Born
From Above
Jason Hsu—Baldwin Park, California, USA
A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
At the beginning of God’s creation, man was formed from the
dust of the ground.1 Dust has no value but man does. For God created
man, both male and female, in His own image.
After the fall, man fell short of God’s image. But God
never de-valued man. He never considered man as mere dust. Man would thereafter
be separated from God, but God had a plan to redeem him.
After the fall, God cursed the ground, and it bore thorns
and thistles—reflecting man’s need for a redeemer. God then sent man out of the
garden to cultivate the very earth from which he was taken.2
Today, we each have this task: to cultivate the ground from
which we were taken and renew God’s image in ourselves. Apart from Christ,
however, this task is impossible.3 But God has called us to be
partakers of His divine nature and, through His divine power, this is made
possible.4
The Bible says, “[I]f anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor
5:17). In Christ, we have the opportunity for spiritual renewal.5
God’s redemptive work is accomplished through Christ. And
man becomes a new creation through Christ’s work.
Both creation and John’s gospel begin with light.6
John 1:9 tells us: Jesus was the true light which, coming into the world, gives
light to every man. This light was in the world and, for those of us who
believed, we beheld His glory.7
Christ has already ascended back to heaven. But the light of
Christ still needs to be revealed in the world today. For this reason our
spiritual renewal is important. For if we are truly born from above, the light
of His life and His witness should live in and within and through us.
THE
MAN WHO CAME TO JESUS BY NIGHT
Three passages in John’s gospel speak of Nicodemus. He is
specifically described at least two or three times as the man who came to Jesus
by night.8
“Night,” of course, can be interpreted on different levels.
Viewed negatively, “night” can be viewed as a symbol of spiritual darkness.9
However, the fact that John describes Nicodemus as coming “by night” is not to
suggest John is specifically condemning Nicodemus. Rather, the “darkness” of
the night in John 3:2 is probably more a token of the darkness we all face
apart from Christ.10All of us once had need of the light of
God’s grace. And so to be in the dark is not something unique to Nicodemus;
instead, it reflects a “need” applicable to every person in this world.
Superficially, Nicodemus had no need. The Bible implies
Nicodemus was a man of good social standing, high education, and substantial
wealth.11
What “need” could he possibly have? But Nicodemus’ story
teaches us otherwise. For Nicodemus needed the light of Christ.
In John’s gospel, the light of Christ gives life, witnesses
to Christ’s work in us, reveals the truth, restores spiritual sight to the
blind, and gives man a much-needed direction and purpose. But oftentimes, we
cannot see the light of Christ in our life.
We cannot see it in our life because our faith in Him is
incomplete. Faith begins our journey to becoming a new creation in Christ, and
faith must carry us to the end of that journey.
Man cannot be reborn by entering into his mother’s womb
twice, as Nicodemus once suggested, but he can be “born from above” through
faith in Jesus Christ. Let us, therefore, examine Nicodemus’ faith and journey
with him from that first night to the revelation of the risen Christ.
ACKNOWLEDGE
OUR LACK
“Are
you the teacher of Israel,
and [you] do not know these things?” (Jn 3:10)
It may seem odd that “to know” sometimes requires us to
first acknowledge how little we know. “If anyone
supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2). Nicodemus must have
recognized that he didn’t know something. Because, if he thought he knew, he
never would have sought out Christ.
Nicodemus was a ruler.12 He represents the “best
of Israel”
and the upper echelons of his people. Usually, if we wish to know the top
people in society we need great wealth or social standing. But to know Christ
depends upon neither of these.
All of us, at one point or another, needed to know. To know
Him, God often just wants us to acknowledge our needs and weaknesses before
Him. Jesus once said, “I praise You, Father…that You
have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Mt 11:25, NASB). Infants have no pride
because they do not know anything significant. Yet, for this very reason, in
God’s kingdom, they can know the most important truths.
When we feel we already know, God is often hidden away from
us.13 God once asked Job, as he cried out at the injustice of his
sufferings, “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”(Job
38:2). Later, Job understood how very little he himself knew before the
Almighty God, and so he said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5).
As we come to know God, we will also come to realize how
little we know.
Nicodemus was “the teacher” of Israel. Although he
acknowledged Jesus as a teacher come from God, Nicodemus most likely did not
fully understand Christ initially. If we are harsh, we might call it
“blindness.”
Jesus specifically told Nicodemus: “you all” do not receive
our witness.14 But if Nicodemus somehow failed to receive Christ’s
witness, he was not alone. Many Jewish rulers failed to do so. To be unable to
receive Christ’s witness is a type of spiritual blindness.
As many Jewish authorities in Jesus’ day exhibited, spiritual
blindness often reflects a greater ignorance within. One source of this “inner
darkness” is pride, because pride prevents us from assessing ourselves
accurately.15
So scripture teaches: “The pride of your heart has deceived
you…” (Obad 3).
To combat our pride, God often sends hardships and trials
our way. Hardships instill humility in us and help us view ourselves more
clearly. Because when we acknowledge our lack, we no longer seek solutions from
our own resources. Instead, we seek solutions from a source greater than
ourselves.
Sometimes God strips away that part we consider most
valuable about our “self” to renew us into something greater. The Bible says in
baptism we “die with Christ.” A person may enter the military with a lot of
self will. Yet, after undergoing the harsh rigors of military training, the
soldier is instilled with a value greater than himself.
Jesus’ words to Nicodemus may have sounded harsh, but Jesus
truly loved Nicodemus. And Jesus shared many important truths with Nicodemus
because He wanted him to know and understand. But before Nicodemus could
understand Christ, he first had to acknowledge what he did not possess.
SEEING
WHAT IS ABOVE
If becoming a new creation means reflecting God’s image, we
must realize we cannot reflect what we do not possess. Just as an actor must do
a proper character study before acting out his character, we too must come to
know Christ to reflect Christ.
In John, signs lead us to see Christ the King.16
However, signs also signify the weakness of our faith, because they represent
what we can see.17 But faith is often defined by what we cannot see.18
As limited beings, we often only focus on what we can see. “If I see it, then I
will believe it,” to paraphrase Thomas.19
Nicodemus’ faith was initially limited by what he could see.
Jesus, however, wanted to take his faith to a place where he could see what he
previously could not.
Nicodemus called Jesus rabbi. As respectful as this
designation was, Nicodemus himself was a rabbi.20 Nicodemus saw in
Jesus the signs of God’s kingdom. As good as this may seem, to see something
(like signs) and then believe cannot define true faith in what is above.21
Faith allows us to see what we would not normally see.
Jesus told Nicodemus, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how
will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”22 The heavenly
things are the unseen source of the earthly things.23
For someone to see into the things
of heaven, therefore, requires faith. So the renewal of our spirit requires a
renewal of our eyesight. Just as nobody witnessed the foundations of the earth
being laid, no one has ever witnessed heaven except the One who came down from
there. Therefore, without faith we can neither see what is above nor be born
from above.
When we see what is above, we’ll
begin to view the value of the things on earth differently. A believer’s values
will often diverge from an unbeliever’s values, and the actions that flow from
this difference will also diverge. So it often seems an unbeliever and believer
travel on very different paths. This is because an unbeliever and believer have
a different degree of insight into the values of life. Faith gives the believer
insight into the value of a man’s life.
Nicodemus Begins to See What is Above
The second passage in John
concerning Nicodemus is found in John 7:45-52.
Nicodemus’ colleagues distinguish
themselves against the common masses, and demean them as not knowing the law
because they tend to believe in Christ.24 Nicodemus, however, says:
“Does our law judge a man unless it first hears Him and knows what He is
doing?” (Jn 7:51). From this statement we can get a clearer picture of the
progression of Nicodemus’ faith.
Although it’s quite subtle in
English translations of John 7:45-52, there are two important references to
“first” or “before”:
(a) “Nicodemus…came to Him first” in John 7:50 (NASB);25
and
(b) “Our law does not
judge…unless it first hears Him…” in
John 7:51.26
As a ruler, Nicodemus wanted to
hear first.
In John, Jesus is “first” and
“before” all.27 In fact, we could loosely translate “born from
above” as “born from the first.”28 “First” reminds us of the “first”
day of God’s creation and first light.29 For the beloved disciple
who came to the tomb “first,” “first” represents the “first to faith” in the
risen Lord.30
Before we came to faith in the
risen Christ, our faith was in the dark. We might compare this to the “first”
day of the week, after the Lord’s resurrection, where John described the scene as
“still dark,” even though Christ had already resurrected.31 In John, this
“darkness” could point to a number of things: the disciples’ unbelief, their
fear of witnessing for the risen Lord, or their inability to recognize the Lord
who walks above the tempests of the sea..32
Although we may have been in the
dark before, after our eyes have been opened, we need to live our life
according to the faith God has given us, because God has allowed us to see
first, and we know the One who walks above the tempests of the world. Because
we are born of Him—from above—our life should be different. Therefore, our life
should possess a different value, because our eyes have seen what is above.
By faith we see the surpassing
value of what is above. And, through faith, we receive strength to leave both
what is below and our old life apart from Christ.
When our vision is renewed, we’ll
begin to reflect what we see and hear and know to be true. Only then can we
begin to daily renew God’s image in our life.
RECEIVE THE LORD’S WITNESS
Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we
know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. (Jn
3:11)
Initially, Nicodemus could not understand Jesus’ teachings
about being born again. Like Nicodemus, even though we believe, many times we cannot
receive the Lord’s witness. Although we know all of God’s words by heart, many
times we still cannot comprehend them.
Receiving the Lord’s witness in our life, therefore, means
something more than simple belief. To receive the Lord’s witness is to receive
God’s witness.33 God’s witness is of His Son, in whom is eternal
life.34 The authority to be called God’s children is reserved for
those who receive the Son.35 And those who receive the Son can
become God’s children—reflecting His image—just like Adam before the fall.
Now the Lord’s “witness” should not be viewed as a mere word.
True, a testimony is a word. But a testimony is more than a word, it involves
the one testifying. If a jury in court receives a witness’s testimony, they
don’t just receive the testimony, they receive the witness. This is important
for us to remember today because Jesus comes to us now, not as a mere lifeless
testimony given thousands of years ago, but as an ever-present reality in the Spirit.36
And so for us to receive the Lord’s witness today, we need
to receive the work of God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit is what renews us and allows
us to be spiritually regenerated.
We should realize that the witness of the Spirit is not
something limited to the moment we receive water baptism or receive the
downpour of the Holy Spirit; rather, it’s a testimony that abides with us just
like the promised Holy Spirit abides with us or like God’s life abides in the
life of a believer.37
Many people think that spiritual renewal depends heavily
upon our own efforts. This is a complex issue. We cannot negate man’s part in
the process of faith, which is critical, but we must also remember spiritual
renewal is a work of the Spirit. This is God’s work of grace in us.
But when the kindness and the love of God our
Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Tit 3:4, 5)
Ultimately, God’s mercy is what allows us to be daily
renewed and fruitful.38 For God makes the sun to rise upon the
earth, and He sends down the rain from heaven. His grace is what makes it grow.
In this world, people may believe a baby is born through
the will of man and becomes part of a family through blood.39 But to
be born from above is different, for it is a work of the Spirit; yet, it still
requires us to receive this testimony of Christ in faith.
So the work of spiritual renewal must be viewed from two important
perspectives: (a) our “work” of faith and (b) God’s promise and work of grace.
Our “work” stems from faith. “[B]y [faith] the [men of old] obtained a good
testimony” (Heb 11:2).
However, the testimony of our faith is not something we can
boast about, as if we have accomplished something great. For our work or action
of faith never exceeds God’s promise and work of grace.
But a person who truly receives the Lord’s witness in their
life will change because the testimony of God’s word and Spirit are more than
words and concepts; God’s word and Spirit are alive and work in our life on a
practical level. When the Spirit’s witness is alive in our life, it means we
have truly received the witness of Christ in our life, and others will surely
see it.40
To understand how a person can receive the Lord’s witness
in their life practically, let’s complete our study of Nicodemus’ story.
THE
FINAL ACT
Nicodemus’ final act is recorded in John 19:38-42.
After Jesus was condemned and crucified, Joseph of
Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, like Nicodemus, gathered up the courage
to ask Pilate for the Lord’s dead body.41 Although Joseph was a secret
disciple of Jesus, he came to receive Jesus’ dead body. Nicodemus came with him
bearing a hundred pounds of mixed spices to embalm Jesus’ body.42
In those days, only the very wealthy could afford to bring
a hundred pounds of mixed spices. Few people would willingly risk their lives
or reputation for a condemned criminal; fewer still would bring a hundred
pounds of expensive spices to bury one.
Jesus was dead. He was condemned by the Roman authorities
and the other rulers. There was no political gain for Nicodemus to receive by
taking Jesus’ dead body. So we might ask, “If Nicodemus did not receive
Christ’s testimony, why would he put himself out for a condemned man?”
One interpretation is: Nicodemus did ultimately receive
Christ’s testimony. And Nicodemus’ eyes were finally opened to what he could
not see or hear or receive before concerning Christ’s witness. His act of
receiving Jesus’ dead body, in spite of the challenges, could be interpreted as
his receiving of Christ’s testimony.43
It’s easy to receive Jesus when we see miraculous signs
being performed by the Lord left and right. But if, like Nicodemus, all we saw
before us was a dead, lifeless, and bloodied King of the Jews, would we still
embrace Him as our king?44 Would we embalm Him? Would we lay down
our most expensive treasures before Him?
We may have different views on how Nicodemus’ story ends.
John 19:39 said Nicodemus came to Jesus by night at first. But I believe the
end of Nicodemus’ story shows a very different man—one who came to understand
Jesus was more than a criminal or a teacher. Jesus was a king. And so, at the
end of his story, Nicodemus gives Jesus a king’s burial, in a garden with a new
tomb.45
There in that garden, there
would be new life.
Nicodemus’ story teaches us a lot about spiritual renewal:
how we must acknowledge our lack, how we must see what is above, and,
ultimately, how we must receive Christ’s witness in our lives. When we receive His
witness in our lives, our life and our actions will become the true testimony
of the new life we have received because of Him. Because we have Him, we have
life. Amen.
