Must

“Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.””  John 3:7

Must – Perhaps you never thought about it but it is true nonetheless.  There is a divine necessity to life, written into the structure of existence.  When a believer is claimed by the divine will, life can never be lived again as a haphazard wandering through events.  Life becomes what God deems necessary.

Jesus says, “Don’t be surprised that I tell you.”  He is speaking to Nicodemus, but he uses the plural “you”.  His words are for a much bigger audience than the man sitting in the dark.  This bit of divine necessity applies to all of us.  Jesus understood that the plan of salvation was woven into the fabric of the universe.  This plan reflects God’s divine will.  There is no other way.

Christians have always espoused the doctrine that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.  But the little Greek word dei can tell us a lot more about the other necessities of God’s view of life.  This need to be born from above (“born again” is not a very good translation) is only one of many God appointed requirements.

Necessity is written into the celebration of the Passover sacrifice (Luke 22:7).  Necessity governs the fulfillment of Scripture (Matthew 26:54).  Necessity controls the suffering of the Messiah (Mark 8:31 and Luke 9:22).  Divine necessity was the reason for the imprisonment and trial of Jesus (Luke 24:7).  Divine necessity was the basis of the glory of the tomb (Luke 24:26).  Necessity pushed forward the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (Luke 24:44).  In fact, every facet of the life of Jesus is written with the Father’s hand.  He was the man of necessary destiny.

But what a mistake if we should think that dei is a word that describes only that singular life of the man Jesus.  Luke doesn’t stop seeing God’s divine necessity in the lives of every believer.  Jesus tells his followers that He will tell them what they must do.  Their lives are as much governed by the necessary will of the Father as His.  Dei is the word that describes you!  God’s hand presses you onto the path of His choosing.  The man or woman of God knows this and follows willingly.  It is necessary because the Father says so.

How much of your life is governed by a consciousness of necessity?