JESUS EXPLANATION OF THE NEW BIRTH

THE EXPLANATION OF THE NEW BIRTH John 3:4-5

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Nicodemus saith 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?"

 In the opening verses of chapter three Nicodemus met Christ face to face. To the Lord Jesus Christ Nicodemus made a startling admission. This was the mark of greatness in this man. For he not only recognized greatness wherever he saw it, but he was also willing to give tribute to whom tribute was due. Jesus responded with an amazing declaration concerning the new birth. This was the evidence of Deity in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the announcement he made ran counter to all the thinking of men.

First impressions are often lasting impressions, as I have already asserted. And this was true in this case. Frequently the very force of those impressions carries the movement of thought on to the issue. At least this was true in the case of Nicodemus. The very force of this amazing declaration swept from the mind of Nicodemus his origi­nal purpose and plunged him into the very depths of the mystery associated with the new birth. This brought Nicodemus and Christ a step closer together. Now we see them mind to mind, two great minds, one infinite and the finite, turning over the issues of life.

Without a doubt Nicodemus had been grappling with problems gathering about this point throughout his long ministry. Without a doubt he had covered the whole field of thinking on the part of men covering these various points. He had weighed opposing and varying theories, and had finally made a selection. But he was not satisfied. He could not help but see that the best solution fell short at many points in meeting the needs of men. When examined under the search light of reality there was much to condemn it, but still it was the best that men had to offer. And when he came to the Old Testament he was unable to recognize the truth because he was looking through the eyes of a false system of theology.

But now, from the lips of this peasant, with the breath of heaven upon him, there strikes upon his ears a clear, concise, statement of new birth, uttered with a voice of authority that runs counter to anything he has ever heard. Like blinding light­ning his consciousness was electrified and his mind illuminated. All the problems of sin and salvation, of promise and prophecy, of Messiah and His kingdom, seemed to converge at this point. The marvelous prospect of this Messianic declaration com­pletely gripped his mind and his heart. It offered something never conceived by men, something that could solve all the ills of society forever.

The movement of this passage depicts Jesus and Nicodemus joined mind to mind, plunged in the depths of thought, weighing the most mysterious, the most momentous, and the most majestic divine provision for men. But Nicodemus cannot completely di­vest himself of a problem that thrusts itself into his thinking. He sets this forth in two questions. Jesus responds to those questions in a series of five principles.