Lent Day 8: "Born again? what do you mean?"

"What are you talking about?" Nicodemus asks Jesus (John 3:4).

Sometimes I want to ask Jesus the same question when I don't understand parts of scripture - and especially when I feel God directing me where I cannot see the future.

The mystery of God giving us a fresh start? No one can explain how new life comes into these old bodies of ours. Certainly, as Nicodemus noted, we can't crawl back into our mothers' wombs.

Jesus says, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). 

He explains that you have to be born as a human (flesh) and you have to be born spiritually (by the Spirit) to be part of what God is doing. He says, "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 3:8).

The mystery continues after we are born into God's family. We become His family when we accept his solution: the forgiveness for our sins and the reconciliation with God that Jesus paid for with his crucifixion.

So many prophecies were fulfilled with the death of Jesus. Here's a strange one. Exodus 21:6-9 tells of a poisonous snake infestation in the Israelite camp and God's solution. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Jesus references that story in his conversation with Nicodemus, as a prophecy he will fulfill: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him" (John 3:14-15).

Are you living in the mystery of new birth? Or are you seeking spiritual enchantment and excitement elsewhere?

Be careful. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father [in heaven] except through me" (John 14:6).

He's either a liar or a Savior. You can't have it both ways. 

Your choice calls for a personal decision. New birth? Or take your chances that Jesus was making up stuff about God?

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