Born-again Again?

It seemed like a sincere and reasonable question from a somewhat puzzled man. He was toldby Jesus that he must be ‘born-again’. His immediate reply seen in John 3:4 was understandable when considering that his spiritual eyes had not yet been opened. “Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

The surface answer was obviously known, both to himself, and by anyone else of that day. But this same question, if uttered some 2,000 years later in an hour of medical marvels, might bring a different response.

In a modern medical miracle, Macie Hope McCartney was born twice – but not in the typical way associated with the familiar biblical conversion. In this case, approximately 80% of the child’s body was literally removed from her mother’s womb so that surgeons could perform an emergency operation. A grapefruit-sized tumor was slowly taking up vital nutrients and squeezing life from the child. When the very delicate surgery was done, Macie was carefully placed back into the mother’s womb for 10 more weeks of the fragile pregnancy.

Doctors at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston revealed that only about 1 in 40,000 babies have Macie’s problem. The parents were told there would be a 10% chance of survival with the surgery but, without it, their child would certainly and literally starve to death in the womb. To them, even slim odds were better than no odds at all.

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, His reference to being born-again was obviously a spiritual one. The Savior also fully addressed the odds of gaining heaven without this transformation of the heart. The odds were zero. There was no other option or method in the mix. In verse 5 He declared that, without a spiritual rebirth, one “cannot see the kingdom of God”. Then later in verse 7, He reemphasized His view on the issue and in no uncertain terms. His words were concise but firm, “You must be born-again” – ‘must’ meaning there are no favorable odds or options for success otherwise!

Little Macie Hope was given a second chance at life. She was physically born twice. But for her, there still needs to be a third birth – the spiritual delivery shared byJesus in John 3 and further defined by Paul in Colossians 1:13-14. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus made it clear that a glorious eternity in heaven requires multiple births. For Macie, that will mean three. But for most of us, the winning number is just two as the apostle Peter refers to in his first epistle, chapter 1, and verses 22-24. “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”

The conception and succeeding physical birth of a human being is a stunning and God-ordained event. The Psalmist credited God and described the majesty of it all by writing, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14)

But there is something more here, something of utmost importance. The beginning of every human life brings with it the actual creation of a living soul - something destined to live as long as does its Creator! But even the miraculous fashioning of the human body remains incomplete, spiritually malformed, and destined for judgement unless it is united by the rebirth of that eternal entity within it through faith in Christ.

It may be unpopular. But it is unalterable. And it is unavoidable!
“You must be born-again”.

Bill Breckenridge