Born of the Spirit
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?…” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
John 3:4-6 (NKJV)
In the early stage of my conversion, I too was as puzzled as Nicodemus. He was a ruler and teacher of the Jews of his time, but there was a veil over his eyes and he could not grasp the teaching of the Lord. The truth, I found, is revealed in 1 Peter 1:22-23: ‘Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…’.
2 Corinthians 5:17 explains further that, ‘…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’ We are born again, having been dead in sins, but now we are made alive – a new creation – saved by grace through faith. The Holy Spirit is described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:13-14 as our guarantee of redemption: ‘…having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession…’. And in 2 Corinthians 5:5: ‘Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.’
Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, we do not see or feel or perceive physically that we are born again, but the Holy Spirit has made his abode in us, the temple of God, as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19: ‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?’ This is entirely the work of God, who has begun a good work in us and will complete it.
There will be a complete metamorphosis of our fleshly body; this is going to happen to all Christians. We will be transformed and conformed to the likeness of the glorious body of Christ: ‘…the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…’ (Philippians.3:20-21). We will be with the Father, with His people, in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21: 1-4). There will be no more crying or sorrow or pain or death.
Prayer
Abba Father in heaven, we look forward to to the time when there will be no more crying, sorrow, pain or death. Come quickly Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to bring about peace and harmony forever. This is my prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Study by Natu Moti
About the writer:
Natu Moti is a deacon in the Birmingham congregation of Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Gracecom Birmingham
All Saints Church
George Road
Birmingham B23 7QB
Local congregational contact:
David Gibbs
Email: birmingham@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church