The Regenerator

A Jewish religious leader was drawn to the Jesus who had been turning his world upside down. coming to see him by night, lest he be found out, Nicodemus came face to face with the powerful truth. Without a new birth, no one can find eternal life. To learn what the new birth is all about, stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller.

Today, join us for the fifth in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John we're calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus, the Regenerator. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford.

Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to The Moody Church. We're so glad you're here with us today. You know, Jesus came and He met people exactly where they are. And some of the people that Jesus came to pursue seemed like candidates who were far away from Jesus, and others were. Very religious people who seem to have their lives all together, but they needed Jesus just as much.

Religious people need Jesus just as much as irreligious people do. And we're going to discover today through the eyes of Nicodemus this. Beautiful regeneration that Jesus comes and offers. Would you pray with me as we begin? Heavenly Father, we pray this morning as we gather in your name.

that you would come and wake up our hearts and change us and make us new.

Sometimes we can get stuck in religious ritual, and we need to be brought back to the heart of it all.

So come, regenerate us. Make us alive, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Come all you weary, come all you thirsty, come to the well that never runs dry, drink of the water, a man thirst no more.

Come all you sinners, come find His mercy, come to the table He will satisfy. Taste of His goodness, I was your looking for God so loved the world that He gives His one and only. Sung to the saints, who ever believes in him live forever. Let's sing. Bring all your heads, reor addictions, lay them down at the foot of the cross.

Jesus is waiting there for God's Son, the world that He gave us. Here's one and only song to the same, whoever believes in Him live forever. A power of hell, heaven in kingdom now in his hell, walking freedom. God so love, God's so love. Praise God, praise God, from whom all blessings go.

Praise Him, praise Him for the wonders of His love, His amazing love, God so large, the one that He gave us, His one and only Son to save, Oh, God's so love, He gave us His one and only so to save us whoever believes in you forever of heaven in Eden, all it is well giving freedom for God so love, God's so lovely failures, bring your addiction, come lay them down at the foot of the cross. Jesus is waiting, God's so love the world. How wide the chasm that lay bescreet us, how high the mountain I come in desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night Then through the darkness your loving kindness torn through the shadows of my soul The work is finished The end is written Jesus Christ, my living glory. Who could imagine so great a mercy? What if I could fathom such boundless grace?

The God of ages stepped down from me to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has fallen, I am forgiven. The King of Kings calls me His own merit for Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, my Living Lord. Hallelujah.

Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its friend on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name.

Jesus Christ, my living Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its friend on me.

You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living Lord. Came the morning that sealed the promise. Your very body began to breathe out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me.

Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your very body began to read. Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. Jesus, your glory. Hallelujah.

Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name.

Jesus Christ, my living Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me.

You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living Lord. Jesus Christ. I'm living all as you are.

I living all like to read for you now from 1 Peter chapter 1. about how the gospel shapes our lives. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope. to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading. kept in heaven for you. Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice. though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been griev'd by various trials.

so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire. may be found to result in praise. and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Dan Can it be that I It should be And yeah. Track the steam My save Yours blood Done.

Here. for me who call Tissue. For me. Who scored his perfect love amazing love? How can it be that you, my God, would die for me?

Amazing love. How can it be that you, my God, would die for me left your Father's throne above so free and inferred. Your grace emptied yourself of all but glow and birth for service. Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, would die for me? Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, would die for me?

Yo, my bread, Jesus and only in Him is mine. Come on with Him, my baby, and close Him righteousness He mine. Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, could die for me? Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, could die for me? Holy I come before your throne to your mercy and free love will everyone for oh my God is born me amazing love how can it be that you my God died for me amazing love how can it be that you my God And you, my God, would die, and you, my God, good time for me.

How can it be what kind of love does this? If this is what the gospel is. We bow down at your feet in reverence and awe, thanksgiving. pouring out our hearts. of love in return.

Thank you, Lord, for This mercy. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. When I say the phrase born again, What do you think of?

You think of a Bible-thumping preacher or maybe a Billy Graham crusade. or a political voting block maybe. or a particularly religious experience. You know, this phrase, born again, it's taken on all kinds of different meanings in our culture. But I don't know if you know, do you know where it came from originally, who coined it?

It was Jesus. Jesus had a conversation with a guy named Nicodemus, and he used this phrase in John chapter 3 verses 1 to 2. To 21. That's the passage we're looking at this morning. And he uses it twice.

In verse 3, he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Or down in verse 7, again, he says, you must. Be born again.

So what I want us to do this morning, I want us to set aside all the cultural clutter, all the baggage that we bring into the meaning of this phrase, and I want us to try to hear it from the lips of Jesus, to understand what he meant by being born again. Because as we will see, being born again, this new birth, this regeneration that Jesus is talking about here, is at the very heart of why Jesus came to earth. And so to navigate our time together this morning, we're going to look at the new birth and we're going to ask six questions. We're going to ask who needs it. What is it?

Who does it? How does it come? Why do we need it? And what is in the way, okay?

So we'll jump in and we'll navigate those together. As we open our Bibles, would you bow your heads? Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we love you. And we come together to understand Jesus.

and to have him poke and prod and change us, make us new. Father, whatever this new birth is, we need it. Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so the first question is this.

Who needs it? Who needs this new birth? In chapter 3, verse 1 of John, this is what we read.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So we're introduced here to this guy named Nicodemus.

Now, who is he? We get some clues here. Number one, he's a man of the Pharisees.

Now, the Pharisees were a Jewish conservative social movement that had a lot of influence at the time of Jesus. They were theologically conservative, so they believed that the scriptures should be interpreted literally, historically, according to the intent of the writers. They were pious and conscientious. They meticulously kept God's law. They were religious, faithful people.

They believed that the key to seeing the blessings of God, the kingdom of God, come to earth to bring peace and prosperity was to live righteously in the covenant.

So if they were obedient enough, they could bring in the kingdom, that God would send the kingdom of God. Many of the respected rabbis were Pharisees.

So in the synagogues, they gathered all throughout. Israel. These were the pastors. These were the leaders, the priests that stood up, the religious leaders of the day. In verse 10, we're going to see that Jesus refers to Nicodemus as, quote, the teacher of Israel.

Not just a teacher, but the teacher.

So it is likely that this man has some prominence. He is a pastor to pastors, if you will. He has religious authority.

Now we also learn here that he's a ruler of the Jews. He's a ruler of the Jews, which means he's a member of the Sanhedrin, which was a group of 70 religious leaders who governed. They were the governing council over Israel.

So here we have Nicodemus. He is a religious, powerful, respected, influential, prestigious, and honorable man. And we are told here he came to Jesus by night.

Now, That's a curious time. Why does he come to Jesus at night? All the scholars are agreed. Nicodemus is clearly trying to keep this. On the down low, he doesn't want people to realize he's there with Jesus, but we are not told why.

Hmm. Let's put a pin in that. We'll come back to that.

Now I want you to notice the context, the flow as this passage relates to its surrounding setting. Remember how John ended chapter 2? He said this in verse 23.

Now when he, Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people, and indeed needed no one to bear witness about men, for he himself knew what was in. Man.

So in other words, in Jerusalem, there were those who believed. in Jesus, in the signs he was doing. But their faith was spurious, it was unreliable, it was a fickle faith. And Jesus didn't entrust himself to them because he knew what was in people, he knew what was in their hearts.

Now, the very next verse says, Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.

Now forget the chapter break for a moment, which isn't original. We see here that Nicodemus shows up and he says he believes in the signs. He says he believes in Jesus. But Jesus isn't going to entrust himself to him because there's something untrustworthy about Nicodemus here. Jesus knows what's in his heart.

And there's something off. We're going to see it. Verse 2. Nicodemus opens up. He says, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God.

No one can do these signs unless God is with him.

So he's very respectful. He addresses him as rabbi, which was a significant honor, especially coming from a man like Nicodemus. And he recognizes Jesus as a teacher who is from God, because nobody can do what Jesus does unless God is with him. Verse 3, Jesus answers him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom. Of God.

Now remember. The Pharisees were obsessed with seeing the kingdom. Of God.

They wanted to see God come with power and restore Israel.

So they were pious and law-abiding because they believed if they were obedient enough, God would bless them with the kingdom. And Jesus says, look. Unless you're born again. You'll never see it.

Now do you realize how shocking this is? This is one of the most religious, powerful, respectable, influential, prestigious, honorable people in all of Israel. And we expect Jesus here to say something like, listen, you're doing a lot right, Nicodemus. You're 80% of the way. You just need a little push and you can get over the hurdle and you can see and enter into the kingdom of God.

But that's not what he says. He says, unless you're born again, you'll never see it. Nicodemus, you got to start over on day one. You got to start at the beginning. You got to begin afresh.

You got to begin anew. You got to be born again. It's like he's saying, look, Nicodemus, nothing you've done counts. All your morality, all your piety, all your religiosity, all of the honor, the standing, the accolades, the achievements of your life, none of it matters. You've got all the religion and morality and standing in the universe, but I'm telling you, Nicodemus, you've got to be born again.

This is the very last person we expect to hear this kind of a statement. If he was a drug addict or a prostitute or a tax collector or something, we would say, of course you've got to start over and be born again. Of course you've got to have a do-over. That makes sense, but Nicodemus? And we're learning here that from the most religious and moral to the very least, listen, we all must be born again.

That's what Jesus is saying. From the most religious and moral to the very least, we all must be born again. Listen, if Nicodemus needs to be born again. Everybody's got to be born again. Again.

So that's who it's for. Secondly, what is it? What is this new birth? Verse 4: Nicodemus said to him. How can a man be born when he's old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born, Of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom. of God.

Now it might seem like Nicodemus is a bit dense here. And he's like, Can I enter into the womb again? No, no, no. He's not dense. He's brilliant.

And he knows how to have a theological conversation. He realizes that Jesus is using a metaphor to describe a new start, a fresh start at life. that is innocent and fresh and pure. And Nicodemus is engaging. He's pressing the metaphor to its limits.

He's saying, listen, it's impossible to start over. Nobody gets a clean do-over in life. Who you are, what you do, it carries with you. For better or for worse, your resume, your record sticks with you. You can't be born again.

You don't get a brand new do-over. Nobody does, not in this life.

Now notice Jesus responds by unpacking what he means by being born again. He says you have to be born of water and the spirit. What's with the water and the spirit stuff here?

Well, remember back in the beginning. At creation in Genesis 1:1 and 2, this is what we read: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form, it was void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And listen to this phrase, and the spirit. of God was hovering over the face of the Waters.

So at the very beginning, all of creation came from spirit and water. This is the language of creation. That all creation was birthed out of this spirit and water, but that's not all in Ezekiel 36 verses 25 to 27. A famous passage on the new covenant. This is what Ezekiel writes.

God is speaking, I will sprinkle clean water on you. And you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols I will cleanse you. You see all the water language? And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart.

Of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules.

So, this is a promise of the new covenant that will come with cleansing of water, the coming and indwelling of the Spirit, and the new heart, the pliable heart that is ready to respond to God. It is God's work in giving us a brand new heart prophesied in the Old Testament.

So Jesus is saying, you put all this together. That new birth means a new, brand new start at life. It means a new creation. It means a new covenant heart indwelt by the Spirit.

So, to be born again, listen, is to have a brand new, recreated spiritual life. That's what he's saying. Nicodemus. If you want to see the kingdom of God, if you want to enter into the kingdom, you need a brand new, spiritually recreated life. Your resume is not going to get you in.

You've got to be Born again.

Now, third question, who does it? Who does it? Verse 6: That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is flesh. Spirit.

Okay, this makes sense to us. Just as bodies beget bodies, and the spirit begets the bodies. The spirit.

So, if you need a brand new, recreated, spiritual inner life. There's only one person who can do it. And that is the Holy Spirit of God has to do the work. Nicodemus, if you want to see and enter into the kingdom of God. You're going to need something done on the inside that only the Spirit can do.

You need a newly created spiritual vitality and life. Verse 7, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is. going so it is with everyone who is born.

of the Spirit.

Now the word for spirit in Greek is the same word as the word for wind, and so there's a little pun in the metaphor, the illustration that Jesus is using here. He says, just like you have no control over the wind. It just comes and goes. You can't even see it, but you see its effects.

So it is with the Spirit. This new birth is the work of the Spirit alone. and it is totally beyond our control. This new birth is the work of the Spirit alone, and it's totally beyond our control. Nicodemus, the one thing you need.

If you want to see the kingdom of heaven and enter into it, it's the thing you have no control over. After all, babies don't give birth to themselves. This is being born again.

Somebody else. Gives birth. You're the baby. You're helpless. You don't do anything.

You are simply Born and through the agony and pain and suffering of another. You come to life. That's what you need, Nicodemus. Only the Spirit can do this. You have no control over it.

Now question number four. How does it come? How does this new birth come? Verse 9, Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Can you hear the incredulity in his voice?

Verse 10, Jesus answered him. Are you the teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand these things. Truly, truly, I say to you. We speak of what we know.

We bear witness to what we have seen. But you don't receive our testimony. If I've told you earthly things and you don't believe, How can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Do you notice the progression here? In verse 10, he says, You do not understand Nicodemus.

Verse 11, he says, You do not receive. Do not embrace. Verse 12, you do not believe.

So Nicodemus is backing away from Jesus here. He finds it's too much, too hard. And Jesus says, Look, if you can't even follow track with me, except what I'm saying about an earthly metaphor of being born again, how can I tell you about heaven? And I've got so much I could share with you. Because 13, no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

I've come down from heaven. I'm the Son of Man from God the Father.

So many heavenly things I could tell you, Nicodemus, but I can't. Because you won't believe.

Well, I'll try you out with one thing. One heavenly truth. Verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, So must the Son of Man be lifted up. that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

You say, What is this? What is this serpent lifted up in the wilderness?

Well, when the people of Israel were trekking through the wilderness, this is under Moses many, many, many years before, they were grumbling and complaining in the wilderness. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They had bad attitudes everywhere. They grumbled against God. They grumbled against Moses.

And in Numbers 21, we read the story, very weird story. But the Lord sent fiery serpents, poisonous serpents, among the people. They bit the people, and the people were dying. And they cried out, well first of all, why would God do that? Why would God put snakes in the camp?

I mean, this is a weird thing, right? L listen, think about it. God sent these serpents to poison their bodies.

So it would match up with the poison that was running through their souls. See, they were infected with something, sin. And it was killing them. And with their grumbling, complaining, and so God matched in their bodies what was happening in their souls. He put poison in their bodies to illustrate the poison that was coursing through their veins.

through their souls. The people then repent. They say, We've sinned. We've sinned against God. We sinned against you, Moses.

Pray, pray for us.

So Moses prayed. And this is Numbers 21, verse 8. And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. And everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. This is so weird.

So, Moses makes out of bronze a snake. This is the same symbol that's on so many of our medical buildings now. Do you notice there's like a pole with a snake on it? This is where that comes from. He made a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, hoisted it up in the middle of the desert.

And listen, when the people were bitten by the serpents, And they felt the poison, the venom running through their veins. And they knew they were condemned to die. What did they have to do? He doesn't say Make sure you run as fast as you can to the pole. Because they might not have made it.

He doesn't say, crawl your way and reach up and touch the serpent. Because some of them weren't strong enough. He doesn't say make sure you get close and touch it. Because some of them were too far away. He says, look.

Look. Just look. In faith, trusting in the promise of God that when you look, you will be saved. you will be healed. And they were saved.

Listen. They were saved by grace. Through faith in the promise of God. Not by what they did. They didn't try to heal themselves.

They didn't try to fix themselves. They didn't try to no, they just looked. They just looked. And Jesus says, just like that serpent. Just as it was Moses lifted it up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man, Jesus, be lifted up that whoever believes in him might have eternal life.

When was Jesus lifted up? On the cross. When was Jesus lifted up on a pole? on the cross. In fact, John 12, verse 32 says, Jesus speaking, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

Now, connect this then to the context. Nicodemus. What you need, if you're going to enter into the kingdom of God, you need a brand new recreated spiritual life that can only come from God's Spirit. You have no control over it.

How will you get it? How will you get this new life? Not by your efforts, not by crawling or walking or reaching or striving, you will get it. Yeah. Just looking.

Looking at the Son of Man lifted up so that you might have eternal life. In Him. Friends, we are born again. as we look in faith to Christ alone. We are born again as we look in faith to Christ alone.

We don't have to run, we don't have to crawl, we don't have to reach, we don't have to strive, we just have to look. And in faith, Jesus says. will be saved.

Now, why do we need this? Why do we need this new life, this eternal life in Jesus? Fifth question, verse 16. Famous verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already. Because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Do you realize what this is saying? That in love God sent his one and only Son.

to be lifted up on the cross. That whoever looks and believes in him Trust in him. should not perish. But have eternal Look, Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn the world. We did that to ourselves.

The venom of sin is running through our veins. It's killing us, friends. Jesus came to rescue us. And new birth in Jesus is the only antidote. for the venom that is coursing through our veins.

Jesus, this new birth in Jesus, it's the only antidote to the venom that is coursing through our veins. You realize what Jesus is saying here. He says everyone's been bitten, bitten by the serpent. including you, Nicodemus. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The wages of sin is death. And verse 18 says there's only two kinds of people in the world. Those who believe and look to Jesus, who are saved. And those who don't look. and are condemned already because the venom will run its course.

See, we usually divide the world into two groups. We say, well, there's good people and there's bad people, right? And the good people get to go to the happy place, the bad people go to the bad place. That's just how the world is. But according to Jesus, that's not how the world divides out.

Jesus is saying, look, we're all bad people. We're all bad people. We're all bit by the serpent. We all have venom running through our veins. We're all dying.

And the world is divided not between good and bad people. We're all bad people. The world is divided between those who look and believe in Jesus and are saved and those who don't look. and are condemned.

Now the question is why wouldn't everyone just look? Why wouldn't everyone just look? Sixth question, what's in the way? What's in the way? Verse 19.

This is the judgment. The light has come into the world. And people love the darkness rather than the light. because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things, hates the light, doesn't come into the light.

lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light.

so that it may be clearly seen that his works are carried out in God.

So the principle is clear enough, isn't it? That light reveals Darkness. conceals. And when the light clicks on, and we're like cockroaches, we run for the darkness, right? The cover.

We try to hide our sin. We try to conceal our selfishness and cloak our hypocrisy. Because the light, when it turns on, it shows us for who we are. And we don't like it. We would much rather Be in the dark.

Because in the darkness we can pretend we're okay, friends. In the darkness, we could do whatever we want. In the darkness, we can live in denial about the venom of sin that is coursing through our veins and the condemnation that hangs over us. And when Jesus comes into the world, friends, He flips on the light. He flips on the light and it exposes the darkness, the venom of sin that is in our hearts.

It forces us to make a choice. Are we going to hide in the darkness and conceal our sin? Are we going to come into the light and let it expose us and all the ugliness that is deep down inside of us? That we are serpent-bitten, sin-poor. Poisoned death awaiting people.

And then look to Christ. to be saved. by someone else. That's the choice.

Now, why does it end with this light-darkness metaphor? Think with me, think with me. Who came in the dark? Who came in the dark? Nicodemus.

In the book of John, darkness is always moral. Jesus is the light. People loved uh Darkness. Chapter 1 says, The light shines in the darkness, the darkness has not overcome it. In 1330, John says that Judas, when he was about to go betrayed Jesus, left the room and he went out, and it was.

Night. John is framing this to help us see something. Nicodemus comes at night. Listen. because there's darkness in his soul.

He is not yet willing to come into the light here, friends. He may be moral, he may be upstanding, he may be pious and religious, he may be respected and powerful. But he too has been bitten by the serpent. He too has the venom of sin running through his veins, and he too is hiding in the darkness. Because listen, listen, listen.

Pharisees always have the most to hide. Pharisees always have the most to hide. If you're trying to be perfect, so God will love you. If you're on a performance track trying to earn your way toward God to prove that you're worthy enough to be loved by Him, you can't be real. You can't be open.

You can't be honest about your sin. You have to pretend you're okay. You've got to put a good face on. You've got to deny your need of Him. You gotta outrun your sinfulness by being as good as you can desperately be.

and you cannot be seen to be asking for help. It would look incredibly bad if you were the teacher of Israel and you were seeking help from someone like Jesus. See, you have to come under the cover of darkness. You have to hide. But Jesus knows what is in man.

Just like he knew Nathanael when he was under the fig tree, Jesus knows the depths of Nicodemus' heart. And friends, in these words here, Jesus is inviting Nicodemus into the light. To admit the sin that is coursing through his veins, to acknowledge the helplessness and his desperation of his life, to own his need, listen, to own his need for grace. To look and receive a new birth from somewhere beyond his control. Friends, to be born again.

The only thing we need is nothing. But it's the one thing most of us don't have. Do you realize that to be born again, the only thing you need is nothing? But it's the one thing most of us don't have. Nicodemus didn't have nothing.

He had all his righteousness, all of his honor, all of his clout and privilege. And Jesus says none of it matters. You gotta lay your resume down, Nicodemus. You're going to be saved by salvation. Your salvation is going to come by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Nicodemus, you got to do what the old hymn says: Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling.

Now in the end Nicodemus makes the turn. If you fast forward to the end of the book in John chapter 19, verses 38 to 42, you will see that Nicodemus Publicly comes forward with Joseph of Arimathea and claims the body of Jesus Christ after he was crucified. and they go and bury him. And Nicodemus finally shows his loyalty to Jesus. Listen.

In the light. in the light of day. John wants us to see. Nicodemus tipped. He believed.

He pledged his loyalty to Christ that day.

Now what made Nicodemus tip? Think about it. He saw Jesus lifted up. He saw Jesus lifted up on the cross. As Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man was lifted up on the cross, that whoever believes in him might have eternal life.

And friends, Nicodemus looked. He looked. And through the pain and agony and suffering of another. Nicodemus was born. Again.

And the takeaway for us, friends, is look to Christ. and Christ alone. Look to Christ and Christ Alone. Friends, this is the hardest thing you can do if you're a religious good person. The hardest thing, listen, it's so much harder for religious people to be saved than irreligious people.

If you've made a royal hash of your life, you know you need a Savior. But if you're a good kid and you've gone to church and you've kept the rules and kept your nose clean and you've done everything right and you feel like you're better than most of your peers, Listen, you're like Nicodemus. And the hardest thing in the world. is to lay your religious resume down. And say, none of this matters before the holiness of God.

The only thing that counts is to look to Christ to be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. It's the hardest thing. But won't you come into the light? Won't you look to Jesus? Won't you believe in his name?

Won't you be born? Again.

Coming to Jesus is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. It's as simple as A, B. See. A, we admit we are sinners.

B, we believe that Jesus has done everything to make us right with God. and see we commit ourselves. to him. Say, come be my Savior, be my Lord. Admitting my sin, believing in Christ, committing my life.

to him. Won't you do that? Won't you pray and ask the Lord? To give you the new birth you have no control over, won't you look to Jesus, see him lifted up, and through the pain and agony and suffering of another, won't you be born? again.

For God so loved the world. that he gave. His only son. That whoever believes in him may not perish. but have it everlasting.

Life. Won't you look? To Jesus. Let's pray. Father.

We do admit that we are sinners. That we've wandered far away from you. There is sin coursing through our veins. We are selfish and unloving people. We deserve nothing but condemnation before you.

But we believe. We believe that Jesus is enough. That he died in our place and for our sake, that he took the penalty of our sin, he took the venom into himself that we might be set free and healed and have eternal life in his name. And we look to Jesus. And we commit ourselves to you.

There's nothing half-hearted about this. We want to be all in. Be our Savior, be our Lord, be our King, be our everything, we pray. Father, we look to Jesus. He's our only.

Hope in life and death. We look. to Christ. Although It is His name that we pray in. Amen.

Amen. On today's Moody Church hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with the fifth message in a series he's calling Loved by Jesus, the Book of John. We heard about the Regenerator, Jesus, who comes to make possible the new birth we all desperately need.

Next time, don't miss the preeminent, why Jesus is the most consequential person in history. The Moody Church Hour is a listener-supported ministry. Your gift to The Moody Church Hour is appreciated and can be doubled during this month. Join us in the Matching Gift campaign by calling 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001.

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