John
3:7-15
Jesus
said to Nicodemus: “‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it
wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes
from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him, ‘How can this happen?” Jesus answered and
said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we
have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about
earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about
heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down
from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in
him may have eternal life.”
Food
for thought!
As
we said yesterday, Nicodemus was one of the most powerful and influential men
in all of Israel during his time. Nicodemus is a wealthy, powerful. Yet, he is
a man with an itch that neither he, nor his money, nor his power can scratch.
During the course of the learning, Jesus refers to Nicodemus as “Teacher of
Israel”. This tells us that Nicodemus was an educated man, but despite his
learning, there were some things this man did not know. But, one night, this
rch, powerful, educated man found himself alone in the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What Nicodemus learned that night would prove to be the greatest
lessons of his life!
Let
us consider what Nicodemus learnt that night. We all know that human birth is a
marvel that no one can fully explain! When Jesus talks of a
"new" birth, he is indirectly talking of the first birth, the
physical birth, as a necessary condition for the spiritual birth. He is
telling us that for a man to get to heaven he must have two birthdays. There
must be a day when he was born into the kingdom of men and a day when he is
born into the kingdom of God! There are a few ways that physical birth can be
used to illustrate spiritual birth.
1.
Physical birth provides life – All babies have life because they are
born! Likewise, spiritual birth provides a person with spiritual life, 1 John
5:12.
2.
Physical birth only happens once – Physically speaking, you can only be
born once. Spiritually, the same thing is true! Your spiritual birth is a
one time event. It cannot be undone and it cannot be repeated!
3.
Physical birth takes place because of the suffering on another – A mother
enters the very jaws of death to bring life into this world. Jesus entered the
cruel jaws of death so that we might be born again. The new birth rests
squarely upon the pain and suffering of another!
4.
Physical birth gives the infant a brand new start – No baby is born with
a past! Babies have no past, only a future! So it is with the new birth.
When you get born again, you get a brand new start. Your past is deleted,
wiped away and a new, clean future lies in front of you! It is like you get a
brand new slate on which nothing is written. This is the invitation Jesus is
making to you and me as he made it to Nicodemus. Start anew; live the old ways;
the old habits; the old friends; the old places; the old life; the old
mentality.
(More
on this tomorrow)
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