Title: I Must Be Born Again
Contents
John 3:1-8
must be born again
Nicodemus came to Jesus. The Bible identifies him as a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He expresses his thoughts about Jesus as a teacher who came from God. Then Jesus did not commend him by saying, 'You are a person who recognizes people,' but he says, 'A man must be born again to see the kingdom of God.' Where did you come to find Jesus? What's more, doesn't it say that Jesus came from God? But Jesus said that even though you are a ruler of the Jews and a Pharisee, you must be born again. Nicodemus was puzzled when Jesus told him that he had to be born again. ‘How can a person fly when he is old?’
Who can see the kingdom of God? He is a born-again person. The nations of this world become members of this worldly family by natural birth. However, only those who are born again can see the kingdom of God. In other words, seeing the kingdom of God means becoming a child of God and becoming a Christian through supernatural rebirth. This puts you in a new relationship with God.
To see the kingdom of God means to have the life of the kingdom of God. Those who have eternal life see the kingdom of God. How do you get this life? It is obtained only by being born again.
Now standing before Jesus, Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a member of the Sanhedrin. In short, he is a great person. But nonetheless. He cannot see the kingdom of God with his skills. You cannot get life on your own. Why? Because they belong to the earth. It is only born of the flesh. Romans 5:12 says that death entered into sin, and that death reached all men. Sin has consequences. Death. It is physical death and spiritual death. It's not just a little broken, it's completely dead. Therefore, the reason the world cannot see the kingdom of God is because there is no life. There is no hope unless you are born again. The kingdom of God is a place where you must be born again to enter. Not by good law or by education, knowledge, or good deeds. No matter how much one cultivates and realizes the Way in human nature, there is no life there.
Life does not arise on its own. It is possible when given from life. This does not mean that humans do not need to strive to be good or that they do not need education. This has nothing to do with life. After all, what human beings need is more than simply trying to be new and fixing their past lives, there is something to be done, and that is to be reborn. It is to have a life that is given from above.
What Nicodemus did not know was that Jesus did not come to show signs, but to give life. He did not come to be praised or exalted. He came to give life, and the way is to die. Jesus came to die. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Jesus came to die on a high cross. Therefore, just as everyone who looks at the high bronze serpent has life, so those who believe and receive Jesus will have life. Jesus' death and resurrection are the beginning of a new life for those who died in sin. Until now, if sins were forgiven through the shedding of animal blood in the temple, Jesus Himself became the temple and replaced the function of the temple. He shed blood as a lamb and became a true mediator between God and man as a high priest.
The forgiveness of sins was achieved through the suffering and gruesome death of the only begotten Son sent by God. So whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Being born again is possible not through our own abilities and good works, but through the life that Christ gives us. God has regenerated us and gave us a living hope by raising Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3). Those who are born again see the kingdom of God. The sign is change. Life toward the world is about raising your face toward God, obeying, and moving forward toward maturity. I hope you will have this kind of rebirth.