Taylor Swift. Have you ever heard of her? She could possibly be the biggest music star of our time. So unless you have been living under a rock for the past decade, I’m guessing you know who she is. There’s a song she sings called "Look What You Made Me Do." In the song, there are some lyrics that say:
“I'm sorryBut the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now.Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead.”
Now, I know this is not a positive message or even a song that a Christian should have on their playlist, and rest assured, it is not on mine. However, I have heard it, and it brings up an interesting concept that is even found in the Christian faith: The old me is dead. It’s the idea that I am a different person than I was yesterday.
Romans 6:11 – "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Even in Luke 9:23 – "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"
The idea is that when we follow Christ, we become something new. We put the old us to death, and a new us is reborn. We become new creations. But have you ever thought about the process it takes to re-create ourselves and get to the point where we say the old us is dead?
I have a theory. If we want to succeed in becoming something new, then we must surround ourselves with people who are further along than us. Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start to succeed, people who are your peers get a little jealous and discourage you? But someone who has been where you have been and is further along in maturity will only encourage you. If you find yourself surrounded by people who are diminishing your character rather than constructing it, it’s probably because to go where God is going to take you is a place they cannot go.
Bold Point: The rebirth of the self demands a reestablishment of the environment we are growing in.
We might need to change the people we are surrounding ourselves with, the habits we keep, and the places we go. This means you will have to crucify your old self. Following Christ is just like this. The old you is no longer you. From this day forward, you have recreated yourself.
To get to this point, we might have to be willing to let go of traditions and original thoughts that we once held so firmly. This is so that we can accept something new.
Now, think about the difficulty of someone accepting Christ from a religion such as Hinduism or Islam. For many of us, we must crucify our own culture, upbringing, and things we used to believe so strongly. For a man named Nicodemus, this is exactly the place he found himself.
Today, we get to dive into a very interesting character in the Bible: a man named Nicodemus. So, let’s open up our Bibles and look at John chapter 3.
John 3:1-15 – "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.’"
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of the time. He was an individual who thought, taught, and was a seeker of the kingdom of God. Nicodemus had a deep desire to enter heaven. That is actually what makes this story so fascinating. Because Jesus robs Nicodemus of the one thing that Nicodemus was counting on to go to heaven. Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, believed that because he was born as a Jew, God’s chosen people, and lived life as a good Jew making sacrifices, he would enter the kingdom of heaven.
Here is the truth. He was right. Nicodemus was right. If Nicodemus devoted himself to God and obediently followed God, seeking forgiveness of his sin, he would have been restored into the kingdom of God. But Jesus comes and creates a new covenant.
Jesus rips that rug completely out from under him. Because Jesus is God. Lacking faith in Him is lacking faith in the one true God, and we are going to see that in this passage.
So imagine Nicodemus’ shock as Jesus says the next words in verse 3. Let’s keep reading.
John 3:3 – "Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’"
Put yourself in Nicodemus’ shoes, hearing these words for the first time. Suddenly, everything Nicodemus has been taught and what he teaches is being put on the line. This is the danger of becoming emotionally attached to anything that’s not the truth. I have seen this time and time again in evangelism.
The question you and I need to ask all the time is, Bold Point: “If what you believed was not true, would you even want to know?” This question is essential. Because the truth for many people is that the answer to this question is no. Because it attacks our identity, our justification for everything we have ever done or said. However, why? Why should we fear the truth? Truth will be truth regardless of how much I want something else to be the truth.
Take something absolute, for example. What if everyone taught that 2 + 2 = 2? Would that make it true? Then suddenly, I came along and said 2 + 2 = 4. Imagine I was the only one in the world who taught this. People might isolate me, make fun of me, and tell me I am wrong.
If the kingdom of God is real, then don’t you want to know the truth about how to get there? This is not about you being right anymore; this is not about hurting your pride. The truth remains the truth regardless of what others might say. Again, we have to ask the question: “If what you believed was not true, would you even want to know?”
I have had a few young Mormon boys hanging around my apartment complex lately, and I have been sitting in my garage with the door up, just waiting for them to stop by. Sadly, they have yet to stop by, but I believe they will. And when they do, this is my first question: “If what you believed was not true, would you even want to know?”
Because if the answer is no, then there is no further that either of us can go. The answer is yes for me. If those Mormon boys can convince me that what Jesus says is a lie, then I’ll change my mind. What? David, how can you say that? If we are going to ask others to put their beliefs on the line, their core upbringing, then how can we not do the same in return? Why should I fear the truth? If Jesus is the truth, then what do I have to fear? I believe that this night Nicodemus considered the idea: What if what I believe is not the truth?
I think Mark Twain said it best: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Do not let your faith be your grandfather's faith, your grandmother's faith, your mother's faith, or your father's faith. Let your faith be your faith, because you investigated the truth for yourself.
Bold Point: Truth is not found in ignorance, but rather in the selfless abandonment of one’s pride in pursuit of understanding.
Come on, don’t miss this; we’re cooking with some grease now.
This is why I love Nicodemus’ response in verse 4.
John 3:4-6 – "Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, 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, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’"
Jesus is clearly communicating that we have already been born of flesh. To enter the kingdom of God, we need to be born of the Spirit. This means entering the kingdom of God will not be through any physical means that we can accomplish, but rather something spiritual—a spiritual rebirth. We have already seen this concept once before in the book of John.
So what does it mean to be born of the Spirit, and what does it mean to be born of water? This is where people often take this scripture and say, “See, look, you must be baptized to be saved.” This is false. This is not what this verse is saying, and this might surprise you, but people sometimes have a tendency to take scripture out of context.
Now, I do want to emphasize that baptism is a very important part of the Christian faith, and there is a strong relationship between baptism and salvation, but this passage is not talking about being baptized by water to be saved.
So what does it mean?
Well, what does the rest of God’s word say about this?
1 Corinthians 1:17 – "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."
Well, that is interesting. If baptism is required for salvation, what was Paul thinking?
Another great example is the thief on the cross. Did Jesus look at the man and say, “Sorry, you’re on a cross, so we have no means to baptize you; therefore, you’re going to hell”? No. Jesus says this in Luke 23:43:
"And he said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'"
So what did Jesus mean when He said you must be born of water and of Spirit?
We just have to look at other examples in the Bible where it mentions being born of water. What is God talking about? Have you ever heard of the living water? What if Jesus was talking about something greater than physical water?
