John 3:4

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?

• New Birth
• Salvation
• Jesus
• Faith
• Transformation

In ancient times, Nicodemus served as a politician, priest, and professor at the same time. He is not misinterpreting Jesus, nor is he taking a literal view of Jesus' reference to being "born again". This question is being posed by him because he knows it is not what Jesus meant, but he is confused. According to Jesus, He is referring to a birth, but it is not a physical birth. Instead, this is a spiritual birth.
Christ recognized that sinful man in his fallen state could not be accepted into the spiritual realm of a holy God. Christ knew that being born into the old human race under the sinful Adam as the federal head meant being born into the sinful race. In other words, it meant to be born physically, to be born from below, and to be excluded from fellowship with a holy God and His heavenly kingdom.
Christ also knew that to be 'born-again' into a new race, one must be born spiritually or born imbued with the righteousness of Christ. In other words, it represented the birth of a new creation, a spiritual birth into the new creation in Christ, a spiritual transition from the 'old creation' in Adam to the 'new creation' in Christ for all who believe. In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, a man must be born again.

• the sun

• word of god

• lying