John 3:1-8
Jesus teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus was a teacher himself of Jewish scriptures...He was with the Sanhedrin ruling party...He came to Jesus at night...The Sanhedrin party, in general, was not in favor of Jesus and His teachings...Maybe that is why Nicodemus came at night...Maybe he did not want to be seen...
Nicodemus knows Jesus is from God...He tells Jesus no one can do miracles and signs (as He did them) and not come from God...
Jesus tells him that no one can see the kingdom of God, unless he is born again...Perhaps Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the Kingdom of God is more than a place...It is the attitude we take when we serve the LORD...It is how we feel about God and our neighbors...It is what happens when we follow God, serve God's will, and truly trust in the LORD...When we do that we are born again...
Birth means we are coming to life...It is the beginning of life... Everything, after we are born, is an adventure...After we are born we take that great trip through youth...When we are reborn we must seek God, having new principles, having new purposes...We take that great adventure with Jesus, seeking God, then listening to Him, then doing God's will, while always trusting in Him...
While many in Israel thought that being in a Jewish family and following the Law of Moses were of the most important things about their religion, Jesus says there is more...The Spirit is what gets us closer to our LORD...
So when Nicodemus says we cannot be reborn...Jesus tells him he is mistaken...We have two births...The first one water is our birth of the flesh...The second is a different kind of birth, it is our spiritual birth...We can become closer to God with the Spirit...The Holy Spirit produces a birth, so we can be reborn...The Holy Spirit is what produces children of God...This new birth is from heaven...
We even have trouble understanding the wind, where it comes from and where it is going...The wind is like the Spirit, we do not know where it comes from and we do not know where the wind or Spirit is going...Only God does...
The wisdom of the Spirit is from God alone, how we receive this is through faith alone...