Born Again

In reply [to Nicodemus] Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3, NIV 1984).

My Musings – And there it is. The term the world loves to ridicule. “Born again.” But this is not some term coined by evangelicals. It is a declaration from the Son of God. “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:5–6, NIV 1984).

God’s Kingdom is a spiritual Kingdom. Because of the fall, flesh and blood can no longer inherit it. It requires spiritual renewal, being born of the Spirit. “Born again.” But it is not just a spiritual Kingdom. It is an eternal Kingdom that brings with it eternal life.

“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16–18, NIV 1984).

My Musings – The answer to the age-old question, “who knows if the spirit of man rises upward?” (Ecclesiastes 3:20–21, NIV 1984). Not to those who stand “condemned already.” Those born of the flesh only, to “perish.” So, why not be born of the Spirit in order to “have eternal life?” Why indeed. But only if we are saved “through Him.”