Daily EncouragementSample

The new birth is wonderful because it is the work and the gift of God. To be born again is to be born from above, of the Spirit. Says P. T. Forsyth, who like Nicodemus was a religious leader before being born again: “The great change was not a somersault I succeeded in turning with some divine help; it was a revolution effected in me by Him, comparable only to my entry into the world.”

The new birth is wonderful because it enables us to see the kingdom of God. The kingdom is basically the rule and the reign of God. It is “God’s rule in action.” In its full realization, it is still to come, but it is also a present reality. “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21, RSV). It is those who have been born again who see it. In the details of their daily lives, in the crisis hours, in the movements of history, they recognize the hand of God.

The new birth is wonderful because it makes it possible for us to receive “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:28) and to enter into it. What security we have in the midst of shaking kingdoms! What a message the new birth puts on our lips: “I have gone about preaching the kingdom . . . ” (Acts 20:25).