Scripture:

John 3:1-5　But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

I. A moral man; Nicodemus was an upper-class man. He was a moralist, a teacher, and a “ruler of the Jews”. He also feared God, so he was qualified to represent the moral people.

II. The matter of human behavior:

  1. This man came to Jesus and discussed with Him the matter of human behavior.
  2. Nicodemus focused on the matter of human life as a matter of behavior. He called Jesus “Rabbi”. A teacher is one who teaches people how to keep the law and how to behave themselves before God.
  3. The Lord’s answer revealed to him that man’s real need before God is not to improve himself; rather, it is a matter of life. The Lord’s answer was to change Nicodemus’s concept.
  4. The Lord used this answer to show that the real need of the moral people is not to improve their behavior but to be regenerated with the divine life.

III.  The need to be reborn:

  1. The human life received by natural birth is corrupted and cannot be improved any more.
  2. For man to reform himself is vain.
  3. Man’s real need is to have the divine life remake him, that is, to be born again.

IV. The meaning of regeneration:

  1. The definition of regeneration is to be born anew. But Nicodemus thought regeneration was to enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be reborn.
  2. Although the definition of regeneration is to be born again, to be born again is to receive God’s life in addition to our own life.

V. How to be regenerated:

  1. On the objective side—through the death and resurrection of Christ: The death of Christ eliminated the sins of man; the resurrection of Christ released His life. His death has erased the problem of sins; His resurrection has dispensed His life into man.
  2. On the subjective side—first, we need to confess that our human life is corrupted and cannot be improved. Second, we have to confess that the Lord has died and was raised for us. Third, we have to receive this resurrected Christ as our Savior. We must look upon Jesus on the cross as the Israelites looked upon the bronze serpent. By looking upon that bronze serpent, they lived.