The sober warning for us is that we dare not come to church over and over and over and come to the message and come to Jesus over and over and over and think “He is no big deal. I’m fine.” If you continue to come to church and you’re not experiencing the power of Jesus and the convicting work of the Spirit, then this is a moment to be cautious and to take note. But also, we can say God can transform anyone, anytime, anywhere. If you haven’t seen the power of God at work or you’re not sure what is going on, believe that His power can strike anytime as we come poor in spirit and let the power of the Gospel be unleashed.