Sermon Starters

The Trinity and the New Birth Key Verse: John 3:16 I. The story of Nicodemus reveals Christ’s divinity. A. Nicodemus believed Jesus to be only a teacher (John 3:2) who had, nevertheless, exhibited some signs of divinity. 1. He conceded that God (ho Theós), Jehovah of the Old Testament, must be with Him. 2. The question he asked himself as he came to visit Jesus was: “Is it possible that Jesus is more than a man?” B. Jesus immediately confounded Nicodemus by exposing his ignorance of spiritual matters. In this way, He revealed His true divinity to Nicodemus. 1. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). By these words Jesus indicated that Nicodemus had a need which is common to all men. He showed that only God could fill that void and that He (Jesus) possessed the spiritual insight that Nicodemus lacked (John 3:12). 2. In verse thirteen Jesus made an even greater revelation about Himself: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven [‘came down’ is an aorist participle, indicating the historical moment during which He was conceived through the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20)], even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Jesus was referring to Himself, of course, who was simultaneously on earth and in heaven. What is translated, “which is” should rather be “the one being” (ho ṓn), as in John 1:18. Jesus was declaring that although the incarnation brought Him down to earth, He never ceased being the God of heaven as well. II. A man can only be united to God through the action of the Holy Spirit. A. Nicodemus revealed his ignorance of this fact in verse four, “… How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Nicodemus did not understand the role of the Holy Spirit in uniting a man with God. B. Jesus explained that there are two births: the physical and the spiritual “That which is born of the flesh [out of the water] is flesh [physical]; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [spiritual].” C. The physical birth of a child involves two human beings, but it was not so with the conception of the Lord Jesus as man. He was born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Thus, He had man’s nature, but without sin (Heb. 4:15), and God’s nature combined. He was truly the God-Man, perfect God and perfect Man. D. Likewise, when a man is born from above, the Holy Spirit is equally involved in converting a sinner into a saint. Although the person continues to be fully man, he also acquires the nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4). As there were two natures in Christ the God-Man, there are two natures in the believer (only Christ, however, was without sin). This spiritual regeneration is only possible for those who first come out of water (a reference to physical birth not water baptism [v. 5]). Pure spiritual beings such as angels are never said to possess or need “the birth from above.” It is sinful men that require the new birth. E. The Holy Spirit must be God come down from heaven, like Jesus (v. 13), in order to have the ability to cause such a spiritual transformation. F. Jesus also likened the Holy Spirit to the blowing wind: a real presence that cannot be contained. A person knows he is born from above, but he cannot explain or control how the experience took place. Nicodemus was right in expressing wonder. “How can these things be?” (v. 9). Later verses indicate that he too experienced the new birth (John 19:38–42). III. God the Father is also involved in the birth from above. A. When Nicodemus referred to God, he was thinking of Jehovah of the Old Testament. He did not realize that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were the other two Persons of the Triune God. B. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus revealed the Trinity. He spoke of God the Father as having loved the world so much that He sent His Son, the second Person of the Trinity, “… that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He reiterated this truth in verse seventeen, “For God [ho Theós, ‘God the Father’] sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Thus, it is God the Father who sent God the Son to save the world. God the Holy Spirit effects this salvation in each individual believer’s life through the new birth. Spiros Zodhiates, Sermon Starters : Volumes 1-4 (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1998).