The Day of New Beginnings

New Thinking for a New Day

 

John 3:
1 ¶  Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2  this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
3  Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4  Nicodemus *said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?"
5  Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7  "Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8  "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
 
One thing we as Christians have a tendency to do is revert back to old ways of thinking. The need for a new birth is because the old creation, consisting of the old, Adamic nature, is hopelessly corrupt and bent beyond repair. It can’t be fixed. Everything associated with it must be abandoned to experience the new life in Christ. Yet we tend to revert back to it even though it is incompatible with the kingdom of God. We return to old thought patterns and motives even after God has frustrated them again and again. When will we finally learn? It’s not easy. The new creation in Christ must grow in us until it consumes every other reality. The wants and desires of the Adamic nature are not compatible with the new nature in Christ. Many preachers will tell you that you can have it all, that your wants and desires can co-exist with the kingdom of God. Our old natures like to hear that. But it isn’t so. The proof of a new birth is a new way of thinking and a new set of values. 
 
Let’s read John 2 and get this same truth from a different perspective.
 
1 ¶  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
2  and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3  When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, "They have no wine."
4  And Jesus *said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."
5  His mother *said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
6  Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
7  Jesus *said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim.
8  And He *said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him.
9  When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom,
10  and *said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."
11  This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
 
These passages are rife with mystical truths. The third day points to the day of spirit which is opening now for God’s people. The third day is the day of resurrection in which fulfillment comes. Galilee is both the beginning and completion of Christ’s ministry in us. It represents the cycle of “three” that operates in the life of every believer who is moving on in God. The cycle of three is death, burial, and resurrection (See message, On the Road to Galilee). 
 
Jesus and His disciples were invited to a wedding. It’s in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb realm (Rev. 19:9) that the miracle transformation takes place in our lives. Let’s see how it works. The wine had run out and Mary tells the servants to do as Jesus says. Jesus seems reluctant, telling her His hour had not yet come. "Woman, what does that have to do with us? The phrase, “woman,” points to the realm of Zion, which is depicted in Scripture as both a woman and our mother (Gal.4:22-31). It’s the cry of hearts rooted in Zion, which is also the new birth, that the Lord responds to. There were six water pots. We know that six is the number of man. Those six water pots are indicative of the nature of man, empty and devoid of any life. Jesus commands they be filled with water. Water in the Scriptures symbolizes His word (Eph.5:26). It’s Christ’s word in us that changes us into the new wine of the Kingdom. The new wine is Christ’s nature. It comes forth last, just as Paul describes the principle in 1st Cor. 15:
 
45  So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46  However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
47  The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
48  As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
49  Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
50  Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
 
Notice verse nine from our text in John 2. The headwaiter did not know where the wine came from. This corresponds with John 3:8: "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." We are born again through the living word of Christ imparted to us. “…for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God (1st Pet. 1:23). It is a miracle manifestation beyond the reasoning of the Adamic mind. 
 
New goals, new expectations are to fill our hearts as we enter the new day of His kingdom. We don’t want to be frustrated because we habitually revert back to the old ways of thinking that belong to the old creation. It’s new thinking for a new day!