John 3: Look to Jesus Lifted Up to Be Born Again

Introduction

Dominic Steele, senior pastor of Village Church in Sydney, begins with a childhood memory. He grew up Catholic in the Hills District, at a time when everyone thought of themselves as Christian. In his primary school playground there were a few "divisive" kids who believed that to be a real Christian and go to heaven, you had to be born again. In Year 3, he found that a bit ridiculous, narrow and exclusive.

Later, he was surprised to discover that it is Jesus himself who talks about being born again. As he read John 3, he thought: "Maybe those primary school kids were right."

This message is the second in the church's vision season. It is about a first encounter with Jesus and asks three questions: what does Jesus mean by "you must be born again"? Have I been born again? And how do we organize the church so that people are born again?

Message outline

1. Nicodemus meets Jesus

Just before this, in Jerusalem at the Passover, many believe in Jesus' name when they see his miracles. But Jesus does not trust himself to them, "because he knew everyone" (John 2:23-25). They are impressed, yet not truly with him. That is the whole question of the day: the authenticity of a disciple.
Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, comes by night: "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 seems unimpressed and answers firmly: "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see God's Kingdom" (John 3:3).
You may be like Nicodemus: you have seen Jesus' power in the life of a Christian friend, you have seen a self-centered person become attentive to others. You may even be a morally upright person, as he was. Yet Jesus stops you right where you are.
Being born again is not optional. "It's not like upgrading from economy to business class." It is vital, essential, central: it is the question of whether you are on the plane or not.

2. Born of water and spirit

Nicodemus asks: "How can a man be born when he is old? He can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Maybe that is your question too, and the pastor hopes it is.
You may believe in the miracles of John's Gospel: water turned into wine, walking on water, healings, Lazarus raised to life. Yet Jesus insists there is only one way into the kingdom.
"Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into God's Kingdom" (John 3:5). For Dominic Steele, these are not two separate things, a birth in the maternity ward followed by a spiritual birth. It is another way of saying born again, born from above.
The prophet Ezekiel had already announced it: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean […] I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:25-27). Water and the Spirit are joined there, and the result is a changed heart.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). The wind blows where it wants: you see its effects, but you do not control it. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. In Ezekiel 37, God breathes into dry bones, and they live.

3. A problem of trust, not of intelligence

"Are you the teacher of Israel, and don't understand these things?" (John 3:10). The pastor brings out the force of the sentence: it is like a doctor who doesn't know the heart pumps blood, an engineer who doesn't know a bridge has to hold its own weight, a driving instructor who doesn't know which pedal is the brake.
Nicodemus is, in a way, a professor teaching third-year theology. And there he is, named in the Bible as the one who didn't understand.
In verses 11 and 12, Jesus spells out the problem: "It's not a failure of intelligence, it's a failure of trust." It is the same today: when people in the Inner West reject the words of Jesus, it is not a matter of intellect, it is a matter of faith.

4. Looking to the Son of Man lifted up

No one has gone up into heaven but he who came down out of heaven, the Son of Man (John 3:13). Then: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).
The background is in Numbers 21. Freed from slavery, the Israelites are marching toward the promised land and grumbling against God. The pastor brings it up to date: the internet is too slow, the wifi isn't working, you have to stand on public transport, nobody has replaced the toilet paper roll. First-world problems, while God is offering them a land beyond their dreams, with no rent and no landlord.
"They are self-centered and feel entitled, just like everyone in the Inner West." They take health, prosperity, comfort, family and food for granted, and grumble at the slightest inconvenience.
God sends fiery serpents. The people admit their sin, Moses intercedes, and God has him put a bronze serpent on a pole: anyone who has been bitten and looks at it keeps their life. "You look and you live."
You cannot give yourself the new birth, only God's Spirit can. But Jesus tells you where to look for eternal life: to the Son of Man lifted up. Later in the Gospel, he explains that this lifting up is his crucifixion (John 8:28 and John 12:32).
"I want there to be something more than study, than work, than the question of renting or owning, of being married or single, of having kids or not." Jesus tells you: lift your eyes to him and trust him.

5. God so loved the world

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). It is the most famous verse in the Bible, and almost nobody reads it in context: it explains why looking to Jesus lifted up gives eternal life.
God does not love the world because it is lovable. "There is nothing intrinsically lovable about the world." The pastor quotes the Sydney Morning Herald, which describes Sydney as an empty, shallow, soulless city, obsessed with property prices and perfect bodies, where people work more than anywhere else in the developed world, like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz whose only goal is to get rich.
How did God love you? By giving his Son. Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, gave a billion dollars to the United Nations, saying in essence that the gift would not change his lifestyle at all. God, by contrast, gave what he treasured most: think of Jesus in tears at Gethsemane, and of his cry on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
At the cross, God pours out on his Son all his anger at the evil of the world: self-centeredness, rebellion, violence against children, domestic violence. Justice is satisfied. We don't go to hell as we deserve, we are born again to eternal life.
"He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already" (John 3:18). Jesus says this to every person on the planet, and to every resident of this city that is "beautiful, shallow, empty, hedonistic and materialistic."

6. If God so loved the Inner West, will we love it?

"This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil" (John 3:19). The problem in the Inner West is not that people haven't heard of Jesus. It is that they love the darkness. For people to come to the light, God will have to work in their hearts.
Hence the church's vision: because God so loved the Inner West, to make Village Church a place where the Inner West meets Jesus. The goal set is to see eight adults saved this year. "Eight is not enough. We would love to see eighty." But it is a concrete number to pray for: eight people with real names, real lives, real struggles.
No one can give someone else the new birth, only God's Spirit can. But we can do five things: pray, invite, share, follow up, and help new believers grow.
The pastor asks everyone to take a pen and write down the name of a person they are praying for: a colleague, a friend, someone at university or in the extended family. Then invite them to church, to a discovery course or to a meal. You don't need to be a professional evangelist or to have all the answers: you can say what Jesus means to you. And don't invite someone only to forget about them afterwards.
He asks a gentle but direct question: did you think "nice goal, I hope the team makes it," or "how can I be part of it"? Some have quietly left sharing the Gospel to those who are gifted at it.

7. Nicodemus steps out of the night

Nicodemus had come by night. This respectable, religious man who knew the Bible heard Jesus tell him: you must be born again.
In chapter 7, he defends Jesus in front of his peers. In chapter 19, he helps Joseph of Arimathea bury the body of Jesus. This time he no longer comes under cover of darkness: he is there, at the place of execution, just after Jesus has been lifted up. Did he come to the light? "I think so." Was he born again? "I think so."
The question becomes yours: have you been born again? Have you been washed, born of water and Spirit? Have you looked to the Son who was lifted up? The pastor prays that God would breathe his Spirit into the life of every person present.
After the message, a question came from the congregation: what does Jesus do for us today? Dominic Steele cites 1 John 1:8 to 2:2: if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us, and if anyone sins, "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
He tells of a 50-dollar parking fine he got for parking in his own driveway, near the University of New South Wales. In court, he didn't know what to plead. Then the police prosecutor stood up and said he lived in the neighborhood and knew how hard it is. Before the Father, Jesus does the same, except that this time the pastor is guilty: "I died for Dominic. You can let him in."
Another question: do you have to be baptized to be saved? The criminal crucified next to Jesus said to him, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," and Jesus answered him, "Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." He was never baptized, never went to church, never gave any money.
Baptism remains "the normal way of saying: I trust," the public way of fleeing the devil and running to Jesus. But what matters most is what happens in the heart.

Key takeaways

Being born again is not an extra for zealous Christians: without it, no one can see God's Kingdom.
Being impressed by Jesus is not enough. Rejecting his words is a problem of trust, not of intelligence.
You cannot give yourself the new birth, but you know where to look: to Jesus lifted up on the cross.
God did not love the world because it was lovable: he loved it in its rebellion and gave it what he held dearest.
If God so loved the people around you, you can pray for them, invite them and tell them about Jesus.

Personal application

Have you been born again, or are you only impressed by Jesus, like Nicodemus at the start?
What are you grumbling about right now, while taking for granted the good things God gives you?
Where are you looking for "something more" than work, housing or your family situation?
What name could you write down today: a person to pray for, to invite or to talk to about Jesus?
Have you left sharing the Gospel to others who are more gifted than you? What first step can you take this week?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "born of water and spirit" mean in John 3:5?

For Dominic Steele, Jesus is not talking about two separate things. Being born of water and Spirit is another way of saying born again. He draws on Ezekiel 36, where God promises to sprinkle clean water, give a new heart and put his Spirit within his people.

Why does Jesus talk about the serpent Moses lifted up?

In Numbers 21, the Israelites bitten by serpents lived if they looked at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole. Jesus announces that he will be lifted up in the same way, on the cross. You cannot give yourself the new birth, but you know where to look: to Jesus lifted up.

Do you have to be baptized to be saved?

Dominic Steele answers with the criminal crucified next to Jesus. He was never baptized, and Jesus tells him: "Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Baptism remains the normal, public way of saying "I trust Jesus," but what matters most happens in the heart.