The Cooling Stream

John 3: 9-15

When Nicodemus heard about the new birth, he wondered how it was possible.

Jesus explained to him how the new birth became a reality!

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Jesus told Nicodemus that the Savior must leave Heaven above, and come into this world, to die for sin!

And that was what Jesus did! He left Heaven, took upon Himself a human body, lived without sin, and died a horrible and awful death upon the cross.

Jesus reminded Nicodemus of the time Israel sinned. God sent serpents among them to bite them. Many of them died (Num. 21:4-9). After that tragic event took place, God commanded Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole.

Jesus was like that snake! He came to this world to be put upon a cross. He came to die a sacrifice for sin. He came to die that we, through His death, might live!

And when Jesus died on that cross, He paid our sin debt in full!

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What must the lost, hell bound sinner do to be saved? Believe!

Just like those people in ancient Israel who had been bitten by the fiery serpents. All they had to do was look and live!

If we want to be saved, we must believe in Jesus and receive His finished work at Calvary as the payment for our sins (Romans 10:9).

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved!

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Like Nicodemus, We can be born again.

We can be born into the family of God and become God's children.

We can be born again right now if we will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in Him.

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Nicodemus got saved.

He stood up for Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:45-53).

He helped Joseph of Arimathaea bury the body of Jesus after the crucifixion (John 19:38-42).

Nicodemus was born again!

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If we will come to the Lord Jesus Christ, He will also save us by His grace.

We will be born again too!

Jesus compared the mystery of the new birth to a breeze (John 3:8).

Jesus told Nicodemus that just as the wind could be felt and measured, and the effects of it could be seen, where it came from and where it went to remained a mystery.

We cannot see God do His work in a heart.

But we can see the effects of the Spirit in a life!

When we see a wicked and hateful man turns into a sweet, loving, and holy saint, we know the Spirit has been working in his soul.

We do not see how it happens.

But we can see the effect of the power of God in the human heart.

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The wind of the Spirit was blowing in the soul of Nicodemus.

But he could not control that wind.

And it might be gone in an instant, never to return.

The time for Nicodemus to heed God’s call was when the wind was moving in his heart.

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If the wind of the Spirit is blowing in our soul, the time to be saved is now!

Remember, God will not always deal with us (Gen. 6:3).

We must come to Him when He is near and calling (Isa. 55:6; 2 Cor. 6:2).

We can come to him only when He is calling us (John 6:44).

John 3:4-7

The mystery of the new birth is like that of a physical birth.

When Jesus said “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”, He was talking about physical birth and spiritual birth.

He was saying that for a man to get to heaven he must have two births.

He must be born into the kingdom of men and he must be born into the kingdom of God!

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There are a few ways physical birth can be used to illustrate spiritual birth:

• Physical birth provides life. Likewise, spiritual birth provides a person with spiritual life.

• Physical birth only happens once. Likewise, spiritual birth is a one time event.

• Physical birth happens because of the suffering on another. A mother suffers to bring life into this world. Jesus suffered so that we might be born again.

• Physical birth gives the infant a brand new start. Our past is wiped away; our future lies in front of us!

The new birth is a mystery!

It is like our physical birth!

John 3: 4-8

When Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again, Nicodemus could not grasp how that could be.

He imagined himself going back into his mother’s womb to be born a second time.

He wanted to know how this could happen.

So he asked Jesus about the “How?” of the new birth.

Nicodemus knew that he was in the presence of a mystery and he wanted the answers.

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The new birth is a mysterious thing.

None of us truly understands everything there is to know about it.

It is still a mystery even to those of us who have experienced it!

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But the fact that it is a mystery should not cause us to avoid it altogether!

There are many things in life that we do not understand, but we still believe in them.

So, we must not allow the mystery of the new birth keep us from being saved!

The new birth is a must!

We need the heavenly nature!

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Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3)

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The new birth gives us a new nature when we are saved.

We receive God’s nature; a nature from Heaven!

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The new birth prepares us for life in a new kingdom!

If we go to heaven with a lost and fallen nature, we will be miserable there!

We will never enjoy heaven unless we have a new nature!

All the worship, the praise, the glories of Heaven will be offensive to us if we go there lost!

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We need a new birth.

It prepares us to enter and enjoy heaven!

We need a new birth, a birth from Heaven to provide us with a new, spiritual nature.

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We must be born again!

It is not an option!

The new birth is a must!

We need God's nature to enjoy God's kingdom.