Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Dear friends in Christ!
We all know when our birthday is. We usually celebrate this day every year – or rather, other people celebrate us. But what about our other birthday? I mean of course our re-birth day; the day on which we were born again by water and the Spirit; the day on which we were baptised. On our birthday we celebrate our birth according to the flesh. On our re-birthday, the day of our baptism, we commemorate our rebirth according to the Spirit, when, by water and the Spirit, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit put his name on us.
Jesus speaks about this re-birth in a conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a highly educated man. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Jesus even calls him “the teacher of Israel.” However, Jesus’ words puzzle him: “‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’” Nicodemus is reasoning according to the flesh. Jesus then explains what he means by re-birth: “Truly, truly, 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.”
Jesus is talking about the spiritual re-birth. This rebirth, Jesus says, involves the use of water, in connection with the Spirit. That is baptism. The connection between the Spirit of God and water goes way back. In the second verse of the Bible we read: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.“ (Gen. 1:2) In the next verse we read how God then set his creation in motion by his Word. Water, Spirit, Word – these three things bring us right back to creation. In a similar way, by the spiritual rebirth in baptism, we are made a part of God’s new creation. For this new creation, God likewise uses Water, the Spirit, and the Word. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph. 5:25+26). Our natural state according to the flesh is one of being dead in our trespasses. But God made us alive through Christ (Eph. 2:5). By ourselves, we could never escape the curse of sin. Flesh only gives birth to flesh. We need a different kind of birth. We need a re-birth by the Spirit. We need to be adopted by our heavenly father. We need the name of the triune God put on us!
Creating the universe was God’s business. Making new creations out of us is also God’s business. Being born was not our doing. Likewise, being re-born was also not our doing. It is God who does the washing, the regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5). The Triune God gives you this new birth. It’s not by the decision or the will of the flesh that we can be born again. It’s God who gives you this new birth by water and the Spirit. He makes you his child. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true!
Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage dir: Wenn jemand nicht von Neuem geboren wird, so kann er das Reich Gottes nicht sehen. (Johannes 3,3)
