YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN
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? 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. (John 3:3-5 AV)
Rebirth
is required for SEEING the Kingdom.
Spiritual birth required to ENTER
the Kingdom.
But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17 AV)
We
are born spiritually dead because of the fall, and need to be born to spiritual
life.
That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John
3:6 AV)
The birth process
indicates a new child or generation has become a reality, in the case of
spiritual birth, there would be a new spiritual child, a child born of God.
But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: Which were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John
1:12-13 AV)
Here we see that the new
spiritual birth provides sonship with God if we believe on His name. We can now
see and enter the Kingdom of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1
Corinthians 2:12-13 AV)
Here is where the
mystery of God is revealed to us, in His spiritual Kingdom.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are
without, all these things are done in parables: (Mark 4:11 AV)
Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2:12 AV)
We are highly
privileged as sons of God to know the things of the Spirit of God, so that
those things we need as we minister the Gospel of our Lord in this world will
be by His provision given to us.
Master,
which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 AV)
We
know that God is Spirit, and that God is love.
He that loveth not
knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:8 AV), so it is expected of us
as His spiritual children to love Him and our neighbors.
From
this we can see that the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love. Where do we
find this Kingdom? God has written it in our hearts.
And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom
of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21 AV)
Our love must be the
love of God, or it is not love at all. The love we find in the world’s kingdoms
is selfish, fickle, manipulative and costly. God’s love is pure and self-giving
for the betterment of others.