How to See the Kingdom of God

John 3:3

“No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

New Birth is an essential, not an optional extra. Apparently I can't see God's kingdom without it. Jesus said so! It is the lenses not designer frames. So what is this new birth?

A careful look at four New Testament leaders will help. The before and after pictures of these people are amazing. Warts are removed and disfigured features are restored. Each of them encounters Jesus and then SEES the Kingdom. Everything changes!

1. Peter: Rebirth for one who messed up.

We know Peter as the disciple who denied Jesus. Although he boasted firm allegiance in the upper room, he could not stand up to the interrogation of a servant girl. He lied. He cursed. And when the rooster crowed he wept. Peter forsook Kingdom preaching and returned to fishing. That’s the “before” picture.

Then Jesus’ resurrection changed everything. At breakfast on the beach Peter’s failure was forgiven and his commission was renewed (John 21). He was, to put it simply, born again!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” he says. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)

Peter messed up! Jesus gave him a fresh start and a vision of the Kingdom. That’s what it means to be born again.

 

2. James: Rebirth for one who was slow to get it.

James grew up with Jesus (Matt 13:15). He ate at the same table and played with the same toys. Like all brothers he probably wanted Jesus to excel. But Jesus started to do and say crazy things that got the religious leaders very angry. The family became convinced he was out of his mind and they went to take charge of him. (Mark 3:21)

How does a person, who once thought his brother was a lunatic, come to preach that his brother is the saviour of the world, then write a book of the Bible and lead a key church? Answer: he is born again. The witness of Jesus’ resurrection and the work of God’s Spirit in James totally reversed his thinking.

That can still happen today. It can happen to intractable atheists and to obstinate church leaders. There is nothing more beautiful than a truly humble person who declares “I was so wrong”, and then lives a new-life to make it right. That life is “a kind of first-fruits” of God’s Kingdom. (James 1:18) Can you SEE it?

3. John: Rebirth for a good guy.

John was the baby of the twelve. He had a pushy mother (Matt 20:20) and a passionate brother (Acts 7). John was probably Jesus’ closest friend. At the last supper he sat next to Jesus and from the cross Jesus trusted him with the care of his mother.

How does a person come to worship his mate as Lord? He has a rebirth. John gives us the clearest statement of what it really means to be born again in Jesus:  “… 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) And when you are born of God you can SEE it!

4. Paul: Rebirth for all.

Paul was a missionary to Gentiles. He was a man “made alive with Christ” (Eph 2:5) who wanted Gentile outsiders to become “adopted” children of Abraham (unlike Jews who were already physical decedents and needed to be born again! Rom 11:17). He was passionate in his desire for Gentiles to SEE the Kingdom. So passionate that he laboured over every convert.

Paul was their mother. He bends the birth metaphor to make a different point. Without diminishing the Spirit’s role in new-birth, Paul emphasises his role also. “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now …” (Gal 4:19, 20)

A missionary and a mother – that’s what it means to be born again. That’s what it means to SEE the Kingdom of God and to want others to see it too. It is worth the pain.

It’s beautiful

If you want to SEE the Kingdom you will need to be reborn. A messed up life, a pattern of wrong thinking or just respecting Jesus will blind you. An encounter with Jesus’ cross, empty tomb and gift of the Spirit will open your eyes. You will SEE the Kingdom. It’s like having your brain taken out and reinstalled. Then you will want others to SEE it and surrender to it. And you will be ready to labour for it. It’s called new birth and it’s beautiful.

Questions

• Have you welcomed God's work of "new-birth" in your life? 
• What changes has God made in you?
• For whom are you "in the pains of child birth" right now? Do you need to make that commitment for someone's sake?

This post was published in the Feb 2011 edition of The Witness, a publication of the Baptist Union of Victoria