Born From Above

One of the most well known conversations Jesus had with an individual is found in the third chapter of John. In this chapter, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to learn more about Him. He did not ask any questions at first, he simply began the conversation with Jesus by recognizing Him as a teacher from God and with the miracle-working power of God, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3:2.

Jesus answered Nicodemus by getting right to the point of what they needed to talk about. He said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a person is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Greek word, amen, comes from the Hebrew word, amen, and means, “it is true, it is so.” In John’s gospel it is sometimes translated as “verily, verily” or “truly, truly.”

You say “amen” after you have heard something that you would identify as the truth. Jesus would say it before He would say something (notice as you read John the places that Jesus used this word). Some have wondered why. Jesus said that He only spoke what He heard the Father say. Jesus would hear the Father something, would say amen amen, then, would speak what He just heard! Amen!

The word “above,” sometimes translated “again,” is the Greek word anothen, and is called an adverb of place. It is used in Matthew 27:51 to describe how, upon the death of Jesus, the curtain in the Temple was torn from top (used there) to bottom, identifying the place it was torn from.

Nicodemus had trouble with this and Jesus continued leading him to see that the birth He was speaking of was from above by the Holy Spirit. The first birth was a natural birth, by water, but the second birth would be from above by the Holy Spirit, a spiritual birth. Then Jesus told him as straight as it gets, “…You must be born from above.” 3:7. The word “must” is the Greek word, day, and communicates the element of necessity, of no other choice.

For example, Jesus used this word when His parents found Him in the Temple as a twelve-year-old boy when He said, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Also in Matthew 16:21 as Jesus began to tell His disciples “…that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things…” And again in John 3:14 in His conversation with Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up…” And again in 3:30 when John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

It was during this personal conversation with Nicodemus that Jesus said the words that are learned by every believer, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. The Greek phrase “believes in” is, pestuo ice, and literally means to “believe into.” It is not an agreement of fact, but rather a direction, a destination, a location, which means that when you believe in Jesus, you follow after Him, you rest in Him, you are found with Him.

Nicodemus learned that night with Jesus that there was only one way into God’s Kingdom; to be born from above by the Holy Spirit by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and through faith in Him. There is no other choice but this one. It is an invitation from God and an individual choice that each person must make. The invitation is also a promise from God of life with Him, eternal life.

When you respond to His invitation by receiving His promise, you are born from above and have faith in Christ. God the Father offers His Son to you because of His eternal love for you, in order to live His Life through you, as you, before Him, and the watching world around you. The Holy Spirit makes it happen and the Son is glorified by this, which brings the Father great pleasure. And this is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth