John 3:3
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Born again? Have you ever stopped to consider what Jesus meant behind this phrase? There isn’t one person on this earth who remembers the day they were born. We might have heard stories about dad passing out or even heaven forbid you have seen a video of it but no one remembers the day they were born. If we don’t know much about our first birth because we weren’t aware of what was happening how can we possibly know anything about being born again? Well, this is kind of what the setting is like in John 3 when Jesus is speaking with a religious leader name Nicodemus. What we find in this passage is Jesus description of the person who has eternal life and how it is received.
Nicodemus is the classic example of a religious person who has in every way attempted to earn favor with God as we know with his background of being a Pharisee. He realizes Jesus is from God because of the miraculous wonders he sees but something is still missing in the equation with Nicodemus. I think many people today have a false assurance in their standing with God because honestly their religious background looks great with church attendance, choir performances, and a host of other busy church activities. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was very knowledgeable about the Old Testament and went to great lengths to obey the law as any religious leader would do. We quickly see how Jesus cuts right to the “heart” of the issue in John3:3. For Jesus it wasn’t enough for a person to believe in wonders coming from the kingdom of heaven but it was imperative that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Nicodemus’s response makes it very clear that Jesus has just spoken something that sounds entirely foreign to him. He says, “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” It is easy for me to look back now as a follower of Christ and think Nicodemus is kind of silly but in all seriousness his response to Jesus seems fairly intelligent. What person wouldn’t think it is absurd if someone said, “you know what I understand you are born because I am talking to you but if you want to be in the kingdom of God then you need to be born again.” Honestly you begin a physical assessment of the situation and wonder how in the world an adult size body is going to fit back in his mother’s womb. Seems crazy at first glance but we soon find out who is able to receive and make sense of this message.
Just knowing about the truth of the gospel and truly understanding and believing are completely different. Understanding what it means to be “born again” has absolutely nothing to do with how smart or intellectual you are. In fairness to Nicodemus he was probably significantly smarter and wiser from a worldly perspective than I ever will be but once again something is missing in his life. Jesus very plainly tells us, “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” In I Corinthians 2:14 Paul says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Jesus proceeds to tell Nicodemus essentially that the Holy Spirit is sovereign and does what he pleases in bringing about life from death and renewing a wicked man’s heart. Still Nicodemus seems to still not get it because he asks Jesus “how can this be”. Intellectually, Nicodemus seems to have it all together. He continues to miss what Jesus is saying because without the Spirit’s regenerating effect and the quickening of his heart to receive the gospel message that Jesus is laying out then the gospel message is foolishness to him. Jesus proceeds to tell him the only way a person will enter heaven is through the Son of God who will die and all who believe in Him will have eternal life.
Consider this scenario for a second…you are in a room with fifty people listening to a pastor preach and none of you are followers of Christ. You all arrive at the same time and listen to the same full length sermon as the other 49 people. There is an invitation at the end of the sermon for all to talk with a pastor to know more about what it means to follow Christ. Only one person, you, hear the message and go forward to speak with the pastor. Why is it that 49 people remain seated and you go forward in act of faith and repent of your sin? Was it because you are smarter and intellectually able to understand or perhaps you are not as hardened of a sinner as those around you. Neither of these is what Jesus explains. He tells us the “flesh gives birth to flesh” and “the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Ask yourself how did you come to believe, how did you come to repent, how did you come to pray, and how did you enter into spiritual life? Jesus says again in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing” and then goes on to say “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” The Spirit is responsible for the saving work in any man who would come to Christ.
Why born again? The answer is clear. There is something so messed up about our first birth that to enter into the kingdom of heaven we must have new life, new spiritual life. Have you been born again?
