Life for a Look

Life for a Look

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

“I’d never join the Presbyterian Church.” This was the statement that a lady made to me a number of years ago. When I asked her, “Why?” She replied, “You don’t believe that one has to be born again. All you believe is that one has to put their name on a piece of paper to become a Christian.” Certainly the Presbyterian Church believes that in order to become a Christian one must be born again. We believe it because the Bible teaches it. Jesus said, “Verily, Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

The very nature of man demands that he be born again. Man who was created to have fellowship with God is now at enmity with God. He was created that he might show forth the praise, glory, and honor his creator but is unable to do so. The entrance of sin into the heart and nature of man makes man unable to do that for which God created him. I was driving back from Philadelphia several years ago, we were not far from the “city of brotherly love” when the motor of the car suddenly sputtered and died. I know little about a car but I got out and lifted up the hood and I could see nothing wrong, the car seemed to be in perfect shape. I got back in and pressed the starter and lo and behold the motor started. So off we went and it wasn’t long until it stopped again, and the car became incapable for doing that for which it was made. This time I stepped on the starter and again it started. To make a long story short, we ultimately found that on the timing gear there was a wire that was loosely connected. This loose connection prevented the machine from doing that for which it was made. As soon as the trouble was discovered and repaired the car preformed its function. Sin destroyed the connection between God and man, rendering man incapable to do that for which God created him. Man cannot perform his proper function until through the miracle of the new birth that connection is repaired.

It is the purpose of Almighty God is to paint upon the canvas of your life a likeness unto the Son of God. But you do not paint a beautiful life upon a dirty canvas. I was interested in watching some sign painters who were recently in town. I realized that before a new sign was painted that a new and clean surface was created by the application of paint. Before God reproduces upon the canvas of your life, the likeness of His only begotten Son your life must be cleansed by “the washing of regeneration,” and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” “Except a man be born,” Jesus said, “of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”

The one who said to me, “I’d never join the Presbyterian Church” was confused in her understanding of the new birth. She believed that when it occurred it was accompanied by many outward signs such as shouting and crying. Such is not necessarily true. Jesus said, “Marvel not that I said unto you, ye must be born again, the wind bloweth where it wills, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but cannot tell from where it comes and where it goes: so is the every one that is born of the Spirit” Sometimes the wind blows with the force of the gale and other times it is the blowing of a gentle breeze that hardly stirs the leaves of a tree. So it is with the miracle of the new birth that takes place. Sometimes it is with great outward manifestation, but most often it is accompanied with little change. You see the needs of men differ, some need to be scoured and others need to be rinsed but all need to be washed with regeneration. Here are two men, one miner who emerged from the pit, and the other a dentist just getting ready to minister to a new patient. Both need to be washed. The miner scrubs and scrubs, the dentist merely rinses his hands.

The new birth is of God and not of man. John wrote: “To as many as received Him to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe upon His name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.” Man does not inherit a place in the Kingdom, all are first generation Christians. I am forever grateful for the marvelous heritage that is mine. I rejoice that I was born in America but American democracy can never be substituted for God’s regeneration. I am thankful that my Father was a Christian, which he raised me in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord,” but his citizenship in heaven can never be accounted to my account. I am ever grateful for a godly mother but I can never gain entrance into heaven upon the bases of her faith, nor go upon the wings of her prayer. My entrance into the kingdom must be on the bases of my faith and in answer to my prayer: “God be merciful to me a sinner and save me for Jesus’ sake.”

Man does not earn a place in the kingdom. “It is not of the will of the flesh.” Man does not go to heaven on a New Year’s resolution. God does not receive an old life patched up, He wants a new life in Christ. The story is told of an elderly man who lived in an old house, situated upon a very valuable corner lot in the business section of town. One day the town’s leading business man and citizen came by and asked if the man would sell his house. It thrilled and pleased the man that one so important should want his house. He said, “I’ll sell in a few weeks. Come back then and I will give you the deed.” The old man spent the intervening time patching up his house, seeking to make it ready for the new owner. He repaired the roof and the pouch, he painted it outside and in, and he repaired broken plaster and papered the walls, and replaced broken window panes. When at last it was looking almost like new, he completed the sale. Sometime after going by his old home, he saw workman busily tearing it down. With tears streaming form his face he went to the man to whom he had sold and demanded to know why his house was being torn down. He had patched it and made it like new so that it would be worthy for its new owner. The new owner patiently explained to the old man that he didn’t want the home patched up; he wanted the lot upon which he might build a new home. God doesn’t want your life all patched up by resolutions, He wants to build a new life upon the old lot.

The new birth is not of “the will of man.” It is not something that man can give unto us. It is not ours as the result of education, or membership in the visible Church or any other organization. You can take a pig out of the sty and wash him and cleanse him but he will still go back to the mud hole. He would need a new nature. So it is with man: he needs a new frame of heart and mind. This comes not from inheritance, not from within our own lives, not as a gift from our fellow men; it comes from God.

The possibility of a new birth is rooted in the very nature of God. God is love. Because God is love it was inevitable that He should seek to save His children from their sin. It was inevitable that God should do something to restore the broken connection, to cleanse the soiled life. Love with God is never mere words; it always finds its expression in deeds. “For God so loved the world,” said Jesus, “that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” The Incarnation, the entrance of the only begotten Son of God into this world is the measure of God’s love for man; it is the evidence of God’s sincere desire to receive the Prodigal home again.

In order to explain to Nicodemus the way in which a man may be born again Jesus referred to a familiar incident that took place during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness by the Israelites. “And Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Nicodemus was well versed in the Old Testament; he knew exactly to what Jesus was making reference. There came a time in the wilderness that the children tired of the monotony of desert life. They murmured against God for having brought them there, and they yearned for the life of Egypt. “And the Lord sent serpents amongst the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people died.” In their terror they cried unto Moses to do something, Moses interceded with God on their behalf and God instructed to have a brazen serpent made and lifted up before the people. God said, ‘It shall come to pass, that everyone who is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” They looked upon the brass serpent and were healed, they received new life. They received life for a look.

One day men laid hold of the Son of God and led out to a place called Golgotha. There they lifted Him up upon a cross to die. To men that cross was a symbol of shame and degradation. But God has taken that cross and made is a symbol of salvation. The Christ of the cross says, “Look unto me and be saved.” All who in faith look unto Him, received salvation. The connection between you and your God is repaired, your life is cleansed, and you receive the power of the Holy Spirit which enables you to live a life to the glory of God.

Often time’s men have a very trite conception of faith. We make it weak, puny, namby-pamby thing. Faith is more than intellectual asset; faith is surrender, it is committal. Everyone in this room this morning believes that it is possible for you to go to Charleston, and go out to Kanawha Airport, board an airplane and fly to Miami. You believe that such is possible, and that plane is capable of taking you safely. Yet there are those here who would not act upon that faith, would not commit themselves to the plane. They say, “I’ll go by car, by bus, by train, or I’ll even walk, but I will not go by airplane.” Each one here this morning, I am certain, agrees with all I have said. For after all I have merely presented the teaching of God’s Word. You believe that man needs to be born again because of the essential nature of sin which we are all guilty. You believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God was lifted up upon a cross to save men form sin. You believe that He is willing and able to save. Now I ask you have you acted upon that in faith? Have you committed yourself to Him?

It was carnival time at Niagara Falls, New York. One of the feature attractions was a tight wire walker. One day he advertised that he was going to stretch the wire across the brink of Niagara Falls. A great crowd lined the bank of either side of the fall. The man walked safely across. Then he carried an umbrella across, and then a chair and then various other objects. He came down from the wire and went to an eight year old boy standing nearby. He said, “You believe I can walk across the wire.” “Sure,” replied the boy. “Do you think I could carry you over safely?” “Yes” came the answer. “Then come let me do it,” said the man as he reached down to pick up the lad. With that the boy turned and scooted away. The boy gave intellectual assent but was not willing to commit himself to the man’s keeping. Jesus Christ is the only way from man to go across the falls of sin. You believe that. Have you committed yourself to Him? He offers you this today, “New life for a look – the look of faith.” Will you fix the eye of faith upon Jesus?

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

Maxwell Presbyterian Church, August 6, 1953