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Humble Hero
put away sinful thoughts and renounce evil deeds. Love, humility,
and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the
place of sadness. When by faith we surrender to God, the power
that no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God.
We may know the beginning of redemption here, through personal
experience. Its results reach through eternal ages.
Nicodemus Begins to See the Light
While Jesus was speaking, some gleams of truth penetrated the
ruler’s mind. Yet he did not fully understand the Savior’s words. He
said wonderingly, “How can these things be?”
“Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?”
Jesus asked. Instead of feeling irritated over Jesus’ plain words
of truth, Nicodemus should have had a humble opinion of himself
because of his spiritual ignorance. Yet Christ spoke with such solemn
dignity and earnest love that Nicodemus was not offended.
But as Jesus explained that His mission was to establish a spiri-
tual kingdom instead of a temporal one, Nicodemus was troubled.
Jesus saw this and added, “If I have told you earthly things and you
do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
Not grasping the nature of Christ’s work on earth, Nicodemus could
not understand His work in heaven.
The Jews whom Jesus had driven from the temple were eager
to maintain an appearance of holiness, but they neglected holiness
of heart. While they insisted on the letter of the law, they were
constantly violating its spirit. Their great need was for the change
that Christ had been explaining to Nicodemus—a new moral birth, a
cleansing from sin, and a renewing of holiness.
There was no excuse for Israel’s blindness regarding the work of
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regeneration. David had prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Through Ezekiel God had
promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within
you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk
in My statutes.”
Psalm 51:10
;
Ezekiel 36:26, 27
.