“And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This and that man was born in her,’
and the highest Himself shall establish her.
The Lord shall note, when He writes up the people,
‘This man was born there.’ ”
Psalm 87:5–6
Zion was a part of ancient Jerusalem, located on the northern end of the city where the temple stood. In the Old Testament, an Israelite did not need to be born in Zion to belong to God; he could be born anywhere and still be one of God’s people. In this New Covenant, however, only those born in Zion belong to God because in this covenant, Zion is a spiritual place. It is the body of Christ, the Assembly of God.
Isaiah promised that the Lord would call Zion by a new name, and when He sent Jesus, Jesus renamed Zion. He called it “my Assembly” (Mt. 16:18). The only way to enter into the Assembly of God, the new Zion, is to be spiritually born into it. This is why it was prophesied that “This and that man was born in her.”
Natural, human birth does not put anyone into Zion; only a spiritual birth. And this is why Jesus said, “You must be born again.” On the day of Pentecost, about 120 followers of Jesus, who had already been born naturally, were born again and entered into God’s new Zion, just as Isaiah had foretold: “Zion travailed; she brought forth her children” (Isa. 66:8).
Have you been “born there” yet? Remember, Jesus said, “You MUST be born again.”
