Daily Bread - Oct 28 2006

John 3:3 - "Jesus answered and said to him, with absolute certainty I assure you, without being begotten from above no one is able to see the kingdom of God."

To be born from above is to have a miracle birth by the Holy Spirit. Paul calls it the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Ezekiel described it as a new heart and a new spirit along with the Spirit of God given to the redeemed (Ezek. 36:26). But the most radical description of all is the one given by Jesus when He described the miracle of the new birth as being born all over again.

The only detailed description given to us in the New Testament of someone being born of the Spirit is that of the Birth of Jesus. Matthew says, that Mary "was found with child of the Holy Ghost" (Mt 1:18, 20). Luke records the testimony of the angel Gabriel who said, " The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore, that Holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the son of God" (Luke 1:35).

Now the birth of Jesus was the literal and physical incarnation of the Word into flesh, whereas, He is spiritual born into the heart of the believer. Paul refers to the new creation as "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Col 1:27). John says that He "dwells in us by the Spirit which he has given us" and that, as a result, "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world" (1 John 3:24, 4:4). Peter says that "we have been born of the incorruptible seed by the Word of God which lives and abides for ever" and that through the activity of God's Grace we were made "partakers of the divine nature" (1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:5).

Paul also compares this radical transformation of nature to being crucified, buried, and resurrected along with Jesus. Thus the former person or old man is totally destroyed and a new man is raised up with Christ (Romans 6:4, 6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:5, 6; Philippians 1:21).

The Greek 'anothen' means both 'again' and 'from above.' There is no Hebrew or Aramaic word of similar meaning with such ambiguity. Although in verse 4 Nicodemus takes Jesus to have meant "again," Jesus' primary meaning in verse 3 is "from above." This is indicated from the parallel in 3:31 as well as from the two other Johannine uses of 'anothen' (19:11,23), (Dean Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John 1-12, page 130).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
www.abidingplace.org