When Christ Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3), "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,"' very naturally the Pharisee was perplexed, because his concept of birth was wholly material. He had not grasped the fact that our Master was speaking from a spiritual standpoint. Hence the further elucidation (verses 5, 7): "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.... Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
The entire world needs to be born again of purity and of the Spirit. Humanity needs desperately to learn war no more, to learn that there is but one Mind, one God, and that His creation, including individual man, is fearless, sinless, diseaseless, perfect, pure. Spiritual rebirth is not mere rejuvenation, but it is the restoration of a knowledge of man's permanent and true selfhood. "Know thyself," our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, counsels us in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 571), "and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil."
One of the beliefs that assail humanity is the lie of old age, which claims that the enthusiasm, endeavor, and activity of human life are doomed to wane and with passing of time even to stop altogether. Old age is not only a lie about man and his perfect state of well-being, but also a lie about God, His vast creation, and His government of the universe, including man.
