For those of us old enough to remember the 90’s we heard the term “Born Again” Christian a lot. For those who might not exactly remember the 90’s, think Kirk Cameron from the TV show Growing Pains, Or George W. Bush the 43rd President of these United States. Now if you have no idea who these people are, you just made me feel old and you hurt my feelings…
Over the years the American Church has become awash with buzz words like “Born Again” and it is my goal in this series to shed some light on them, so we are not all left saying Okay… But what does that mean?
It is in the Gospel of John 3:3 where Jesus first makes this statement. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is Born Again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You see Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, a religious ruler of the Jews.
The Culture…
In Jewish Custom of Jesus day (and still practiced toady) held that since they descended from Abraham, they were automatically assured entry to Heaven. Jesus reply to Nicodemus shattered the Jewish assumption that their racial identity, or their natural birth, assured them a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus made it plain that a man’s natural birth does not assure him of the Kingdom of God; only being born again gives this assurance.
A little more context to what is being said… and forgive me if I geek out a little.
Born Again: The ancient Greek word translated “again” (anothen) can be also translated “from above.” This is the sense in which John used this word in John 3:31 and in John 19:11 and 19:23. Either way, the meaning is essentially the same. To be born from above is to be born again.
Essentially, this means to have new life. A theological term for this is regeneration. It isn’t simply a moral or religious reform, but the bringing of new life. “To belong to the heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it.” (Tenney)
The Scripture…
In fact, all over the New Testament this idea of Born Again, new creation occurs.
- 1 Peter speaks of being born anew by God’s great mercy (1 Peter 1:3).
- 1 Peter speaks of being born anew from an imperishable seed (1 Peter 1:22-23).
- James speaks of God bringing us forth by the word of truth (James 1:18).
- Titus speaks to us of the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5).
- Romans speaks of dying with Jesus and rising anew (Romans 6:1-11).
- 1 Corinthians speaks of new believers as new-born babes (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).
- 2 Corinthians speaks of us being a new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).
- Galatians says that in Jesus we are a new creation (Galatians 6:15).
- Ephesians says the new man is created after God in righteousness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
- Hebrews says that at the beginning of our Christian life we are like children (Hebrews 5:12-14).
Keep this all-in mind as we take the idea a little deeper through more of Jesus teaching. In Matthew 18:1-3 Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The Observation…
It is interesting to me any way, Jesus teaches we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I didn’t fully understand this until we had our second child. It just so happened we were doing a study of the Gospel of Matthew at the time. And as we got to this verse I couldn’t help but see what God was showing me!
Our two children are 9 years apart. So, I had a real-life example of this illustration in my home every day. On one side we had a child who was becoming increasingly independent. He could do most things on his own. He could get himself up, shower, and get ready by himself. Sure, sometimes we had to encourage him about the time and check to see that he didn’t forget anything. But for the most part as far as parenting was concerned, he was on auto pilot.
Our second child was a newborn, happy and healthy. We had to wake him up in the morning. Feeding a newborn is not always as easy as it would seem. Sometimes they simply aren’t hungry. But we had to make them eat, because we knew what the morning was going to be like. We also knew how important it is to develop routine in his new life. Every aspect of his little life was dependent on us to provide for him.
As our two children matured Matthew 18:3 became more evident to me as to what Jesus was teaching. Our youngest grew to where he could hold a bottle by himself, then he was eating solid food on his own. Our oldest started going out to friends’ houses to play and making plans without us. Before we knew it, he was driving, and he didn’t need us for much. I miss those days looking back… (sad face)
The Application
But that is the heart of a father, to want to provide for his children. Yes, it makes us proud to see the men they are growing to be. But that is also the analogy Jesus is making for us. As we “mature” in Christ, we must recognize that we must be “Born Again” a new creation in Jesus.
You see it’s like this, our Spiritual Maturation is the exact opposite as our physical maturation. As we grow physically, we become increasingly independent. On the other hand, as we grow Spiritually, we grow more dependent on Jesus.
So now you can see the term “Born Again” is not just a buzz word adopted by the church. It is rooted in Christ’s teaching. An identifier that you are no longer trusting in your own way, the ways of the World; but trusting in Jesus as your sole provider.
So I ask you where you in your walk with Jesus are?
Are you:
- Early 20’s totally independent but still need advice from time to time.
- Late teens, freedom to go where you want but still need permission to borrow the car.
- Early teens, some independence but require a ride if you can’t get there on your own.
- Preteen, you can fend for yourself if you don’t like what’s for dinner.
- Adolescent, dependent on mom and dad for most things, but you have responsibilities you do on your own.
- Or are you like the little children Jesus so often refers to, totally dependent on the Father in every aspect of your life.
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