+DEV+ The Rebirth

Date: October 2, 2014 10:07 PM

Topic: +DEV+  The Rebirth

The Rebirth

"Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" (John 3:3)

Scripture Focus: John 3:1-8

The Bible gives us word pictures to grasp how we are a part of God's family. The first image we'll look at is rebirth. Nicodemus pictured Jesus' words graphically: a grown man crawling back up the birth canal and into his mother's womb. What a disturbing and impossible image! If seeing the kingdom of God depends on that kind of human act, no one will ever make it. 

For a long time I understood salvation the way Nicodemus did, that it depended on some effort of my own. I longed to be a different kind of person, but no matter how I tried, I failed. My goodness wasn't consistent enough; my will-power wasn't strong enough. At best, I was frustrated; at worst, despairing. 

Jesus listened to Nicodemus and said, "I tell you the truth." He was describing a very different kind of experience, one of “spiritual” birth, done by the Holy Spirit Himself. Nicodemus misunderstood, yet in a way, he was right: no man can give himself new life. But God can, and it's a life far greater than the one that happens in the flesh.

Insight: What God has done for you is more amazing than you can imagine, and beyond anything you could accomplish on your own.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

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