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CHAPTER 1

Demand #1

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Jesus answered ... "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" — JOHN 3:5, 7

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is bornagain, he cannot see the kingdom of God." — JOHN 3:3

In the third chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus is speaking to "a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews" (John 3:1). Pharisees were the experts in the Jewish Scriptures. This is why Jesus was astonished that Nicodemus was baffled about what Jesus meant by "You must be born again." Nicodemus asks, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" (John 3:4). Jesus responds, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?" (John 3:10).

A NEW SPIRIT I WILL PUT WITHIN YOU

In other words, an expert in the Jewish Scriptures should not be baffled by Jesus' demand, "You must be born again." Why not? Because there are so many clues in the Jewish Scriptures that Jesus and Nicodemus had in common. God had promised a day when he would cause his people to be born again. One of God's clearest promises is in the book of Ezekiel. Jesus echoed Ezekiel's words when he said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Being "born again" is described as a birth from water and Spirit. Those two terms, "water" and "Spirit," are linked in Ezekiel 36:25-27. God says: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from

all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

God promises cleansing from sin and the gift of a new human spirit by the presence of his own divine Spirit. Jesus thinks Nicodemus should make the connection between his demand to be born again and Ezekiel's promise of a new spirit and the gift of God's Spirit. But he doesn't. So Jesus explains further by describing the role of God's Spirit in bringing about this new spirit: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

THE DEAD CANNOT SEE

Flesh is what we are by nature. It refers to ordinary humanity. By our first birth we are only flesh. This natural human condition, as we experience it, is spiritually lifeless. We are not born spiritually alive with a heart that loves God. We are born spiritually dead.

That's what Jesus implied when he said to a would-be disciple who wanted to go home to a funeral, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead" (Luke 9:60). In other words, some are physically dead and need burying. Some are spiritually dead and can bury them. He implied it again when, in his parable of the prodigal son, the father says, "This my son was dead, and is alive again" (Luke 15:24). That's why "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The dead can't see. That is, they can't see God's kingdom as supremely desirable. It looks foolish or mythical or boring. So they "cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). They cannot because it is foolishness to them.

Jesus sees all of humanity divided into two parts: those who are merely born once — "born of the flesh," "the (spiritually) dead" — and those who are "born again" by the Spirit of God — those who are alive to God and see his kingdom as true and supremely desirable.

THE WIND BLOWS WHERE IT WILL

Nicodemus is not entirely wrong to be baffled. There is a mystery. Jesus says so in John 3:8, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." In other words, "Nicodemus, you need new spiritual life — a second birth."

And what Jesus demands from Nicodemus, he demands from all. He is speaking to everyone in the world. No one is excluded. No ethnic group has a greater bent toward life. Dead is dead — whatever our color, ethnicity, culture, or class. We need spiritual eyes. Our first birth will not get us into the kingdom of God. But we do not cause ourselves to be born again. The Spirit does that. And the Spirit is free and blows in ways we do not comprehend. We must be born again. But this is a gift of God.

Look away from yourself. Seek from God what he alone can do for you. Moral improvement of the old you is not what you need. New life is what the whole world needs. It is radical and supernatural. It is outside our control. The dead do not give themselves new life. We must be born again — "not ... of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). That is what Jesus demands from the world.

Demand #2

REPENT

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." — MATT. 4:17

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. — LUKE 5:32

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah ishere. — MATT. 12:41

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. — LUKE 13:3, 5

The first demand of Jesus' public ministry was, "Repent." He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.

WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English "repent" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change. In view of the way this prefix regularly functions, we may infer that the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind's perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance." Then it gives examples of the fruits: "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise" (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us. Then this change leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change.

SIN: AN ASSAULT ON GOD

Why? His answer is that we are sinners. "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus' view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son's sin like this: "He squandered his property in reckless living ... [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes" (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven — that is, against God. That's the essential nature of sin. It's an assault on God.

We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus' view of sin is that it dishonors God and puts us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. Later we will see how that debt gets paid by Jesus himself (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent.

Repenting means experiencing a change of mind so that we can see God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God" (John 8:42). Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind.

THE UNIVERSAL NEED FOR REPENTANCE

No one is excluded from Jesus' demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate's massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). In other words, don't think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren't. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born again (John 3:7), so all must repent because all are sinners.

When Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired "to justify himself" (Luke 10:29), while "the tax collector ... beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' [and he] went down to his house justified [by God!]" (Luke 18:13-14). (For more on Luke 18:9-15, see Demand #20.)

THERE IS AN URGENCY TO THIS DEMAND BECAUSE JUDGMENT IS COMING

Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God will fall on those who don't repent. "The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here" (Matt. 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come and is offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one message for us: "Woe to you" (Matt. 11:21).

This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message concerning the kingdom of God. He preached that the long-awaited kingdom of God is present in his ministry. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). The gospel — the good news — is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before the kingdom arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God's judgment.

TO ALL NATIONS BEGINNING FROM JERUSALEM

After he had risen from the dead, Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones.

Demand #3

COME TO ME

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. — MATT. 11:28

Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." — JOHN 7:37

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to meshall not hunger." — JOHN 6:35

You refuse to come to me that you may have life. — JOHN 5:40

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out. — JOHN 11:43-44

When a person is born anew and experiences repentance, his attitude about Jesus changes. Jesus himself becomes the central focus and supreme value of life. Before the new birth happens and repentance occurs, a hundred other things seem more important and more attractive: health, family, job, friends, sports, music, food, sex, hobbies, retirement. But when God gives the radical change of new birth and repentance, Jesus himself becomes our supreme treasure.

HIS YOKE IS EASY, AND HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT

Therefore, his demand that we come to him is not burdensome. It means coming to the one who has become everything to us. Jesus did not come into the world mainly to bring a new religion or a new law. He came to offer himself for our eternal enjoyment and to do what ever he had to do — including death — to remove every obstacle to this everlasting joy in him. "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). When Jesus demands that we do things — like "Come to me" — the essence of these demands is that we experience the life that most fully savors and spreads his supreme worth.

As Jesus looks out over the religions of the world — including the Judaism of his day — he sees people who are laboring under heavy loads to earn the favor of whatever deity they believe in. He did not come to replace that God-appeasing load with another one. He came to carry that load and call us to himself for rest. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). Make no mistake, there is a yoke and a burden when we come to Jesus (there would be no demands if this were not true), but the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.

THERE IS A BURDEN, BUT IT'S NOT JESUS

But perhaps it's not easy and light the way we think it is. Jesus also said, "The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life" (Matt. 7:14). The reason it is hard is not because Jesus is a hard taskmaster. It's hard because the world is a hard place to enjoy Jesus above all. Our own suicidal tendency to enjoy other things more must be crushed (Matt. 5:29-30). And besides our own sin, many people are angered that we do not love what they love. So Jesus warned, "Some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake" (Luke 21:16-17).

But Jesus is not the burden. When we come to him, he is the burden-lifter, the soul-satisfier, and the life-giver. "Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink'" (John 7:37). Coming to Jesus means coming to drink. And the water we drink in fellowship with Jesus gives everlasting life. "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). The demand that we come to Jesus is the demand to come to the fountain of life and drink.

Jesus is not satisfied to lure us into obedience with images of life-giving water. He will also draw us with promises of life-sustaining bread. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger" (John 6:35). Jesus himself is the bread of heaven — the source and essence of everlasting life. He will draw us with promises of deliverance from perishing (John 3:16). The demand that we come to him is therefore like the demand of a father to his child in a burning window, "Jump to me!" Or like the demand of a rich, strong, tender, handsome husband to an unfaithful wife, "Come home!" Or like the demand of a rescue squad that finds you on the point of death, dehydrated after days in the desert, "Drink this!"

"YOU REFUSE TO COME TO ME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE"

But the personal tragedy of sin and spiritual blindness is that people do not come. Jesus grieved over his people. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matt. 23:37). "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).

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Excerpted from "What Jesus Demands from the World"
by .
Copyright © 2006 Desiring God Foundation.
Excerpted by permission of Good News Publishers.
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