Body and Spirit

John 3:3, 5-6, 9-10, 13-15

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

This text discusses being born again. Like us, the man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus understood somewhat of the discussion before he even asked. However, he did not understand fully which prompted the question. There are several births of this earth and of the spirit mentioned here. In Genesis 2:7, we see the three parts of the creation of man. First, God formed man's body "from the dust of the ground." The man had spirit when God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." Finally, "man became a living soul." The soul, according to Jesus, is like the veil in the temple. This veil prevented the people from going into the Holy of Holys from the outer courts as in Numbers 18:7. From this entrance, which separated man from God, the high priest entered once a year to offer sacrifice as Leviticus 16:2-5 states. The soul is what stands between the body and the breath of God. The tearing of the soul as the veil was torn in the temple at Jesus's death creates the physical life versus the spirit according to Mark 15:38.

According to what Jesus had to say, imagine speaking to a ruler late at night. They chatted about the matters of the spirit that even his own people did not understand. Being born again is more than simply trusting Jesus to carry you to Heaven on a fluffy cloud when you die someday. Otherwise, he would not have left all his riches of glory to come to earth as 2 Corinthians 8:9 asserts. All he had to offer for our sake when he was poor was eternal life as in John 10:28. The mystery he entered, he gives to all who follow him. John 5:21 explains that "as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also" does the Son. Do not be like the woman who did not understand. She was tired of losing everyone in her natural life. In her desperation, she found the closest thing, the cat, and practiced on that until she understood the concept. Verse twelve speaks of those who do not believe anything whether they are told of this earth or of Heaven. When Jesus speaks about something he knows personally, please believe him.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The example of Christ has already been set. You do not have to spend your life hoping and wondering what is going to happen. He has already been through it for you and offers to take you with him. You might wonder why such expense when he did not have to do anything of the sort. This is a story told as old as time in John 3:16: "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is the great love story between God and man. This is the love affair he has had with humanity and his own creation since the beginning of time. Jesus can turn the situation around. The ruler, Nicodemus, came at night to speak to Jesus as if he spoke for everybody in John 3:2. If you listen closely, you can hear Jesus saying, 'not today, Satan, not today.' Nicodemus spoke with flattery. First, he called Jesus a teacher from God who performs signs and wonders. If Nicodemus spoke for everyone and wanted to hear the truth, he would not have come at night. Jesus understood him plainly. See John 3:20: "everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Look at these verses carefully. How often have the unbelieving thought what Nicodemus said was the whole truth of the matter. Notice what Nicodemus believes Jesus is really saying as seen in his question of whether he be a natural son again. Jesus must tell him, yet again, to pull his mind out of both philosophy and the gutter. Nicodemus seems to care a lot for the things of the flesh, yet he is asking spiritual questions. If that was my child saying such, I would say you are nasty. The baptism externally symbolizing identification with Christ is of water. Just as John baptized Jesus who needed it not, so the Father placed his approval on his life as someone with whom he was well pleased. This spirit birth is something new. It is something that is the work of Jesus alone according to verse eight. Just as the wind blows wherever it wants, so do those born after the spirit. It is important to note that the Spirit gives life to whomever he will in John 6:63.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Nicodemus is Israel's teacher, yet he still does not know how to control himself. How much less can he understand the things of God to teach someone else. Jesus trades Nicodemus's question for a question. How does this happen that a ruler who teaches a nation shows up at night talking foolishness about his mother and Jesus too? If you are going to speak nonsense about one person, you will do the same to others all the way up the line to Christ himself. 'You do not even know how to control your own self,' Jesus is saying, 'and you want to know how birthing the spirit works.' Galatians 6:8 puts the situation this way. What is sown to the "flesh shall of the flesh reap destruction;" whoever sows to the Spirit will reap life everlasting. Seek Jesus and do his will. This journey starts with believing him, and then goes to baptism by water. Next, you walk with him daily by faith. There is a story told in Genesis 5:24 of a man named Enoch who walked with God. He was not found at the end of his life for God took him. His family and friends looked for his body and could not find a thing. They looked for who he was and could not find him. The only thing they did not look for was God to find out where they both had gone. Neither did they think to look to Jesus for whom they both would be in 1 John 3:2. Do not be like my friend and put the cat through all that to find out what happened to your son. Do not even do as Nicodemus and the rest of the religious rulers did to find out what happens in the end. Jesus still reigns upon his throne for he is God and God alone. It may not yet appear who we will be in the end, whether in the physical body or in the spiritual, but we know we will be like him.