Lesson
7
Jesus
Teaches the New Birth
I.
Jesus Teaches the New Birth
Jesus received mixed
reactions to His ministry. The Bible tells us that the common people heard Him
gladly (Mark 12:37). He came preaching the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18) but
the "learned" people did not always receive Him (I Corinthians 1:26).
The Bible mentions many among the chief rulers also believed on Jesus, but
would not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.
They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).
A. Jesus and
Nicodemus
"There
was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came
to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John
3:1-3).
Nicodemus did not come
questioning; he came to Jesus with what was essentially a compliment. He knew
that Jesus was from God because of the miracles which He did. Jesus quickly
brought the focus of the conversation to the most important matter in life: How
can a person see God's Kingdom and enter into it?
1. Ye Must be Born
Again
Jesus said that the
only way a man can see and enter this kingdom is to be born again. This was
strange terminology to Nicodemus. Although he was a ruler of the Jews, he had
never heard of "being born again!" He could only associate being born
again to his natural birth. Nicodemus asked, "How can a man be born when
he is old?" In response to Nicodemus' question, Jesus replied,
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
2. Water and Spirit
The new birth, which
is also referred to as being born again, consists of two elements: water and
Spirit. Water refers to baptism in water, and the Spirit to the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, which is promised to all who obey the Word of God.
B. The Promise to
All Believers
Jesus went to
Jerusalem to observe the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It was there that He made
a dramatic and most significant statement: "In the last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the
Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7:37-39).
Observe the following facts taken from the statement that Jesus made:
* The promise was to
any man. The only qualifying factor is that a man must thirst.
* The person who would
obtain this promise must come to Jesus. The person who would receive this
promise must believe on Jesus.
* The rivers of living
water which will flow out of the believer is the Spirit, the Holy Ghost.
* At that time, the
Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Jesus had
now been glorified, and the Holy Ghost is given. From the Day of Pentecost even
to this day, the promise has been for all who believe.)
Peter Cartwright, the famous
circuit rider and Lincoln's opponent for election to Congress, once stayed
overnight with a skeptical physician who claimed that the only reality was what
the senses discerned. The physician said to him, "Did you ever see
religion?" "No." "Did you ever hear religion?"
"No." "Did you ever smell religion?" "No."
"Did you ever taste religion?" "No." "Did you ever
feel religion?" "Yes."
"Now, then,"
said the doctor, with apparent triumph, "I have proved, beyond a doubt, by
four respectable witnesses, that religion is not seen, heard, smelled, or
tasted; and but one lone, solitary witness, namely, feeling, has testified that
it is an experimental fact. The weight of evidence is overpowering, sir, and
you must give it up." Cartwright then said to the doctor/'ln pretending to
relieve pain in the human system, you have been playing the hypocrite, and
practicing a most wretched fraud on the gullibility of the people." To the
doctor's indignant protest Cartwright said, "Well, sir, did you ever see a
pain?" "No, sir." "Did you ever hear a pain?"
"No, sir." "Did you ever smell a pain?" "No,
sir." "Did you ever taste a pain?" "No, sir. "Did you
ever feel a pain?" "Certainly I did, sir." "Then,"
said Cartwright, "four respectable witnesses have testified that there is
no such thing as pain in a human system."
Taking
advantage of the doctor's discomfiture, Cartwright fell on his knees and
commenced to pray. In a short time the great deeps of the man's heart were
broken up; and, after a brief period of anxiety and spiritual agony, he found
the Lord with a shout of triumph. His slaves he sent at his own expense to
Liberia; and he himself became a preacher of the gospel.