Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must all be born anew.’Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.
5 sermons cite this verse
… what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus turned to him and he said, you must be born again. And he said, how can I be born again? I'm of the seed of Abraham. I have the greatest bloodline that a human can have. I am in the bloodline that made a covenant with God himself. And in that moment, God then said, you must be born again. And he said of water and of spirit. And listen carefully to me. He said, how can that be possible? And then Jesus gave this answer. It was a reference to the book of Numbers chapter 21 when he said, as Moses lifted up the serpent, the brass serpent in the wilderness on a pole, so the son of man shall be lifted up. And if I be lifted up on a pole, I will draw all men unto me. That was a picture of Calvary. That was a picture of the cross. You see, the serpent was made of brass. …
… New hope produces new life, and new life comes from a new birth. Jesus said, you must be born again. Notice the word must. You must be born again. There's very few things in life you must do. You must breathe. You must eat. you must drink to survive. But if you want to go to heaven, you must be born again. And so there's a simple formula. Maybe you can remember this formula. If you're born once, you're going to die twice. But if you're born twice, you're going to die once. See, if you're just born physically once, you're going to die physically. We all die. But you're going to die spiritually and eternally. Born once, die twice. But if you're born twice physically and born again, born from above, touched by the power of God, you're only going to die once. You're going to die physically, but then you're going to live in the hope and in the presence of God. Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once. How's your hope? Is your hope dying? …
… says am I going to go climb back into my mother's womb and then be reborn again like well how does that get me to heaven? But think what Jesus is saying to him, you must be born again. Now he clarifies in verse five, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. He said you must be born again. He did not say you must be baptized, you must raise your hand, you must pray the prayer, you must walk forward. He didn't say any of those things. Those are things that you do as part of the process, but oftentimes when I ask people if they know they're born again, those are the answers that I get. I've heard it said just like this. I prayed the prayer. …
In other words, I'm in two dimensions. Father, we thank you so much for your word. It is a lamp unto our feet. It is a light unto our path. Hallelujah. In the beginning was the word, and the word was you, and the word was with you, and all things that will be made will be made, therefore, by your word. And even as your word became flesh and dwelt among us, I thank you, God, that this word will become flesh and move throughout the hearts and the minds of your sons and daughters present and watching. And God, in alignment and agreement with that, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. I thank you that you've given me the spirit of wisdom and revelation and insight and knowledge and prophecy and full access to heaven's resources, is full access to the throne room, God, that I might not simply be standing in front of your people, but that I might be like Elijah who said, Jehovah before whom I stand. So may I stand in two dimensions and release your word that will edify, build up, enlighten, activate, heal, and do all the wonderful things that takes place when your word is released. We claim victory today. …
And so chapter 3 begins with this introduction of Nicodemus. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews. Not all of the Pharisees were elevated to membership in the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of the Jewish people. This would be akin to a senator in the United States Senate. This is a man of very high authority in the government of the affairs of the Jewish people who is also skilled as a theologian, or at least he's supposed to be. And we are told that he came to Jesus by night. John doesn't tell us why he came at night. Maybe he was too busy during the day, or maybe as many guests, he was a little bit embarrassed about being seen publicly with this Jesus who was gaining some kind of a reputation, which was basically negative among the Pharisees and the rulers of the Jews. So maybe Nicodemus was seeking the cover of darkness and hoping for a clandestine meeting with Jesus so that he could interrogate Him in private. …