You Must Be Born Again: Come Alive

Look. In the context of this conversation, here's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, this is the ground of new birth. We put this this bible verse, it's famous, into context. God gave. The the sun was lifted up, and the spirit gives life because Christ absorbed death. On the cross, Jesus bore the the judgment we deserve. We deserve that judgment So that we might receive what? New life. The kind of new life that your best efforts to obey the law could never secure. This is why. Because God gave. This is why new life is possible. [00:59:53] (50 seconds)  #NewLifeByGrace

If if if life depended on your spiritual performance, then fear would stalk you forever. You know, have I done enough? You're you're concerned on edge. Am I maintaining the life I should have? No. But but if life is birth, then it begins with God. And when God begins, God will sustain it. Nicodemus, he came at night. If you wanna do a little homework this week, read John seven, read John 19, because here's what you'll see. He stepped into the light. He was born anew. [01:02:25] (40 seconds)  #LifeBeginsWithGod

And here's the hinge. The hinge is this. You cannot manage your way into life. If that's what you're trying, you feel frustrated, it's because you can't manage your way into it. You can't control it. New birth has to be received. And faith is resting on the finished work of God's son. Look, the scripture says that whoever believes, that whoever believes in him belief is not just an agreement. It's not just intellectual ascent. It's it's trust. It's surrendering control to the crucified Messiah, Jesus Christ. [01:00:43] (57 seconds)  #FaithNotPerformance

The spirit's work of rebirth is not centered on human initiative. It has another origin. It it has another power. It has another direction. That's God. In the wind, you know, you you can't predict the wind. You can't domesticate it. You know, you can't manufacture it necessarily, but you see its effects, of course. And here's what Jesus is saying, so it is with everyone born of the spirit that that the new birth produces visible change. Like, could see the leaves rattling on the trees. [00:57:36] (39 seconds)  #WindOfTheSpirit

You know what that means? Discipline will produce behavior, maybe for a little while. Tradition will produce structure, and and education will produce knowledge. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the flesh cannot produce the spirit. Not not real life. Dead things can't again animate themselves. Spiritual life is not borrowed life. It's imparted life. This is imparted to you. God gives it. [00:54:42] (28 seconds)  #ImpartedLife

That's how control begins. It goes like this. As long as I can define you, God, as long as I can, like, put you in my terms, I don't have to surrender to you. At least not fully. So you're gonna see, Jesus does not respond to the categorization. Here's what he he's going to do. He's going to respond to the condition. Because here's what Jesus sees really clearly in Nicodemus and anyone here today. He sees this. You can be deeply religious, but not alive. [00:44:16] (40 seconds)  #ConditionOverCategory

You know, and someone will say, well, but I go to church. Hey, sleeping in the garage does not make you a car. Right? You get what I'm saying? And and so here we see here's what we see, a crack in the religious assumption. This is why I say, I need to hear this message. Because religion you know what I mean when I say religion? Religion can produce conformity, but but religion will not produce resurrection life. Don't you want that? Don't you want resurrection life? [00:44:57] (40 seconds)  #ReligionVsResurrection

You you it it will not produce. It cannot produce new birth. And this is what Jesus is exposing. This isn't like a need for more knowledge. The human problem, the core human problem isn't ignorance. Here's the problem, death. Death is the problem. It's a death that's a result of sin. This is our core issue. Hearts that are turned away from God and have tried to live apart from him. If you're feeling dead, it's because that's a problem we have. And dead things, dead people cannot reanimate themselves. [00:51:19] (45 seconds)  #DeathNotIgnorance