Seeing Again! by Brian Turner

By Brian Turner
In John 3:3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (NKJV).This is an extremely well known verse. It is often quoted to refer to a particular experience. That experience is usually referred to as saying the sinner's prayer.  While the sinner's prayer is important and a great first step in following Christ, this verse has so much more depth. This verse is about a whole new way of life. At the time of our physical birth, we knew nothing about living in the material world. We had to be taught everything. For a while, things even had to be done for us, things such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
Seeing Again! by Brian Turner
 
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In John 3:3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (NKJV).This is an extremely well known verse. It is often quoted to refer to a particular experience. That experience is usually referred to as saying the sinner's prayer.  While the sinner's prayer is important and a great first step in following Christ, this verse has so much more depth. This verse is about a whole new way of life.
 
At the time of our physical birth, we knew nothing about living in the material world. We had to be taught everything. For a while, things even had to be done for us, things such as bathing, dressing, and eating. People had to assist us in these matters. As we grew, we learned to sit up, crawl, walk, run, and talk. We did not enter this world knowing how to live in it. We had to learn.
 
It is the same with our new birth. We do not enter our spiritual life in Christ knowing how to live in it as we should. We have to learn how to operate all over again. Others who are more experienced in the Spirit have to lead us and guide us. We have to relearn how to spiritually sit up, crawl, walk, run, and talk. As we do this, we become mature in our ability to walk in the Spirit. 
 
In maturing spiritually, our lives in the material world begin to change. This is the whole purpose of being born again. It is not just a spiritual experience, but it is a spiritual experience that spills over into our physical experience. As a matter of fact, it could be said that if there is no outward change, there is reason to suspect there has been no inward change. Being born again is living a whole new way of life. To be born again is to see again, to see anew with new eyes.
 
It is actually the new way of seeing, which causes the new way of living. This is true because being born again causes us to see the kingdom of heaven. Very often, when people think of seeing the kingdom, they think of some future experience to happen after death or at the second coming of Christ; however, this is only half the truth. The other half of the truth is that the kingdom of heaven is a present reality, not just a future reality we are awaiting. To see the kingdom is to see the kingdom here and now in the present moment. The new birth gives us new eyes to see the present kingdom.
 
This is what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. The kingdom is here. It is now. You must be born again to see God's kingdom. This is also what Jesus was saying when he preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17 NKJV). Repentance is the birth pangs, which precede the new birth. Without repentance, there is no being born again. 
 
A Present Kingdom
 
However, repentance does not occur due to a future kingdom. It is due to a present kingdom. Jesus said the kingdom was "at hand." In the normal, everyday sense of that phrase, we would understand "at hand" to mean, "I can reach out and grab whatever is at hand." Repentance is the reaching out and grabbing the kingdom, which is at hand. 
 
The kingdom is the whole new way of living, and the ability to see the present kingdom at work in the world is what gives us the ability to live our new life according to kingdom principles. Repentance is the change of mind that says, "I am turning from this dead, old way of living to a fresh, new way of living." Without being able to see the kingdom, we would not be able to live in the kingdom. We abide in the kingdom we can see. Whatever kingdom we are seeing is the kingdom in which we are dwelling. 
 
Living in the kingdom is being able to see with a brand new set of eyes. It is having the eyes to see what no one else can see. It is having the eyes to see the invisible. It is having the eyes to see the effects of the unseen world upon all that is visible. Living in the kingdom is being able to live as Jesus lived. The way Jesus lived is exemplified in his own words, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel" (John 5:19-20, NKJV). 
 
Being born again, being able to see the present kingdom, is being able to see what the Father is doing so we may participate with what he is doing. Our actions and behaviors are influenced by the kingdom we are seeing. What we behold we are becoming. Let us repent. Let us be born again. Let us gain a new set of eyes. May we see the kingdom so we may experience the kingdom life we are promised to live, in the here and now, in the present moment. 
 
Brian Turner
 
 

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