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Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
– John 3:3
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Born again. Do you
know what Jesus had in mind when He said those two words to Nicodemus?
He was talking covenant talk. He was telling Nicodemus what it meant to
have a covenant with God.
Let me paint the picture I believe was
in Jesus’ mind. Imagine a baby, a little baby born of an unwed mother.
No one knows who its daddy is and no one wants to know. He is a child no
one wants. He doesn’t belong to anyone.
Now, picture the best
kind of family you can think of. A family that loves God. The man has a
good job. They’re blessed financially. They’re givers and lovers of
people, and they fall in love with this baby. Before long, they adopt
it.
What’s happened? That baby was reborn. He got a new set of
parents. Through adoption, he has now become an heir. Why? Not because
of anything the baby has done. Those parents didn’t say, “I want you to
look at that baby. I’m so impressed with all that that child has done
for us. He has certainly earned our love and respect.”
No, it’s a
baby. It couldn’t have done anything to earn its new life. This man and
this woman agreed together out of the love in their hearts and bestowed
grace on that child. Now he has access to everything they have. When
they offer him a bottle, he doesn’t knock the bottle away and say, “I’m
so humble and undeserving. Just give me water.”
Of course not.
That baby acts like part of the family—and not just part of the family
but the best part of the family. Because in Jesus’ day a covenant or
adopted child had the same birthright as the firstborn son.
That’s
what Jesus was talking about when He said, “You must be born again.” He
was talking about grace. He was talking about a new relationship of
favor. A new family. A new authority. A new power.
If you feel
unworthy to receive the rich blessings God has for you today, think
about that. Meditate on it, so instead of worrying about and struggling
with the needs in your life, you can just walk boldly into the throne
room of your Father and receive help to get those needs met.
Discover
what it really means to be a blood-bought child of Almighty God with a
big brother like Jesus. Discover what it means to be born again!
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