John now records Christ’s own appeal to souls. Salvation, the Lord tells Nicodemus, always has been to individuals by faith.
Have you been born again? Have you been radically changed? Have you had a real change, real conversion, and received Christian faculties by repentance and faith in Christ.
May the churches in whatever history is left before the Lord comes never drift from the new birth and salvation in Christ. It is so easily done. It happens to thousands of churches. There are so many Baptist churches, so-called, where even the ministers, let alone the people, would be as astonished to hear of this teaching of the need for a new birth as Nicodemus was.
What does this mean? ‘Even the Son of many which is in heaven.’ But the Son of man was on earth and speaking to Nicodemus at this very time. This is the record of their encounter. As the old preachers used to say, he is on earth and he is heaven at the same time. In his human nature he is on earth, but his divine nature extends to the heavens also; he is in heaven too. He is in a heavenly state. His interests are in heaven. He is following the heavenly plan in so many deep and profound senses. The Saviour was in heaven even while he was on earth. And that is something for Nicodemus to ponder.