Jesus answered and said to him (Nicodemus), “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” John 3:3The turning point of human history, its archimedian point, was and is, the normative events of the incarnation of our Lord, His death, resurrection, ascension, and session—or, as in the slightly larger version of the Apostles Creed, He was: "born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day, He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” These words signify that nothing will ever be the same again. All has changed.
All that went before, under the Old Covenant was but preparatory and a prequel. With these great events, the Lord established the kingdom of God in the creation. This kingdom was, and is, the only way such a kingdom could be: it was and is universal; it was and is not limited to time nor place; it was and is totalitarian in its scope, embracing all of the created world and everything in it. Anything less would not be the kingdom of God, for the Lord is the creator of all things; His kingdom must therefore embrace all things that He has created.
In this text of the week, our Lord asserts that one can neither see nor enter His kingdom unless one is born again by the Spirit of God. The phrase “born again” has unfortunately in our day become temporarily trivialised and devalued. Contrary to the point our Lord was making to Nicodemus, many have come mistakenly to imagine that being “born again” is within the purview and command of man. Man does this or that, engages in this or that religious rite or ritual and he is born again, seeing and entering the kingdom of God.
Our Lord, however, insists that while being born of the Spirit is essential to even seeing, let alone entering the kingdom, it remains an act of God, not of man. He uses the analogy of the wind: you see the effect of the wind, you hear the sound of it, but you can neither command nor control it. It blows where it wills. You do not know where it comes from nor where it is going: “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
The essential event of being born again is God's work, not man's—and like all exclusively divine works, it can neither be commanded nor manipulated by man. Once regeneration has taken place, moreover, it cannot be denied, gainsaid, prevented, nor resisted by man. Once regeneration has occurred a person is made to see the kingdom, and is ineluctably and inevitably drawn into it. He therefore repents of his unbelief and sin; he believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation; he submits to Christ as his Lord and God; and he begins to live the life of faith and faithfulness.
This is why all human kingdoms, Athenian copycat, parallel imported, cloned, or knock-off kingdoms, are doomed to fail. Because they are not of God, they cannot change the human heart; they cannot effect regeneration. They cannot create a new man. Athenian kingdoms has tried. Oh, how they have tried. And they still try. They will die trying. But failure is inevitable. Only the Creator can re-create. Only the Creator can make a new man.
Athenian fake kingdoms may change outward behaviour for a time. But because man cannot re-create mankind, all Athenian knock-offs eventually revert true to type. Sin, unbelief, and degradation reassert themselves. But the kingdom of God represents a genuine new beginning because the heart of a man is changed. This God-wrought change of heart leads the Christian to say, “Here I stand. I can do no other.” The fear of Him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell vastly outweighs the fear of those who can destroy the body only. In Luther's immortal words:
That Word above all earthly powers--The kingdom of God is the only kingdom that will last—because it effects total change and transformation from the inside out. But it is also inevitable. Nothing can stop nor gainsay the kingdom becoming the stone which fills the whole earth. Why? Because nothing can prevent the Spirit of God bringing regeneration and new birth to men. Just as a man cannot prevent the wind from blowing, so he cannot prevent men being born again and then entering the kingdom of God.
No thanks to them--abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill,
God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
That is why the man Christ Jesus is the turning point of all human history. That is why nothing will ever be the same again. That is why Jesus declared the (former) ruler of this world to be cast out.
Blessed indeed are all those who have been born again, and as a consequence have seen and entered the kingdom of God.
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