Wednesday, May 29, 2024
You must be born again. (John 3:7)
Every year our graduating high school students head off to college in search of a degree that will help open doors of opportunity in their chosen field. Some pick a particular path and pursue it until completion. Others make course corrections along the way until they find where they fit. But did you know that there is a degree available to everyone that transcends those from every college or university? It’s a B.A. from the College of Christ – Born Again!
Our text for today comes from the classic passage in the New Testament that recounts when Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, came to Jesus under the cover of darkness and asked some deep questions. During that encounter, Jesus uttered those famous words, “You must be born again.” Nicodemus responded in a way that made it clear he didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about: “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4).
“You are Israel’s teacher,” Jesus said, “and do you not understand these things?” If Nicodemus did not understand what “born again” meant, he definitely did not understand why it was necessary. Let’s take a look at both of these issues.
The phrase “born again” means to be born from above by the Almighty. In the College of Christ, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah and trusts in His life, death, and resurrection is born again from above. Here are a few passages of Scripture that define this Divine Degree.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3:5)
Now that we have a basic understanding of the meaning of “born again,” we need to know why it is necessary.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. (Ephesians 2:1)
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)
Of all the degrees we might pursue through higher education, the only one that truly matters, the “highest” one of all, the summum bonum, comes from the College of Christ. But here is the greatest news of all: Unlike every other degree, which must be earned through your financial commitment and disciplined effort, your B.A. from the College of Christ is not earned, but bestowed on us by the grace of God alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. That is the most important degree in the world – your B.A. – Born Again!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 