New Life in Christ - Himalayan Heights – July 6 Readings: John 3:1-3 – Born Again

John 3: Born Again

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  John 3:1-3

It is one of the strangest and most powerful confrontations in Jesus' life. A Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to him by night to discuss his teachings and Jesus blows his mind by telling him he must be born again. There is som much power and theological importance in these verses. We will spend the entire week looking at this encounter. Each day, read the entire 21 verses and then come back to meditate on the highlighted section.

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.

14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Through the Bible Readings: 2 Chronicles 29-30, Acts 8:26–40, Psalm78:68–72, Proverbs 16:27–29

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: New Life in Christ    

This passage is as familiar as any in the Bible - who doesn't know John 3:16? The danger of a familiar passage is that we think we know what it says even though we do not fully understand it. Let us spend this week taking a new look at these verses.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, part of that group that was set against Jesus and drove him to his death.  Evidently, not all of the Jewish leaders opposed Jesus. Some, like our Nicodemus, were seekers, inquirers, interested in finding truth. To those who came to trick Jesus with tough questions, he gave confounding answers, twisting them in knots. The answer he gave Nicodemus was straightforward and sincere, but still, it twisted his brain like a pretzel.

Nicodemus flattered Jesus and likely wanted to enter some sort of dialogue with him. Back and forth. Philosophical exchange of ideas. Deep thinking and intense discussion. Jesus did not do that. He cut straight to the heart of the matter. He wasn't interested in an intellectual debate because that wasn't what solved the problems of the human soul. He wasn't satisfied to impart some knowledge or give Nicodemus a new way of thinking. His aimed higher.

You must be born again. 

The scholar was ready to debate deep thoughts, but this concept blew his mind. Born again. It is the basis of Christianity. Our faith is not simply an intellectual system, a set of doctrines or theology, a codebook of rules, or a lifestyle to live. Jesus came to earth to give us a whole new life, a new start. We were born once physically, now we would be born again.

Perhaps a more exact translation would be "born from above." Jesus came to bring new life from heaven. It isn't about just trying to be a better person or trying to make your life the best it can be. Jesus came to make us new people. When we trust Christ, we are given new lives, heavenly lives, lives from God. The sin that brought death into our lives, into our souls, was dealt with by Christ so our lives could be new in him.

Father, thank you for the new life you give us in Jesus Christ. 

Think and Pray:

Have you been made alive in Christ, been given new birth?
Take time to read the entire passage today and write down thoughts and reflections on the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus.