May I suggest, Nicodemus was beginning to see the kingdom because he was already in possession of God's Spirit...only awaiting his needed conversion. John 1:8
Really appreciated the insights on this passage, especially about the bronze serpent. As a point of fact, I'm not a muslim, but I'm pretty sure one of the 99 names of "Allah" is "al-wadud" which apparently translates as "most loving". I also believe muslims have a completely wrong and skewed picture of a distant god, however I don't think they were correctly represented here when it was said that none of the 99 names of "Allah" pertain to him being loving or affectionate (even if he is far less intimate and far more capricious than the true God revealed in Jesus Christ). Appreciate all the work you do, and pray God blesses you all!
The New Birth in John 3:3 is a foreshadow of Baptism from Acts onward. John 3:5 And The Old Man / New Man Analogy The OldMan/NewMan, OldCreature/NewCreature concept (e.g., Eph 4:22,24, Col 3:9,10, Rom 6:6, Gal 6:15, II Cor 5:17) is but an extension of the “born again” concept. Rom 6:3-6 shows that the death of the old man of sin, and the resulting birth (resurrection) of the new man happens at baptism. Here’s how: · “our old man is crucified” (verse 6) - when we are “planted together (with Jesus) in the likeness of his death” (verse 5) - “planted … in the likeness of his death” has to be immersion in water, meaning, water baptism looks like a burial and resurrection, right? · we begin our “walk in newness of life” at baptism according to verse 4 Here is the point: Since Rom 6:3-6 teaches the Old Man / New Man transition happens at the time one is baptized in water, it confirms the new birth of John 3:5 happens at the time one is baptized in water since it really is the same analogy. So John 3:5 becomes another verse that conclusively proves a sinner has to be baptized to be saved.
![The New Birth + Q & A - [John 3 vv. 1 - 21] by D.A. Carson](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
