There is a good reason why God chose to call the experience of getting saved the “new birth” or getting “born again”.  These phrases carry with them the connotation of a fresh start or a new beginning.  When we get born again, it is as if we were allowed to start life over again.  Not physically, for that is impossible, but spiritually we are “born again”. 

In the third chapter of the Gospel of John, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night to privately ask him some questions without the other Pharisees around to judge or condemn him.  The first thing he does is acknowledge that Jesus is a teacher from God and that God was with him.  Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus in verse 3:

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This was obviously not what Nicodemus expected to hear, for it was concept totally foreign to his thinking.  He responded as anyone would upon hearing about being “born again”. 

“Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

You can tell he was truly puzzled by the idea of getting “born again”.  Looking at it from the senses point of view, it is not possible for an old man to climb back into his mother’s womb and proceed to get “born again”.  I am sure Nicodemus was wondering why he was even there.  What kind of silly theology was Jesus promoting?  Who ever heard of getting “born again?”

Jesus proceeded elaborate on this subject in verses 5-8:

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:  so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Verse 8 is very cumbersome in the King James Version.  Reading from the Beck Translation it says:

“The wind blows where it pleases and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

All Nicodemus could say in response to this was; “How can these things be?”  Please keep in mind that Nicodemus according to verse one was a “ruler of the Jews”.  He was a teacher in Israel and sat on the Jewish court.  He should have been able to figure out what Jesus was speaking about.

After reproving Nicodemus in verses 10-13, Jesus lays out the simple truth of who he is, why he is there and how to get saved.  Please allow me to read verses 14-21 from the Williams Translation which is an older translation in the language of the people:

“And just as Moses in the desert lifted the serpent on the pole, the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son, so that anyone who trusts in him may never perish but have eternal life.

For God sent His Son into the world, not to pass sentence on it, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Whoever trusts in Him is never to come up for judgment; but whoever does not trust in Him has already received his sentence, because he has not trusted in the name of God’s only Son.

And the ground for the sentence is this, that the light has come into the world, and yet, because their actions were evil, men have loved darkness more than the light.

For anyone who is in the habit of doing wrong hates the light, and to keep his actions from being reproved, he does not come out into the daylight.

But whoever is in the habit of living the truth will come out in the daylight that his actions may be shown to be performed with God’s help.”

The record abruptly ends at this time.  There is no hint as to the response of Nicodemus to hearing this incredible dissertation.  If he was as smart as it appears, I am sure he took what Jesus said to heart and in due time got “born again”.

Whoever trusts in Jesus to be their Savior sent by God can receive that which Jesus came to make available; eternal life.  If a person loves habitually doing wrong, he will hate the light.  He will hide in the darkness and never see the light of glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ for fear of having his habits reproved.

Whoever loves habitually living the truth will gladly come out in the daylight so everyone can see that what he is doing is done with God’s help and through His power.  Evil people doing evil things hide what they are doing under the cloak of darkness.  Righteous people doing righteous things gladly do what they do in the light of day so God can be glorified.

God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son.  He allowed His beloved Son to be nailed on the cross to give up his life for our sins.  God loved the world so much that He rejected the natural Fatherly instinct to “save His son from death”.  God loved the world so much that He, with great sorrow, did not grant His Son the request of “If there be any other way to do this”.  God loved the world so much that He watched with agony as His only Son was beaten, abused, tortured, mocked, scorned, spit upon, degraded, debased and subjected to every sadistic urge known to man.  God loved the world so much that He stood by in heaven and allowed His only Son to die. 

Jesus loved us so much that he willingly went through all he had to suffer in order to redeem us.  Jesus loved us so much that he subjected himself to unfathomable abuse, torture and degradation so that God could legally justify us and declare us righteous when we get born again.  Jesus loved us so much that he allowed himself to be treated worse than any criminal who ever lived in order to set us free.  Jesus loved us so much that he laid down his life so that we might live.

Please, my friends, let us never lose sight of the incredible love shown to us by God when He gave us His Son.  Let us never forget for an instant the love of our Savior Jesus Christ as shown by his willingness to “lay it all on the line” for us.  Love so amazing and so Devine demands our life, our heart and our all.  Love so amazing and so Devine was demonstrated so we could get “born again” and receive eternal life.  Praise God and thank you Jesus for loving us enough to allow us into your Kingdom.  Amen.