“Nic at Nite”
John 3:1-15

Introduction
The Invitation: “You must be born again”

1- The Problem:

– Misuse of the term: “Born again”
ie. someone or something got a new lease on life.

– Born again thought of as a sect of Christianity

Born again refers to a spiritual birth.
You can’t be a Christian without being born again.

2- The Importance of being born again

You MUST be born again

– Nicodemus is the kind of person who we think would NOT need to be born again.

– Most people think the kind of people who are born again are those who have an emotional experience. It’s for broken people or for people who need a moral structure in their life. (ie it’s for people who need to clean up their act)

– Nicodemus is completely opposite: he’s rich, he’s moral, he’s got it all together, he’s a teacher of teachers.

– Born again is essential, it’s central

3- What is it?

– Born again means starting over from day one.

– Nothing you’ve done counts to make you a citizen in Kingdom of Heaven.

– When you are born again, you feel like a different person. The things that define you change. You receive a new identity. (2 Cor 5:17)

– Born again is about transformation not reformation

– Seeing Jesus differently – from teacher to savior. (Numbers 21)

– Being born again changes the way you see everything. (John 3:3)

4- How to be born again: Receive it.

“I will be lifted up so that all the poison and venom inside you will be healed. I came to be lifted up, not to be a teacher. I came to be lifted up as your savior.”

– You can’t make yourself be born physically.

– You do not become born again, by what YOU DO. It is by looking up and seeing what he did FOR YOU. You have to RECEIVE IT.

– You believe in the one who was lifted up.

– You believe in the one

John 16:21ff A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

I am the woman I am the mother. I will die in my labor, I will die in my blood and when I am lifted up on the Cross, I will lose the Father’s love so you can have it. But I love you so much that when I see you born it will be so worth it. – Jesus