When reading through the previous blog posts on this subject, it turns out that the term 'born again' is not as strange as many people think it is. The Bibles speaks about it in several places.
That the term being born again raises curious questions is understandable. It is after all something we cannot really grasp with our human (limited) mind. Even a scholar and learned man as the Jewish leader Nicodemus didn't understand it: 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! (John 3:4). I do learn from his question that being born again happens at a later point in life. This can be when we're 10, 20, 30 or 80, it doesn't really matter.
Nicodemus did not understand the difference between the natural and spiritual birth. All he knew was the new life that came forth from a human being. The Bible, however, speaks about the new life that comes from God. We are not being born again of a human being, but of God! How that works exactly, I don't know, but I do know that it works. In 1 John 5:1 it is being described as follows: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God... Well, that is not too complicated, isn't it?
The main question therefore is: do you believe that Jesus is the Christ (the anointed one, the Messiah)? This is a question of epic proportions since millions and millions of people all over the world are looking for the answer, especially within the Jewish and Islamic religions. It is a very important question that can only be answered with yes or no. If your answer is YES, you can and will experience the spiritual rebirth. Dare to say it out loud: I believe that Jesus is the Christ, He is the Son of God. If you sincerely mean this, it will without a doubt change your life forever!
In the next blog post I will take a closer look at WHY we need to be born again, namely the blockade between God and mankind: sin.
Marja:
ReplyDeleteThe concept of being born again is one that takes time to understand. We had a president (Jimmy Carter) who said he was born again. This brought up a lot of discussion while he was running for office.
That's indeed so Cecelia, I did NOT understand the concept until it happened to me :)
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