YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Jesus, the fullness of God, came to Mount Zion (Jerusalem) and the Light of His glory shown in its darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. The people were intrigued by the signs Jesus performed and were attracted to Him because He could do such things, but sadly the Light of His glory they could not see. They marveled over His miracles but missed the central Miracle, the Man Jesus Himself. Motivated by the benefits of the miraculous signs He performed they even professed to belief in His name while their hearts were far from Him. “But Jesus did not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.” (John 2:24) Nicodemus enters the scene as exhibit A for what that means.

Probing out of the darkness of his own spiritual night, Nicodemus sought Jesus out to examine more closely this inexplicable phenomenon. Curious because of what the visible physical signs were saying about Jesus, he became easily confused by what he heard Jesus Himself say. Caught off guard by Jesus’ unexpected response to his claim of “we know” (John 3:2), Nicodemus found his agenda eclipsed by a priority issue he didn’t understand.

With what seemed like a rude riddle that changed the subject, Jesus takes direct aim at the real problem behind what Nicodemus wanted to talk about. In essence Jesus tells Nicodemus that without being born again he would not be able to comprehend anything that Jesus might tell him about Himself and the Kingdom of God. Not understanding its relevance Nicodemus responds in ignorance, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4) Although he claimed “we know,” he was “ever hearing, but never understanding; ever seeing, but never perceiving.” (Isaiah 6:9)

Jesus said, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” That was spoken to Nicodemus, but it is also to you and me. We must leave behind what we claim “we know,” or think we know, or we will never see the Kingdom of God that’s right before our eyes. Jesus knew that for Nicodemus that meant nothing short of a new birth. As a Pharisee and member of the ruling council, he would have to walk away from a lifetime of dedicated religious study and his status as a recognized authority in matters religious. For him to surrender his life to Jesus and receive Him as his Lord would require a major paradigm shift not unlike being born all over again and starting at square one. Only an act of the will of God could make such a birth happen. Flesh gives birth to flesh, the Spirit gives birth to the spirit. We have a great example of this very thing happening in Saul of Tarsus.

Paul was Hebrew of Hebrews and a Pharisee steeped in the knowledge and traditions of the Fathers far beyond his peers. (Philippians 3:3-6) After he was born again he wrote, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know (only) Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)

Paul also wrote that what we know outside of Christ counts for nothing. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” (I Corinthians 8:1-3) Then he added, “knowledge will pass away for we know in part…Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (13:8-9, 12) He reminded the Corinthians that when he first came to them he had resolved to know nothing while with them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (2:2) This is all we need to know.

Like Nicodemus though, we too are curious from an intellectual perspective about Jesus. We get hung up on theology and doctrine; who has the truth and who doesn’t. We probe out of our darkness seeking answers from various sources. We run to and fro, traveling many miles and going to great lengths and expense in our search. We spend hours probing the scriptures to learn all about this Jesus who came to us. We turn out in large numbers to entertaining and enjoyable events of brotherhood or sisterhood that are done in His name. Churches are packed with people busy doing things. Our calendars are filled with age, gender, and interests specific events that improve us, entertain us, educate us, keep us fit, and help us celebrate each event in Jesus’ historic life. This is our religious life, of which we are proud, and for which we have created elaborate and expensive facilities and systems to help us do all these things.

But have we ignored God’s words to Peter? Have we not built these systems and edifices as memorials on some “Mount of Transfiguration” where once Jesus’ glory blazed? Now we make regular pilgrimages of remembrance to these sites but the radiance of Jesus glory we do not see, nor do we listen only to Him? He is not at some special retreat place on a mountain, out in the desert, or in an inner room. (Matthew 24:26) He does not need the props and places and special effects. He is near to us. And those who have eyes to see or ears to hear know Him.

Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” demand of us, as they did of him, that we leave the safe and warm womb of what “we know” (or think we know) and “take His yoke upon (ourselves) and learn from Him.”(Matthew 11:29) We must take our eyes off anything else looking only to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. We must take up our cross and follow only Him. John, in his first Epistle said, “His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (I John 2:27)

When we receive the water baptism of repentance, the umbilical cord of the self is cut and a new creature in Christ Jesus is born. Once we are set free and experience this new birth, our spirits are nourished by His Spirit. Christ’s body and blood, which is food indeed, nourishes us unto eternal life. Each day we pray for and receive our daily bread, which is the manna from heaven, every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. When we are born of the Spirit our first breath is drawn as God breaths the wind of His Holy Spirit into our spiritual lungs. Then we experience the Heartbeat of our Lord as we begin to live the abundant and eternal life that is in Him. Then we see Jesus, truly see Him for the first time, in all His glory and Holiness. Then, in Him, we know the joy and wonder of living in His Kingdom. Praise His Holy Name!