Except for God (who is without beginning or end), everyone has a birthday. We might all have different ideas of what the best age is or debate what ‘age’ we think we might have in heaven, but birthdays are common experiences to us all and the date of our births is recorded in all manner of official documents (passports, driving licences, on job applications and in NHS documents, to name but a few.)
Mark preached not so much on the importance of our earthly birthdays, however, but on the importance of us all having a second birthday which will determine whether we have everlasting life with God or not. John 3:1-7 is the famous passage where Jesus talks to Nicodemus about being born not only of water (which represents our natural birth) but also of the Spirit (which represents our spiritual birth). Nicodemus struggled to understand this teaching, but Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit must be involved in new spiritual birth and that without being born again, no one will enter the kingdom of God.
Our second birth is even more important than our first, for here we receive God’s gift of eternal life. For some, that birth was gradual and a specific date can’t be remembered. For others, the date is vividly edged on our memories as we recall when we finally surrendered to Jesus (for me, that second birthday was 27th October 1983, and I remember that ordinary Thursday afternoon when I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour with immense gratitude and joy all these years later.) We may have very little to do with our first birth, but our second birth only comes as we receive God’s gift of life by faith and accept Christ as our Saviour; we are active participants with God in this birth!
Do you have a second birthday to celebrate? If not, today could be the date you will always remember: 12th June 2011. Mark it well, for there are those who will enter the kingdom of God on this date, thanks to His amazing grace!