You Must Be Born From Above!

Most of us have seen what a full house renovation looks like! I don’t mean a little cosmetic here and there, I mean a complete transformation of the house. It can be such a joy to see the final result of a house being renovated! But the process is messy! We all want to see quickly the finished product but it takes time! Time to plan/ to refine, to remove walls and roof, to apply a new roof, new windows, new paint, new chimney, new Kitchen, new bedrooms, new pantry closets… It takes time to remove old things! I wish I can show you the before and after picture of a renovated house! It is simply amazing! Just to gaze at the transformation! Jesus did not compare human transformation to house renovation, I did. Jesus compared human transformation to a new birth! A Jewish leader in the Great Sanhedrin (Nicodemus) had come at night to ask a question about our souls’ salvation. What is beyond all this that we see in this world? He knew Jesus was a teacher from God with great revelation from heaven. What kind of heavenly Kingdom was Nicodemus expecting to hear? Was it the one with external pomp and power? The one with F-22 planes flying over and sophisticated military weaponry? I imagine Nicodemus asking Jesus: “Rabbi, what is this your Kingdom like?” Jesus points him and all of us to the necessity of new birth from above, without which none of us, could see this Kingdom from heaven! This question leads us to ask ourselves: "Am I born from above?" To deal with this question, we would need to visit the book of Genesis. God called Abram and promised to bless him. His faith in God and obedience was counted as righteousness: He listened to God! It means he obeyed by faith in God! It turns out this promise was to become a blessing to many nations because of Abraham’s faith and obedience. Salvation is and remains God’s gift. By faith, we become Abraham’s descendants! Heirs of the same promise. If you have faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, you are one of his promised descendants as innumerable as the stars in the sky or sand in oceans. Yes, there is a profound connection there with our great-great grandfather Abraham by faith. Look, I may not have Jewish DNA, nor the Vikings DNA, but by faith in Christ, golly, I have gained divine DNA! There is this act of "BECOMING" that I see in Jesus words: “Except, a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” To be born again is to begin anew, with a new nature, new principles, new affections, new purpose! We must live a new life uncorrupted by the cultures of the day. Live like Polycarp one of the Church Fathers who never compromised his faith despite the politics of his day! At the time of our first birth, as a baby, we have a bent towards corruption and sin. Just watch a toddler, they are already saying this is mine! Jesus was saying that we must undergo a second birth! We must become less and less partakers of human nature (which we were born with the 1st time), and become partakers of divine life. This is the process of transformation. It is messy like a house renovation. The moment you begin turning your life around, there will be more distractions, and a powerful pull towards old habits. God is present with you! Ask him for grace to triumph over evil. This "BECOMING" is the process of being born from above, to a divine life. Nicodemus was a leader in search for meaning. Just like a senator in the midst of a stubborn majority senators, He lived in the midst of a powerful current of majority leaders representing all of us, who are mostly led by our own worldly desires. (Lord Jesus forgive us!) Jesus’ point was: Change your destiny today. Do not allow your trajectory to be led by worldly desires. Turn back to God, seek to acquire divine regeneration (Divine Renovation if you will!) Keep repairing! BECOME a completely different house worthy of divine life! The process will be messy! But the finished product is indeed what Christ came to die for. Amen.