One day, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night with a word of encouragement. Most Jews during that time were pushing, shuffling and rejecting Jesus and His teachings. But Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3:2)

If I were next to Jesus as one of His Disciples, I would have first hugged Nicodemus and said, “Bravo! Spot on, Nicodemus! While others denied that Jesus came from God, here you are saying the exact thing Jesus has been trying to tell everyone. Good for you, brother! Take five! Well, you are one of us then! Come and join us for dinner!”

Well, Jesus didn’t respond to Nicodemus like that, not even close. This was Jesus’ reply: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3)

Wow! Nicodemus didn’t talk about the Kingdom of God. He was just simply appreciating and admiring Jesus and His works.

Why did Jesus then respond to him like that?

Because Nicodemus was appreciating and admiring Jesus from his own understanding of who Jesus was. He saw Jesus as a good teacher, maybe as a better teacher than most teachers of the law Nicodemus knew at that time. He thought Jesus was teaching others to be good citizens who behave nicely to all people at all times at any cost. Nicodemus didn’t know that the Jesus who was standing in front of him was (is) in fact the Son of God who came to give brand new life to all who believe in Him! So, He missed Him; and Jesus couldn’t overlook that! So, He ceased the moment to tell him the most glorious truth which has ever told in the Bible: “- – – no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again”

So, my friend, let me ask you: Are you born-again? Are you brand new creation in Christ? (2 Corinthians 5:17) You and I, unless we are born-again as Jesus said, we can’t see the Kingdom of God, we can’t understand the things of God, there is no way for us to know Jesus as He is and we can’t have the life the Bible is talking about.

If you are not “born-again” and struggling with porn and other sexual stuff which you passionately hate but don’t know how to stop it, deciding to be born-again will be the answer. Finding your new identity and nature in Christ sometimes breaks lose all shackles of sin from your life. If being born-again doesn’t do that, it sure will give you all the armors of God which will help you break free from each one of the sinful shackles which hold you down. Above all, when you become born again, you will see the Kingdom of God in this life and the life that is yet to come. ///