"The Born Identity"
I admire Nicodemus for having the courage to come to Jesus and talk to him. Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says something like, “Rabbi, we know…” and then starts rambling. In other words, Jesus, we have a whole bunch of information about you, and we even have this sneaking suspicion that you are from God. Seriously, who could do these things if he were not from God? Jesus could have been impressed but he wasn’t. Instead, Jesus turns the tables on Nicodemus by saying, “Nicodemus, you can have all the information about me that you want, but it is not going to help you. You can have all the right information about me that you have, but it is not going to help you. If you are truly interested in the Kingdom of God, you must be born again. Apart from being born again, you have no chance at the Kingdom I proclaim.”
So, Nicodemus either plays dumb tries to one-up Jesus by saying, “If this is true, how do you propose a man go about it? You are speaking of something that is physically impossible!” But Jesus does not get out-smarted in conversations. Furthermore, he is unrelenting and not about to change his demands just because Nicodemus points out a rather illogical demand. “You cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless you are born of water and Spirit.” The demands do not change just because of our objections. The demands do not change because we have a more reasonable argument. The demands do not change because something is humanly impossible. The demands of Jesus are the demands of Jesus. Whatever water and Spirit means, and I think we have a rather decent idea of what it means (See Titus 3:5, for example) it is certainly a demand that Jesus makes of all who wish to enter the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus is currently finding his identity in his knowledge. He thinks he knows Jesus because of what he has seen, heard, maybe studied, and possibly even believed. The problem is that Nicodemus was still in control. He decided the equation and thus far faith was not included. He was living his life, and figured he would continue living his life on his own terms. Jesus wasn’t playing.
So we have seen Jesus tell Nicodemus two things. First, he said having information about Jesus is not enough. You cannot even see the Kingdom of God with the right information. Second, he told him that being from the right group (in this case, being an Israelite) is not enough. You cannot enter the Kingdom of God just because you happen to be born into the right family. In both cases Jesus made the same demand, You must be born again (or, ‘from above’) if you wish to participate in the Kingdom.
Now, in verses 7-8, he makes one last point and again he ties it to being ‘born again.’ His point in these last two verses is this: Being humanly alive is not enough.
Church, this life we have is pretty great. I mean we do experience difficult times. In our current television campaign we communicate that we “walk this journey together, sometimes with sadness and sometimes with joy…but always with the hope of Christ.” Listen to me. Get really quiet and listen. Maybe lean forward a bit. Jesus is saying right here that the Hope we have in him is only offered to those who have the correct “Identity.” The identity must be in Jesus Christ, hince the name title of today’s teaching: “The Born Identity.” If your only “Born Identity” is your birth certificate, then you are simply human and have no eternal hope. But, if your “Born Identity” is this rebirth, born again, that Jesus Christ is telling Nicodemus about then you do have the hope of Christ which not only includes eternal salvation but more than you can ever possibly imagine. Jesus says. If you want to be born again (‘from above’) it must be a work from outside of yourself; it must be something over which you have no control. People who are born again are these peculiar people who have been born not just of water but simultaneously of Spirit. We are a peculiar people who have been touched by God deep in our being. People who are born again of water and Spirit are being changed from the inside to the outside. You see there is no logic in what I am telling you but I know this: I have experienced it. The transformation was both instantaneous and is on-going. I was saved in the blink of an eye and the transformation, the identity by which I relate to God, continues to shape me even as I speak.
The problem with our current mentality is that we have tomorrow to do with whatever we want. We think we are going to physically live forever and clearly we are not. We should live for Christ and live for the moment because this moment is the only guarantee we have.
The band “Five for Fighting” wrote a song several years ago entitled “100 years.” It has been particularly meaningful to me in the sense I don’t like wasting time on anything that doesn’t promote my life in the since of God’s direction for me. For example: A few weeks ago Jason, Murrell, Brent and I went dove hunting together. Now as far as dove hunting goes, I can take it or leave it. Hunting dove in and of itself is a waste of time to me. But the time I shared with those three guys is priceless. They have no idea and I can’t even really explain it now. But I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. Taking Macy to the park this week and pretending we were going on a mission was one of the best days I have had in a while. Eating chocolate dipped strawberries with Robin and laughing as she’s trying to shove me out of bed was one of the funniest moments we have had in a while. Justin called me a week ago Thursday and we met to just talk at a restaurant at 9:15pm. Justin knew I needed time with one of my best friends and that will be a part of me forever. But contrary to all of that I really hurt some people with my words this week. I injured some relationships, and hurt the church universal a bit, which I deeply regret and am working to mend. Now as important as all that is in my life, I still have to be born-again in Christ Jesus or nothing else matters. This song tells us that life is the moment and to live it as if there will not be another one. I say live your life for Christ like you mean it because once the moment has past there is no changing it.
It’s not enough to have the right information. It’s not enough to be from the right group. It’s not enough to be living your best life now or be Oprahfied or filled with stuff by Dr Phi to be able to get into the Kingdom. In all cases your Born Identity must be associated with the water and Spirit. This is the demand of Jesus. It is his peculiar demand for people who wish to participate in His Kingdom. Jesus sets the standard for who gets to identify with Him and whose name he will write in the book of life. All are invited but not all accept.
Being born again means, in simple terms, that we must not put stock in, trust in, or hope in the flesh. Being born again means, in simple terms, that we must die to this life and be reborn by and in the Spirit. Paul wrote in Romans 6: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” That’s what Jesus is talking about here. The number of times we each have to live in the moment is different. We in this room today know that from a harsh reality of experiences.
We cannot control how many moments we have but we can control what identity we have in those moments. I pray today that you will chose the “Born Identity” that says you are born by the water and the Spirit; that your identity is founded in Jesus Christ by confessing your sins, asking for God’s forgiveness, and confessing that Jesus Christ is the son of God, your Lord and your savior. I am here today for you to do that. Jesus invites everyone to identify with him but again, not all accept. Why? I think too often people think they have more time to decide. There is no shame in having waited until this day to make that choice because right now you have been given another moment in order to do it. There is no condemnation in coming forward because you are not sure you have ever really made this commitment in the past. There is no embarrassment in admitting that you need to rededicate your life to Christ from this day forward because you know for a fact you have not lived your life for Christ in a long time and you need to come home to him. It would be beyond shameful if you passed this moment up again, and you don’t get another and spend a Christless eternity suffering because you didn’t want to be embarrassed by walking up in front of a bunch of people; who in reality will celebrate this moment with you and rejoice in the fact you refuse to spend another day without Christ.