Sunday, July 15, 2012
THE SPIRIT BRINGS LIFE
John 10:10; 3:1-8; 7:37-39
I remember
a song put out in the early 1980s by Bill and Gloria Gaither. The title of the song is “Fully Alive.” Now that’s a rather typical phrase. How many people might say, “I don’t want to
just exist; I want to live.” We understand something of what that statement
means, though it may proceed no further than the lips. Certainly there is a great difference between
being alive and really living.
I went back
and checked out the words of that Gaither song, and what I discovered was very
interesting. Listen to the words of the
chorus…
Fully
alive in Your Spirit,
Lord,
make me fully alive.
Fully
aware of Your presence, Lord,
Totally,
fully alive.
It is
interesting that this song links real life with the Spirit of God. So does the Lord Jesus. In the KJV of the Gospel of John, we find the
word “life” 44 times. 36 of those
occurrences represent the translation of the word zwh. Of those 36, 17 of
them are combined with the word “eternal” or “everlasting” (same word in the
Greek). But when we take a close look at
the other 19 uses of this word zwh, we
discover that though the word “eternal” is not included, the simple word “life”
is speaking of that eternal life. For
example, in John 6:47 when Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” He was not
speaking of physical life, but of eternal life.
He is the bread that sustains eternal life. In that very same passage (verse 53) Jesus
said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have
no life in you.” They had physical life,
but they didn’t have eternal life.
Now of the
36 times zwh is used in John, 30 of
them are in the words of Jesus. Yes, 30
times in the Gospel according to John Jesus spoke of eternal life. That is amazing. Our Lord had much to say about being fully
alive. As we are going to see in a few
minutes, Jesus linked this real life with the Spirit of God.
This
morning we are going to be exploring the subject “The Spirit and Life.” Let us begin with a brief glance at three
simple passages from the Gospel of John.
I. Promise -- The Possibility of Real Life (John 10:10)
Let us
begin with the promise. In the tenth
chapter of John, Jesus is speaking about sheep, shepherds, sheep pens, and
doors. In that context let’s read John
10:9-10, “I am the
door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find
pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it
more abundantly.” There
are those who pretend to be real shepherds, but who really come only for
selfish purposes. And in their
selfishness they steal, kill, and destroy.
But Jesus came in order to give us life, life in all its fullness. Yes, Jesus came to give us real life.
II.
Regeneration -- The Beginning of Real Life (John 3:1-8)
It’s great to talk
about real life, life with meaning and purpose, but talk can be cheap. If there is going to be this real life, it
has to have a beginning. Jesus tells us
that there is indeed a beginning. That
beginning is where we are going to focus our attention this morning. Very shortly we are going to talk about
regeneration and what that term means.
III.
Rivers of Living Water -- The Multiplication of Life (John 7:37-39)
This abundant eternal
life we are speaking of cannot be bottled up and kept inside. By its very nature it is always finding ways
to spill over into others. That is what
Jesus was talking about in the passage that we come back to so often. John 7:37-39, “On the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out
of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 39 But this He spoke concerning the
Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the
Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet
glorified.”
Jesus spoke
these words at the very climax of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was designed
to be a great celebration of life.
Though the Jews continued to celebrate this festival year by year, the
great sense of life had been lost. The
week-long celebration had become empty and lifeless. It was in that context that Jesus stood and
shouted about the rivers of water that flow out of the one who keeps on
drinking from Him.
We will
come back to these three ideas, but now let’s focus our attention on
regeneration, as we turn to the third chapter of John. Most of you recognize this passage
immediately, but let’s read it again. John
3:1-8…
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 and said to him, "Most assuredly, 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, "Most assuredly, 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 the sound of it, but cannot tell where it
comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
I. Regeneration Must Happen!
In dealing
with this model Jewish Pharisee Jesus links life ever so closely to the Spirit
of God. We know Jesus is talking about
life because of the emphasis on birth.
As a person enters into physical life through birth, so he enters into
spiritual life through birth. Even a
child can understand this. __________,
when is your birthday? And what happened
on your birthday? Yes, you were
born. It was on that day that you came
into this world as a living human being.
Now listen
to Jesus’ words in verse 3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
If anyone wants to spend eternity with the Lord, he must be born
again. Some versions translate it “from
above.” In most all other uses of the
word in the New Testament, it clearly means “from above,” though sometimes it
has the idea of “from the beginning” (as in Luke 1:3). However, it clearly means “again” in Gal.
4:9, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how
is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you
desire again to be in bondage?” Grammatically, here in John 3:3 we can render
it either “born again” or “born from above.”
I believe the context points to “born again” as the best translation. After Nicodemus specifically asked about the
possibility of being born a second time, Jesus uses the exact same terms again
in verse
7: “You must be born again.”
Before we
deal with anything else, we must understand this: “Regeneration must happen.” “Regeneration” is a word that speaks of being
created again. In short, it is the
single word that means “being born again.”
Jesus empha-sizes the absolute impossibility of entering His kingdom
without being born again. It seemed that
Nicodemus should have been the most qualified man to enter heaven. As a Pharisee, he had great knowledge of the
Word of God and did all he could to keep the law of God. He prayed more, studied more, memorized more,
and attended more religious meetings that anyone else. All of Israel looked up to him. If anyone would enter the kingdom, surely it
would be Nicodemus. But it was to this
very man that Jesus declared, “Unless a person is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” Regeneration is an
absolute must for anyone who wants to spend eternity in God’s presence.
By the way,
let’s take just a minute to comment on the phrase “born-again Christian.” I remember when one particular President took
office. Many were talking about “a
born-again Christian” sitting in the White House. In reality, there is no other kind of
Christian, because a person who has not been born again is not a
Christian. That is exactly what Jesus
was saying. On the other hand, the expression
is often used to distinguish true Christians from those who have the idea that
a Christian is one who has grown up in a Christian home, lives a good moral
life, or knows a lot about the Bible. In
that context, the phrase is used to emphasize the fact that real Christians
have been born again.
II. Regeneration Is the Work of the Spirit
So what
exactly is the nature or regeneration?
What does it really mean to be born again? Jesus uses another phrase that gives us the
explanation of being born again. Notice verse
5, “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Now instead of saying that a person must be
born again, Jesus says that he must be born of the Spirit. The two phrases mean exactly the same
thing. While “born again” emphasizes the
fact that this new birth comes after the physical birth, “born of the Spirit”
focuses on the truth that it is the Holy Spirit who brings about this second
birth. When we were sharing the
advantages that are ours as a result of having the Spirit, more than one of you
said that it is the Spirit who gives us life.
That is a truth that we must never forget. Regeneration is the work of the Spirit.
In verse 6
Jesus gives us the distinction between physical birth and spiritual birth. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” As great as physical birth and the resulting
physical life may be, nothing of spiritual value will ever be produced by them. I used to have a teacher who would say, “You
can wash the pig, groom it, put a ribbon in its tail… but it’s still a
pig.” In the same way, we can clean up
our lives, go to church, read the Bible, pray, be good to others, avoid obvious
sins… but that which is born of the flesh is still flesh. Something of spiritual value can only come
forth, if and when that person is born of the Spirit. Until the Spirit of God gives spiritual
birth, a person is still dead in his sins and has no hope whatsoever of eternal
life.
Come back
to verse 5. I don’t want to skip that
phrase “born of water.” People interpret
it in different ways. Some have seen in
this a reference to baptism, concluding that baptism itself is part and parcel
of the new birth. I believe there are
two good reasons to reject that interpretation.
While there are passages that may appear to make baptism necessary for
salvation, I don’t believe the overall picture of the New Testament will
confirm that view. The second reason
that militates against such an interpretation is the immediate context of this
passage. The entire emphasis of this
passage is upon birth -- physical birth and spiritual birth. Even Nicodemus’ question in verse 4 maintains
that emphasis. Furthermore, the focus is
upon what happens to man, not what man does.
Baptism will not naturally fit into that context.
There are
two other major interpretations of the phrase “born of water.” For the first of those, turn back to Ezek.
36:23-27…
And I will
sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you
have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the
Lord," says the Lord God, "when I am hallowed in you before their
eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of
all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from
all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put
My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My
judgments and do them.
Notice
especially verse 25, where the Lord says that He will sprinkle clean water on
them and they shall be clean. Then in
verse 27 He says that he will put His spirit within them. The resemblance to what Jesus says here in John 3 is easily noticed. Could this be that to which Jesus is
referring when He talks about being born of the water and of the Spirit? If so, He is emphasizing the fact that until
God Himself brings cleansing and infuses His Spirit, there is no possibility of
entering the kingdom. This
interpretation is very different from that which sees baptism here, because the
cleansing of Ezekiel 36 is God’s work, not man’s.
The third
interpretation would see the phrase “born of water” as referring to physical
birth. When a woman goes into labor, her
water breaks. There is a great deal of
water associated with physical birth.
While some object that Jesus was not speaking in such medical terms, the
strength of this idea is found in the perfect parallel between “born of the
water and the Spirit” in verse 5 and “born of the flesh…and born of the Spirit”
in verse 6. Like the second
interpretation, it preserves the truth that regeneration and all associated
with it is the work of God.
Regeneration
is absolutely necessary for entrance into God’s kingdom because we all come
into this world dead in our sins.
Because we are dead, at some point we must receive life. While man has always sought to give life to
himself by various means -- good works, religious performance, moral
uprightness -- Jesus makes it clear that only the Spirit of God can give
life. The fact that He is speaking to
Nicodemus gives special emphasis to this truth, because this great Pharisee was
an example of all noble human effort rolled into one. If Nicodemus couldn’t gain entrance into the
kingdom without the rebirth from the Spirit, then no one can. Regeneration must happen, and the Spirit must
do it.
III. Regeneration Produces Results
After
stressing one more time in verse 7 that we must be born again, Jesus then
tightly wraps this little teaching gem with a fitting conclusion in verse
8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but
cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the
Spirit.” These words take on even
greater meaning when we discover that in the Greek language (as in the Hebrew
language of the Old Testament) the words “wind” and “spirit” are the same. In other words, here in verse 8 “wind” and
“spirit” translate the exact same Greek word.
So what is
Jesus saying in verse 8? When we begin
to ask exactly how the Spirit gives life, we come to a dead end. How can we possibly explain it? While we can fill books with our knowledge
about physical birth, we still haven’t taken all the mystery out of it. A little child watches mommy and daddy go to
hospital alone, and then sees them come home with a baby. Amazing!
But when it comes to spiritual birth, there isn’t much to say because we
simply don’t know how God does it. It is
indeed an unrivaled mystery. It is
easier to picture how God created the universe than to calculate how He brings
life through the Spirit.
Though we
can’t explain this miraculous act, we can see the results, and that is what
Jesus illustrates in verse 8.
Regeneration is like the blowing of the wind. No one can see the wind. We can’t explain where it comes from and where
it goes, though we may measure its direction and velocity with great
accuracy. So do we know that it actually
exists? Yes. How do we know? We know by the results that we observe. What are the results of the blowing of the
wind? The leaves on the trees
rustle. The grass bows before the
wind. We can sometimes hear the sound it
makes in the trees. And we can feel it
against our skin. Though we cannot see
the wind, no one can convince us that the wind doesn’t exist. Jesus then gives the punch line: “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Though we
cannot see or explain how a person is born again, we can see the results. As surely as the blowing of the wind produces
results, so does the new birth of the Spirit.
When a person is born again, there will be a difference in his
life. Do the results vary from person to
person? Yes, to some degree. On the other hand, the results are essentially
the same. We wouldn’t say, “One person
who is born again begins to love others, while another begins to despise
others.” No, it will never happen that
way. The results of regeneration are
quite predictable. Those results will be
along the lines of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23 -- “love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control.” While one believer may
preach the Word with power, another may spend far more time quietly ministering
to the poor behind the scenes. But in
both the Spirit who brought life will be producing the fruit of love, joy,
peace, etc.
There are
some differences of opinion about the exact workings of regeneration. Some believe that when a person repents and
believes, then Lord then gives them life through the Spirit. Others believe that repentance and belief are
the result of the new birth of the Spirit.
I favor the latter because I am convinced that we are so dead in sins
that we are not capable of repenting and believing without the quickening of
the Spirit. But whichever way you see
it, surely we can agree that when a person is truly born again, there will be
definite observable results. Yes, the
timing will differ. The fruit of the
Spirit will grow more quickly in one than in another, but it will grow. When the breeze blows, you cannot prevent the
movement of the grass and trees. When
the wind begins to howl, you may wrap up so tightly you can’t feel it, but even
if you cover your ears, you cannot silence its voice. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
He who has
ears to hear, let him hear. Brothers and
sisters, if you are discouraged, take heart when you see the fruit of the
Spirit developing in your life. You
would like the process to move more rapidly, but praise God that it is
happening. On the other hand, if you
can’t see the fruit of the Spirit growing in your life, you have reason to
question the presence of the Spirit within. Have you truly been born again? I’m not talking about how often you come to
meetings, how much you know about the Bible, or how many good deeds you
do. I’m talking about the growth of
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control in your life.
Regeneration produces results.
Conclusion
Surely the truth of this passage
ought to set our hearts to praising God!
Where there is death, there can be life.
Jesus has said, “I have come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly” John 10:10). If you are dead this morning, you can have
real life. Though we don’t know all the
details of how the Spirit gives this life, we can say this much. It is on the basis of what Jesus did on the
cross. Jesus laid His life down
voluntarily and took it up again.
Why? So that He might give His
life to us. If Jesus hadn’t died and
rose, there would be no life to give.
But praise God He did die and rise from the grave, and now the Spirit is
imparting His life to all who call on His name.
But how can
God put the precious life of Jesus into dirty vessels like this? When Jesus died, He dealt with our sins and
corruption. He indeed washes us with
clean water and gives us His Spirit. You
say, “But my heart is so dirty.” But God
promised to give us a new heart (Ezek. 36:26).
We are not talking about a little remodeling, but of God bringing us
from death to life. John5:24, “Most
assuredly, I say unto you, He who hears my word, and believes in Him who sent Me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from
death into life.”
So we have the promise from Jesus of
the possibility of real life. In
regeneration, we have the beginning of real life. And now let’s read again about the
multiplication of real life in John 7:37-39, “On the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out
of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 39 But this He spoke concerning the
Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
When we talk about the results of the Spirit giving life, what can top
this? God’s design is that rivers of
living water flow out of us by the power of His Spirit.
Now let’s stop for just a
minute. Many of us see a problem
here. It is not difficult to understand
what Jesus is saying. When we keep on thirsting
for Him, keep on coming to Him, keep on drinking from Him, and keep on trusting
Him, rivers of living water will flow out of us.” Regardless of exactly what those rivers look
like, many of us have to question whether or not those rivers are flowing from
us. I don’t want to suggest that we
spend our lives asking, “Are the rivers flowing out of me?” On the other hand, we don’t want to be
deceived. If the rivers aren’t flowing,
surely we need to know why.
This morning we focused on the
beginning of real life. We have also
noted that God’s intent is that mighty rivers of this life would flow out of us
to others. The entire New Testament
emphasizes that the life Christ came to give us is not something for our
private possession. It is intended to be
shared. So what is the link between
regeneration and the flowing of these rivers of living water? How do we get from point A to point B? What is clogging the system so that the
Spirit we believe we possess isn’t causing these rivers of living water to
flow?
Those are the questions I want to
leave us with this morning. Lord
willing, next week we will explore that answer to those questions. In many ways I see our study this morning as
preparation for next week. Please be
thinking and praying. May the Lord work
powerfully in us, as we long to know Him.
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