John, Chapter 3
Understanding that heaven is also a place in this world; and understanding that the Name of the Lord is something which is in the heart of His children, look again at the third chapter of John. This is perhaps the most quoted passage of the New Testament.
John 3:1-4 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Notice that Nicodemus is astonished at the idea of a person being “born again”. At that time there was no concept of a person being born again. If a person were to experience a profound transformation they were not considered to have been born again, and we should not apply a modern definition to a phrase used in an ancient dialog. Since being born again had no meaning at that time we should look to how Christ defined this phrase that He had used.
John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Being born again means a person must have two births. The flesh is born of the flesh and the spirit (lower case) is born of the Spirit (upper case). This means the spirit comes from God. The spirit enters into the body of a child of God when the child of God is born. We do not choose to be born of the Spirit any more than we choose to be born of the flesh.
John 3:7-8 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.
We can not see the wind, but we can feel it, and we can see the effects of the wind as it blows the leaves of a tree. Likewise, we can not see the spirit; but we can feel it in ourselves, and we can see the effects of it in others. We can feel the Love from God in our hearts, and we can see others acting upon that same Love.
John 3:9-12 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
This is a transition or a turning point. By stating "If I have told you
earthly things" Christ is making it clear that what He has been telling
Nicodemus up to this point is matters of this world. What Christ has been
talking about up to this point is the kingdom of heaven in this world.
The spirit must be in the heart in order to be able to pray or perform
charity, which is to say, in order to be able to experience the joy of the
kingdom of God in this world. When a person is born that spirit must be born
in them as well. We cannot choose to have that spirit; it must be there
already for a person to seek it!
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The children of God are the ones who possess love, who were given love by God. They are the ones who are capable of prayer which is entering the kingdom of heaven in this world. The children of God can choose to enter the kingdom of heaven in this world, or they can choose to not enter the kingdom of heaven in this world.
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
After the turning point of verse twelve Christ turns His attention to the eternal Heaven to come on the Day of Judgment. "How shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" Notice that from the Earth no one deserves or has earned passage to eternal Heaven but Christ Himself.
John 3:13-18 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
To enter the eternal Heaven one must believe in the "name of the only begotten Son of God". This means there is hope even for the atheist and even for people who have lived and died without ever hearing the word “Jesus”. Believing in the generic “Name of the Lord” means believing in the essence of God; it means possessing and believing in love. Those who were born of God are said to believe on His name, and they are the children of God. More specifically they are the spirits within the children of God.
John 3:19-21 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Those who "hateth the light" and those who "cometh to the
light" are the same people. Christ had previously stated "That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit." It is the spirit that is "wrought in God" not the
flesh, so it is the spirit which "doeth truth". The flesh,
including the flesh of the saints, loves "darkness".
Darkness is mortality and death. With the influence of Satan we die, and
under the influence of Satan we love mortality. We see ourselves as Satan
sees us. We take pleasure in reproduction just as we take pleasure in eating
the flesh of animals. Fortunately we are not expected to overcome the
influence of Satan. It is necessary that we have children, and it is
expected that we will live as mortals and take pleasure in our mortality.
The pleasure of mortality is generally balanced with an equal measure of pain.
Luke 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
As we live our mortal lives we should be fair and honest in all of our worldly business and financial dealings. Killing an animal for food can be done with respect, and it is not a sin, but it is the dark nature of the world that life feeds on life. If we kill animals for food we should not kill them wastefully nor engage in cruelty. If we refrain from eating meat we should not feel or express self-righteousness toward those who do kill animals for food. It is necessary that we reproduce, but we should do so within the confines of a loving relationship which is what marriage is supposed to be. We should not feel or express self-righteousness toward those with lifestyles which are different from our own.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
The essential element of marriage is love, yet even in faithful marriage
there is a degree of lust. We should hold no grudge against whoremongers and
adulterers even if they have a higher degree of lust as they are not to be
judged by us. They will be judged by God.
As we live our mortal lives and enjoy our mortality we should realize that
our death is the desire of Satan and our mortality is the outcome of his
presence in the world. Life feeding on life and the resulting reproduction
is what is meant by darkness. This is what is meant by the world being the
dominion of Satan.
Darkness is the death all mortals will ultimately face, and it is an eternal
death. Because of our imperfections neither we nor our loved ones in the
grave fairly deserve resurrection and eternal life. Our spirit, and only our
spirit, is given eternal life by the Grace of Christ.
In the world to come we will not be killing animals and eating their flesh
nor will we reproduce. In the world to come we will have far more joy than
this world has to offer, but it will be joy that comes from a spiritual
union not pleasure that comes from a physical union. It will be joy that
comes from love not pleasure that comes from death. This is the difference
between the "light" and the "darkness". God is the
"light" for the "light" is love which is life and
happiness. God's desire is for His children to live and have great joy. The
"darkness" which is mortality, death and misery comes from Satan.
The mortality of humanity is the desire of Satan. Our flesh takes pleasure
in mortality, but our spirit "cometh to the light".