Rebirth
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God makes all things new. This concept is one that we have heard before, but never really studied in depth. Jesus tells us that He will come to make all things new at the end of earth’s time. There will be a new Kingdom and a new Earth. I have also told you the truth of the Kingdom of God being already and not yet. It is already with us, and is yet to come for the whole world. Today, we are going to dive into the notion that we are to be born anew. We are to be made new. As Paul states, the renewing of our minds. This is an important concept that we need to understand.
As we begin the new year, I want us to think of our health in a new way. We have read the verse before that I have just mentioned, they are from Romans and Revelations. We may have read the verses, but do we understand the implications for us today? I will tell you that our lives change when we are born again. To true understand this, we are going to put ourselves in the mind of Nicodemus as we read the first part of John chapter 3.
Pray and Read John 3:1-21
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, 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 said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. A Pharisee is the more conservative side of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were the ruling Jewish authority. They were all under the authority of the Roman empire, yet the Sanhedrin were aloud to rule over the Jewish people with the law of Moses as it also appeased the Roman Emperor. The Pharisee were more concerned with the law being obeyed and were typically common people who wanted to restore their way of live to the time of King David. They knew the prophecies and studied them intently. The Sadducees, on the other hand were typically more wealthy, wanted to seek peace with the Roman authorities, and were more progressive in ideals and actions.
Jesus was neither! Jesus came to change the strict adherence to the Hebrew laws, not to change the laws of God, but the oppressive ways the laws were placed on the people without grace and mercy. Jesus also did not see the progressive ways of the time as a good thing, because the pagan ways of the Romans were totally against the ways of God. It almost seems like a slippery slope. We could debate what all this means and then we would be here for hours! As a matter of fact, that is what the main actions of the Sanhedrin Council, they constantly debated each other. Politics have never been a good thing.
So here was Nicodemus, he knew the law and he knew the prophecies. He did not understand who Jesus was although he had seen Him perform many signs and wonders that proved He was from God and gifted by God. Could Jesus be the Messiah? Nicodemus wanted to find out for himself. So, after the Council was done meeting for the day and in the cover of night, Nicodemus goes to see Jesus to talk with Him and figure out what was going on.
Jesus doesn’t just try to explain Himself, telling Nicodemus where he is wrong and where he is right. Instead, Jesus teaches Nicodemus so important truth that he needs to do. Why? Because in order for Nicodemus to understand the ways of Jesus, he would have to be transformed in mind and spirit. To understand who Jesus is, we have to have a renewing of our mind and a rebirth of our spirit. The human ways of understanding do not work when understanding the ways of our eternal God and His Holy Spirit.
We all know John 3:16, but do we know John 3:17? Jesus came, the begotten Son of God, God in flesh came so that we can have a new eternal spiritual life. Through Christ, we are saved from the failure of this world. God’s laws take on a whole new meaning. Those laws are not just something that we must follow or die. The laws of God are something that we understand we have a need to obey. They become our boundaries for a better way of life.
So the Pharisees are wrong in there push for humans to obey the laws or face their wrath. The Sadducees are wrong in their philosophical search to make everyone comfortable in their world. Jesus says, I tell you the truth. You may know the laws, you may love everyone but you cannot truly understand how both work together unless you are renewed in Me.” When we pray, we close out our prayers with one word, Amen. That is a Greek word that means “truly.” When you see the word truly in your Bibles, particularly the New Testament, you are seeing the Greek Translation of Amen. Multiple times in this passage, Jesus says “Amen.” How many times do you count them?
Do we live as Pharisees, relying on God’s laws to govern our lives and get upset when others don’t do the same, yet not thinking with compassion of Holy Love that only God can give? Do we live as Sadducees and allow the feelings and thoughts of others govern how we respond and understand our world without thinking with the mind of Christ and eternal attachment to the ways of God? Do we have our hearts and minds set on this world today. Or do we consider the Kingdom that is to come and already within those of us who have given our lives over to Christ? Have we truly given our minds, our hearts, our spirit to Christ? Do we truly want to give up our way of life for His? Christ transforms, we are transcendence when we become His. If we are all in, every thought and action are captivated by God. This becomes our lifelong commitment to give over everything to God. That should be our first prayer, every morning and every evening before we fall asleep. Say, “Jesus You are my all in all. I am all yours. May You bring the order to my day. May You be in all that I say and do. AMEN (Truly)” Try that this way. Make this your prayer and see how your day goes. May God be with you in everything. In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.