Chapter 5
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
– John 3:3
We hear this so often, it must wear ‘tired’ in our ears and on our senses. What exactly does it mean to be ‘born again’? We should go back to the original Scripture and see what in its original form it described.
The Wikipedia definition is “In some Christian movements, particularly in Evangelicalism, to be born again is a popular phrase referring to “spiritual rebirth”, or a regeneration of the human spirit by the Holy Spirit. … Individuals who profess to be “born again” often state that they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” In essence, a ‘realization’ that doing it ‘alone’ is a challenge. Surprisingly, The Word draws upon this concept so many times. We may have worries, problems, challenges and they are made do much easier when we learn how to lay them out.
Occasionally I’m asked a question by a reader that really makes me think. One that makes me immediately say to myself: Goodness, I don’t know the answer to that question. But the cool thing is that while I truthfully don’t know the answer, I do know where to find the answers to life’s questions. So I turn to God’s Word and read and study- praying for the Lord to show me the answer.
The question I’m answering today doesn’t have an easy, pat answer that you throw out there to pacify someone. The depth from which a question is asked must also be the depth from which a question is answered. Here’s our question for today:
Thanks for the post. The reminder to leave my burden at Jesus’ feet is one that I’m really working on right now. Sometimes, though, I really am not sure how I’m supposed to do that. What does it look like, practically speaking, to leave my burdens at His feet? Do you have a specific example of a time in your life when you did this?
The question is tough because we are taking sometimes intangible items (our burdens) and placing them in an invisible, though real place (Jesus’ feet.)
1K+how to leave your burdens at the feet of jesus
What is the answer as to how to leave your burdens at the feet of Jesus?
In I Samuel 1&2, we find the story of Hannah, a woman whose greatest desire was to have a child. We can imagine the anguish this desire caused Hannah to have. In my book, The Sensational Scent of Prayer, the two prayers of Hannah are examined and described. The first prayer of Hannah simply requests that God give her a son. Without explaining all the detail contained in the book, let’s look at Hannah’s own description of her prayer:
but have poured out my soul before the LORD. I Sam. 1:15
Think for a moment of a pitcher filled with water.
This pitcher represents our life and the water represents our burdens. Wow- that pitcher sure is heavy when filled with all the burdens!
So we go to time with God and pour some water out of the pitcher. We talk to God about our burdens and we attempt to listen to what He is telling us.
But the pitcher is so heavy, we tire of holding it. And while much of the water (our burdens) remains contained in the pitcher, we walk away from our time with God, carrying the burdens with us.
A little while later, maybe hours, maybe days, we return to the Lord in conversation with our pitcher of burdens still in tow. And that pitcher seems even heavier than before because of the weight.
But instead of relinquishing it all to God, we carry our pitcher back out of our time spent with Him. Lugging the weight of burdens like we enjoy it- though we claim it to be our worst enemy.
Hannah gives us a wonderful description of what she did with her burden. She poured out her soul before the Lord. She wasn’t about to walk away until she told God everything on her heart regarding the matter. She wasn’t about to leave that place until she had spent every ounce of her energy, strength and dignity explaining her need to God.
Again, I ask “What does it mean to be born again?” A born-again Christian is someone who has repented of their sins and turned to Christ for their salvation, and as a result has become part of God’s family forever. All this takes place as God’s Spirit works in our lives.
Even growing up Catholic at the time of confirmation though it is missed by many. In baptism as a baby; our parents made the decision for us. Now being ‘older’ and able to understand the ‘right from the wrong.’ And just what is ‘asked of us’, we are told where to leave our concerns our worries.
In the past, when John the Baptist baptize in the river, it was a big thing. But even he said, there is one coming whose straps on His sandals, I am not worthy to loosen. We have Him waiting patiently for us to open the door for Him to come in our lives.
And we see what was said; Jesus answered and said unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
– John 3:3
What did He mean? Jesus made this statement to a man named Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews. Nicodemus had heard Jesus preaching about a new kind of kingdom, and he came to ask Jesus questions about it. Jesus told him that the way to enter this new kingdom was to be born again.
Nicodemus asked Him the same question you or I might ask: How can a man be born again? Can he enter into his mother’s womb again? Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the new birth He was talking about was not physical but spiritual. It was the beginning of a new life in a new kingdom.
Jesus answered, “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”
– John 3:5-7
The way back to God is to acknowledge our need of a Savior and to accept Jesus Christ
The term “born again” is one of the most used phrases among present-day Christians. Yet, if asked what the term born again means, most church members could not give a clear explanation. The importance of this subject is shown in what Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Jesus is saying that to be born again is to be saved. Being born again is the plan of salvation that Jesus authored at Calvary. It is imperative that we understand what is required for us to be born again!
All agree that when Jesus went to the cross, He brought in the means of salvation for everyone who will accept it. But what really happened at Calvary? What can it do for me? How do I accept what was done there in my own personal life?
At Calvary, there were three steps to the work of Christ: death, burial, and resurrection (I Corinthians 15:1-4). It is very easy to see that these three steps make up the act of being born again spoken of by Jesus (John 3:1-5); to die, to be buried, and to rise again—that is to be born again. So we see that Jesus, through His death, burial, and resurrection, bought for us the plan of being born again spoken of in John 3:3, whereby we receive salvation.
The fact that Jesus purchased a plan of salvation for us is the greatest news the world has ever received. The thing we must understand is that not only was it necessary for Jesus to do something, but also it is absolutely essential for us to act upon what He did. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
The phrase “born again” literally means “born from above.” Nicodemus had a real need. He needed a change of his heart—a spiritual transformation. New birth, being born again, is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the person who believes (2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-4, 18). John 1:12, 13 indicates that being “born again” also carries the idea of “becoming children of God” through trust in the name of Jesus Christ.
The question logically comes, “Why does a person need to be born again?” The apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (NKJV). To the Romans he wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sinners are spiritually “dead”; when they receive spiritual life through faith in Christ, the Bible likens it to a rebirth. Only those who are born again have their sins forgiven and have a relationship with God.
How does that come to be? Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” When one is saved, he/she has been born again, spiritually renewed, and is now a child of God by right of new birth. Trusting in Jesus Christ, the One who paid the penalty of sin when He died on the cross, is the means to be “born again.” “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you have never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, will you consider the prompting of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to your heart? You need to be born again. Will you pray the prayer of repentance and become a new creation in Christ today? “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).
Being born into a Catholic home, the term was really never used much. Of course I wondered why. Was this solely a “‘believers church thing”? I can be more specific. If ones ‘true’ relationship starts with the knowledge of Christ, whate