New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

A New Birth

John 2:23-3:16
Key Verse 3:3

Intro:

2008 is a presidential election year. This November, voters will choose a new president who will take office next January and usher this country into a new administration. Many people anticipate this change for varying reasons. Barack Obama has billed himself as the candidate of change. If you go to his website, it says, “Obama ’08: Change We Can Believe In.” A few weeks ago, after CBF/Sunday School, I mentioned in prayer topics and announcements that we should pray for the upcoming election. Surprisingly, the kids became very excited, and after a few minutes the entire group (which is comprised of 7 through 11 year olds) chanting, “Obama! Obama! Obama!” Apparently, even 2nd graders are ready for change. “Change We Can Believe In.” When I thought about this slogan, it seemed very reactionary to me. It seems that there is an underlying cynicism that change—true change—is not plausible; that credible, authentic, bona fide change is simply unattainable. The title of our conference is “Be Transformed.” I assume that each one of us here came with at least a minute desire to learn about or even experience transformation. This morning, we’re going to think about a man who also desired change in his life. How did he initiate this change? He came to Jesus, because in Jesus and only in Jesus is there change we truly can believe in.

Miracles (2:23-25)

23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.[a] 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

At this point in his ministry, Jesus was mainly known as a miracle worker. His miracles such as healing the sick, turning water into wine, etc., earned him top-billing at all the conversations that took place around the regions of Galilee and Judea. Jesus became popular and some confessed their faith in him as the one who is to come. But the most of the crowds based their faith solely on the miracles. Miracle-based faith is impersonal. This type of superficial faith, while valid, cannot be the basis of one’s life in Christ. Hence John’s comments in verses 24 and 25. Though miracles themselves can not be the foundation of a life in Christ, they do serve to draw people closer to Jesus. One of these people was Nicodemus.

Nicodemus (1,2)

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Nicodemus was a member of the elitist, conservative, religious/political party known as the Pharisees and he also sat on the Jewish ruling council known as the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was no JoeShmo; he was a man of standing among his people. He knew that the miracles signified God’s presence and approval on Jesus. As a Pharisee, his devotion to God was exemplified by a rigid, disciplined lifestyle that was dictated by the Torah. His upbringing taught him that a Law-abiding life was true closeness to God. But the miracles he saw and heard about opened up a new avenue to God. God’s power must have fascinated him. He saw the lame walk, the blind see, the sick become well, tax collectors and prostitutes repent of their lives and come to be baptized. Perhaps he had never experienced a miracle in his life. Perhaps he wanted to experience one. Nicodemus may have been seeking a personal miracle, something beyond what he or anyone could do. He may have looked back at his life with all its successes and thought, “Is this all? Is this what my life is about?” Was it a mid-life crisis? Perhaps. But we can’t deny that all people are seeking and looking and longing for something beyond themselves. For some it’s love. For some it’s achievement. For some it’s recognition. In Nicodemus’ case, he was seeking the kingdom of God.

3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[b]”

Jesus got right to the point. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Jesus had spoken about the kingdom of God at length when he taught the crowds. In fact, at the outset of his ministry, Jesus proclaimed, “Change your life! God’s kingdom is here!” The miraculous signs that Jesus had performed were the evidence of God’s power on earth. Nicodemus, though he was a scholar and was well-versed in Scripture, realized that he knew little of the kingdom of God. His rigorous, prescribed, legalistic lifestyle made him disciplined and absolute, and true, these things are necessary and commendable things. We need a certain degree of order and structure in our lives. We should have standards by which to live. We should aspire to a code of behavior and thought that is pleasing to God and makes us people of integrity. But gradually, over the course of time, such a rigid lifestyle has a tendency to turn into empty, meaningless and impersonal ritual. This is exactly what the Pharisees fell into; their deep respect for the Law prevented them from leaving room for God’s power to work in them. It hindered God’s power from being fully present in Nicodemus’ life. Nicodemus was like an old wineskin that wanted to experience God’s power; but he needed to be transformed into a new wineskin first. God’s power and kingdom are like dynamite. If you ignite dynamite in wooden house, the house will be completed obliterated. But if you light it in an edifice of brick and concrete, it may just contain it. People who only know how to obey rules and codes of conduct cannot contain the dynamic power of God. We must be changed, just as Nicodemus needed to be changed. We must be born again into a material which can contain God’s dynamic power.

Nicodemus couldn’t understand what Jesus talking about. 4″How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” His literal interpretation of Jesus’ words “born again” or more accurately “born of above” says a lot about Nicodemus’ predisposition. We do not know for sure if Nicodemus was being serious or sarcastic. Either way, he had trouble believing what Jesus said. Perhaps he thought that just as it is impossible for us to be reborn physically, so being reborn spiritually is also an impossibility.

Birth is a deeply profound thing. It is the process by which a new life transitions from one world to the next. For forty weeks, a human fetus grows in the warm, soothing environment is his/her mother’s womb. Though the baby is comfortable, well-fed and perfectly provided for in this environment, this is not end-all and be-all of his/her life. There is a much more wonderful and fulfilling existence that awaits him/her beyond his mother’s womb. There is rolling over, crawling and walking. There’s eating and sleeping. There’s learning to ride a bike. There’s presents on Christmas morning. There’s little league or ballet lessons. There’s skateboarding, learning how to solve a Rubik’s cube, and playing a really awesome guitar riff. There’s the fun of elementary school and the drama of high school. There’s college and the adventure of discovering his/her identity. Birth is the transition from one form of existence into a much more heightened form of existence. In the same way, spiritual rebirth is the process by which we transition from being a people destined for condemnation into a people blessed with eternity in God’s presence. Being born again prepares us to be citizens of the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus needed to be born again, to make this transition in order for the kingdom of God to become his reality, to become the new wineskin that could contain the new wine that Jesus was pouring out. He couldn’t depend on his Jewish heritage; being a descendant of Abraham did not gain one entrance into God’s kingdom. One needed to be born again. But how? What is the process of spiritual rebirth?

5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[c] gives birth to spirit. Oh, that makes it perfectly clear. This idea of being born of water and Spirit was not introduced by Jesus. He was echoing what John the Baptist had taught previously in his recently concluded ministry. John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Mt. 3:11) According to Jesus and John, there are two requirements for being born again: being born of water and born of Spirit.

Born of Water

Let’s talk about being “born of water.” Being born of water signifies repentance. What is repentance? In a word, repentance is change. It is a change of one’s orientation away from a life of sin and toward a life in Christ. Repenting does not make you a saint; rather it highlights the fact that you are not a saint by giving you a sense of problem about your standing with God. Essential to being born of water, to repenting, is the desire to be changed. Do you want to be changed? Really? If we were honest with ourselves I think that we would have to confess that part of us wants to be completely changed, but the other part does not want to be changed at all! Or, we believe that I don’t need to be changed but that everyone else needs to change—really change! Society needs to change! Government needs to change! The world needs to change! And maybe this is true. But what is even truer is that I need to be changed. And not just once, but continually. Change is a process, an attitude, a lifestyle, not an end goal or a one-time event. Nicodemus’ life was stagnant in his laws and traditions. He was stuck in the web of his secret, hidden sins while keeping appearances with his legalism. His soul cried out for change. Jesus embodied what Nicodemus longed for. But he was afraid. Coming to Jesus would offend a lot of people, perhaps even endanger his own life. So cloaked in the darkness of night, he visited Jesus. This is extremely important. The first step in experiencing a changed life is coming to Jesus, not reading a book or following any self-help guru, coming to Jesus. Are you like Nicodemus? I think there are many Nicodemus’ among us—people who desire to change but who are clueless or powerless or too stubborn to come to Christ. Is it fear? Are you afraid of offending or alienating the people you love? Is it exhaustion? Does the prospect of being changed by God at this point in your life overwhelm you? Is it hopelessness? Do you think that you are too set in your ways or too deep in sin to undergo any sort of transformation? Well, you’re WRONG! If you want to change, if you’re serious about change, it begins with simply coming to Jesus.

Born of the Spirit

Now let’s think about being “born of the Spirit.” Let’s read verses 7-8. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8The 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.” Being born of water is somewhat understandable. We can wrap our heads around the idea of repentance and change. But being born of the Spirit is an entirely different matter. It involves the work of the Holy Spirit, the invisible presence of God which resides in his children. When the conference messengers met and we discussed our respective passages a few weeks back, Msn. David Baik specifically mentioned that if was vital to describe in detail the work of the Holy Spirit. In my mind, I thought, “Me, you want me of all people to describe how the Holy Spirit works?” I responded, semi-sarcastically but very honestly, “And how can you explain the unexplainable?” There’s a definition about being born of the Spirit in a big heavy book called Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem which says,

The exact nature of regeneration is mysterious to us. We know that somehow we who were
spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) have been made alive to God and in a very real sense we have been
“born again” (John 3:3,7; Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:3). But we don’t understand how this happens or what
exactly God does to us to give us this new spiritual life.

Clear as crystal! We know, but we really don’t know. Jesus didn’t need to use fancy words to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. He said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” The Holy Spirit has one and one job only: to accomplish God’s will. He obeys no one except the Father. God uses his Spirit to whisper like a gentle breeze into one person’s heart, while in others he stirs up a violent convicting hurricane. We see the Spirit in people’s tears and hear him in their testimonies. His work is unpredictable. He can work surprisingly and unexpectedly in ways we could never imagine. He is creative and flexible. In a sense, he is the perfect antithesis to the law—unbound, unrestricted, unprescribed very organic and free to flow wherever and however God wills. The Holy Spirit is like the wind. We can’t contain it or control it; we simply step into its current and enjoy the ride, trusting that where he takes us is exactly where God wants us to be.

Understanding what it means to be born of the Spirit is very challenging because the nature of the Spirit is so mysterious. Nevertheless, although we may be unable to fathom the mechanics of spiritual rebirth, we cannot deny its occurrence. This past week, I was called to jury duty in a criminal case and I am going to shamelessly use one of the Assistant District Attorney’s stories to make my point right now (thank you ADA Kahn). Say you get on the subway to go to work, school, whatever. Before you got on, you noticed that there were no clouds and that the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Twenty minutes later when you exit the train doors, you see people coming on with wet umbrellas and newspapers, their hair dripping and their coats soaked. You walk up the stairs to see that the sidewalk is drenched and that windows are streaked with water and there are puddles everywhere. Yet, there are no clouds in the sky and the sun is still shining brightly. What do you conclude happened? It must have rained. You never saw the rain, but you saw the evidence of rain so that’s what you conclude. You could theorize that maybe a water tank blew up nearby and caused it but that would be highly improbable. It must have rained. What adds to your certainty of this fact is that you have, in the past, experienced these types of short but violent rainstorms that go as quickly as they come. So it is with being born of the Spirit. There is evidence to its occurrence even though we personally may have not experienced it. So what is the evidence that we are born of the Spirit? This evidence is definite, concrete, indisputable change; not just a desire to be changed, but actual change. The Spirit begins the transformation process within, which inevitably reveals a change without. So what exactly changes?

First, our desires change. Does our desire to sin go away? We wish. The truth is that we are still susceptible to the temptation of sin because we are not yet completely transformed but in the process of transformation. We still possess the vestiges of our sinful nature and so we must still struggle against our predilection to sin. But what happens is that we gain a desire to worship and please and seek God. We begin to pursue God’s holiness. Our primary concern becomes living up to God’s standards rather than anyone or anything else’s. Let me give you an example. This semester’s issue of Seed (NYU’s Christian publication) contains a question that represents a dilemma many young people face nowadays. It says,

Dear Seed,
I have been dating my boyfriend for several years. At his urging, our relationship became physically intimate. I regret compromising my beliefs, but I love him and don’t want to hurt or lose him by rejecting his advances. I know in my heart that he’s “the one,” so am I really doing anything wrong?

“I regret compromising my beliefs, but am I really doing anything wrong?” In order to answer this question, we have to determine whose standards we should strive to live up to—God’s or the world’s. Lots of people would tell her, “Go for it, girl! Hold on to that man! If it’s true love, it can’t be wrong.” But when we’re born of the Spirit, something about this way of thinking bothers us, it gnaws at our conscience, it just doesn’t seem right. Why? Because we understand that it doesn’t meet God’s standard. We come into the realization that sin is not just doing something wrong, it is doing something wrong against God. Our sin hurts God. It’s like a stab to His heart; a personal attack upon His holy and pure nature. Genesis 6:5,6 say, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” When we are born of the Spirit, we begin to feel God’s pain. We desire to put aside the yearnings of the sinful nature and endeavor to be holy just as God is holy. The first thing that happens when we are born of the Spirit is that our desires change.

Second, our behaviors change. This is just common sense. When our inward desires change, our outward behavior follows suit. Philippians 2:13 says, “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” God actually works in us to behave according to his good purpose, not our own selfish whims. Galatians 5:22,23 say, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The Spirit enables us to love as God loved us, to enjoy real peace in our souls, and to exercise self-control over our sinful nature. A friend of mine used to sell cocaine. When the Spirit came to him, he discontinued that behavior immediately. Another friend of mine has a weakness for bad boys. When she first met Christ, she swore off men altogether. But once she gave in and had a one-night stand; she cried and repented for days. Her change in behavior was more gradual. Sometimes our change in behavior is big and dramatic like the things I just mentioned. And sometimes it is small and subtle, something like learning to apologize right away when you do something wrong, or restraining yourself from giving someone the finger after they’ve cut you off. Does this mean that you will never behave badly ever again? Of course not. You will always struggle against the temptation to commit sin, just as it is with our desires. But similar to how we develop a desire to be holy, we also grow in our behavior in a way that is pleasing to God and consistent with his will. How does our behavior grow in holiness? Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Spirit empowers us to serve God as his witnesses. Later on in Acts, the prophet Joel is quoted:
17 ” ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.”

According to this, we become prophets. And what do we prophesy about? The same as Jesus: the coming kingdom of God. A perfect example of a person whose behavior was dramatically changed by the Spirit is the Apostle Peter. I don’t want to be too hard on Peter, he was a great man who surrendered his life for the glory of God. But his example is just the clearest and best way to illustrate how behavior changes due to the presence of the Spirit. Peter, formerly Simon, fisherman from Capernaum, was Jesus’ top disciple. But he had a knack, a real talent, for always saying some really bold and not-quite-thought-out things. Here’s a list of Peter’s greatest hits:

• Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! (Lk 5:8)
• Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. (He did not know what he was saying) (Lk 9:33)
• “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Mt 18:21)
• Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” To which Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! (Mt 16:22-23)

Needless to say, Peter did not possess a silver tongue. But when Peter was born again, when the Spirit came into his heart and made his home there, something dramatic happened. He became a great speaker. His words began to make sense. He started quoting Scripture. Before when he opened his mouth, people used to have to steel themselves for when he inevitably put his foot in his mouth. But now, they listened intently, their hearts burning at the truth that surged from his soul. Being born of the Spirit means that we are on fire for God and that we want to share the warmth and power of that blaze with the rest of the world. We become proactive in loving others. We grab opportunities to serve, not run away from them. Some travel to other countries to make Jesus known to those who don’t know him. We share our testimonies, our experiences, of God’s grace upon our lives, sometimes in a 1:1 Bible study or sometimes in normal conversation. Some even lay down their lives as martyrs for the sake of planting the seeds of God’s kingdom. I see young people giving their youth and energy and finances—everything—for the sake of building God’s kingdom. Their friends must think their foolish or just plain dumb for spending so much time in church and outside of church participating in Christian activities. This is the prime of their lives, when they should be having fun, traveling the world, trying new things, spending money on themselves, seeking thrills, finding the best parties and the most intriguing people to hang out with. This is New York City—the capital of the young and the restless. But they choose to build the kingdom of God. They learn the Bible and they teach the Bible. They take care of each other as well as those outside of the congregation. They love our kids; usually adults or college aged people think little children are a nuisance. But our kids play with them as if they were playgrounds. How beautiful it is to see young people born of the Spirit who dedicate and devote themselves to the things of God. I pray to learn from their example how to give my life to the work of God and to the building of his kingdom.

Lifted Up (9-15)

Nicodemus had just received a private lesson about the nature of the kingdom of God. The crowds had to learn in parables, but Nicodemus got the direct scoop. He thought about what Jesus said. Born again. Born of water and Spirit. The wind…Uh huh. Yep, I still don’t get it. Actually his exact words were, 9″How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. He simply couldn’t grasp what Jesus was trying to say. So like any good student, he asked another question.

Let’s see Jesus’ reply in verse 10. 10″You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Can you hear the frustration in his words? Can you feel the frustration in both of them, in Jesus who couldn’t get through to Nicodemus, and in Nicodemus who just didn’t get it? Jesus called Nicodemus “Israel’s teacher” emphasizing his responsibility in understanding the things of God. Nicodemus should have known these things; he had no excuse since he had studied Scripture all this life. As a teacher, Jesus held Nicodemus to a very high standard, in very much the same way that we as Christians will be held to a high standard at the time of judgment. Jesus interpreted Nicodemus’ ignorance as willful and deliberate.

11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e]

Since the allusion to the wind failed to work, Jesus used an example Nicodemus was sure to understand. Let’s read verses 14-15. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[f] This is a well-known story from the Book of Numbers in which the Israelites in the desert were, what else, complaining. Their life in the desert was a continual cycle of complaining, being punished, and repenting. During this particular event, they were complaining about the food. If you look at Numbers 21, their exact words were, “We detest this miserable food!” Now I’m not 100% sure, I but believe they were complaining about the manna, bread from heaven, which God miraculously provided for them every day, free of charge, for forty years in the desert. God’s wrath came down hard in the form of poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them. (My advice: avoid complaining about food; God takes it very seriously). The people were humbled; they confessed their sins and begged Moses to pray to take the snakes away. So Moses prayed, but the Lord did not take the snakes away. Rather, He instructed Moses to erect a pole and place a bronze snake on it. When anyone was bitten, the person should look at the bronze snake and live. Interesting story, but how does it relate to being born again?

Let’s look at verses 14-15 again. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” The bronze snake pointed to Jesus crucified on the cross. For the Israelites, the difference between life and death was looking up at the snake lifted up in the desert. For us, the difference between eternal life and eternal death is looking, or more accurately, believing in Jesus. Nicodemus’ coming to Jesus to learn about the kingdom of God wasn’t a simple whim or fancy. He didn’t wake up one morning and think, “A change in my life would be good.” It was much more primal than that. It was his soul’s survival instinct that brought him to Jesus. He was bitten by the snake of sin and was dying on the inside. His visit to Jesus was his act of faith to defy the sting of death and live—really live.

In this message, we talked a lot about change—wanting to change, the change of our inner desires, the change of our lifestyle and behavior, and so on. But what we must remember is that change is not optional; it is imperative. It is a very pressing and urgent matter, a matter of life and death in fact. Venomous snakes are all around us. They bite and infuse deadly poison into our souls—poison that serves as a booster shot for our inherent sinful nature—and we are dying. And the only one who can save us is Jesus. Jesus is the way from this life into the next.

Let’s read verse 16. 16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[g] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God desires to share eternity with all of us. He wants us there. He so wants us to be with him. But he knows that unless we are transformed we’ll never reach it. So, as the greatest expression of love that has ever been displayed, God gave his one and only Son to make this transformation possible. You see, we become so burdened at the thought of changing on the inside and changing on the outside, and true, we must contribute some effort into the process. But it is God who did all the hard work. We plant the seed, water it, and make sure it gets enough sunlight; but it is God that makes the seed grow into something beautiful. It is by God’s effort that we are born again and enter into new life. It was his love that initiated it and made it available to anyone who comes to him. He loves us so much. Can you sense how much He loves you?

This past winter, I was privileged to participate in the Young Disciples’ Conference for the first time. It was surreal to see kids that I had taught in CBF/Sunday school all grown up. Lots of them remembered me, and we reminisced about the good old days of CBF when I used to teach them cheesy praise songs like…”I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy!” It was so nice to see them changed and begin the transition into adulthood. One of them, and I forgot who it was, told me, “You look younger now than when you left six years ago.” God bless that person whoever he/she is! That was the best comment that I have ever received—ever! But more than just an ego boost, I realized that there is some tangible change in my life that others can see, something that I can’t claim credit for because it was God’s work completely.

For my birthday, William made a montage of pictures of my life. I have to confess it was a little bittersweet looking at them. When I see the pictures of my youth, I don’t see the person that I am today, but a scared, insecure, little girl who smiled on the outside and cried on the inside. I had a really decent childhood. It was not without its drama, but I knew that I should have been much happier than I was. I couldn’t explain why I was felt so unsatisfied and frustrated. I began to study the Bible and joined this ministry as a dedicated member, and at first it was like water to my soul. I loved Friday testimony meetings. I loved fellowship Bible studies. Sunday services took a little while getting used to (the messages were long!). For a while, I was happy. But then I hit a rut. I looked at my life (in my early/mid twenties) and thought, “Is this is? Is this what my life will be ten or twenty years from now?” Is every Sunday going to be a struggle to drag people to church? Is every Friday going to be this stressful rush of finishing my testimony and praying I don’t have to share it at the meeting? Are all my Saturdays going to consist of hours-long Bible studies about things we’ve learned a million times? Is everyday going to be filled with guilt and regrets for failing to meet God’s standards? I wondered where the joy in being a Christian was. We’re supposed to be the most blessed people in the world. But why did I feel so ‘eh’? This is when the pessimism started. I started looking at people through jaded eyes, thinking that they were the cause of my stagnant spiritual life. William doesn’t understand me. My family is clueless. My shepherds just don’t get it. My friends—they only care about themselves. Then the complaints about church began. “Our ministry is so rigid! It doesn’t provide for my needs. There is no flexibility or room to grow personally. We’re too set in our ways.” Then the complaints about Christians as a whole began. And on and on and on. I was ready to blame everyone, but myself. I was thirsty for some sort of change is my circumstances. I contemplated moving to a different state and starting our own church. I thought about going back to school and starting a new career. I was desperate for some change in my life.

At that time, I started reading a book—a somewhat cheesy book. The title is kind of lame, “Ancient Secrets of the Bible.” I read it out of sheer boredom, but pretty soon, I was completely hooked. I literally could not put the book down and I finished it in just a few days. It explained how events such as the flood, the parting of the Red Sea and the Ten Plagues of Egypt, though unquestionably divine, could occur as natural phenomena. This book catalyzed my desire to really understand the Bible. No more was it this big heavy book that told me how sinful I was; rather it was like God’s biography, a way for me to know Him and myself better. I read and studied it with an appetite to know truth. Some of it was so mystical. Some parts read like science fiction. There were word patterns and idioms that made things clearer. I wanted to know the context of some passages, so I began studying history a bit as well. A whole new world opened up to me, and I was more than eager to explore it with all my effort. This was the beginning of real transformation in my life. When I took my cynical eyes off of people, my church, my ministry and the world began to really look at Jesus, I began to change. This new attitude toward the Word of God enabled me to come to Jesus; this was my “Nicodemus visit” that put me on the right track. I began to develop a real relationship with God and those things that before sounded so cliché began to move my heart. I began to care about other people more than myself. I started to temper my complaints with compliments, learning how to build up instead of tear down others. I began to be hopeful about the people around me, my church, my ministry, my family and friends, even the world. I became a happy, fulfilled person. God was working; the evidence was clear. Pretty soon, I could say with confidence that I was truly born again. I am no longer that scared, insecure girl in those photos. I am a new creation, born of water and born of the Spirit. But it doesn’t stop here. Being born again is just the beginning. The transformation continues until we are completely transformed into the likeness of God at the end of the age.

I want to conclude, not with answers, but with questions. As you meditate and write your reflections this morning, I want you ask yourselves:

Am I born again?
Have I sincerely repented of my sin?
How has God’s Spirit changed me?
Am I looking at Jesus or depending on myself to be transformed?
What is one thing about me that needs to change?

By Yvette Shin

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