Three Miracle Births | Part 2

We'll be right back. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, and thank you for studying God's Word with us as we continue to celebrate God with us, the incarnation. Today, a message from pastor and teacher Adrian Rogers that continues to reveal the story of our salvation through the three miracle births in John chapter three. Now, in part one of today's message, we learned about the deficiency of our natural birth, being born into a sinful world, bound to a sinful nature. But praise God for the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, in which God in human flesh came to earth so that we might be saved. How can we better understand that new birth?

If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter three, as Adrian Rogers further explains the three miracle births. Why did Jesus have to come? Why dark Gethsemane? Why bloody Calvary?

Why all of that? Why couldn't God just say, I forgive you? What is the efficiency of the virgin birth? Well, first of all, Jesus came as a ministry in the flesh, a ministry of revelation. The only way we could know God, the Son of Man has displayed God.

You want to know what God is like? Look at the Lord Jesus Christ who could say, he that hath seen me, hath seen my Father. Now, remember that Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see. He cannot see, so Jesus has come to open eyes so that they might see, but not only a ministry of revelation, a ministry of redemption.

Now, listen carefully. Our Father Adam sinned, and when he sinned, he dragged the entire human race down with him. We're all descendants of Adam, and the Bible says, and Adam all die. Now, Adam forfeited the whole thing. It was lost by man, and according to God's law of sovereign justice, it must be redeemed by man. God could not just step in and say, I forgive. If he could have, he would have. Why the virgin birth? Jesus could not have been a son of Adam. Had he been a son of Adam, Adam's sinful blood would have been in his veins. He would have been a slave to Satan, just like every other son of Adam was a slave. He had to be the son of God. Therefore, he is not born of Adam. He is born of a virgin, sired by the Holy Spirit of God. He had to do that to be sinless, but he had to be a man to pay the sin debt, for without shedding of blood is no remission of sin. Therefore, he had to be the God-man.

Now, listen very carefully. He came as he did, born of a virgin, to be what he was, sinless. He was what he was, sinless, to do what he did, die for our sins. A sinner could die for nobody else's sin except his own. He had to be sinless to be a substitute. He came as he did to be what he was, to do what he did, that we might be what we are, sons and daughters of God. He came to earth that we might go to heaven. He was born of a virgin that we might be born again. Thank God for the virgin birth.

Don't think it's incidental. Don't think it's mythological. Friend, it is the foundation stone of our faith that God became man. This is the incarnation, second Adam from above, reinstate us in thy love, a ministry of revelation, a ministry of redemption, and a ministry of restoration. He brought back for us what the first Adam lost. As a matter of fact, he brought back more, more than Adam ever lost. Listen to me, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he was merely innocent until he sinned.

You are more than innocent. You are righteous when you trust the Lord Jesus Christ. God imparts to you the righteousness of Christ.

Now, here's the third and final thing. I want you to see not only the deficiency of the natural birth and the efficiency of the virgin birth, but I want you to see, therefore, the sufficiency of the new birth. Now, Jesus is saying to this man, you must be born again.

Look in verses four through seven. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.

Undescore that. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. This is clear now why Jesus said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, one birth for you is not enough.

Now, I say again, I'm glad that he used a birth to illustrate salvation, because that's something we can all understand. For example, in a birth, there must be a conception. There must be two parents.

There must be two parents for you to be born. Now, look in verse 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.

He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Now, who are our parents in the new birth? Water and the Spirit. Well, you say, Pastor, I understand the Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit. But what about the water?

What does that stand for? Water in the Old Testament and in the New Testament is an emblem, a symbol of the Word of God. The Bible speaks in Ephesians, chapter 5, of the washing of water by the Word. God says of his word, Is not my word like the rain that cometh down from heaven? The Word of God is one parent in the new birth. Pastor, are you sure of that?

Yes, Peter explains it to us in 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 23, Being born again, that's the same subject now, being born again, not of corruptible seed, being born again, not of corruptible seed, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. The Word of God is the seed that impregnates. That's the reason it takes the preaching of the Word of God to get people saved.

That's one parent. The Word of God and then the Spirit of God. Now, you take the Word of God and the Spirit of God. If we preach the Word of God and the Spirit is not here to enlighten and to fructify, then it doesn't happen. But if we depend upon the Spirit of God, but we don't give the truth of God, the Holy Spirit of God is helpless to conceive the new man. But when the Word of God and the Spirit of God come together, that is a conception, our two parents that bring about the new birth.

Where does it take place? In the womb of faith. In the womb of faith. You take the Word of God and the Spirit of God, the gestation takes place in the womb of faith when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.

Now, you need to understand this. Friend, when parents conceive a child, they don't create life. They transmit life. The life of the parents now goes into the child. When you're saved, when you're born again, God does not create life in you. He transfers life to you.

The life of God comes into you. Now, learn this about salvation. Salvation is not getting man out of earth into heaven. That's the byproduct of salvation. Thank God I'm going to heaven. I'm not taken away from heaven.

That's wonderful. But salvation is not primarily getting man out of earth into heaven. It is getting God out of heaven into man. That's the reason Jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly. You see, that life comes from God above just as the life of your parents is in you. And so this life is transferred. Now, not only is there conception, but here's the second thing. Here's another trait of the twice-born. In a conception and in a birth, a character is produced. A character is produced. Now, I am a character.

You can say that again, pastor. Well, I'm a character. Yeah, so are you. And what makes my characteristics naturally? Well, if you knew my father and my mother, you'd understand. I am the sum total of the characteristics of my parents.

There's nothing in me that was not in my parents, and all that was in my parents is in me because their character, their characteristics, their natural traits are in me by my natural birth. Now, when you're born again, you get a new character. The character of God is reproduced in you. The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1, verse 4, we become partakers of the divine nature. I have my human nature.

I am a Rogers. By my divine nature, I have the nature of God in me. Now, some people have the idea that you can just take a child and begin to train that child and nurture that child into becoming a Christian, and they just sort of ooze into being a Christian.

No, no. Nobody is half saved. To be half saved is to be altogether lost.

Listen carefully. I've used this analogy before. A Christian is not like a tadpole who finally matures and becomes a frog. A Christian is more like a frog who has become a prince by the kiss of grace.

It is something supernatural. Not only we're nicer people, we are new creatures, and when we're new creatures, we receive the characteristics of our Father. We receive the nature of our Father. May I mention four things that are true about you if you have been saved?

Traits of the twice-born. Number one, you're going to have a love for the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you're a partaker of the divine nature. The characteristic of the heavenly Father is going to be in you.

May I ask you a question? What does the heavenly Father think of his Son? He said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Why do you call yourself a Christian if you don't love Jesus? You say, I believe in him.

That's not the point. Do you love him? I love the Lord Jesus.

Not romantically. I love him. I love Jesus Christ.

Do you love him? If not, you ought to wonder, do you have divine nature in you? You see, there's a characteristic that is transmitted when the life of God comes in you. Not only is there going to be a love for the Lord Jesus Christ and his Word that's going to be in you, but I'll tell you another sign. You're going to have the witness of the Spirit. If you're born of the Spirit, that means the Spirit of God is in you, and the Spirit of God is going to witness to you that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 16, the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we're the children of God. That is born into God's family. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God. Do you have the witness of the Spirit in your heart that you belong to Jesus Christ?

I say, do you? I didn't ask you, you're a church member. I didn't ask if you're baptized.

I don't ask if you're tired. Does the Holy Spirit of God whisper to you that you belong to Jesus Christ? Now, I'm not talking about emotion. It is awareness. Awareness, not emotion. Awareness. I have an awareness that I belong to God. You say, explain it to me.

I can't explain it, but if you have it, you know what I'm talking about. He that hath the Spirit hath the witness in himself. God's Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we're children of God. There will be a love for the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be the witness of the Spirit.

I'll tell you what else there will be if you've been saved. There will be a desire for holiness because you will have the nature of God. And God is holy. Do you have a desire for holiness? Has it come in your heart and in your life, a hatred for sin, a desire to be righteous and to be holy? If not, why do you call yourself a child of God because God is holy?

His nature is to be in you. I'm not saying that you're to be sinless. We won't be sinless until we're taken to heaven and the rapture. But there's a difference in my heart now after I've been saved. Before I was saved, I was running to sin.

Now I'm running from it. People say, oh, if I believe in eternal security, I just get saved and sin all I want to. Well, I sin all I want to. I sin more than I want to.

I don't want to. I do slip and fall in sin. But the desire of my heart is to live a holy life.

That is the desire of my heart. That's one of the ways I know that I'm saved. I'll tell you another trait of the twice-born, and that is a desire to share Jesus Christ. Can you convince me that you're saved and you have no desire to tell others about it? You have no desire for your brothers in the family, your sister, your father, your mother, your friends, your neighbors, if you know the Jesus that you know, if you knew the cure for cancer, would you share it?

If you knew the answer to war, would you tell it? Friend, when you know what you say that you know, you want to share it. From the moment I gave my heart to Jesus Christ to this moment, there has been a desire in my heart to share Jesus Christ. And if you don't have that desire, perhaps you ought to put a question mark after that thing you call salvation.

I've said before, if you can't give it away, maybe you ought to give it up. Now, look, when you're saved, number one, a conception takes place. Number two, when a conception takes place, a character is formed.

Number three, when a birth takes place, there is a finality, a finality. You're only born once in either realm. In the physical realm, you can only have one birth. In the spiritual realm, you can only have one birth. You don't keep getting born physically.

You don't keep getting saved spiritually. Once you're born, you're born. Nobody can be unborn.

And my parents cannot take me back to the hospital and say, we don't like this one, take him back. No, listen, a birth is a finality. I hear people talk about getting saved over and over and over again.

I want to give you a challenge. You show me anywhere in the Bible, anywhere where anybody was ever saved twice, you can't do it. You're not going to find it.

You can't find it. Friend, any more than you could go out in this world and find somebody born twice physically. You see, with a birth, there is a finality. Jesus said, rejoice that your names are written in heaven. When a baby is born here on this earth, down at the courthouse, his name is recorded. Jesus said, don't rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but rejoice rather that your name is written in heaven.

And the Greek word there means your name stands written. Some people think, well, I'm saved today. I'm lost tomorrow. I'm saved today.

Here's the recording angel. Write your name in, erases it. Writes it in, erases it.

Writes it in, erases it. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, a birth is a finality. Now, there's a difference between relationship and fellowship.

I am a Rogers. I was born, that's a finality. I'll be through all eternity. Fellowship sometimes was different.

My dad had to carry me to the woodshed. Now, number four, a birth is a brand new, a fresh start. You see, a newborn baby is all tomorrow's. He's no yesterdays.

You'll never find a policeman standing ready to arrest a newborn child for crimes he's done. And when you're born again, your sins are in the grave of God's forgetfulness. You are brand new. Suppose you've been a prostitute. You get saved, you become an arch virgin in the sight of Jesus Christ.

You're born again with a fresh start. How far has he removed your sin from you as far as the east is from the west? He didn't say as far as the north is from the south. You can measure from the north pole to the south pole. There is no east pole and west pole. You start going east, you just keep on going. You start going west, you just keep on going.

Infinity. That's how far he has removed our sins from us. When you're born, then a growth process begins. A birth is the beginning of the growth cycle. You see, folks, God doesn't demand that we be full grown before we get born. We come just as we are. The Bible says in 1 Peter 2, 2 is newborn babes to desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.

Some of you are waiting. You say, Pastor Rogers, I've just got things. I've got to get straightened out. I need to learn the Bible a little more, and I need to overcome this habit, and I need to learn this, and then I'm going to give my heart to Jesus. What you're saying is, I'm going to grow up and then get born.

You can't do it. You can't really begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, until you give your heart to Christ, until a conception begins, and a growth begins, you can't do it. Don't try to grow up and then get born.

Come just as you are. You say, well, there are things I don't have figured out yet. You'll wake up in hell, and you still won't have them figured out. Can you believe this? Jesus loves me.

This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Can you believe this? That Christ died for your sins?

Can you believe this? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Start there, and then you can grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Next, in a birth, you get a family and a father. Now, some of you may not know who your earthly father is, but you have a heavenly father. Have you ever thought about your responsibility to your father?

Think about his responsibility to you. Did you know that when you come to him, he becomes your father, and he will watch over you? David said, once I was young, and now I'm old, and yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Your heavenly father knows what things you have need of. You get a father. And not only do you get a father, you get a fortune. We're heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And not only a father and a fortune, you get a family. Now, you may be an only child physically, but now look at your family. Look at your family, brothers and sisters all over the world, when you're born into the greatest family of ever.

That is the family of God. And last of all, a birth is a certain event. It brings a certainty to it. You ought to be able to say, I know I've been saved. I ask people, have you been born again? They say, well, I hope so, I think so, maybe so. I'm trying, I'm doing the best I can. Well, if I were to ask you physically, have you ever been born, period? You say, well, I think so, I hope so, maybe so, I'm doing the best I can. You don't know what I'm talking about.

I mean, look, look, look, look. If you have trusted Christ, if you've come down on the Word of God, put your faith where God has put your sins and somebody says, are you saved? You can say, yes, hallelujah, praise God, I know I'm saved.

God's Spirit agrees with my spirit that I am a child of God. I'm told that Will Rogers, the philosopher, cowboy philosopher and humorous from Oklahoma was asked, he wanted to get a passport and he went into the office for the passport and he said, well, we'll need your birth certificate. He said, what for?

They said, well, proof of your birth. He said, well, I'm here, ain't I? Friend, I'm here and I've been born again.

I know it. I'm not boasting in myself. I'm giving praise to the grace of God. I've got a lot of growing to do.

I'm in the family though. I have been saved. I've been born again. Now, think about it, the deficiency of the natural birth, the efficiency of the virgin birth, the sufficiency of the new birth.

That's what Christmas is all about. Now, if you're not saved, I want to lead you in a prayer and friend, if you need Jesus, pray this way. Dear God, speak to him out of your heart. Dear God, I know that you love me. I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust you.

I do trust you. I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you paid my sin debt with your blood on the cross. I believe that the Father raised you from the dead and now by faith I receive you into my life as my Lord and Savior and I yield my life to you. Begin now to make me the person you want me to be.

Lord, I want to be a new creature. I want to be born again and I thank you for doing it. In your holy name, amen. And if today you have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Savior, if you've claimed him as Lord, we want to celebrate with you, invite you to our Discover Jesus page. There at the website you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith.

There's a response section. You can share your testimony or tell us how this message has impacted you. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the Discover Jesus tab. What an amazing day to join the forever family of God.

Let us hear from you. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, request one by the title Three Miracle Births and call 1-877-LOVEGOD. This message is also part of the powerful Christmas series God in Human Flesh.

For that complete collection, all four dynamic messages, call that number 1-877-568-3463 or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today as we celebrate what happened at Christmas. It's a good time to evaluate your relationship with God. Do you have the characteristics of someone reborn? Do you love Jesus and share him with others?

Do you desire holiness and have the witness of the Spirit in your life? We hope you'll join us next time for more real truth that never changes, right here on Love Worth Finding. A Facebook friend wrote this testimony, a bold one, on our wall recently. He said, I've struggled on and off for many years for assurance of salvation, but tonight, I decided to settle the question once and for all. I prayed with Adrian at the end of the program and I'm standing on God's promise to save me.

Isn't that great? We are so thankful to get to walk alongside you and help you in your relationship with God with these timeless messages from Adrian Rogers. In spite of the global pandemic and all the social unrest and the political division that we've seen in this year, it's really been a fruitful one for Love Worth Finding. A generous friend is given a challenge gift to encourage you to give over and above here at the end of the year. To thank you for your generosity, we'd love to send you our brand new Names of God card set. Call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD