Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
This verse is foundational to the gospel message. Out of the mouth of Jesus himself, to see the kingdom of God you have to be born a second time, but this time “from above”. Not simply by virtue of the union between your mother and father, but by the power and purposes of God (John 1:13). But why? Why can’t Jesus just patch us up here and there in the areas where we need help? Why is something so radical necessary?
A few weeks ago we studied Ephesians 2 in Bible study on Wednesday night. In verse 1, Paul helps us answer these questions when he describes the condition of all mankind prior to coming to Jesus: “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1, emphasis mine). “Wait,” we respond, “but I am very much alive!” – to which God’s word emphatically reasserts, “No, you are not.” We may think we are alive. We think, we talk, we move, we eat, etc., but in the part of us that really matters, deep down in the soul, we find only death. It’s not enough to ask Jesus to patch us up and help us be better versions of ourselves. We need a whole new self, recreated from the ground up.
C.S. Lewis put it like this: “Christ says, ‘No half-measures are any good. Hand over the whole natural self…the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact I will give you myself.'” Jesus says we need to be born again because all are born into this world spiritually dead. We need his life to truly be alive.
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