The New Birth
Sept 13, 2009
If you look around our church the wave of proliferation of babies is washing over us once again. The stork is alive and well and visiting many of our church families. In late spring we had several Sundays in a row of baptisms and we are picking up right where we have left off!
Many of us have had the wonderful thrill and joy of either birthing a baby or being there when your child was born! No wonder it is called a miracle. The Bible teaches us that babies and children are a blessing in God’s sight and that no one should hinder them coming to Jesus!
The birthing of each baby is unique from conception through pregnancy and through birth. Admittedly I was an accident, and unplanned yet as my parents told me “but never unwanted” and they lived up to that ideal. The Palmist declares that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Each one of us begins as a tiny, microscopic speck. It is in those following 9 months that our DNA and chromosomes come together as each of us develops into a one-of-a-kind human being. Each birth is fraught with unbelievable potential for good or for evil.
It is in John’s gospel that Nicodemus, a teacher of God’s law and a religious leader of the Jewish people came to Jesus under the cover of darkness one night to seek answers to his perplexing questions. In this conversation Jesus takes the natural law of the human experience of birth to explain a spiritual law and human experience in the spiritual realm.
Read John 3:1-8.
Over the years I have wrestled with the meaning of the new birth experience, not only mine but that of others as well. Asking questions like: What is the new birth? What does Jesus mean that we “must be born again.” (KJV) How does the new birth happen? What are the results? Are there false new births? What does it mean for me and should that mean the same thing for others? What are the common characteristics that are true for all people and what is that of the new birth that is specific to only me?
We use a lot of different images to describe a personal encounter with God in Jesus. The words born again, saved, new birth, converted, accepting Christ into your life, redeemed, born from above, accepting Jesus as my personal Savior, giving your life to Christ, entering a personal relationship with Jesus, et al. All describe the same experience from differing vantage points. Basically they are all part and parcel of the same spiritual experience.
I accepted Jesus into my life at age 16 at Hollow Rock Camp Meeting in eastern Ohio. That was 44 years ago and while the reality of that decision is settled, I am always thinking about what that means in my own life, how can I explain the new birth to people who ask and even those who do not, and how all that impacts my walk with Christ as well as my calling as a pastor. The new birth is entering into a new and different connection with God through Jesus.
While Jesus was popular with the masses, the religious leaders saw him as a threat. That is why Nicodemus came under the cover of darkness. There was something about Jesus that intrigued this religious leader. Notice that Nicodemus wanted to talk about the miracles. That is where human nature instinctively goes, but Jesus turned the tables and moved the focus away from Himself and onto Nicodemus. He moved from miracles to the new birth, ie from the externals to the internals—the realm of the attitude and outlook, and to the heart. This religious leader was perplexed, “How can I be born again when I am old? Surely I cannot enter a second time into my mother’s womb to be born?” Nicodemus, even as a religious leader, was entrenched in the tangible, physical realm of life including the laws and rituals of religion. Jesus was challenging him to think beyond what he could see, hear, taste, and touch. Religion was all about externals. Jesus was all about internals.
When we speak of a person being “born again” each experience while there are similarities, is very unique to each individual. And there is a correlation between physical birth and spiritual birth. That is why Jesus used this image to explain a spiritual truth.
One of the similarities is the gestation period prior to the birth. This is the period of preparation for the birth. In the new birth, we call this “prevenient grace,” or “going before grace.” This is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life before the experience of the new birth. God is beginning to work in you and on you. And it is different for every one of us. Maybe you begin to crystallize questions. There may be a kind of restlessness, uneasiness, or dissatisfaction in your inner being. Maybe out of nowhere you begin thinking about God, or death, or what is there after life. Maybe you escaped a near fatal accident, or disease. Maybe you come across a coworker or family member who is ‘religious’ and they begin to ask questions or say some stuff that gets your thinking or even gets you mad! But whatever, the Spirit of God begins to work. Over time and it may take years or just days the spiritual longing grows and you begin to think, “There’s something more here that I don’t have.” You begin seeking answers. You begin asking, “What’s going on? What’s happening to me?” Maybe you even put the word “God” before those questions and it become a prayer.
The new birth is so varied and different for each of us because we are all unique people. God matches our new birth experience to fit each of us—our temperament, our personalities, and our life’s experiences. Some people experience God’s rebirth at a young age, at middle age and a few even in their senior years. For some it is very quick and others wrestle a long time with its reality. For some the new birth is very emotional while for others it is very intellectual like CS Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel all of whom attempted to disprove God and the Christian religion only to come away being converted to Christ.
For some the new birth comes to us in church, or a Billy Graham type crusade, or at a retreat at a Christian camp like Delanco. It may happen alone or with a friend. Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
While we joke that there are some people who are hatched, the truth is that every human being is born. The gestation period is over and the time has come. It may be a natural birth or by way of Caesarian section, but the baby is born to live life on its own. The umbilical cord is cut and the baby is no longer tethered to his/her mother. Interestingly, the actual birth doesn’t take very long. And again some births are easier than others. My mom was in labor with me for about 24 hours. Sharon was in labor with Stephanie for about 6 hours, and even less with Steven. Stephanie’s birth was in stages, whereas Steven came ‘a tumbling out.’ Sometimes the spiritual new birth is in stages and sometimes it is all in one neat package. And sometimes, like physical birth, there are times of false labor. We come close, but then pull back.
While every human is physically born, every Christian is born again. I have heard it all too often: “I am a Christian, but I am not one of those born again Christians!” Immediately I know that person is not a Christian or they have no understanding of what it means to be born again. And usually it is because of some overzealous Christians with whom they have had a bad experience.
Let’s go back to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in verse 7, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” Was Jesus speaking only to Nicodemus or was Jesus laying out a universal truth that all people must be born again? Look at verse 5 where Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit.” The context of this conversation clearly indicates that the “You must be born again” statement applies to the opposite of ‘no one’, which means everyone! That is the bottom line: to be apart and to enter the Kingdom of God, you MUST be born again. There are no other options and there is no other way except by being born again.
While everyone’s new birth experience is unique and different, there are some stages of the new birth that all must go through.
1. The first stage is confession, which is coming to the realization that you need to be born again and have a personal relationship with Christ. Confession includes owning up to your sins and brokenness and the lifestyle you are living that is not in accord with God’s will and in fact are a sinner estranged from God. Confession is understanding that you stand condemned because of your sin unto eternal damnation and at the same time realizing that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. The bad news is that without the new birth you are going to hell but the good news is that there is a way out, a way to new life, a way ultimately to heaven for all eternity.
2. Repentance is the second stage and that is coming to the conclusion that you need to turn away from the sin, brokenness and lifestyle you are living that is contrary to God’s best for you and desire to live the way God wants you to live.
3. The third stage is forgiveness which is humbling yourself and asking God the loving Father to forgive you—of past sins, of a bad attitude, and of a deceitful heart.
4. The fourth stage is submission, ie asking God to fill you with His presence and power so that you can forgive yourself, take away the guilt and shame of your sins, and break the power of Satan, sin, self and the world in your life. You are asking God to transform you, to radically change your heart, your mind, your attitude, your lifestyle, your worldview, your relationships, your priorities—basically your entire life. Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in.”
The new birth may be hard or it may be easy. It may take awhile or it may be quick. Let me tell you that the new birth is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. Jesus will so change your life that you will wonder why you never did it sooner. The new birth is a new lease on life because Jesus is now an internal and integral part of all you are and do. I may have been an ‘accident’ to my parents, but I was no accident to God. I have never once regretted giving my life to Jesus 44 years ago.
When you are born into this world, you are born to live a unique life. God calls each one of us to be born again and to live in a unique relationship with Him that will last through all eternity. Maybe today is your day to enter into that personal relationship with Jesus and experience for yourself the new birth.