Note 6 at Jn. 3:10: The new birth was not a reality until Jesus had risen from the dead. This is evident by the fact that Jesus was the first begotten from the dead (Col. 1:18; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 1:5). He was quickened, or made alive by the Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18), and became the first born again or first begotten from the dead.

However, the new birth was prophesied in the Old Testament (Ezek. 11:19; 36:25-27), and as a master of Israel, Nicodemus should have understood what Jesus was speaking of.