The Lord Jesus has told Nicodemus of the necessity, the nature, and the Author of the new birth, but he still said, “How can these things be?” Was it a personal question? Did Nicodemus want to know how such a miracle as regeneration could be wrought in himself, even though he might still be unwilling to admit the need for it? Whether this be true or not, Jesus now used the Scriptures with which this master in Israel was very familiar to tell him how he could be born again.

John 3:14-15

^“14 And as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Every Jew knew the Old Testament incident. The Israelites were murmuring against God and Moses. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people; they were bitten by them, and large numbers were dying. Moses prayed for their deliverance, and the Lord told him to make a serpent of brass and to put it upon a pole so that everyone who was bitten when he looked upon it should live.

The serpent of sin has put its deadly poison into every descendant of Adam. But God lifted up His Son, “made in the likeness of sinful flesh,” to the cross, where He put away sin and all its deadly effects by the sacrifice of Himself. One believing look at the serpent meant life to the death-smitten Israelite. One believing look at the crucified One means life to the one dead in trespasses and sins.

“There is life for a look at the Crucified One;     There is life at this moment for thee;  Then, look, sinner, look unto Him, and be saved,     Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.”

The cross of Christ reveals to us the Son of God dying as our Savior. We look to Him in faith, and the Holy Spirit implants in us the life of God and imparts to us the nature of God. We are born again. The cross of Jesus Christ is the believer’s spiritual birthplace.

At the cross of Christ, through the new birth, the sinner leaves the family of Satan and becomes a son and an heir in the family of God. The new birth causes a radical reversal in his filial relationship.

Galatians 3:26

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

1 John 3:8-10

⁸ ”He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ¹⁰ By this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither is he that loveth not his brother.”

Romans 8:16-17

^16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God; ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Through the new birth, at the cross of Christ, the rebel, the alien, the outlaw becomes a citizen in the Kingdom of God.

Philippians 3:20

For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

Hallelujah! By faith in Christ Jesus, we have left the family of Satan and are today the children of God.