You Must Be Born Again!

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 

John 3:3 (NIV)

By Alexandra Copeland

In John 3, we find a conversation taking place between Jesus Christ, our Lord and Great Redeemer, and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus was not an ignorant man, but one of Jewish breeding and education. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, someone of authority in Jerusalem. Nicodemus sought a meeting with Jesus Christ during the night hours, and many believe it was because he wanted this meeting to be on the down-low, as the principles of the Pharisees were vehemently opposed to the ways and message of Christ. These were two very busy men, Jesus Christ occupied with the affairs of our Heavenly Father, and Nicodemus occupied with the affairs of men; trying to do what he could amidst the corruption of the day. So it could be that a night time meeting was looked upon by Nicodemus as the most convenient. It was an opportunity to converse with Jesus Christ with the least amount of disturbance and the greatest amount of leisure.  

No doubt Nicodemus had seen and heard about the extraordinary miracles at the hand of Jesus. The manner in which Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God was unlike anything anyone during that time had ever heard.  So we can imagine that Nicodemus was chopping at the bits for an audience with the Master. In John 3:2(NIV), Nicodemus referred to Christ as “Rabbi”, a great teacher. He then said, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Right off the bat, Nicodemus sets parameters. He knew that Christ was a great teacher, but beyond that point he had not, nor could he have without Christ, been prepared to go.

This really does remind us of so many that know of Jesus Christ by the popularity of his name and works, but choose to stand only on the periphery of what he made available to each of us personally. Jesus understood the mindset of Nicodemus, and cut right down to the chase. He said in John 3:3 (NIV), “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Hearing this for the very first time must have been a shock to Nicodemus’s system. Circuits required to process such a thought had never come together in his brain; the wiring had never crossed. 

There was no previous precedent for the words that Christ was speaking—nothing within the realm of natural flesh that would support the concept of being born twice. Nicodemus possessed a mind accustomed to reasoning with limited knowledge and intellect. He could not stretch in this moment to grapple with Kingdom precepts, but demonstrated for Christ that he was at least open to be taught. A crack in the darkness of error and wrong teaching had formed.

Nicodemus knew the mechanics of natural birth, and reasoned that it was not possible for an adult to re-enter a mother’s womb. Today, so many water down the Word of God to suit their own agendas. One such person might wonder why, after hearing Nicodemus, Jesus Christ would not acquiesce. Why did he not lower his explanation to a level of reasoning upon which Nicodemus might slowly catch on? He did not do this because our Lord and Savior knew that each of us possessing a sound mind has the capacity to hear, digest, and abide in the truth of God’s Word if we so desire to do so. We limit ourselves, because we refuse to rise up in our believing, but we are entirely capable of taking in the words of Christ to such magnitudes that we can be utterly and completely transformed by them.

John 3:5 (NIV):
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

There was no compromise, no spoon feeding, no games. A supernatural regeneration is absolutely required to enter the Kingdom of God, and Jesus Christ spoke these words of enormous spiritual capacity very plainly. Although it seemed a lot for Nicodemus to take in, somewhere in his psyche, he knew that this meeting with Christ would be beyond any other he had ever experienced. Hearing the words of Christ cemented for him that something new and exciting had entered the earth’s realm, and nothing would ever be the same.

We needed a new nature, born from that which is Spirit, and not flesh. This is the cure for all souls, more than a cure; so much more.  

In verse 8, Jesus Christ said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” You and I cannot control the wind, and we cannot control the Spirit. We cannot limit him, nor can we detract from his awesome power. He is married to our human spirits through the new birth reality, and through him we are made brand new! We are aided in our relationship with God through Christ!  

John 3:16-17(NIV):
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus Christ came to give us life, to save us from eternal death; the wages of sin and darkness. It pleased God to send His only begotten son to purchase back the lives of His adopted kids from the depths of hell. In those days, arrogance was so pronounced that it was believed that God would only send a Savior for a chosen few. They thought this savior would further their cause to be puffed up as intellectual giants, wealthy tycoons, and conceited zealots; but instead, he came to save the entire world. Not to condemn it, but to save it. This is the gospel of the new birth. Not only can we embrace it through our own salvation, and wear it like a second, more resilient skin, but we can share it with those in our day and time. They desperately need to know that they, too, can be born again, and start anew in Christ!■

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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