John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The state man finds himself within before God is grim. It may seem hopeless. Left to himself he is in a helpless and hopeless state. What man needs is a Savior. For man to even know his Savior, he must be given life to do so. That is where spiritual birth comes in. Listen to how one obtains this spiritual birth from the mouth of Jesus Himself.
John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Look at what Jesus says. Remember He is speaking to a pharisee. This pharisee above all others should know the things of God. Jesus tells him unless you are born again, or born from above, you cannot see much less enter the kingdom of God. Man cannot see the things of God unless he is born again. Man does not enter the world with spiritual life, he must be born again. To know God, he must be born again. How much power does he have over his being born again? Jesus says as much power as you have to control the wind. The fact is that man cannot be born again of his own will or power. Can you will the wind to stop? Can you overpower the wind? The answer to these questions is no you cannot. Jesus is illustrating where man stands. He stands as Paul writes to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Man stands with no hope. No hope to know God, no hope to see God. Man is in the most hopeless of states if left to himself.
Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Colossians 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Herein lies the glory of God. That he would make us meet, that He would do what we could not. He did this, He made peace through the blood of His cross. Our salvation lies in the cross. Do not confuse the new birth with the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is where we find our salvation. The new birth is where we find spiritual life to look to the cross. Dead men cannot look to a savior, they must be awakened. We are awakened to see that the sin that condemned us has been put away and that the trial is over. What Christ tells us above is that this process is in the hands of God. Our birth is from above. Our birth is by the Spirit and always in connection with God’s word.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
He transforms or generates us with the word of truth. We cannot be born of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. That which is false can only bring death. He is the truth. By the Holy Spirit in connection with the word of truth we are born of God.
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.