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| INSIGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE: To leave the condition of worldly existence and enter the realm of God’s grace is often understood as a second, spiritual birth. Jesus said, “You must be born anew.” The Christian who is born again in Christ becomes a child of God, experiences an intimacy with God, and has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him/her. The old self dies away, with its worldly desires and false views. To be born again, the Christian undergoes the rite of baptism by which he/she becomes open to receive Christ and the Holy Spirit. “The key pun in this passage (see, for example, Raymond Brown’s Anchor Bible commentary, vol. 1, pp. 130ff.) is the Greek word anothen, which can be translated as either “again” or “from above” — hence, Nicodemus’ misunderstanding. He is thinking in terms of being born again, and Jesus is trying to get him thinking in terms of being born from above — or both, being born again from above. The key, it seems, is that the source of rebirth comes from outside this world. Things of this world are flesh; the source of true life and power comes from above by the Spirit.” “The Gospel of John takes us back to the image of birthing to understand how the power of God works. There Jesus says “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (3:3) And Nicodemus wants to literalize Jesus’ statement. But Jesus comes back with talk of the “wind blowing where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This is not a biology problem. Understanding egg and sperm and cell division does not explain how new life comes. We get a foretaste of what God’s creating, transforming power does in life. The Divine call then is to trust the creative, transforming power of God in our lives, the call that urges, entices us into an unknown future, a future that is filled with new possibilities.” It transforms and gives a totally new identity which is why Jesus uses birth as the metaphor. Born-again Christians have a new “genetic” make-up thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Continued... |
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