Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Vision Series for 2024.
I'd be grateful if you had your Bibles open, but also the St Paul's app, which has an outline
for today's message.
In the latter half of 2009, I received a letter from RMS, New South Wales Roads, requesting
that I front up to a vehicle inspection station with the vehicle that I'd purchased about
18 months earlier.
The letter stated that there was, for RMS, some concern that my vehicle wasn't adequately
repaired from a major accident that it had had earlier, something that I was unaware
of at the time.
I wasn't concerned because it was a great vehicle, no issues at all, drove really,
really well.
I arrived at the inspection station, handed over the vehicle, the keys, confident of where
I stood.
After about 45 minutes of sitting there twiddling my thumbs, two inspectors came in, sat either
side of me, and gave me the classic good news, bad news report.
Well, the good news is your vehicle is in fantastic order and certainly roadworthy.
The bad news is that this is not your vehicle.
This is what is known as a rebirthed vehicle.
They explained that the rebirthed vehicle is a stolen vehicle.
Someone purchases what is called a repairable write-off, most likely from interstate, and instead of
going through the costs of repairing the repairable write-off, they steal a vehicle that is exactly the
same and transfer the numbers from the repairable write-off to the stolen vehicle, and then sell it
as a repaired vehicle.
That way they don't go through the costly process of repairing it.
It looks good.
In fact, it looks exactly the same as what the original vehicle did on the outside before the accident,
but all the identifying markers of the original vehicle are gone, and the stolen vehicle
are attached to it.
And then, of course, the original vehicle that they purchased interstate is chopped up and discarded
or thrown in the bottom of the Parramatta River.
I was then told by the inspectors to sit tight as major crimes were on their way.
And four officers turned up, and within two hours, my vehicle, I watched it being loaded on the
back of a police truck, and with it, $25,000 gone.
They said, the vehicle that you have insured is most likely in the bottom of the Parramatta
River right now.
That's the good news, because if you had an accident with this vehicle, you weren't insured
for it.
All this happened.
The good news is that as a result of my case and the evidence that I gave, you can now buy
a second-hand vehicle with confidence.
There is now a national register that identifies the entire history of every vehicle.
You're welcome.
This all happened on the day before our second child was born.
One day, I'm dealing with rebirthing, and the next day, I'm dealing with an actual birth.
And when she was born, the first time I looked at her, I went, oh yeah, she's ours.
Immediately identifiable as ours, belonging to us.
At birth, we are all identified genetically as we share the genetic makeup of our biological
parents.
We also inherit an ethnic makeup, depending on where you're born.
You're also likely to have a national identity.
And certainly for many years, as you were growing up, you share the socioeconomic identity
of your parents.
That is, our birth identifies us in every possible way.
And as we just read, Nick read out to us, Peter describes becoming a Christian as being
reborn, a new birth.
This new birth doesn't change who we are ethnically, nationally, genetically, socioeconomically, but
it does change our lives in such a way that we are fundamentally different people.
Fundamentally different people.
You may not look different on the outside, but you are fundamentally different on the inside.
Totally different on the inside.
And that's what this vision series is all about.
Over the course of this term, we are building up towards Easter and the celebration of the
death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of humanity.
And as we build up to Easter, I've kind of reversed everything.
I can't kind of change the date for Easter.
As we build up to Easter, we're going to be looking at the resurrection.
And specifically, the resurrection impact on our lives now.
What it does for us.
And we're going to be going through sections of 1 and 2 Peter as we do that.
And for the first four weeks, I'm focusing on the first 16 verses of 1 Peter.
So you're going to see that Bible reading again and again and again.
Again, if you get your Bibles open and have it there with you, that'd be fantastic.
Today, I want to lay the foundation of the new birth.
What is the new birth?
What does it do?
How does it grow in us?
And who makes the new birth possible?
That's kind of the three points for today.
So what's the new birth?
Verse 3, just read out to us.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his great mercy, he has given us new birth.
All Christians, that is, everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ, are described as being reborn.
It's a new birth.
That is, every Christian is born again.
That term is not just for a certain kind of Christian.
You know, there's Christians and then there's born again Christians.
That's not biblical in any way whatsoever.
All Christians are born again.
And we're not told much here about what the new birth is that the Christian has received.
We know from other parts of the Bible that the new birth is a new life and a new vitality.
New life and a new vitality.
When a person is born again, they experience new life.
That is, we are told in Ephesians that we are spiritually dead.
And being born again, spiritual life comes into you.
God puts his very life into us.
His eternal life into us.
And the new birth comes to us in different kinds of ways.
That is, there's no one type of experience that everyone must have.
For some, their experience of new birth is like lightning bolt.
And you can identify, which someone like I can identify,
on the day, 30th of May, 1993, when the lightning bolt struck.
For some, it's a gradual process where it's hardly even recognisable.
So it's important not to insist that it happens in a certain way.
Even though the new birth comes to us in different ways,
and at times this new birth might be subtle,
it is nevertheless astounding and powerful.
The New Testament, the original New Testament word for it,
is palagenesia.
Palagenesia.
It means regeneration.
The book of Titus tells us that when we are born again,
we experience regeneration.
And Titus uses the word palagenesia.
In Matthew 19, verse 28, Jesus says this,
Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things,
when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,
what Jesus is talking about there in Matthew 19,
is the end of all things.
When he rules the universe,
God's power will come into the world
and renew the entire world.
He'll make it all right.
Everything that's wrong, everything that's stained,
everything that's evil, everything that's deformed,
broken about this world will be fixed in that moment,
in a twinkling of an eye by Jesus Christ
at his second coming.
Death and evil and suffering will be gone.
All tears, sadness, anxiety will be wiped away.
And despite all the superpowers and the wealth
and the technology of the world,
we cannot fix it.
So think of what is required
to bring about that kind of renewal
in our world.
And Jesus describes that time
as the renewal of all things
and he uses the Greek word,
palogenesia,
in Matthew 19.
So the Apostle Paul here,
sorry, the Apostle Peter here,
in 1 Timothy,
sorry, the Apostle Paul,
has the audacity to use the exact same Christian word
to describe the new birth
of the Christian in Titus.
Palogenesia.
The renewal of all things.
The tremendous power
that renews all things at the end
comes into the life of the Christian now
in order to effect rebirth
through faith in Jesus Christ.
Can I just say,
therefore,
if you are a Christian,
you, like me,
are putting up with a whole heap of stuff
in our lives that we don't have to.
The potential for change
in our lives is astounding.
Incomprehensibly astounding
because that power
is present right now.
This is the new life we get
with the new birth.
So particularly,
where does this new birth operate
in the life of the Christian?
What does it do?
The new birth
operates
especially in the hopes
of the Christian,
which is what we read there
in 1 Peter 3.
The new birth,
the reason the new birth
changes our,
changes the Christian so much
is because it changes
our hopes so much.
If you change a person's hopes,
you change everything about them.
Back in verse 3 again,
Praise be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his great mercy,
he has given us new birth
into a living hope
through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead
and into an inheritance
that can never perish,
spoil,
or fade.
This inheritance is kept
in heaven for you.
The direction
of every person's life
is set
on what they hope
the most.
So if you offer
a person
a life-giving,
imperishable hope,
then their life
is changed forever.
All of us,
every human being,
has certain desires
and expectations.
And there are desires
like meaning,
significance,
security,
purpose,
and then you work out
what you think
will fulfill
those desires.
And whatever we believe in
to fulfill those desires
is what we set
our hopes
and our hearts on.
Which is another way
of saying,
we are all hope-driven
people.
And our hearts,
in order to
fulfill our hopes,
might be set
on our careers,
might be set
on money,
might be set
on accomplishments,
it might be set
on status,
it might be set
on love,
romance,
beauty,
our children,
might be a political
hope,
might be social
causes.
every single person
chooses something
to believe in
that will fill
their hopes.
We are
unavoidably
hope-based
creatures.
Proverbs 13,
12,
in the Old Testament
tells us
that hope deferred
makes the heart
sick.
we experience
our present
in radically
different ways
depending on
what our future
hope actually
is.
Imagine
I have
two people
and I
give them
the exact
same
pair of
scissors
and I
say,
I want you
to cut
the church
grass
with these
scissors.
Pull one
of them
aside.
Their
experience
of that,
I mean I
heard the
groans already,
you know like,
their experience
of that
cutting the
grass with a
pair of
scissors
will be
quite
different
based on
the conversation
I have with
each of them
privately.
I say to
one of them
at the end
of this
job,
when you're
all finished,
I'm going
to give
you $20.
to the
other
person,
I say
at the
end of
this
job,
when you're
all
finished,
I'm going
to give
you $200,000.
One
is going
to whistle
when they
work,
the other
will not,
depending on
the end
goal.
And when
they have a
break,
one of them
is going
to go,
I can't
believe we're
doing this
for this.
Like,
this is,
you look at
the conditions
we're dealing
with here,
the other
one's going
to go,
I don't
care that
it's going
to be
30 odd
degrees today,
I don't
care.
Hope makes
all the
difference
of our
current
experience.
My point
is we
are hope
driven and
the new
birth changes
our hopes.
The new
birth gives
us a hope
that is
imperishable.
And that
is the
contrast with
every other
hope that
this world
offers us.
It
perishes,
it fades,
it spoils.
Put your
hope in
a career,
you'll have
to retire.
Put your
hope in
money,
you're never
secure.
Hope in
your family,
it's
potentially
the last
one left.
So how
does this
new hope
grow in
us?
How do
we wrench
our hearts
away from
hopes that
will fade
and perish
and put it
into a
hope that
will never
perish,
fade or
disappoint in
any way?
How do
you make
that shift?
There are
multiple ways
that that
happens in
the New
Testament,
but the
main way
that 1
Peter talks
about growing
in new
life and
new hope
and therefore
to become
more like
Jesus in
character,
more stable
in life,
more loving
and joyful,
the more
shaped into
his image
and his
priorities.
The 1
Peter speaks
about one
way primarily
that that is
affected in
your life.
The new
birth grows
in you
and the
hope grows
in you
and it's
surprising for
us.
It's
suffering.
Suffering.
In fact,
I think I
would declare,
I'm assuming
someone else
would say the
same,
that apart
from the
book of
Job in
the Old
Testament,
1 and 2
Peter,
but particularly
1 Peter,
are the
greatest
books of
the theology
of suffering
in the
Bible.
Suffering.
Now,
I'm going to
say a lot
more about
that in a
few weeks,
so I don't
really want
to steal
all that
thunder now,
but here's
a taste.
Verse 6,
In all
this you
greatly
rejoice,
though now
for a little
while you
may have
had to
suffer grief
in all
kinds of
trials.
These have
come so
that the
proven
genuineness
of your
faith,
of greater
worth than
gold,
which perishes
even though
refined by
fire,
may result
in praise,
glory,
and honour
when Jesus
Christ is
revealed.
The first
words of
verse 6
say that
the Christian
rejoices in
their
hope.
rejoices in
their hope.
The word
is in
actual fact
a present
tense.
You're
rejoicing in
your hope
now.
What makes
that remarkable
is that the
words suffer
grief are
connected to
it.
And the
words suffer
grief actually
mean to be
in agony,
lots of
pain,
pain.
It doesn't
say you
used to
rejoice but
unfortunately
now you're
suffering
agony.
Nor does
it say that
because you've
got lots to
rejoice about,
you're not
actually really
in pain,
you know,
get over
yourselves,
move on,
take some
Panadol,
have a lie
down,
it's not
really that
bad.
both the
feeling of
the agony
and the
rejoicing
are both
present
tense.
They are
concurrent
activities.
And what
1 Peter
says here,
when we do
both of those
things at the
same time,
it's like
putting gold
into a
furnace.
it refines
you and
grows you
as the
suffering
drives you
deeper and
deeper into
your real
hope,
the hope
that can
never perish,
spoil or
fade.
And yet,
this is
almost never
our view
of suffering.
in a
day and
a culture
that suggests
our personal
happiness
is of
the highest
importance,
then anything
hard,
anything
difficult,
anything
unpleasant
is considered
bad,
wrong and
evil.
And it's
God's job
to take it
away from
me in
order that I
might be
able to
rejoice.
we
therefore
cannot
possibly
imagine
because
we've
been so
marinated
in such
a culture,
we cannot
possibly
imagine
why God
would allow
suffering and
hardship
come into
my life
at all.
So,
imagine a
forestry
worker.
They have
marked out a
bunch of
trees,
they're going
to cut
them down
and they're
going to
get set
off to
the sawmill
and then
they come
in to do
their job
and they
notice at
the top
of one of
this tree
they're about
to cut
down,
there's
this bird,
a lovely
bird,
making a
nest,
it's building
a nest
in the top
of the
tree in
the forest
where it
goes,
you know,
so they
bang on
the tree,
make lots
of noise
to get the
bird to
move on
and much
to their
delight the
bird flies
and moves
to the next
tree.
Oh,
starts
bang on
that tree,
bang,
lots of
noise,
get the
bird to
move on,
bird moves
on to the
third tree,
oh,
here comes
the forestry
work of
the bird,
what is
wrong with
this person?
Like,
seriously,
give me a
break here,
I'm just
trying to
build my
nest,
trying to
raise a
family,
you know,
like,
what is
wrong with
this forest?
Bang,
bang,
bang on
the tree
again and
the bird
gets up
and flies
off and
lands on
a rock,
starts to
build the
nest and
notices the
forestry
worker leaves
them alone.
The older
we get,
we realise
that every
tree,
every hope
will come
down.
will
come down.
We don't
believe it
when we're
young.
When we're
young,
we think
that whatever
tree that
we try to
plant our
nest in
will be
there all
the time.
As you
get older,
you realise
every tree,
every hope
will eventually
come down.
And yet
every generation
thinks it'll
be able to
do what no
other generation
has been
able to do
before it.
Our hearts
are not
designed to
be completely
fulfilled by
anything or
everything in
this life.
We simply
don't realise
the greatness
of our souls
and the depth
of our desires
and our hopes.
And the best
thing that God
can do for us
while we live
in this body,
in this world,
before Jesus
comes back,
is to bang
on every tree
that we build
our lives on.
until we
reach the
solid rock,
the sure
foundation that
is the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
alone.
An
imperishable
hope,
a greater
hope,
a sure
foundation.
The worst
thing that can
happen for us
is to be left
to our own
devices to
build our
nests at the
top of the
tree,
build our
lives on
something that
will in short
time come
crushing down.
So who
then makes
this new
birth
possible?
How can
Peter say
that if you're
a Christian,
this new
birth,
you have a
new birth,
you have a
living and
perishable
hope?
How's that
possible?
How can
he say
that when
we know
of ourselves,
we constantly
fail God,
we fail each
other,
how can
he say,
we even
fail ourselves,
how can
we possibly
have that
kind of
hope,
sure hope?
None of
us have
loved God
and loved
our neighbours
ourselves all
of the time.
We haven't
done it,
we never
will.
How can
Peter promise
us a hope
that will
never,
ever perish,
never come
crashing down,
never fade?
Verse 10,
concerning this
salvation,
the prophets
who spoke
of the
grace that
was to
come to
you,
searched
intently
and with
the greatest
care,
trying to
find out
the time
and the
circumstances
to which
the Spirit
of Christ
in them
was pointing
when he
predicted
the sufferings
of the
Messiah
and the
glories
that would
follow.
It was
revealed to
them that
they were
not serving
themselves
but you
when they
spoke of
the things
that have
now been
told you
by those
who have
preached
the gospel
to you
by the
Holy Spirit
sent from
heaven.
Even
angels
long to
look into
these
things.
What is
the gospel
that the
prophets
revealed
centuries
before
and that
the apostles
preached?
What is
the gospel?
It is
that Jesus
Christ
suffered.
He
suffered.
The
Son of
God,
the
Creator
of all
things
came
as
the
rescuer
and
the
ruler
of all
of
humanity
in
weakness.
Not in
triumph,
in
weakness.
He died
on a
Roman
cross
for the
sin
and the
failure
of
humanity.
He
died
the
death
that we
should
die.
We,
the
weak
and the
perishing,
have a
glorious
and
imperishable
hope
in
Jesus
Christ,
the
glorious
and
the
eternal
one
because
he
perished
in
shame
for
us.
Our
new
birth
and
glorious
hope
are not
based on
our
performance.
It is
based on
the
performance
of the
imperishable
one,
the one
who died
but rose
again
and lives
forever
and reigns
forever.
The
Christian's
ultimate
glory
is
assured
because
he
emptied
himself
of his
glory.
So it's
all his
work.
So what
are we
called to
do then
in order
to build
this hope?
If you're
a Christian,
what do
you do?
It says
there that
the angels
never get
tired of
looking at
what Jesus
has done
for us.
In fact,
the word
there
means,
the word
too long
there means
to lust
for something.
The angels
are lusting
after the
work of
Jesus.
That is,
there's nothing
greater for
an angel
to do
than to
look at
and ponder
more and
desire more
what Jesus
Christ has
done for
humanity
in salvation.
I find
that astounding
because it's
a present
lusting.
What I find
astounding
about that
is that
how long
have angels
been around
for?
people,
I'm
assuming
they're
around
for a
long
time,
like a
lot longer
than a
human
being,
you know,
for millennia.
and it
says here
that their
hearts
never grow
weary
of the
gospel.
Searching
it out,
its
implications,
seeing
connections,
never grow
weary of
it.
And that
is how we
heal our
hearts
of the
despair
that we
have.
keep
looking at
the
gospel
and his
living
hope
will
grow
in our
hearts
and it
will
change
us
more
and more
into the
likeness
and the
priorities
of Jesus
Christ.
Never
get tired
of the
gospel.
Lust
after the
gospel.
Now,
I'm also
mindful that
not everyone
here is a
Christian,
tuning in
either building
or tuning
in online.
Very
mindful of
that and
you are
very welcome.
We
love to
have you
here,
that you
might
discover
something
of this
living
hope.
And I've
realised that
I've covered
a huge
topic in
a very
short
time.
I've
got a
few more
weeks to
go.
And I've
made
statements
and claims
that I
haven't
unpacked
that are
very worthy
of being
unpacked
more and
more.
I'm aware
that on
any given
Sunday,
we are
all at
different
stages of
this journey
of understanding
the gospel
of Jesus
Christ.
And so
maybe I've
made some
assumptions
today that
are not
your
assumptions.
And I
would love
to invite
you to
explore that
more with
us.
Have the
conversations
about that.
At the end
of this
month,
we are
starting a
seven-part
course called
Alpha that
explores the
big questions
of life
and the
Christian
faith.
It's a
relaxed,
it's a
safe place
to explore
deeper,
and I
want to
just invite
you to
be part
of it.
Get your
phone and
get to
the QR
code and
be part
of that,
to explore
with us
what this
new birth
is,
what this
imperishable
hope in
Jesus
Christ is.
But maybe
you've already
taken the
steps of
exploring it,
but today
it's pressing
in on you.
Pressing in
on you.
God is,
by his
spirit,
pressing on
you to
take that
next step.
Take the
next step of
coming to
Jesus and
receiving new
birth today.
If that's
you,
I'd be
delighted to
have a
conversation
with you
afterwards.