Devotional #21: Being Born Again
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
-John 3:3 (NIV).
In the first half of this devotional book, we have evaluated God’s passion for healing, purpose for our lives, provision of the armor we need to fight our battles, and His promises of faithfulness. At this point, we must understand that God’s promises are only available for those who are “born again,” including his promise of everlasting life in heaven. The term “born again” may be somewhat loaded. Perhaps you have heard this term before but do not understand what it means. If so, you are not alone.
Two thousand years ago, a man named Nicodemus was confused by this term as well. He asked of Jesus, “how can someone be born when they are old?” “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4 NIV). Jesus explained, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” After revealing God’s plans for Jesus’ own death and resurrection, Jesus continued, “For 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.” (John 3:16 NIV).
Love. Love compelled Jesus to leave the beauty of Heaven and come to a fallen, sinful, and broken world. Love empowered Jesus to endure forty days of grueling trial and temptation in the wilderness. Love drove Jesus to the cross. Love caused Him to take our payment for sin, and His love rose Him from the grave so that we could live in God’s promises and have eternal life with Him. Such love is hard to comprehend.
I love how Judah Smith, pastor of the Churchome in Seattle, formerly the City Church, phrased this in his sermon Jesus is loving Barabbas:
“Could it be that there is a God with a Love so Scandalous, so Wide, so Deep, so Vast, so High, so Expansive, so Welcoming, so Inclusive, [that he would say] Let me have your sins…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E4Pdik0wuY
Yes, there is such a God, and His desire is that you would be born again. But how can someone be born again? In Romans, the apostle Paul answers this question: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10 NIV).
Two important points now arise. First, being born again is not something you can do for yourself. Only God has that power. We cannot earn our way into Heaven. God is so holy and so pure that we need the covering of Christ over our sins. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NIV). Second, we do not have to “wait and see” what happens. We can have assurance of our salvation before our physical bodies die, and we will also get the promises God provides to those who have accepted this gift, which have been discussed in earlier devotions.
I have come to find that people often have misconceptions about what it means to be born again. While our physical bodies will die, everyone’s soul will live for eternity. We a have a choice where this life will be spent, either Heaven or Hell. This is the single most important choice we will make in our lives, and choosing nothing is the same as rejecting God. God respects us enough to give use free will do decide this ourselves. He will not force us to follow Him.
Hell is best understood as the complete absence of God. The Bible describes it as a “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matthew 13:41 NIV), and “an eternal fire for the devil and his demons” (Matthew 25:41 NIV). Think of the most horrendous act of cruelty you can imagine. Because the holiness of God is absent and unable to mitigate this evil, the forces that prompt such acts abound in Hell and surround its residents for all of eternity. Sadly, many Christians fear saying this truth because they could be ridiculed or rejected. What a greater injustice it is to those who reject the gift of being born again because no one spoke the truth about eternity!
On the other hand, those who accept God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus, spend eternity absent of all evil, pain, and sorrow. When you accept this salvation, you become an adopted child of God (Ephesians 1:5 NIV), and He prepares a room for us in His own house. (John 14:2 NIV). What we consider “Heaven,” includes a new Earth that God will create which will be exciting beyond our wildest imaginations. In his book Heaven, author Randy Alcorn states:
Our belief that Heaven will be boring (and I hear this from people all the time) betrays a heresy — that God is boring. I think that we will see that for the lie it is if we realize that Heaven is God’s place and it’s the person whose place it is that determines the nature of the place….if we’re experiencing the invigorating stirrings of God’s Spirit and trusting Him to daily fill our lives with divine appointments, experiencing the childlike delights of His gracious daily kindnesses to us, then we will know that God is exciting and Heaven is exhilarating. People who love God crave His companionship. To be in His presence will be the very opposite of boredom.
As someone fighting cancer, I take comfort in my knowledge that do not need to have a “bucket list.” On the new earth, I will be able to experience everything I may miss on earth-every untraveled place and unaccomplished experience, and I will do so with full health, energy, and mental sharpness. I hope you will be able to join me.
The wonderful news is that you can be born again, even today. As Paul tells us: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10 NIV). The first step is believing God raised Jesus from the dead. If you struggle with this step, I encourage you to pray to God that he would reveal to you whether this is true, or not. I do not think you will be disappointed. Once you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, you need to accept Him and declare verbally that “Jesus is Lord.” This can be done by praying a “prayer of salvation,” in which you confess your sins and acknowledge Christ as your Savior, and then telling someone of your decision.
A prayer of salvation can be as simple as:
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.
Upon doing this, you should seek a Bible-believing church so you can be connected to the Christian community. Again, I would pray that God would help you to do this. In the next several devotionals, we will explore the reasons why people who hear the message of being born again do not accept it and what it will be like to spend eternity with Christ on the new earth. Even if you are already born again, I ask that your read the upcoming devotionals because there are insights that will help you grow in your relationship with Christ.
For Additional Study & Discussion
1. If you are born again, share your “salvation story.” If you are not born again, what is keeping you from making a decision to be born again?
2. Read John 3:1-21. What part of this scripture stands out most to you?
3. What do you most look forward to in your life in eternity?