You Must Be Born Again

In the 3rd chapter of John, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and says to Him what many would say today; "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him." Jesus answers Nicodemus by saying; "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus asks the obvious question; "How can a man be born when he is old?" To which Jesus replies; "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Nicodemus, recognizing that Jesus was sent from God, wanted to gain understanding in his mind (soul) as to what the will of God was. Jesus tells him that the will of God is to be "born again". He goes on to say that one must be born of "water", which I think is referring to both physical birth and to the baptism of repentance happening with John the Baptist at that time, and "the Spirit", which I believe is talking about the regeneration, or rebirth, of the dead human spirit through the action of the Holy Spirit. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Jesus then gives Nicodemus an example from scripture that will also apply to Jesus. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him 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 eternal life." In the 21st chapter of Numbers the Jewish people complain against God and Moses that they were brought out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness, to which the Lord responds by sending fiery serpents among the people. Many were bit and many died. The people then go to Moses, repent, and ask Moses to intercede for them. The Lord instructs Moses to make a fiery serpent in bronze and set it on a standard, and then if anyone is bitten they should look at the standard and they would live. Jesus uses this as an example. He too would be lifted up on a standard, detestable like the firery serpents, because the sin of mankind would be put upon Him on that cross, and the result would be that all who look upon Him (in faith) would live.

Jesus was without sin, but sin was put upon Him on the Cross. He suffered, bled, and died as the perfect, God proscribed sacrifice. And God raised Him from the dead. Here we find that there is again something new in creation. Jesus, who always was, who had a human body, soul and spirit, paid the cost that God demanded. This means that the human spirit of Christ that went to the cross, brought to us by the Holy Spirit, can now unite with our dead spirit, and we can become "born again". The exciting thing here is not only are our sins forgiven, not only will the sin of Adam be canceled, but we can have an alive spirit where Christ will dwell. And the Holy Spirit, who reveals to us that Jesus is God, who brings the spirit of Christ to unite with our spirts so that we become a new creation, will also live in our reborn hearts as well. This allows for fellowship with God, but more than that, we now are part of God’s family, truly brothers and sisters with Christ.