As you grow older – or as you lose loved ones – you begin to think a little more about heaven. What idea of heaven do you have? Not, I hope, that of Oscar Wilde, who thought of it as eating paté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets! Although the notion of joy is surely right – and even the idea of feasting can’t be wrong! (Mt 22:2) But there will be nothing self-indulgent there – nor any self-centredness. For we shall be a people together – in the presence of the King! To worship, praise and serve him for ever with joy and thankfulness.

Perhaps we have our best thoughts of heaven when we feel oppressed by the evil things in this world, by unspeakable tragedy, by great wickedness – even by the destruction and spoiling of this world by man’s greed or hatred. Then we long for an end to all this, and for the coming of justice, of peace, of the restoration of the creation to the condition God intended it to have. For we know that that is God’s purpose and promise from the beginning.

It was pictured in the Flood: judgement, followed by a cleansed and renewed world. It was promised through the prophet, Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. (Isa 65:17) That promise was re-stated by Peter, We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Pet 3:13) And in John’s vision the future was assured, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.. (Rev 21:1)

Is there a guarantee that this promise is to be trusted, and will be fulfilled? Yes! – God raised Jesus from the dead! Not just to vindicate Jesus, and set God’s seal on the redeeming value of his death. Not only to assure us, his people, that we also will be raised from death, and inherit eternal life. The resurrection is the pledge that God will overcome all evil, wipe away all tears, make everything new, liberate creation itself from its bondage to decay, and bring his people into a glorious freedom from sin and death. (Rev 21:3-5; Rom 8:21,31; Acts 3:20-21; John 8:34-36)

Among English people – and perhaps many others – there is a common belief that, in the absence of our having been especially wicked, then our enjoyment of heaven is guaranteed! But our Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus should quickly dispel any such idea. He said plainly that we ourselves need a restoration, a renewal, before we can possibly enter God’s kingdom. I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (John 3:3)

Those last words, born again, could be rendered, begotten from above, and that may be the best way to understand these words, for Jesus is quite clearly teaching about a renewal that only God can bring about in us. However, Nicodemus was only too aware that many years had passed and they had made him the man he was now – how could he now begin all over again?

Why do I need to be born again?

To this Jesus replies that there is a profound difference between what a man is, or can become, naturally – and what he can become only through the work of God in his life. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again (or from above)” (John 3:6-7)

What do these words teach us? We would expect, wouldn’t we, that wrong-doing would exclude us from God’s kingdom, from God’s Holy City, the new Jerusalem? In his vision John is told, Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful. (Rev 21:27) But we might not expect this to apply to an upright, religious man, like Nicodemus. Yet Jesus tells him that he and his friends must be born again – born of the Spirit!

However cultured or religious we may be – we are still sinners. Our sins may not be gross, but we are all, by our natural birth, inheritors of a disposition that is self-centred. This manifests itself in so many ways but, as Paul points out in his letter to Titus, includes, above all, failure to put love for God and obedience to him at the centre of our lives. As a result, we fail to love others as we should – and we are enslaved to our own will and pleasures – unless and until we are rescued by the grace of God.

At one time we.. were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.. (Titus 3:3-5)

If it profits him, a man can, to an extent, change his outward behaviour. But he cannot change his deep-seated disposition of self-centredness, nor become a lover of Jesus as his Saviour and Lord. Indeed, spiritual things remain a mystery to him, as Paul says elsewhere, The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14)

H.G.Wells wrote a short story called The Country of the Blind. In it a man discovers a remote, cut-off community where everyone is blind, except this visitor. They treat him as sick and mad. They want to operate on him to remove his eyes – so that he can become normal and like them. That is how the world reacts when confronted by a Christian, who tells then that he sees, but they are spiritually blind and living in darkness.

What is this new birth?

We may therefore say that this new birth that everyone needs, is a deep change brought about by God’s Spirit, that turns someone from being essentially self-centred to being responsive to God. Whereas before we were spiritually dead, we are now spiritually alive to God. We have undergone a resurrection, and been given new life. It is not a change we can do anything to bring about, any more than as an infant we did anything to bring about our own procreation and birth. This new birth is God’s initial act in our restoration, and it must be followed by our growth in love, obedience, and likeness to Jesus.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God... (2 Cor 5:17) Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, what counts is a new creation. (Gal 6:15) (see also John 1:12-13)

Jesus is surprised that Nicodemus doesn’t know about these things. “You are Israel’s teacher and you don’t understand these things? (v10) Because the necessity of a spiritually changed heart was taught under the old covenant, as was the promise that this would become true of all God’s people.

Circumcision as a sign of the covenant had been given to Abraham and his descendants, but its spiritual reality was not automatic (any more than it is for baptism). Through Moses God promises, The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul and live. (Deut 30:6) (see also Deut 10:14-11:1; Jer 4:3-4; 9:25-26; Acts 7:51)

And the prophets repeat this promise, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts... they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (Jer 31:33-34) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my law. (Ezk 36:26-27) (see also Jer 24:7; Psa 51:10; 2 Cor 3:3)

In John’s Gospel we have Jesus’ words to Nicodemus explaining why new birth is essential. Without it there is no spiritual life, only the natural life of the flesh. Without it you cannot see the kingdom of God – there is no spiritual understanding. Without it you cannot enter the kingdom – the Christian life begins with it.

What are the results of the new birth?

In John’s first letter John writes to Christians so that you may know you have eternal life.(1 John 5:13) It is right for Christians to have assurance of their salvation! He does this by describing the characteristics of this new life. But they are also the tests which challenge us to examine ourselves, to save us from false confidence.

John is saying there is no new birth without corresponding spiritual activity in our lives – you cannot be sure you’re a Christian unless it’s seen in the life you live. New birth is a secret work of the Holy Spirit, as invisible as the blowing of the wind, but showing its effect at once by your exercising faith in Christ and your following a life of obedience and love.

Without looking at the whole of John’s letter – we can summarise it by saying he gives us 5 characteristics or tests:

1. The first test: Have you a true belief about Jesus Christ? That Jesus is the God’s chosen and Anointed One, the Son of God, who was truly born a man, and who died for our sins. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. (4:15) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. (5:1) (see also 1 John 2:20-23; 3:16; 4:1-3,15; 5:1)

2. The second test: Do you no longer keep on sinning? but do what is right, and obey God’s commands. Modern translations make this clear: John uses the Greek present tense, which describes an act which is continued in, an act which is habitual. No-one who lives in God keeps on sinning. No-one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (3:6)

We are liars if we claim to be without sin. But when we do sin, do we ask ask God to forgive and cleanse us? on account of the shed blood of Jesus. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1:8-9) (see 1 John 1:8-2:5; 3:4-10; 5:3,18)

3. The third test: Do we love our Christian brothers and sisters? Jesus laid down his life for us – and we must lay down our lives for them, for our love must be practical, not just in words – we cannot say we love God, if we do not give practical, sacrificial love to our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (3:17)(see 1 John 2:9-11; 3:11-20; 4:11-12,19-21)

There are Christians today in South Africa who, at risk and at cost to themselves, transport food into Zimbabwe, for starving Christians there. And there are others who do the same for Christians in Burma, where they may be chased into the jungle and left to die. Is our love for others practical and sacrificial?

4. The fourth test: Have we overcome the temptation to love the things which the unbelieving world loves? Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. (2:15-16) (see 1 John 2:15-17; 4:4-6; 5:4-5,19)

5. Lastly: Do we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts? which those who are born from above possess. ..the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. (5:10) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Rom 8:16) (see 1 John 2:20; 4:13; 5:9-12)

How can I know if I’m born again?

I hope you find those tests challenging – I know I do! Perhaps though, there are those of you who would like me to put it again, more simply – how can I know that I am born again? We can learn it from the actions of a new-born baby! If you’ve been present at a birth, you know there’s a tense moment as everyone waits for the baby to cry out, take its first breath, wave its limbs, take to the breast – and, in a word, show itself to be truly alive!

1. The baby cries. A born-again person instinctively prays, cries out to God in dependence, hope and trust. Do you look to God as your Father, to talk to him from your heart? – that is a true sign of being born again. (Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15)

2. The baby sucks. There must be a hunger for spiritual food – first for spiritual milk, then the meat of God’s revealed word. Do you want to hear the word preached and taught? Do you read your Bible? Do you think about what you’ve read, ask questions about it, try to memorise it, go over it in your mind, want to go deeper in?

3. The baby moves. Has becoming a Christian re-shaped your life? Has it changed your priorities, your friendships, the way you worship? Have you sought ways of serving the Lord? And been willing to tell others about Jesus and what he has done for you?

4. The baby rests, relaxes and sleeps in an adult’s arms and wherever it feels secure. If you are born again you will rest in the knowledge that God’s everlasting arms are underneath you. (Deut 33:27) Can you peacefully trust your heavenly Father, when you are under pressure from outward circumstances, committing those circumstances to him – illness, family or financial problems, opposition or whatever – that are oppressing you? To live in quiet contentment, concerned only to obey, and leave God to overrule the outcome, is a real sign we have been given new life.

Jesus said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:3) To be childlike – in having a simple trustfulness, a responsive heart and dependence on God – in the way I’ve just described, is the only way into God’s kingdom and to live its life. Then we may know that God’s work of new creation has really begun! And that we’ve become heirs, having the hope of eternal life ... devoting ourselves to doing what is good. (Titus 3:7-8)

Finally, be assured – if you find you are missing one or more of these marks, and you want to become God’s true child, come to Jesus and ask him to change you by his Spirit! He gives us this promise, Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37) Two verses brought me to the Saviour’s feet. The first was, You must be born again, the second, Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. May they speak to you too, and may you also know our Saviour’s loving welcome!