Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Born Again, Explained
What if the most familiar verse in the Bible is also the most misunderstood doorway to new life? We take a fresh look at spiritual birth through Jesus’ midnight meeting with Nicodemus, a master teacher who recognised the signs yet struggled with their meaning. From the opening line—“You must be born again”—we unpack why Jesus contrasts natural birth with the work of the Spirit, and how that shift reframes faith, ritual, and the way we imagine the kingdom of God.
Together we trace the thread from the manger to the cross. Jesus links his mission to the bronze serpent in Numbers 21, a strange story that turns into a vivid picture of rescue: look and live. John 3:16 then lands with full force—not as a slogan, but as a promise that God’s one-of-a-kind Son came not to condemn but to save. We talk about the meaning of only begotten, how the Trinity moves through the passage, and why Christmas is not a cosy ending but the deliberate beginning of a long, gracious plan.
We also sit with Nicodemus’ journey—from cautious questions in the dark to bold devotion at the burial—because honest seeking still matters. Spiritual birth is not earned, inherited, or performed. It is received by trusting the Son who was lifted up for us. If you’re curious about what it really means to be born of water and Spirit, or you want to connect Christmas to the larger story of redemption, this conversation offers clarity, courage, and hope. If it resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s asking big questions, and leave a review to help others find it.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Welcome everybody. Now we're coming to you from the eastern states of Australia. I'm semi-in holiday mode, but still able to do my podcasts and bring the word to everybody that's out there. So this is a start of the um follow-on from my um Christmas period. We're a December the 14th, and this is about spiritual birth. Now, the thing that we need to understand is there is a difference between a physical birth and a spiritual birth. Your physical birth was the will and decision of others, but spiritual birth is your choice. There was a Jewish man named Nicodemus who didn't understand spiritual birth, like so many people today. People were confused and cautious about Jesus. The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3 helps us to understand what it means to be born again. So have you been born again? So just to clarify for those that need clarification, that's the easiest way of putting it. But spiritual birth is like with Mary, uh, the spirit came upon her and impregnated her. So she gave physical birth to a spiritual being. That is the only way you can put that. But let's go to John 3 1 through to 18. Now I'm not going to read the whole bit, I'm just going to jump around a little bit so you get an idea what it was all about. Otherwise, it's going to be half of our sermon. Now, John 3 1 starts that there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him and said, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now so he explains a little bit about the flesh and the spirit and all that sort of stuff. So we're gonna jump ahead a little bit, okay? And you know, here we go, we'll start down here. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so much the Son of Man be lifted up. What whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's John three sixteen. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Okay. Now the word born appears eight times in the first eight verses. Jesus was not referring to physical birth but spiritual birth. A person's spiritual birth happens when the will of other people, the parents or people that are not in wedlock yet, that's what not be, you know, uh condemning those that are that you do not yet have that relationship. But it's when two people come together and they join together with their will of God, a person's spiritual birth happens when the will of the individuals joins with the will of God, and that's John 1, 12 to 23, and it starts off with this but as many as received him as them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jesus' conversation with Nic Nicodemus is only recorded in the Gospel of John. Now there's a couple of things to take into consideration here. Now Nicodemus, he's a Jew with a Greek name, which means victory of people for those that are nitty-picky. Nike means victory, and the demons mean the people. A Pharisee, okay, Jewish ruling sect, strict separatists, they attempted to keep themselves separate from sin, evil, impure things. Okay, a member of the Sanhedrin, that's seventy men, it's a seventy men Jewel, you know. Hang on, let me try this again. Okay, the Sanhedrin, that's seventy Jewish men who cover the ruling council of the Jewish people. They're a bit like uh Jewish Supreme Court. But John 3 10 says this Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel? And do you not know these things? Now Nicodemus was well known in theological circles as a master teacher. He understood that he did not know everything. He came to Jesus at night, and Jesus was not like among the Sanhedrin. He was not much light at all. Now, there's a bit of confusion here, right? John 3 2 says, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with you. Right? Now, Nicodemus was trying to reconcile the Sanhedrin's negative opinion of Jesus with the fact that God's presence was obvious in Jesus' life. People often accept a view of the historical Jesus as a good teacher who performed miracles, but who wasn't the Son of God. Jesus wanted to help Nicodemus understand who he was. John three, thirteen to sixteen, it says this no one has ascended to heaven but he who has come down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven, as is Moses was lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the man uh son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. See the only begotten son translates to um monganes in Greek, which means one of a kind. Jesus is directly a part of God, and Jesus is God. Now, why am I talking about this? Well, leading up to Christmas, I think that it is imperative that everybody truly understand the meaning of this, and sometimes it's just a matter of understanding. John 3 5 says, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus through Jesus was stating that people needed to be physically born twice. Some people think the phrase born of water is indicative of baptism and it's a requirement of salvation. That's not totally correct. John 3 16 makes it clear that water refers to a natural birth and spirit referred to the spiritual birth. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus then anticipates a question. How can one see spiritual birth? Now in John 3, 7 to 8, it says this, do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. As the wind cannot be seen, but its effects can be felt and seen, so is it with the spiritual birth. See, John 3 11 says, Most assuredly I say to you, we speak that we know, and testify that we have seen, and you do not receive our witness when he said, We Jesus were speaking in the plural, and this is the one of the few times that he speaks about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I the three Godhead, and so Jesus is talking about like us as he's not just isolating me, and just a little side note for those that don't really understand that aspect of it. Uh if you go right back to uh Genesis 1, you know, it clearly states that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities, but they're all the same. So they all are individuals in their own right because of the role that they play, but they are all the one in the same as well. So Jesus drew a comparison between the Old Testament story and his forthcoming sacrifice on the cross. John four um John 3 14 said, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, then so must the Son of Man be lifted up. In Numbers 21, God sent venomous snakes to bite and cure the Israelites as punishment for grumbling against the Lord. And when the people repented, God provided gracious provision for those who were bitten to be saved. Now you can go back and read Numbers twenty-one, seven through to nine. It says, Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he may take away the serpent from us. So Moses prayed for the people, and then God said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who was bitten when they looked at it shall live. So it goes on about how Moses made this and it was easily orchestrated for those that were repenting, they could look at that and then they would be set free. Now, John 3.16 to 18, this is the most critical thing here. You must know and understand this scripture in its entirety, and sometime later, and perhaps we will have the opportunity to study it in depth as well. But John 3.16, and this is why I'm saying over and over and over again, because you need to get this out of your head and into your heart. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son. We have to recognize the plan and purpose that God had set before mankind, and we needed to make sure that in doing this, here we see a clear explanation of what God fully intended. He was going to send his son to the cross to make that ultimate sacrifice, but without the virgin birth in the first place, the rest of it could not be fulfilled. So this is why it is so important that people understand the the true meaning of Christmas and the purpose behind it. It wasn't something that happened overnight, and this is one thing I I think I've said before, I talk about my healing and what God has done in my life. Yes, okay, some of it is instantaneous, some of it is right now, but some of it is also progressive and it takes time. And so if you look at this from if you look at healing from the perspective of what God did in relation to Jesus, this was progressive. It was something that took time. As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, we've got to understand that that's the start of the journey, the start of redemption, the start of us to be cleansed and set free. There's no other provision or remedy for salvation than accepting God's forgiveness and putting one's faith in Jesus. Everyone who believes in him will be saved and be with the Lord forever. The story does not tell us if Nicodemus was saved, but it seems likely that he was. I think I'd find it very, very hard to um to think that, you know, if we're um men and women of Christ, and we can lead a person to salvation, I'm pretty sure that Jesus also has the ability to lead someone to salvation. You know, if we look a little bit further down, it says, and Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and altos, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to burial. When everyone else deserted Jesus, Nicodemus was present with Joseph of Amerithia to care for Jesus' body following his crucifixion. What matters most is spiritual birth Romans eight one. There is therefore no one give condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. So in reviewing this, uh, I think it's really, really important to realize that without the spiritual birth, okay, of Jesus, we can't have spiritual birth either. Because we don't go back into our mother's womb and be born a second time because we're already born physically. We need to be born spiritually, whereas Jesus When he was born, he was born naturally, but of the spirit, because it was the spirit that was the conception of Mary. Hope you understand where we're going with this because that's the pinnacle bit of this. The spiritual birth is all about us being spiritually born, and the difference between spiritual and physical birth is purely and simply all because of what Jesus did at the start of this. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody comes to the Father except through him. So this is why you have the two mixed together. And Jesus was always mixed together too, because he was with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And whenever Jesus was asked to do something or he did do something, he was all always told, I only do what the Father tells me to do. Okay. And so when he was born, that's why everybody recognized him as the Christ, the living Messiah, the one that would redeem us all. All right. We'll go on with this a little bit more next week. So uh talk to you then. Bye for now.
