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Except a Man Be Born Again

Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  Someone cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.  At least two ideas exist here.  One, born again, and, two, the kingdom of God.  The two ideas relate to one another, which is why Jesus uses them in the same sentence with Nicodemus.

Something is wrong with every man that requires new birth and that same thing also keeps him from the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God, one could say, is the carrot in Jesus’ statement.  A person can’t continue like he is, if he expects to see the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God is some kind of a draw, but kingdom also assumes a King.  I’ve addressed that already in this series, but someone who is in the kingdom of God requires a complete change of nature, which is the new birth.

Only new people, changed through new life or conversion, get into the kingdom and those are people who would want Jesus as King, not their selves as king.  You’ve got to want both, that change and then that outcome, the kingdom.  Most people do not want that outcome.  A big part of this is that they don’t know God’s future plan for earth.  To join in that future plan, someone must get with the program, understand what God is going to do.  He can’t continue as is.  He’s got to believe in that plan, want it.

What God Has in Store

A person must believe what God has in store and opt in for that.  People may want a religious experience, but they most often do not want that program.  This means they are idolaters, who are dead to God.  Their god, instead of the one and only true God, is their own selves and their kingdom is their own little fictional personal fiefdom.  What they want is for God to enhance their own program, not give them a new, as in different, one.  This is not believing in Jesus Christ.

The future visible kingdom of God on earth starts with the second coming of Jesus Christ.  For a person to believe in the kingdom and be born again to see it, he must receive the doctrine of the second coming.  If you do not believe in the second coming, you do not believe in Jesus.  Jesus is already judging, which leaves everyone condemned who does not believe unto the life of God, eternal life (John 3:18).  But He will also continue to judge the world, its nations and people, to return the world to the purpose for which He created it.

The Crux

The word “crux” means essential matter or the heart of the issue and it is literally Latin for “cross.”  The cross is the crux.  It stands at the supreme juncture of one’s life, a crossroad.  You can’t move on to God’s will for your life without coming to the cross of Christ.  Believing in Him, that divine Person, sees His hanging there between heaven and earth as the sole mediator between himself and God.  His death on the cross is just part of the plan, because the plan culminates in a Kingdom with this same man, the God-man, as King.

The saving part of the cross transports someone to a future kingdom.  Jesus on the cross is saving people unto that kingdom.  When He was born, all the various major characters in HIs birth story exclaimed Him as King.  The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Reception of Him was the reception of a King, which included His work on the cross.  Before Jesus judges the world immediately previous to His second coming, the Father and everyone in the heavenly throne room deem Him, the Lamb, worthy to redeem the lost world.

Worthy Is the Lamb

Because the Lamb was slain and has made those believing in Him to be kings and priests, He is worthy to receive power and strength and honor and glory and to claim the inheritance of all things.  Belief in Jesus Christ trades you as king for Jesus as King and your own kingdom for His kingdom.  With that comes the faith that Jesus did and will do everything for salvation — His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and return to the earth to judge the world and set up a kingdom.

Someone to whom you explain salvation or preach the gospel first of course needs to hear of his dying need for salvation.  Crucial though, crucial also a word that comes from “cross” or “crucifixion,” is knowing what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.  Sometimes you can’t give all the information or truth that you want to give.  However, the goal is giving as much as possible, so that a person understands what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.

When I get to the end in explaining belief in Christ with a person, nearly every time, my audience will say he believes it is the truth.  So then most people get saved then, right?  No, despite the understanding, most people still will not.  Part of the reason they do not believe in Christ is because they do understand.  They understand it and they don’t want it, at least yet.  Very few after hearing it, that don’t want it, will finally believe in Jesus Christ.  Nicodemus in John 3 didn’t believe the first or the second time.  Finally, he did believe and some will.