We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for the purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them. That a saving work must first be done in the heart is taken for granted here. The spiritual faculties of the unregenerate man lie asleep in his nature, unused and for every purpose dead; that is the stroke which has fallen upon us by sin. They may be quickened to active life again by the operation of the Holy Spirit in regeneration; that is one of the immeasurable benefits which come to us through Christ’s atoning work on the cross. – A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Apprehending God.

John 3:3    Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:5    Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council (verse 1) and a teacher of Israel (verse 10), obviously is a religious man and respects Jesus as a spiritual teacher. However, it becomes evident to the observer that, as Jesus has diagnosed immediately and thus aims at the heart of the matter, Nicodemus is not a spiritual man. At every step he misunderstands the message and confuses the issue.

Now, being born “again” can also be understood as being born from above. But Nicodemus cannot imagine such an odd concept and his question in response lets us know that he is thinking in literal terms of returning to his mother’s womb. When Jesus explains that he is speaking about something that is spiritual, Nicodemus wonders. “How can these things be?” That’s when Jesus bluntly confronts his spiritual ignorance.

The Old Testament, the Scriptures that Nicodemus was supposed to have studied and been able to handle as a teacher of Israel, foretold a time when God would make a new covenant with His people, make them new and place His Spirit in them. Surely, Nicodemus was aware of the work of God’s Spirit in those Scriptures. Surely, he could recall the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, where the Lord raised up those bones, bringing them together to form the structure on which he would place flesh and skin and breathe life into them by His Spirit.

Ezekiel 37:13-14 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

God’s presence cannot be comprehended or apprehended by “flesh and blood.” In order to connect with and relate to a spiritual entity, we must have a spiritual awakening. We must be “born again,” “born from above,” “born of the Spirit.” Just like Nicodemus you may be a religious person, an educated scholar, a Bible teacher, a leader by position, but if you have not experienced a spiritual birth, you are still “dead in your trespasses and sin” and in need of a spiritual birth. You will never be able to impress God with your pedigree. A spiritual relationship is what is required. It can’t be bought, it can’t be earned, it is not deserved. It can be received, accepted, embraced.

We ought to be grateful that this exchange was recorded by John because it has brought us the most amazing and beloved verse in all the Bible.

John 3:16    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.