Born Again

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, 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. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”          (John 3:3-8)

Baffled by Jesus’ words, Nicodemus shows the weakness of his knowledge. What Christ was speaking of spiritually, Nicodemus understood only in a fleshly manner. Jesus responds with this warning:
“I tell you the truth, 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.”

Nicodemus didn’t get it. Corrupted flesh will only give birth to corrupted flesh, no matter how many times fleshly birth takes place. Indeed, corruption is bred in us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
Christ reiterates to Nicodemus the necessity of regeneration for one to enter the kingdom of God. To be born again is to be born from above, not through our own wisdom or power, but by the Spirit. King David tells us we are born sinners:

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:5-7)

Considering the holiness of God and the depravity of man we must not think the necessity of the demand strange–regeneration is paramount. It is an indispensable necessity.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7)

Take It to Heart
Jesus holds out to all of us the right to become a child of the King. Have you ever wanted to be a princess? Ever wanted to be a prince? Now is your chance! It is not just enough for us to behold and admire Christ’s miracles or to give verbal assent to His mission, we must experience a change within us which, as Jesus says, is the equivalent to a new birth. Birth is the beginning of a new life–to be born again is to begin anew. And to be born from above is to begin anew through the power of the Holy Spirit who equips us live this new life. Otherwise, we would begin anew in our own flesh–striving against the wind–only to fail again. Flesh begets flesh, but the Spirit, hallelujah, begets the spirit.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice. (1 Peter 1:3-6)

Children of God

 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who

received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:10-13)

Fully God and fully man condescending to silently grace the world with His presence, the Creator paid a visit to His creation. Taking our nature upon Himself, Jesus humbly dwelt among us. The fullness of the Godhead in bodily form left a throne room and place of glory and bliss to enter into the misery, melancholy, and mayhem of this world brought on by the poor choice of sin–a world where darkness reigns and where Satan waves his withered hand promising all, yet delivering none. For a time, Jesus surrendered His right of deity to manifest Himself visibly to a fallen world.

Indeed the light came to shine in the darkness. Yet we are told in our verse for today that “the world did not recognize him.” The world and everything in it that He had created! In fact, this world rejected Him. Isaiah prophesied this rejection of Jesus in the book which bears his name:

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3-4)

And yet, Jesus counters graciously with a loving “all.” “All” is such an inclusive word, is it not? “All” who would receive Jesus; “all” who would believe in Him; “all” who would come to Him. Indeed “all” who would put their faith in Him would become children of the Great I AM! 

What an unspeakable privilege that we, mere flesh and blood, mere dust of the ground, can become children of the King! How lavishly He has loved us! Oh! What great love is this!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)

Take It to Heart

“To those who believed in his name” is far deeper than simply knowing what Jesus is called. The word translated “name” is from the Greek word onoma meaning “title, reputation, fame; implying authority, dignity, used to indicate the character described by the name or identification with the person bearing the name” (Hebrew Greek Key Words Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids).

Simply put, believers bearing His name are to bear His character. Just as we bear resemblance to our earthly families, we, as children of God, are to bear resemblance to our heavenly Father. Paul gives us a glimmer of what this should look like in his letter to the Colossians:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.(Colossians 3:5-14)

Embracing the Light

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)

Life effervescent; life overflowing; the vital principle animating–enlivening, inspiring, encouraging, giving forth ardor–burning passion, enthusiasm and zeal–all found within our Jesus–all held out to those who choose to follow after Him. Not too dissimilar to King David’s plea in Psalm 34, we find in verse four of our verses for today the Apostle John dangling this carrot before our eyes in his great desire for us to trust in Jesus, the Lover of our souls–both for God’s glory and for our good. King David encourages us as follows:

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.       (Psalm 34:8)

Those who belong to Jesus are offered this abundant life and are given His light within to shine forth in the darkness to a lost and needy world. Jesus transforms us from the inside out, little by little, until we “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life”          (Philippians 2:15-16).

Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6) and “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

The false shepherd, the deceiver of men, the thief and killer of souls comes only to utterly destroy, decimate, demolish, and ravage. Conversely, Jesus comes to give us life and to satisfy us with His pleasing and perfect will. It is a lie from the pit of hell that Jesus is holding out on us; that He wants to make us miserable and squirm and suffer needlessly; that His way for us is somehow boring, unfulfilling, and unsatisfying compared to that to which the world entices us with our eyes.

Have you ever followed the world, or self, or even Satan, and seen the death that comes forth from that pursuit? The death of a relationship, the death of trust, the death of character, the death of love–and on and on it goes. If we would only play out our poor choices and actions to the end result and the consequences, I doubt seriously very many of us would continue down that path.

“We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences. If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.” (John Newton)

Defeated Christians are rampant. Defeated Christians do not shed much light. Satan high fives defeated Christians who are called to be the light of the world–a city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14)–yet remain faintly flickering. I love the quote given to D. L. Moody by Henry Varley: “The world has yet to see what God can do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him.”


Take It to Heart

A fully devoted follower of Jesus will shed much light for their King. Paul gives us insightful help in Romans regarding the “how-to” of defending ourselves against Satan’s attacks and against conforming ourselves to this world allowing our lights to shine forth.

The secret lies in the daily renewing of our minds through the Word of God:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

Each one of us is to be a light for Jesus–shining His light to those who are in darkness. As Billy Graham once said, “The Christian should stand out like a sparkling diamond.”

Jesus Is God!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1-2)

Honestly, do you think John could be any clearer? Jesus was in the beginning! He was with God; He was (is) God; He was with God in the beginning. 

In a battle for truth to be known in the hearts and minds of his readers, John starts the onset of his gospel by stating clearly the deity of Jesus Christ. Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who begin their books by focusing on Jesus as a man through birth and his baptism, John begins his unique gospel with a discussion of the eternal existence of Jesus. John’s goal, stated in John 20:30-31, is to clearly present the signs and wonders performed by Jesus in order that those reading it would believe that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus, “the Word”

John begins by referring to Jesus as “the Word.” The Jews used this term to refer to God–they taught the 

'Word of God” was the same with God. Interestingly, the Greeks used the term “Logos”–translated here “Word”–in reference to the governing power behind all things. John commences by stating Jesus’ existence in the beginning–Jesus existed not only before His incarnation but before all time. He was, and is, and is to come.

Indeed, Jesus tells us the same thing about himself in these verses from Revelation:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13)

Jesus, “the I AM”

The Word was with God not from God–He was as ever with God. Jesus also gives us information in scripture confirming His eternal existence:

“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 8:57-59)

“I AM” was the title of deity to the Jewish people. The Jews knew very well that in stating this Jesus was equating Himself with God, hence their desire to stone Him. “I AM” was also the name God used to identify Himself to Moses in Exodus:

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:13-14)

In quoting King David from Psalm 110, Jesus plainly tells the Pharisees in Matthew:

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.'”

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41-46)

Take It to Heart

Is it not amazing that the great “I AM”, the One “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” would choose to remove His cloak of glory to don the mere flesh of humanity–humbling Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross–in order to provide a way for us to be reconciled to God? What great love is this? If He went to such lengths of love to save us, how much more to keep us in this great love?

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

Bread of Life

Bible Reference : (John 6:32-35)

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:32-35)

“The hand of God being my chief provision and storehouse, is it not a shame to be anxiously careful for anything? Has the Lord all things in his hand? Then surely I shall receive what he has for me; none will be able to withhold it. Faith has always a free access to the treasures of God, who is never wanting. Christians have their chests and treasures in such a high place, even in God, that no thief can rob them, and they are sure to have enough in God; and though the Lord should try them with want a little while, yet he relieves them in due time: their bread must rain from heaven, rather than they should be left without. If this does not comfort and strengthen us, nothing else will.” -K.H. Von Bogatzky

Similar to the Samaritan woman at the well respectfully asking Jesus for water (John 4:15), these Jewish followers of our Savior respectfully request of Him bread–albeit both were desirous of the commodities alone, missing the mark of the teaching sought which was Christ alone. Is that not human nature illuminated for us to see? While it is never wrong to pray for our needs, how much of our prayer life is often consumed with asking for meeting the physical in lieu of the spiritual–not taking into account that our bodies could better fare without food than our souls without Christ. Most often our priorities are askew because our focus is not fixed. We choose to dwell on the temporal rather than the eternal.

Oh that we would have the greater desire of King David to seek God’s face prior to seeking His hand. Psalm 27 gives us David’s earnest petition to the Lord:

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

To dwell in the Lord’s presence is to dwell in security. In Psalm 91 we read:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:1-4)

What we are seeking is satisfaction. Is there a better state of being? The definition itself leads us to longing: “to put an end to an appetite or want; to meet the expectations or desires of; to satisfy desires and to gratify feelings” (Oxford Dictionary). Let’s face it, who does not desire sustained satisfaction? Unfortunately, we all too often look for it in all the wrong places–roaming from here to there, jumping from bigger to better, seeking, striving, sweating, only to be found wanting.

While provision of our earthly needs provided by the Father is profitable, it pales in comparison to the provision sent for our spiritual needs. Just as God rained down the manna from heaven sending it forth to temporarily fill the stomachs of the wanderers, He sent forth His Son–the true Bread of God–to save all who would believe–permanently.

“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more; Feed me till I want no more.” -William Williams, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

Take It to Heart

Jesus responds to His hearers in our verses for today by giving them the first of many “I AM” statements presented in John. “I AM” was the way God described Himself to Moses. Jewish hearers would have known when Jesus used those same words regarding Himself He was equating Himself with God. He is our satisfaction in all things.

“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35) Jesus is our sustenance, our sufficiency.

“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) Jesus is our guidance, our direction.

“I am the gate for the sheep.” (John 10:7) Jesus is our access to the Father.

“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) Jesus is our caring protector, our total safety.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Jesus is our surety.

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus is our eternal counselor.

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1) Jesus is our source of strength, our power.