The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in John 3:5-8,
"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."
As Jesus taught Nicodemus that in order for anyone to enter the kingdom of God, they had to be born again, he spoke of the nature of the Holy Spirit's involvement. He likened the work of the Holy Spirit in facilitating this birth to the wind. You can't see wind, but you can see and hear the effect of wind on objects it impinges upon. We see the branches move and sway, we feel the wind in our face, but we don't actually see the wind.
As Jesus spoke of the second birth, he taught Nicodemus that it is the Holy Spirit who effects this birth, "So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
With a physical birth we definitely see what happens. We can watch the process. The mom gets big, ultrasounds are done to view the baby within the womb, the little heartbeat is listened to, and then comes the chaos in the delivery room with nurses and doctors scurrying about and mom screaming and carrying on in excruciating pain. A physical birth is clearly witnessed by all the sights and sounds.
Jesus taught Nicodemus that a spiritual birth has to take place for someone to enter into the kingdom of God. A new life needs to be given birth to, the physical life needs to take on a spiritual life, and so Jesus used physical birth as a metaphor for this spiritual transformation. However, he qualifies his metaphor by saying that the birth brought about by the Holy Spirit can't be seen, can't be heard (I'm thinking of the actual spiritual birthing process, we may hear expressions of joy and rejoicing - although not necessarily - as a result of the birth, but not the spiritual birth itself.)
However, that spiritual birth will manifest itself, it's existence, by the impact it has in the life of the one who has taken it on. Just as wind is seen as it has it's impact on branches, limbs, on our faces, etc., the work of the Holy Spirit who brought about that spiritual birth in a person's life will be seen in the impact he has in our lives.
In Romans 8:9-11 Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit living within us. In that chapter he explains how life-transforming that reality becomes within us. In Galatians 5:22-25 he explains that transformation and what it looks like, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
"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."
As Jesus taught Nicodemus that in order for anyone to enter the kingdom of God, they had to be born again, he spoke of the nature of the Holy Spirit's involvement. He likened the work of the Holy Spirit in facilitating this birth to the wind. You can't see wind, but you can see and hear the effect of wind on objects it impinges upon. We see the branches move and sway, we feel the wind in our face, but we don't actually see the wind.
As Jesus spoke of the second birth, he taught Nicodemus that it is the Holy Spirit who effects this birth, "So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
With a physical birth we definitely see what happens. We can watch the process. The mom gets big, ultrasounds are done to view the baby within the womb, the little heartbeat is listened to, and then comes the chaos in the delivery room with nurses and doctors scurrying about and mom screaming and carrying on in excruciating pain. A physical birth is clearly witnessed by all the sights and sounds.
Jesus taught Nicodemus that a spiritual birth has to take place for someone to enter into the kingdom of God. A new life needs to be given birth to, the physical life needs to take on a spiritual life, and so Jesus used physical birth as a metaphor for this spiritual transformation. However, he qualifies his metaphor by saying that the birth brought about by the Holy Spirit can't be seen, can't be heard (I'm thinking of the actual spiritual birthing process, we may hear expressions of joy and rejoicing - although not necessarily - as a result of the birth, but not the spiritual birth itself.)
However, that spiritual birth will manifest itself, it's existence, by the impact it has in the life of the one who has taken it on. Just as wind is seen as it has it's impact on branches, limbs, on our faces, etc., the work of the Holy Spirit who brought about that spiritual birth in a person's life will be seen in the impact he has in our lives.
In Romans 8:9-11 Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit living within us. In that chapter he explains how life-transforming that reality becomes within us. In Galatians 5:22-25 he explains that transformation and what it looks like, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
To enter the kingdom of God, we must be born again, we must take on a new spiritual life by the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ has made possible by atoning for our sins. It is a mysterious spiritual transformation that unmistakably manifests itself as we grow in this new life following rebirth.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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