How to be ‘born again’

We all like the idea of change in our life. Why do you think products are regularly repackaged and released with the statement “New and Improved”? It’s because we like to have the newest, hottest and most up-to-the-minute version of the things we want.

The Bible tells the story of a man named Nicodemus. I wrote about him in my article last week (“Born again?”). He was a legend in his own time. He was a deeply religious man, educated, powerful, wealthy and famous.

He was also getting on in years and in fact may have been quite elderly. Aware of his own mortality and that something was missing in his life, the famed leader came to Jesus late one night for a personal meeting.

Jesus immediately cut to the chase and told Nicodemus just what he needed to know. “Nicodemus, I am about to reveal to you a fundamental reality of life. Listen very carefully! You must be born again” (John 3:3).

Born again …?

We’ve all heard this term thrown around, but we might wonder what it actually means. Sadly, the phrase born again has been pirated and emptied of it’s meaning. We hear about “born again artists” or “born again liberals,” even “born again rebels.” This phrase has been dragged through the gutter and given back to us minus its power. Today, when someone says they are “born again,” we have no idea what they mean.

But Jesus is helping us understand what this really means.

To be born again means to be “born from above,” to experience a spiritual rebirth, a radical change in your heart. This new life comes from above, not from self-effort or from self-improvement programs.

But why do we need a spiritual rebirth?

Because Jesus told us it was necessary to obtain true life. Jesus was saying, “Nicodemus, your religious beliefs are not enough. The fact that you are at ‘the top of the class’ in religion means nothing. It hasn’t brought you any closer to heaven.”

Nicodemus was perplexed, so he asked Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). Nicodemus was saying, “I accept that in principle, but how can such a thing happen to man in my state and age?” Is it really possible to change, to “start over,” and to be “born from above”?

In other words, can a person really change?

How many times have we tried to change ourselves? We’ve joined the health club and vowed to get in shape, or we’ve gone on the latest fad diet, only to fall off the wagon.

A warm breeze may have blown at that moment, prompting Jesus to say, “Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

Jesus asked Nicodemus to consider the surrounding breeze. Can anyone define the wind? Has anyone ever seen it? Some people will say, “If I can’t see it I won’t believe it!” You don’t really mean that at all. That would be like standing in the middle of a hurricane, watching trees uprooted, cars flying by and roofs coming off homes and then saying, “If I don’t see the wind I won’t believe in it!”

You don’t see the wind but you do see its effects.

“Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?'” (John 3:9). What is the process of this? How can I apply this to my life? “I’m an old man, Lord, set in my ways. I don’t think I can be ‘born again.'”

Jesus then said what is perhaps the most quoted verse of the New Testament. Here He tells you how to “change for good.” This verse is “the Gospel in a nutshell,” or “the Gospel in the Gospel.”

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

“For God so loved …” Many people picture God as some kind of “cosmic Killjoy” out to ruin their lives. But the real picture is that God loves you. He misses you. He wants a relationship with you.

“… that He GAVE His only begotten Son.” We can talk about love all day long, but God demonstrated His love for us in a tangible way. “God demonstrated His love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God is offering you an amazing gift right now.

“That whosoever believes in Him …” To believe means to trust in, to cling to, to rely on Jesus for your forgiveness and personal salvation. And what’s the result of believing in Him?

The result is that those who believe “should not perish but have everlasting life.” That is, faith in Jesus is the gift of eternal life. Among other things, it is the gift of knowing that you will go to heaven when you die (Romans 6:23).

But it’s not enough to have someone offer you a gift. You must accept it. Of course you could reject the gift, but you can’t be neutral about the offer or say that you can’t decide. This is a YES or NO proposition.

You might say, “But I’m not the ‘religious type.'” That’s OK, because God isn’t looking for religious people, but sinful people like you and me that need some good news in a world gone bad.

The gift is on the table.

The next move is yours.

Would you like to be born again?

---

Note: Greg Laurie is speaking this weekend at Madison Square Garden theater in New York City. For more information, go to www.harvest.org.