The Offense of the Cross

“Jesus answered him, “Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (‘born from above‘), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 ESV

In John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that to have eternal life and see the kingdom of God, a person has to be born again (born twice) – once a natural birth (born of water) and then once from above (born of the Spirit).

What does it mean to be “born again?” When we are physically born, we are still spiritually dead and the only way for us to have eternal life is for our dead spirit to be born through faith in Jesus Christ. His death on the cross paid our sin debt and when we choose to put our faith in His sacrifice rather than our own impossible efforts and make Him the Lord of our life, then our spirit will be born and we will be as the scripture describes a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and behold a man was standing before him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said, “Are you for us or our adversaries?” and He said “No, I am the Commander of the Army of the Lord. Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Joshua 5:13-14 ESV

We must remember what The Commander of the Army of the Lord (Jesus) said to Joshua here. He made it clear that He did not come to earth to take sides – He came to take over. He came to this world to be Lord of ALL. We must be born again and give Him control over our all of our life and trade our will for His will. Then we will have a better life – here on earth and for eternity. There is no peace like the peace of surrendering your life to Him. The best rest we will ever have is when we stop trying to make our life what we want and give it to Him and say “Make it what You want, Lord.”

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 ESV