But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; (Matt 6:33a)
How many of us have read this scripture when we were just little babes in Christ and wondered , how in the world do we actually obtain this great secret called the Kingdom of God— I was very mystified when Jesus told the Pharisee’s that the Kingdom of God was within you because it didn’t fit in to what I thought I knew at the time.
When I was born-again, it was very, very powerful. However, all I realized was that I had the presence of God in my life forever (not a bad thing to know by any means). Many of you may be born-again now and have understanding of John Three.
My purpose in writing this blog is to show (as best I can) that the born-again experience opens for us a great door into the world of our spirit and that the Kingdom of God is indeed, within us. But first, I need to cover the instruction of Jesus in John Three.
NOW THERE was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews,
Now scripture records for us this man who is the perfect example of what the Pharisees believed about God at the time and who they believed God really was. Being a Pharisee, Nicodemus was also one of high rank and respect, who in his worldly learning of the scriptures and constant studying plus traditional teaching, believes he knows who God is. He’s intrigued about Jesus and most likely was being called by God toward His Son.
Who came to Jesus at night-
He comes in the dark. Not finding the light yet that Jesus Himself is. Nicodemus reveals how he see’s Jesus by His next statement.
and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him.
He (and his fellow Pharisees) know and are certain, based on all their schooling on scripture and their daily studying, that Jesus must be a teacher (as they are). Their world view and wisdom cannot reveal who Jesus really is. This is made more evident in Matt 16-
Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Jesus answered him,
Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.
Here it is then, a cross section of society here has seen Jesus and heard about the marvelous things He does and yet, they are all left with only their individual opinions. Jesus shows us why.
For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.
So, only God Himself is able to reveal to us who Jesus truly is. The disciple John explains that they were all shown the true glory of Jesus by the Father in John One:
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us;
and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.
Our next verse in John Three could almost follow the verses out of Matthew naturally.
Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, thatunless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.
Alright, here it is, you must be born again to even realize where the kingdom of God is. Plus experience it for yourself. I have a wonderful Facebook friend who cautioned me that I put to much emphasis on being born-again in my blog. He believes it might turn people off. Well, he may be right, but if the person who reads these blogs is not born-again, whatever I write won’t help them anyway. So I continue to stress it. I’m really writing to the born-again church in the first place. Further on here, you will see that the born-again experience leads us into many opened doors in the Spirit that are quite amazing. But first I need to cover John three.
Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born?
Now this is so revealing. Like Nicodemus, if God happens to speak something to us that we don’t understand, we immediately don’t want to believe it. We come up with reasons not to believe it- if we cannot find a way it could be true according to our natural life and understanding. Worst, if we do believe we may decide to try to accomplish it by our own works, which only delays, and complicates the matter.Watch the same attitude happen again as expressed by the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well in Jn 4.-
Jesus answered her, If you had only known and had recognized God’s gift and Who this is that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him [instead] and He would have given you living water. She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with [no drawing bucket] and the well is deep; how then can You provide living water?
Since Jesus had nothing to draw with she couldn’t accept that Jesus could do what He said. We will help ourselves greatly if when God tells us something will happen that seems impossible to us- like delivering us out of a bad situation we find ourselves in, or a blessing He promises too provide us, to just believe Him and leave the details to Him. And, learn to keep our hands off! These types of things from God usually happen when we can find no possible way according to the things of our world of accomplishing them.
Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezek. 36:25-27]
We have all been born of water. Water is the main substance which upholds every organ, every fluid, every part of that which makes up the structure of our entire outer physical being. But we are spiritual beings. Spiritual beings who are living within our physical nature who’s structure and make up consists mostly of water. Our spirit which is who we are, enters this world captured and under the rule of our physical nature. God’s salvation comes to us when and as we are born-again by His Spirit.
When we are baptized with water we are (immersed) into Christ’s death (Rom :6) . We realize that we were in Christ at the very moment He died on the cross. When He hung on that cross and died we were personally in Hin sharing His death. We have already paid the full penalty for all our sins. We have already died! Impossible for us to understand and impossible for us to reach this conclusion through normal reasoning. This truth must have God Himself involved with us for us to have faith enough to realize this actually happened. I will take us through Romans six in our next blog.
Release for us into freedom comes when God sends the Spirit of Christ to indwell and merge with our spirit, bringing with it the possibility of intimacy with God reserved and demonstrated only by a husband and wife. We then are truly the Bride of Christ. But there is still an overwhelming obstacle that somehow must be dealt with. This will also illustrate a very important work of the cross which is mostly overlooked by today’s teachers. Look at Romans 7:2-4
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Obvious. Although in this present world the marriage vows can hold little weight, we all know that a married women commits adultery if she’s ‘with’ a man other than her husband. If her husband were to pass away then there’s no problem, she is free to marry another.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even Christ.
Spiritually, we are that woman! We were ‘married’ to the Law in God’s eyes. However, in our Baptism we were ‘immersed’ into the death of Christ, and we have died in regards to the law. So then, we are free to marry another:
even to him who is raised from the dead,
God regarded Adam and Eve as One man called Adam. In marriage we become ‘One Flesh’. But what happens here is not happening in our flesh. It is a event that occurs exclusively in our spirit. We become ‘One with the Spirit of Christ and there is no divorce in God’s Kingdom.
that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Whatever we may do even if it appears wonderful, if it is not born out of our spirit being One with God’s Spirit it is not fruit. Why?
What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Whatever originates from our natural body including all our mental and emotional facilities are flesh. The flesh, that we are in the earthly realm is dead and as such, unacceptable. Whatever originates from our spirit and His Spirit (notice above, the first Spirit is capitalized while the second word spirit is not). What is born (originates) of His Spirit is birthed into our spirit- ideas and actions birthed this way will result in real fruit from and to God. For He never reaps where He didn’t sow.
Marvel not [do not be surprised, astonished] at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).
It should be apparent that these things cannot happen with one who is not born-again.
The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:3-5
A word (if you will) on how to get born-again. A look at Romans ten:
The Word (God’s message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach,
Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.
The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed. [No one] for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord over all [of us] and He generously bestows His riches upon all who call upon Him [in faith]. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved.
So then, call on His name (that is, who He is). Call and tell Him your desire. Ask Him to allow you to believe in your heart. Call until you are sincere. Insist that He allows you to believe and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Call today, tonight, tomorrow and next week. Remind Him what He said in Romans ten. Open the scriptures to that spot and read it to Him. Tell Him that He said it and that you want it. Get a Pastor or a Christian friend to pray with you regarding this. Call on His name in any and every way you can think of until you know He heard you. You may or may not feel anything at first. But begin to pay close attention to the little things of your life. You will begin to notice new things that begin to assure you that He heard. Begin reading the New Testament for now. Listen carefully to the words. Find a good church, perhaps one that a friend goes to. Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened onto you. Do not give up until you know.
We will continue to explore the amazing things God has provided for His born-again children in further blogs. Not much is said concerning the spiritual side of the Christean faith in America today- there is much to be said.
Hoping all is well with all of you.
God bles and may love fill your world.