I wonder, what does it mean to be born-again? Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, had a great time grasping this concept declared by Jesus as a must for entering or even seeing the Kingdom of God in John chapter three. It is clear in this section that this second birth is in relation to being born of the Spirit. With this understanding we can infer that without the “born-again” experience we are spiritually dead and completely cut off from the Kingdom of God. Jesus said in John chapter four to the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit and that those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. If God is Spirit then it is no wonder that we must be born of Spirit to see His Kingdom, and it is no wonder that Scripture says that no man has seen God. We see in John chapter 2 when Jesus performed His first miracle that He was focused on His hour having not come. This phrase is used by Jesus to convey His death on the cross and the subsequent result of the Spirit being poured out. But what does it look like to be born-again? Back to John chapter three, Jesus gives us a wonderful description of one being born of the spirit by saying, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” By this description we can say that according to Jesus if you are born of the Spirit that you go where you wish and people can hear you but your origin and destination are unknown. It would probably be OK to say that this is referring to a set direction; in other words, just as the wind can change direction suddenly so can you. But this analogy puts the direction directly on the desire of the wind or the one born of the Spirit. Most people are waiting for some super natural direction, but in being born-again Jesus says we can see the Kingdom of God, and it could be that in this seeing is freedom of direction, as in seeing what the Father is doing like Jesus. Not so much a road map of go here and do this (although that is very legitimate) but more along the lines of seeing God’s ways and acting them out as circumstances demand. To be born-again is more about administering justice than defining God. Isaiah makes this case in point in the well know chapter about the true fast. God’s will is clear. All burdens, all bonds of wickedness (things people are trapped in), poverty, lack, fear, anything contrary to peace and love must be taken away. Then again we still have difficulty in defining (and we always will if we consider the world as a valid expression of goodness) spiritual birth. We have moral atheists, kind Buddhists, generous Muslims, and all kinds of cultural acts of kindness that have no roots in believing Jesus is the way. We have immoral people doing wonderful and generous things in the name of self, and then “Christians” exhibiting very sinful behaviors and very few works of faith of the Isaiah 58 kind. What are we to believe? How do we have fellowship in the Spirit and not just a spirit of good works? First John chapter four gives us a clue into this mystery. We are instructed not to believe every spirit but to test them all. What are we testing them for? To see whether or not they are of God. Why? Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. So we are testing spirits because of the actions and words of men. John gives us the test in verse 2 by saying every spirit (of a man) that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. But even historians can agree that Jesus was a real man, how is that a test? We must be very deliberate in our understanding here. To say that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh implies that this same Jesus had an existence before He was born as a man. Looking at the name Jesus Christ we learn that we are not dealing with just a first and last name but a savior (Jesus) anointed to save (Christ). As John the Baptist testified “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The born-again person will have a speech consistent with the pre-existent nature of Jesus as God and proclaim Him as the sole means of deliverance from all bonds. Any person who does not receive this testimony does not know God. John takes this deeper by saying earlier in this work that if we hate our brother and yet claim to know God we are liars. It must be understood that our treatment of others cannot be separated from our standing as believers. It is by our love for one another (believers) that the world (unbelievers) will know that we are the disciples of Jesus. We have many ways that we have defined believers in the church that excuse many things, but when we get down to the brass tacks we cannot live without love. Much of the effort we put forth to prove the legitimacy of our belief to the world is a wasted effort. We have every right to compete in the intellectual circles concerning Jesus, but the reality is that if our lives do not reflect the love of God then we are just moving ourselves and others away from the truth while we are claiming to proclaim it. Now this will stir up some persecution, people will want to kill you if you truly hold to the Jesus line. Not in judgment, not in anger, not in debating but in simply stating it is Jesus or hell. No alternatives, no understanding, no other hope. It really is the choice of the ages, and God lays both His hands open before us and says choose this day; blessing or cursing. It is an amazing opportunity and one that I cannot pass up. It is seeing this unconditional love that is being born-again. It is the recognition of the gentle nature of a God who sees all the discrepancies in our life and invites us to the table anyway. He is quite all right with all the struggles we come to the table with He is just not content with leaving you in them. It is through His gentleness that we are made great, that we begin to truly reflect the image of Jesus. I began by talking about what it means to be born-again and I must end with the reality that you cannot understand it unless you experience it. We see through a glass dimly, and our Messiah is now seated on the right hand of the Father, but who we will become is yet to be fully revealed, but we can let the love of God move us, and this is what the Spirit says.
