John 3:1-17

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This 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 and said to him, “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?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 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.”

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 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 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.

Nicodemus must have thought that's a crazy story really. Again we see Jesus messing with the our understanding of the natural order of things - just to make a make a point. We cannot physically be born again, everyone knows that; the Mothers everywhere can breath a sigh of relief!

This isn’t purely allegory though – He is referring to something which is soon to happen in Jesus world, and for us through the action of Jesus. 

Through Jesus the Kingdom of God is breaking into human history. Into God’s creation He is establishing something which has been anticipate for many centuries:- The New Creation.

Another kingdom, an alternate order and authority, is about to be established.

But for us to be part of this a miracle – an act of the HS must happen. We must be born again.
We enter God’s creation through our birth, likewise we enter the new creation through the new birth.

Example: Grandad's farm - looking and sounding like something like a Christian doesn't make us one, any more than standing in a garage makes us a car.
We are born or created something. To be a Christian we must be born again into God's kingdom, born of the Spirit.

For this New Kingdom to be establish the old powers must be conquered and dealt with. 

The Passover War

We celebrate what happened at that Passover feast – what we call Easter these days. But do we understand what was happening?

We celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus…what about the three days in between?

The disciples mourned. The ladies made preparation to attend to the body of Jesus when they were allowed. Peter was in deep shame at denying Jesus three times. The leaders rested easy thinking they had successfully put down a difficult problem.

What about Jesus - Jesus, wasn’t idle for those three days. In a state of death he was active – there was a war raging.

You see there is heaven, earth and “under the earth”. Jesus had gone down to under the earth. The place of death.

And there were three enemies to defeat. Sin, Satan and Death itself.

Lets look at how Jesus was victorious over these enemies:

Sin defeated…

Sin in essence is disobedience to God which leads to a breakdown in relationship. For a creature that means being cut off from the creator – the very source of life.

Death is the consequence of this which is our current state. That is what we know, what we all expect.

But Jesus didn’t disobey. Through perfect obedience Jesus overcame temptation and sin. Jesus was obedient unto death – even death on the cross. (Phil 2)

• In the Garden of Gethsemane the full weight of sin, the pressure of temptation was on Jesus to disobey.

• You see Jesus faced sin in a way we never can. We always succumb to temptation eventually and at some point we all have, and the weight of temptation stops there.
  But Jesus resisting temptation fully also had to face the full weight of sin, He sweated blood in the process – but was obedient. 
• At his death the temptation to sin, and therefore sin itself was beaten, forever. You cannot tempt a dead person any more.

Philippians 2:8-10

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,...

Jesus’ perfect obedience made His death unjust – remember death is a result of being cut off from the source of life through sin. Jesus did not sin so was not cut off from the source of life.

He descended into death – he submitted to that – but he had the right to life.

One man had overcome sin and through a sinless death had access to the place of death – yet death had no power over him.

Through death Jesus gained access to the place of the dead. He picked the lock if you like...

Revelation 1:16-18

He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

He has the keys of death and hades, now death has no power over him

But entering death is only the start, He is not coming back just yet – he has work to do in the place of death

The War of Kingdoms...

He has gone there to start a war, one Kingdom is invading others.

A one man army is invading Satan’s kingdom and stronghold, For three days he fought – completely alone.  Since Eden Satan has been active in the physical world wrecking destruction on Humans, and we are powerless. 

But Jesus as a sinless Human has taken the fight from the physical into the spiritual realm – He has taken the fight into Satan’s kingdom, Jesus is hunting, Sin, Satan and Death is His prey. 

He fights through the hordes and legions, the principalities and powers. He fights to the very throne of Satan. Grabs that snake, throws him to the ground, places his foot on Satan’s throat, looks him in the eyes and says:

“Satan you are defeated. I have conquered you. Every temptation I have resisted, every accusation is a lie and I have paid for these captives with my own blood"

For the first time in history a dead man can testify against his killer:

"Satan you are a murderer. My blood proves your guilt"

Jesus then declares

“I will take your captives as tribute, everything you stole now belongs to me”

Hebrews 2:14-15

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

1 Peter 3:18-20

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Ephesians 4:8-10

Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

Satan's kingdom is defeated, His captives taken from Him.

Death Defeated...

There was one more fight, one more enemy. He’s hunting again - Death:

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When death takes a life it is legal – the soul who sins shall die. Death was unjustified in taking Jesus’ life when he was without sin. Death had no right to keep keep him or take him in the first place.

He rose in victory. He rose victorious over sin, over Satan, over death itself. With the plunder from each kingdom. The souls of people.

Romans 6:7-10

For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Death no-longer has dominion (kingdom). We are transferred as captives of one kingdom to another. From death to life.

Born of the Spirit...

As he rose from death Jesus was creating – he rose into something new.

He didn’t rise to an old creation which needed fixing he arose as the beginning of a whole new creation. He resurrected body wasn't going to die again.

The tomb opened, and Jesus rose as a victorious King, and opened to gates to the kingdom of God – the new creation..

Colossians 1:15-19

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

The firstborn over the new creation. All things – that statement excludes Jesus. Jesus is not created, He is a participant of God's creative activity.

His captives are not thrown into prisons of the new King, they are given a choice. Stay where you are or follow me.

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

In Christ we born again into a new creation. That is what Jesus was referring to in His conversation with Nicodemus.

That’s what Jesus was doing during those three days of death. That is why we celebrate! What an astonishing victory – what a reason to rejoice!

Like Jesus with Lazarus – he stands at the door to the tombs of our lives and calls us out by name. He has the keys, he has the right, he has the power. He calls us to step forward from death into his Kingdom. He calls us to be reborn into his new creation. Into eternal life which begins now by the Holy Spirit

1 Peter 1:17-25

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,because

“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

This is the Gospel. Jesus did all that in just a few days.

Are you alive in Christ today, or are we pretending to be - are you born again? It is a miracle of grace – an invitation from Jesus we must all accept.

Today, if you have never accepted Jesus invitation to life please respond and ask Him into your life, accept His invitation to be a new creation.