Creator, Father, King #168

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

WIND.

It’s one of the most wonderful, mysterious forces in God’s creation. We can’t actually see wind; we can only see or feel its effects. It is without shape, size, or color.

But wind makes its presence known in obvious ways when we look outside: tree limbs swaying to and fro, litter swirling down the street, a balding man’s toupee threatening to fly away, etc. Wind delights us as we watch kites soar, and it wreaks destruction through hurricanes and tornadoes.

When Nicodemus, the Pharisee, visited Jesus at night, the Savior used wind to describe the mystery of regeneration. Here’s what he said in John 3:5-8:

I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.

Because it’s so important, we’re spending a second day on the subject of regeneration, or being spiritually “born again.”

What’s It Mean?

Like wind, spiritual regeneration is an invisible, hard-to-describe occurrence. God beautifully works in human hearts in inexplicable, miraculous ways that are not fully comprehensible to us. But regeneration is real, and Scripture speaks of it often.

Regeneration is a one-time, life-changing event, initiated by God, to bring a spiritually dead person to life through Christ. God’s sovereign initiative here is crucial to understand. Human faith is necessary for salvation (Hebrews 11:6), but we can’t manufacture faith on our own because of our sinful nature. It is God who awakens our spiritually dead hearts to see our great need for a Savior, repent, and receive the good news of Jesus. This is what it means to be “born again.” At that point, we respond in faith and repentance toward Christ.

The wind of God’s gracious regeneration is blowing. Have you answered?

Now What?

Prayerfully meditate on the following verses on regeneration: Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 1:12-13; Colossians 2:13; James 1:18; and 1 Peter 1:3.

Did You Know?

Carefully read Ephesians 2:8-9. God’s “gift” is not only the grace and salvation he offers, but the faith he produces in you—through spiritual regeneration—to receive the gift!