Praise God! The above scripture is foundational in the life of those who are saved by the grace and mercy of God. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. No one can find the gate to heaven, to everlasting life in the kingdom of God, unless he or she calls upon the name of the Lord. We must be born again is the cry of fallen man. Fallen man, finite man, troubled man can never exist forever with God unless he or she becomes a new creature. Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 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 3:3-8) We must be born again to be saved from finiteness, chaos, eternal death. How can we be born again? How can we find a different life, a better way of existing? Only through the Spirit of God who reveals the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not like our biological existence, determined by our senses. Jesus describes the ethereal existence by saying, as with the wind, you know that it exists, but the mystery of where it came from or where it is going is difficult to understand. The moving air is all around us, so is the kingdom of God. God’s realm exists, but as humans we find it hard to detect where it is from and where it is going. We are caught in a biological existence on a small planet called Earth. Our existence in reference to what we scientifically know is largely insignificant. We cannot be considered even a speck in the galaxies that we know exist. Yet, the Creator has designated us as so significant that we will become part of his family, adopted sons and daughters, born of the Spirit with an understanding of spiritual realities that exceeds our comprehension of life. But we must be born again into a new dimension, a dimension where God exists in perfect holiness, an existence set apart from our former lives. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Without this new creation in us, we are hopelessly lost in our sins, our rebellion, our degradation. When we try to make ourselves different, we fail. We fail in keeping the laws of God, of our culture, and of our society. We even fail in following our own laws: often saying to ourselves, I will never do that act or think that thought again, and then finding ourselves unable to keep our promises. We are intrinsically rebellious and wayward. With these sinful attitudes in us, we are dangerous, untrustworthy, and innately selfish. Throughout mankind’s existence, horrible things have happened to people: men, women, and children. Last century alone, over 200,000,000 people were slaughtered by violence. Other heinous acts such as rape, torture, slavery, and the like, far too many to number, were committed against innocent people in those hundred years. Century after century, violence and savagery have been a major part of the human existence. In Joseph Conrad’s famous novel, Heart of Darkness, that delves into the depths of man’s depravity, the main character, upon his death, cries out, “The horror! The horror!” Man’s biological nature is contaminated by a sin so deep we are left with such angst. Human beings need a new existence, one that propels us beyond our natural inclinations. Law cannot do that, for regulations merely rearrange the chairs on the Titanic but cannot save the sinking ship. Neither will laws rescue man from his final destination of death. Only a new life, a new creation will rescue man from oblivion. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all thing have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV) The new creature comes through faith in the works of the Perfect One, Jesus Christ. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. We are saved through faith in Christ’s work on the cross from the consequence of sin that is death. When the light went out of Jesus’ eyes because he was dead, the work for our redemption was completed. God is a just God. Sin must be paid for with death. Jesus paid that price. Just as the sacrificed lambs in the Old Testament paid the price for the Israelites’ sin, so did Jesus pay the price for whosoever will come to him. His death paid the way for our redemption. His resurrection gave us eternal life with him in heaven.
People tend to rely upon religion or religious activities to attain heaven. Many count on a church or a tradition to secure an afterlife. Others place their faith for a positive hereafter in the wisdom and knowledge of various people: philosophers, sages, mystics, monks, witchdoctors, priests, saints, ministers, and so on. People are intrinsically religious, seekers of the unknown. But good ideas, mystical religions, philosophies, ideologies, traditions, heritages will not provide the answers pilgrims seek. The Bible says, “Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). Otherwise, do not attempt to find the answer to life by investigating ways to find God. Do not say you need God closer to you because of something you have learned or because you want to gain more knowledge about him. Why do you think He is far away from you when the Word says God is even at your lips? You do not need someone or something else to show you the way: a wise man with cunning words, a church hierarchy to explore, a mystical man from a foreign land to help you find God. Do you think you will find what you are looking for in some remote religion or philosophy book written by someone just like you? You do not have to depend on others to find God. The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Good News! The message of God is one of faith. If you declare Jesus Christ as Lord and depend on him with your whole heart, you will find God near, even in your soul. Salvation comes to all who confess the truth of Jesus Christ. He has come in the flesh to save people from their sins, to deliver them to God in right standing. All other ways to God are false, no matter how sensible they seem. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. (1 John 4:1-3) Jesus Christ is a stumbling stone to many. They cannot believe a man could be called the Son of God, die on a cross, and rise from the grave. But this is exactly what Jesus did. Only through his life, death, and resurrection can new life come to man. He alone paid the price for sin, pleasing God in the flesh. We who have put our hope in him have that same resurrection power in us. The Holy Spirit will resurrect us to be with God. Dear friends, your hope rests in this fact: Jesus was resurrected, so will you be resurrected. Jesus went to prepare a place for us, so we could be with him again. The new creature within you will be with God forever. Amen!
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