Title: New Life
Speaker: John Campbell
Date: 1st February 2026
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Summary: “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus said it plainly to Nicodemus, and it’s just as direct today. This episode unpacks that conversation from John 3 and traces the same idea all the way through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, showing that the call to become like a little child is not just a throwaway phrase but the entry point into everything God has for us.
The episode draws a clear line between natural birth and spiritual birth. When a baby is born, the first cry signals life. When someone is born again through baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, something similar happens: a new voice is activated, a new identity is given, and a new name is written. Just as God renamed Solomon “Jedidiah” (beloved of God) the moment he was born, God calls us his sons and daughters from the moment we step into new life in him.
The episode also takes a look at what it means to grow up spiritually. From milk to solid food, from basic sounds to full sentences, the development of a child gives us a picture of how faith matures. And through it all, God stays the parent: patient, merciful, and not keeping score. Psalm 103 puts it well: he does not deal with us according to our sins, but treats us with the same irrational love a parent has for a child.
Key Points:
- Being born again is not a metaphor. It involves baptism in water and receiving the Holy Spirit, and all four Gospels point to it as the entry requirement for the kingdom of God.
- God gives a new name and a new identity to everyone who is born again, just as he gave Solomon the name Jedidiah (“beloved of God”) from birth.
- Spiritual growth follows a pattern much like natural childhood, starting with the basics and building over time, and God remains a patient, loving parent throughout the whole journey.
Reference Scriptures:
- John 3:1-8
- Luke 18:15-17
- Mark 10:15
- Matthew 18:1-5
- Psalm 127:3-5
- Proverbs 17:6
- Hebrews 12:2
- 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 19
- John 16:21
- 2 Samuel 12:24-25
- Romans 8:14
- 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
- Galatians 4:7
- 1 Peter 1:2-3, 23-25
- 1 Peter 2:2
- 1 John 2:13
- Psalm 103:10-13
- Acts 2:38
- Titus 3:5
- Mark 16:16