God's Word For Every Day

Bread and wine - these were the elements chosen by Jesus to teach us about His dying love. The bread speaks to us of Jesus' body broken for us. The wine speaks to us of Jesus' blood shed for us. Jesus used bread and wine to proclaim His salvation. He did this at the Last Supper, but that wasn't the first time that Jesus had used bread and wine as visual aids to help us to understand the meaning of His salvation. Before the Last Supper, there were the miracles of turning water into wine and the feeding of the five thousand. (1) The miracle of turning water into wine, along with the cleansing of the Temple, proclaims the miracle of the new birth. It leads us into the words of Jesus - "You must be born again" (John 3;3). The contrast between the water and the wine speaks to us of the contrast between "that which is born of the flesh" and "that which is born of the Spirit." The transformation of the water into wine speaks of the new birth w...

Am I going to heaven? - This is the most important question of all. Jesus says, "Unless one is born anew, again, from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" ( John 3:3 ). Here, Jesus is speaking about the new birth, the second birth, the heavenly birth. His words weren't spoken to the publican in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. They weren't spoken to the woman caught in adultery. They weren't spoken to the thief on the cross. They were spoken to a "Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews" ( John 3:1 ). Nicodemus said to Jesus, "You are a teacher come from God" ( John 3:2 ), but this didn't take him far enough. He still needed to hear the words, "You must be born again." He needed to be shown his need of the Saviour. Jesus' statement concerning the new birth is His supreme message to the world. It's a message that runs counter to human pride. The new birth is a divider of the human race. Either you are bo...

'He's a born again Christian.' This phrase suggests that there are some Christians who are born again, and there are  other Christians who are not born again. What are we to make of this? According to Jesus, you cannot be a Christian unless you have been born again. There is no such thing as a Christian, who has not been born again. To be a Christian is to be born again. Jesus doesn't say that some people need to be born again, and other people can be Christians without being born again. Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3). He doesn't say, 'Being born again might be a good idea for some of you, but there are others for whom it's not really all that important.' Jesus says, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). The new birth can be described in different ways: 'born from above', 'born of the Spirit', 'born anew.' Each phrase teaches us somethin...

"We know ... " ( John 3:2 ). Nicodemus claimed to know a great deal about Jesus. Jesus had done great miracles. These miracles signified that God was with Jesus. Jesus was a teacher, sent by God. He acknowledged that Jesus was a teacher, sent by God, but did he receive Jesus' teaching? This is an important question for us! Jesus was unimpressed by Nicodemus' claim to knowledge. Nicodemus could know nothing without a new birth ( John 3:3 ).. The new birth was a "must" ( John 3:7 ). It is possible to know a great deal, and yet know nothing that really matters. This is true of our society. We have more knowledge than at any other time in human history, yet there's a strange absence of the kind of knowledge which brings meaning to life. From Nicodemus, we learn that reason can take us on a journey towards faith, but it will not take us all the way to faith ( John 3:4 : John 3:9 ). We may be impressed by the arguments, used to support the ...

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew (from above), he cannot see the Kingdom of God” ( John 3:3 ). (1) The absolute need of the new birth – because of sin ( Romans 3:23 ); (2) The Gospel basis for the new birth is the death of Christ for us ( Titus 3:3-7 ). (3) The indispensable condition for the new birth is personal faith in Christ ( John 1:12-13 ). (4) The spiritual character of the new birth – by the Spirit through the Word ( 1 Peter 1:23-25 ); (5) The spiritual benefits of the new birth:      (a) a child of God ( Galatians 4:4-6 );      (b) a new creation ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 );      (c) partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1;3-4);      (d) sharing in Christ’s victory ( 1 John 5:4-5 );      (e) eternal life ( 1 John 5:11-12 ).