John 3:3 (NIV84) — 3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
I learned that verse in Sunday School. People would ask you if you were born again when I was young. The Greek reads more like, "born from above". What is amazing to me is that people who are born from above, who have given their lives to Christ, fail to see and experience the "above". What I mean is that the promise here isn't reserved for after death alone, it is "seeing" the Kingdom of God. To see (in the Greek) is to perceive, to experience, to become aware of. It means much more than viewing with the eye. Maybe that is why we have packaged this verse with the others, the until we get to heaven verses. Yet, that is not the context nor the meaning of the word. This teacher who prompted Jesus to say the famous line, you must be born again (born from above), didn't get it. That is the point. On earth a teacher of Israel didn't get heaven on earth. Jesus was heaven on earth. Nic just didn't get it.
John 3:5 (NIV84) — 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
"Enter" is another word that needs defining outside our physical world view. To enter is to move into a space or to enter an event. In context Jesus again is talking about the Kingdom of God which obviously penetrates the material world of this earthly realm. There is this interaction, this reality to which Jesus points to and says to Nicodemus, that unless you are born from above, you won't see it, experience it or enter into it. What that means is that the "it" (the Kingdom of God) can be seen, experienced and entered into. It is here, on earth, available to those who have had their eyes opened.
The question is then, why don't some "born again" Christians see it, experience it and even act like it is here? On earth. Right now. Why is it that when people look to experience the Kingdom, they are degraded as people who are seeking an experience? I don't know about you, but, if being born again opens me to experience and see the Kingdom of God, then bring on the experience, knowledge, understanding and sight! And don't forget about the love! There is no love like a love super powered by the Kingdom of God.
I learned that verse in Sunday School. People would ask you if you were born again when I was young. The Greek reads more like, "born from above". What is amazing to me is that people who are born from above, who have given their lives to Christ, fail to see and experience the "above". What I mean is that the promise here isn't reserved for after death alone, it is "seeing" the Kingdom of God. To see (in the Greek) is to perceive, to experience, to become aware of. It means much more than viewing with the eye. Maybe that is why we have packaged this verse with the others, the until we get to heaven verses. Yet, that is not the context nor the meaning of the word. This teacher who prompted Jesus to say the famous line, you must be born again (born from above), didn't get it. That is the point. On earth a teacher of Israel didn't get heaven on earth. Jesus was heaven on earth. Nic just didn't get it.
John 3:5 (NIV84) — 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
"Enter" is another word that needs defining outside our physical world view. To enter is to move into a space or to enter an event. In context Jesus again is talking about the Kingdom of God which obviously penetrates the material world of this earthly realm. There is this interaction, this reality to which Jesus points to and says to Nicodemus, that unless you are born from above, you won't see it, experience it or enter into it. What that means is that the "it" (the Kingdom of God) can be seen, experienced and entered into. It is here, on earth, available to those who have had their eyes opened.
The question is then, why don't some "born again" Christians see it, experience it and even act like it is here? On earth. Right now. Why is it that when people look to experience the Kingdom, they are degraded as people who are seeking an experience? I don't know about you, but, if being born again opens me to experience and see the Kingdom of God, then bring on the experience, knowledge, understanding and sight! And don't forget about the love! There is no love like a love super powered by the Kingdom of God.
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