Are you born-again?

ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?

You may have been asked that question before or you may be hearing this question for the first time. During the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, about 2000 years ago, He had told one of the Jewish leaders that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” ( John 3:3). The man called Nicodemus was startled and asked Jesus a question. “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time in to his mother's womb, and be born again?” (John 3:4)

Every human being alive is born of human parents. God has created man to procreate and bring forth children in the normal process. The mother gets pregnant by the husband and carries the baby in the womb for about nine months before giving birth. That is the normal birth of every man and woman and the first birth of the Christian.

However there is another kind of birth which the Christian must experience if he is to be true to his faith. We recall that God created

man in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). God blessed Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden. He told Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the eating of which would lead to death (Gen 2:16 -17). Unfortunately, Eve, Adam's wife fell to the temptation of the devil, ate the fruit of the forbidden tree and also gave Adam to eat. The disobedience of Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and resulted in man being cursed and thrown out of the Garden of God .

Sin separated man from the cordial fellowship and relationship which he hitherto had with God. Out of compassion for man, God sent Jesus Christ His Son to die in atonement for the sins of all mankind. Man has a tripartite nature, spirit, soul and body, all needed to deal with God and fellow human beings and the environment. (I Thess 5:23). The scriptures confirm that he that “ shall worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4:23).

For anyone to worship God in spirit, he must be transformed from the “sin nature” to the spirit nature. That is what Jesus Christ was relating to Nicodemus. Jesus Christ affirmed to Nicodemus that he must be born again. Jesus Christ died in atonement for the sin of man and rose from the dead in a final victory over Satan's stranglehold on man.

Any man or woman or person who confesses his sin nature and repents and accepts the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ passes from condemnation to salvation in Christ. He becomes a child of God “ But as many that received Him (Jesus Christ), to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believes on his name” (John 1:12) . The scriptures say “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (born a new creature); old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

The true believer is a reborn personality. It is not a physical but a spiritual rebirth into the family of God, as a son or daughter of God. It is in this new spiritual state that we are able to relate with God who is a Spirit and can worship Him, pray and receive answers from Him.

Now that you know what it is to be born again you might want to answer the question. “Are you born again?”