If you are a Christian, certainly you believe that God is your Creator. For you to determine what your life will become, you need to ask yourself the following questions;
- Where did I come from?
- Who am I?
- Where am I going?
Human beings, in the course of attempting to make meaning of life have come up with many methods and ways trying to answer and solve their problems. However, the Bible gives us the answer to all our life questions. It answers the three questions comprehensively.
John 3:3-21
- Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again. Nicodemus then asks how someone can be born again when they are old. Jesus explains that being born again is a spiritual rebirth- through water and the Spirit, not a physical birth. Jesus emphasizes that the Spirit gives new life, and this transformation is essential to enter God’s Kingdom. He compares the Spirit’s work to the wind- unseen but powerful and life-changing.
- Jesus also explains God’s plan for salvation, pointing to Himself as the one who must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. He highlights God’s love for the world, shown through the gift of His Son, and stresses that believing in darkness, but those who believe step into the light, where their transformed lives reflect God’s truth.
Reflection on “You must be born again” – John3:7
being born again is not about religion or good deeds but about a personal transformation through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual awakening that leads to a renewed relationship with God and the promise of eternal life.
- The Necessity of the New Birth
- God created us to know Him and love Him and have fellowship with Him.
- Since man was made in the image of God, nothing will satisfy man but God.
- Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived as recorded in the Bile confirms this; nothing can satisfy a human being but the Lord’s love
- Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, 1:2, Romans 3:23, 5:12.
- The Bible teaches that all people are born with a sinful nature and since God is holy, then a sinful man cannot fellowship with a holy God.
- God’s holiness is a central theme in the Bible. It refers to God’s absolute moral purity. God is entirely pure and cannot tolerate sin.
- 1 Samuel 2:2, Exodus 15:11, Revelation 4:8, 1 Peter 1:1516
- John 3:16, 1 John 4:10, 1Corinthians 2:14
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- The Nature of the New Birth.
- John 3:69
- The new birth brings new life into a person. While Nicodemus was alive physically, he was spiritually dead. There was no spiritual life in Nicodemus. Spiritually, he was unborn. What happens in the new birth is that life comes into being that was not there before. For one to connect to God in order to enjoy the fellowship with Him, one must have this life. One must be born again!
Wrong views of being born again.
- Church membership.
- Some people wrongly believe that you are born again because you belong to a certain religious group.
- Nicodemus was a very religious person; He was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a teacher of Israel John 3:1, 10. The Pharisees was one of the most influential religious groups and the largest during the time of Jesus. The other groups were Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots.
What did Pharisees believe?
- They believed in the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife.
- They believed like all Jews that God created the world, chose Israel as his chosen people, and rewarded and punished them according to his law.
- They also felt that the Law of Moses contained ambiguities which they strove to fix by developing rules and regulations for every possible human action in order to adhere to the will of God.
What did Jesus say about Pharisees?
- Jesus at various times called Pharisees a brood of vipers, compared them to Satan and called them hypocrites. He also had Pharisees in his group of followers, praised them for following a righteous path.
- Colossians 2:8, John 3:2, Mark 1:24, James 2:19
- Water Baptism.
- Water baptism does not save people, but rather is a public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ. It should be a response to conversion (being born again) not the cause of it. It is not a requirement of salvation. It is one of the ordinances that Jesus gave to the church the other being Holy Communion, but it is not a requirement for salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ Romans 6:34, Ephesians 2:8-9.
- The Source of the New Birth- Jesus.
- John 3:1315, 16-18
- There is no new life/salvation apart from union with Jesus and belief in Jesus. In other words, the only way to be born again is to believe in Jesus as the Son of God Acts 4:12.
- 1 John 5:1112 – the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives us new spiritually gives us new spiritual life by connecting us with Jesus Christ through faith; who is the way, the truth, and life John 14:6.
- Eternal life in heaven is made possible only through Christ. To receive God’s free gift of salvation, we must look to Jesus alone. We must trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as our payment for sin and in His resurrection.