John 3:8 says, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The Greek word for wind, pneuma, is the same word as for spirit. Whether it means wind or spirit depends upon the context. The context here says that it blows and that the sound of it can be heard. This indicates that it is the wind. A regenerated person is like the wind, which can be realized, but which is beyond understanding. Regeneration is not a physical thing, but a spiritual thing, like the pneuma. It is like the wind. The wind is intangible. Although the wind is intangible, it can be realized. The Lord told Nicodemus that the regenerated spirit, like the wind, is not physical and tangible, but invisible and spiritual.
Regeneration transpires on earth. The Lord told Nicodemus, “If I told you of things on earth and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you of things in heaven?” (3:12). The “things on earth” in this verse does not mean things of an earthly nature, but things which transpire on earth, including redemption, regeneration, etc. The “things in heaven” in this verse also does not mean things of a heavenly nature, but things which transpire in heaven. In the following verse, the Lord said that He is the One who descended out of heaven and who is still in heaven. This indicates that He knows the things which transpire in heaven, because He is the One who is in heaven all the time. At the same time He is on earth telling people the things on earth, of which regeneration is one item.
In verse 3 the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and in verse 5 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The Lord’s words here are a clear revelation that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. There is no other way by which we can enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, to see or to enter into the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.
A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. If you want to share in a certain kind of kingdom, you first need the life of that kingdom. Only birds can partake of the bird kingdom because only they have the life of a bird. Likewise, only men can participate in the human kingdom because only they have a human life. So, without the life of God, how could we ever share the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God, but also the divine realm or sphere. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life of God. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom. Thus, we need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. Even if we were not fallen or sinful, we would still need to be born again, because regardless of how good, pure, and clean our human life might be, it is not able to realize the things of the divine realm and it is not qualified to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life is qualified to be in the divine realm. Only the life of God meets the requirements of the kingdom of God. How can our human life know the divine things of the kingdom of God? How can it match the divine kingdom? It is impossible. We need the divine life. We need to be born again. Regeneration is the only way, the unique entrance, into the kingdom of God.
The divine life brings us into the kingdom of God. We were all born into the human kingdom. No one has ever been naturalized into the kingdom of man. For example, when a dog is born, he immediately finds himself in the dog kingdom. He knows everything about being a dog. There is no need for anyone to teach him to be a dog, saying, “Little dog, you must know that you are a dog, that you are in the dog kingdom, and that from now on you must bark every day.” A dog is in the dog kingdom and knows all about being a dog by birth. This is why the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born into the kingdom of God. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by learning or by being naturalized. Although you may be naturalized to be a citizen of a particular nation, you can never be naturalized into a kingdom. A dog cannot be naturalized into the cat kingdom. Suppose someone would say to a dog, “Little dog, I like you. I want to change your nationality. You were born into the dog kingdom, but I want to naturalize you into the cat kingdom.” If you try to do this, you will cause the cat kingdom a great deal of trouble. The correct way to bring a dog into the cat kingdom is to regenerate the dog with the life of a cat. If a dog could be reborn with the life of a cat, that little dog would spontaneously be translated from the dog kingdom into the cat kingdom.
When we were regenerated, we were translated into the kingdom of God. Colossians 1:13 says that God “delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” We were translated by being regenerated and now we are in the kingdom of God. When we called on the name of the Lord, the divine Spirit came into us, regenerating us and causing us to be born into the kingdom of God. Although you may know very little about the kingdom of God, your spirit within you knows about the kingdom. The divine life in your spirit knows the kingdom of God.
Many Christians depend too much upon teachings. Many young people have come to me, asking about such things as smoking, attending the movies, eating, dressing, and marrying. Young people have a great many questions about these matters. Whenever a young person comes to me with such a question, I always turn the question to him and say, “Why do you ask me whether or not you should smoke? You know better than I do. You shouldn’t come to ask me, for you already know the answer. The reason you come to ask me is that you want confirmation, but I will never give you that kind of confirmation. Tell me the truth, don’t you already know whether or not you should smoke?” Once he admits that he already knows, I go a little further and ask him, “How do you know? Where do you know?” They always tell me that they have something within them that knows. We know because we have been born into the kingdom of God.
It is unnecessary for a preacher or minister to tell people what to do. Do you need to teach a dog to bark? If you were to try to teach a dog to bark, and if that dog could speak, he would say, “I don’t need your teachings. I just bark. I was born to bark and I live in the barking kingdom. Since my kingdom is the kingdom of barking, and since I have a barking life, I don’t need to be taught. I cannot help but bark.” Likewise, we all have been born into the kingdom of God. As a result, we simply “know” certain things. If you ask me how I know, I would reply, “I just know.” I know that I am a man. I do not need anyone to teach me that I am a man. I simply am a man. Just as I am a man in the kingdom of man, so, because I have the divine life, I am also a son of God in the kingdom of God. I have the life of God, and this life places me into the kingdom of God. In fact, I am not only in the kingdom of God, but also in God Himself.
Because we are in the kingdom of God, there are certain things that we cannot do, even if we try to do them. If you purposely try to lose your temper, you will find that you cannot do it. If you determine to beat your wife, you will discover that you cannot do that either. What is the reason for this? The reason is that you are in the kingdom of God and that the life of God keeps you from doing such things. This is the kingdom of God. Hallelujah, we are in it!