I’ve attended the children’s church for over five years of my early life on earth, so I had a sense of Jesus. However, nobody ever said you have to accept Him as my LORD and Saviour until 2007. March 27, 2007, precisely, I was born again. My mother led me to Christ in a way that was both apprehensive and deeply illustrative. That year felt as though it was the year of His second coming, so I accepted Him with fear and trembling—though with a bit of understanding. Perhaps I should take a moment to explain the concept of the new birth.

I've heard several non-believers speak condescendingly about this, often asking with sarcasm, "What does it mean to be born again?" Their scepticism echoes Nicodemus' honest question: "Can a man enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" (John 3:4). First, it's important to understand that the Kingdom of God is not merely a place but a realm—a heavenly dimension in which Jesus operated while on earth. Even Nicodemus acknowledged this when he said, "No one can do these miracles unless God is with him" (John 3:2).

This is the same realm—a kingdom and dominion Adam and Eve once operated in before they traded it away through sin (Genesis 1:28; 3:24). Man was originally created a ‘living soul’ (Genesis 2:7), designed to commune with the living God. Since it is the Spirit that gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6), we can deduce from the premise of those two truth statements that man was created a ‘spirited soul’. Unfortunately, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). As a result, man became a ‘dead soul’, and through one man, Adam, ironically, death was passed to all humanity by birth (Romans 5:12).

Likewise, and ironically, through the death of one man, Jesus, life was restored and made available by new birth to all who receive and believe in Him (John 1:12). Immanuel (God with us – Matt. 1:23) restores us with the presence of God. This is why He declared, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). The water cleanses, and it is the Spirit that gives life. No ‘unspirited soul’ can enter the Kingdom of God, let alone the Kingdom of Heaven.

Where I’m actually ahead will be completed in the next dose, but I’ll conclude on this note: ‘New birth’ is not a religious ritual but a spiritual transformation. It is the passage from death to life, from separation to reconciliation with God. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people alive. When we are born again, we are not merely improved versions of our old selves—we become entirely new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). Until we come to consciousness of our identity, we cannot walk in its reality.

Continued…