Last week, in JESUS AND NICODEMUS, Part 1, we saw that there is a deep, albeit unrecognized, need in each of us to understand things from the spiritual level, the level in which God sees the world. We once had this ability but we lost it back in Eden, and this is the level of understanding that Jesus came to restore. As He tells Nicodemus, the only way to be able to truly understand the Kingdom of God is to be born again, and this rebirth is not of women, but of Spirit!
But just what does it mean to be born of the Spirit?
Jesus is quite clear: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:6 NIV)
So, you got that, right? You now understand perfectly.
No worries. I didn’t either.
And I suspect Nicodemus must have felt this way too. Who knows what his reaction was here, because the Bible doesn’t record it. But I can just see the confused expression that must have come over his face, for Jesus goes on to explain further: “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 3:7,8 NIV)
So now it’s perfectly clear, right?
Not according to Nicodemus: “How can this be?” (John 3:9 NIV)
Does it feel like we’re just getting deeper and deeper into the darkness of misunderstanding here? Jesus is being very patient. He is giving explanation after explanation, but we still don’t quite get it! What does it mean to be born of the Spirit?
“‘You are Israel’s teacher,’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things?'” (John 3:10 NIV)
Okay, Nicodemus had no excuse. He WAS Israel’s teacher, but we’re not, so maybe we have an excuse! But wait. Isn’t Jesus speaking as if these things are NOT hard to understand?
Lord, remove the blindness from our eyes, that we may see, that we may hear Your voice, that we may understand and be healed!
Jesus continues: “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify of what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (John 3:11,12 NIV)
Okay Lord. You hit the nail on the head here! You ARE speaking clearly. You are speaking of what YOU have seen and what YOU know. But what YOU have seen and know are so far beyond our understanding that it isn’t clear to us at all! Is it any wonder You started off this exchange by saying, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3 NIV)? We simply cannot see or understand because we must first be born of the Spirit!
But wait a minute. Would Jesus have just told Nicodemus he must be born again to understand this spiritual level if it meant we can’t comprehend it at all? Not at all. Jesus would have never said this if He hadn’t meant it! And Jesus’ explanation about the wind brings us into a full understanding of what He is trying to teach us here: “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 3:8 NIV)
You see, in the physical dimension, we know when the wind is present, but we don’t necessarily know where it is coming from or where it goes. It is the same with the Spiritual dimension. We know when God’s Spirit has been present, but we didn’t necessarily know He was coming, where He came from, or where He goes after He leaves. We can’t predict or pretend to understand why He does what He does and when He does it.
What Jesus is saying here is that when we are born of the Spirit, we, too, become like the wind. When we are open to the leading of God’s Spirit, we are always WHERE we need to be, WHEN we need to be there! There is ALWAYS a purpose at the moment, IN the moment!
Wouldn’t it be nice to live like that? The search for purpose in life would come to a screeching halt, because we would be living our purpose at ALL times!
But wait! All this sounds so ideal! And so far from what we have! Can it really be true? What must we do?
Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark. Join us next SATURDAY for JESUS AND NICODEMUS, Part 3: The Process of Rebirth.
In His love,
Ly
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Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two teens, Speech-Language Pathologist, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org, with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org.
(To access the entire “Jesus and Nicodemus: A Study on Rebirth” mini-series, please click here.)