Jesus and Nick-Part 3

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit”   John 3:7-8

Jesus often used nature to explain a truth to those to whom He spoke because everyone is familiar with nature.  We all know sunshine, rain, storms, snow, wind, cold, and hot.  The Holy Spirit, as Jesus described, was compared to wind.  What do we know about wind?  Scientists tell us that wind is caused by the heating and cooling of the earth’s atmosphere.  I am sure there is a highly technical explanation for how wind forms by jet streams, cold fronts, warm fronts, and what goes on in the upper atmosphere.  The climate change worshipers would have us to believe that man controls the weather so that they can figure out a way to tax us and make more money for themselves while at the same time flying their private jets apparently oblivious to the amount of carbon emissions that are produced.  I have written before that “climate change theology” is nothing more than modern-day Baal worship.

Christians believe that God controls the weather and always has controlled it.  If I am standing outside and a big puff of wind comes along, I don’t know from where it came, nor do I know where it will go when it leaves my yard, and neither can I see it, but I know that it was there because I felt the effects of it.  The wind is also very powerful.  There was a tree in my neighborhood that wind blew over a few years ago.  It must have had a circumference of 12 to 15 feet at its base and was likely over 100 years old.  It was a very strong wind that blew that tree over like it was a feather.  The lesson here is to never take God’s power in nature for granted.  Referring back to the climate change folks, do they ever consider that violent storms and extreme temperatures could be indications that God is trying to wake us up to our sinful ways?  They probably don’t since they ignore God to their own hurt.

Like the wind, we don’t know from where the Holy Spirit comes nor where He goes, and we can’t see Him, but we know He has been present with us because we feel the effects of His presence.  He is powerful.  He can awaken an evil sin-infested heart and lead it to the purifying blood of Christ, the only thing that can remove the stains of sin and wash us whiter than snow, another comparison to nature.  Being born again by the Spirit of God makes us like a newborn baby with an opportunity to start life all over again.  A second chance, a clean slate.  The new birth is a gift from God the Father.  It can’t be explained by human reasoning.  Even those who reject the Holy Spirit know that He has been in their presence because they feel His convicting Spirit.

Nicodemus still didn’t understand the new birth.  But, before we fault him, I still don’t understand it either.  I can tell you my reaction to the conviction of my sin by the Holy Spirit, but I can’t tell you how He gave me a new life.  That has to be one of the greatest miracles of all time.  How else can a life inherently marred by sin become free from carrying that sin burden?  No amount of turning over a new leaf or doing good works can do what the Lord can do in forgiving sin and making us new.  The Holy Spirit’s work in bringing about the new birth to an individual is a great mystery, yet His method in reaching or attempting to reach a lost soul is clearly seen.  One must hear the gospel message, the Holy Spirit brings conviction, that is, enforces the fact that one is a sinner separated from God by his or her sins which convicts him or her of his or her guilt before a holy God.  The next step is to repent, that is, turn from sin, place faith in Jesus Christ, and then the repentant sinner is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Old things are passed away and all things become new (II Corinthians 5:17).

Next time: Jesus rebukes Nicodemus in “Jesus and Nick-Part 4”