January 30, 2025, the 30th day of 2025
First Birth and New Birth
Though the message of repentance, turning away from sin and surrendering our all to Jesus may seem like a lot hangs on us, but it is ... View MoreJanuary 30, 2025, the 30th day of 2025
First Birth and New Birth
Though the message of repentance, turning away from sin and surrendering our all to Jesus may seem like a lot hangs on us, but it is only acceptance of what has been done for us, that takes more than head knowledge, it takes commitment. But without those steps we cannot get to the good stuff. We cannot be born again.
Jesus has done all the work that no one else could do. But He cannot do the work that is left for our free will choice.
God will never force anyone into His Kingdom! It is a choice. But how we choose matters, because the entry to the Kingdom of God, is Jesus. Jesus is the Way. There is no other way.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'"
John 14:6
Jesus describes salvation in Him as being born again.
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'”
John 3:3
We need to be born again, into an entirely new existence, while still remaining us. It is kind of like when we leave the womb as a baby. We remain the same baby outside the womb that we were on the inside, but everything else has basically changed for us.
The challenges are different, the dangers are different, how we breath, are nourished and eliminate waste are all different. So much is different. We are still the same baby. But we have been born.
Without salvation--new birth--we cannot be a child of God. Without new birth we cannot climb up on God's lap and snuggle in and let Him wash away the sin and darkness.
Without our first birth we cannot experience the tender care of our loving parents. It may have been a bloody, messy and painful process for us to be delivered from the womb, but most of that was endured by our mother, not us.
We don't remember the process of birth ourselves, but we didn't have to even struggle to get out, the womb itself contracted and expelled us.
We were warm, fed and comfortable in our womb. Without some outside intervention we would have been content to live and die in there. But our parents longing to see us would not be content to leave us so, and our mother definitely did not want us to remain inside forever.
A time came when outside forces pushed on us, making it not so comfortable inside, making us aware that maybe we were not made for this place forever, but for another. It had served its purpose, but was there something beyond this existence?
Leaving that comfortable place must always be somewhat of a shock, no matter how pleasant we try to make the transition for our baby. Lights, sounds, the chill of even the warnest air against our naked skin--unaccustomed to it--all would be shocks.
Wiping out eyes, cleaning out our nose, slapping us if we are not crying enough to make sure our lungs are properly functioning, all are jarring things.
But then comes the wrapping in a warm blanket and being placed in our mother's arms, and we are home again. The soft strokes as she ooohs and ahhhs over us, the gentle voice no longer muffled, the love emanating from her heart to ours, gives us peace. We are safe.
We can sleep, for a time at least, in total contentment. It was rough going, but it was handled and we are born.
We may not have wanted the change, it may have been frightening, but now we are on the outside, where our growth can continue, unhindered by the confines of the womb.
So it is in salvation, our new birth in Christ. At some point in our life we feel the tightness of the world around us. We feel that time is too short here and that we were made for more than this.
If we have been raised in a family that taught us about God, about salvation, we already know the way there and why this feeling came upon us.
We may choose salvation early, or we may decide we are going to see if there is some other way we want to check out, that seems more enticing to us.
Just because we know the way, does not mean we will readily take it. It takes commitment on our part. It takes a choice. It is not like the first birth where our life was in another's hands. This birth is in our hands.
And we can get distracted. We may get those twinges, but we often ignore them, make excuses for them, keep going on our way that leads away from God and to destruction.
Jesus made the way. But Jesus will not force us on the way. To be born again is to be born of the Spirit. It is a spiritual birth. And it takes a choice on our part.
Water, amniotic fluid, once surrounded us in the womb, and it burst forth when we burst forth. We were born of the water--the first birth.
But we were born into a world already cursed and though alive, we had the death sentence on us. We were not an eternal being that could enter Heaven when this life ended.
But Jesus made the way. And through changing our allegiance from this world to another, from the Earthly Kingdom to His Heavenly one, we are born again.
We do that through accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins, admitting we are a sinner and could not make it to God on our own, repenting of those sins and turning away from that life of sin. At the same time we are turning to Jesus as our Lord, our Master, our King in total, complete and unconditional surrender.
In that spiritual birth we gain a Heavenly citizenship and eternal life.
"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wants and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'”
John 3:5-8
We may look the same, as we did upon our first birth, but everything has changed! We are a new creation inside, the old has passed away and behold, we are new!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
II Corinthians 5:17
We have a new family, a Heavenly Father, and an older Brother in Jesus. Jesus may be our King and God our High King, but we are now of their family as well! This spiritual birth, birthed us into royalty!
Though we may be a child of God, we are called upon to serve Him in this world, as His obedient child. But we have the direction of the One Who came before us, Who became the Way to God, to help us.
Jesus is beloved of the Father, yet in obedience He became a human, was born, lived, suffered and died as He was asked to do, to become the Saviour of the World. And we follow Him!
But Jesus also rose again, in the flesh, as the firstfruit of those born of the flesh but resurrected by the Spirit. He became the way by which we could be saved and could have eternal life, could be born again!
We may be the servants of our Heavenly Father, under the Lordship of King Jesus, but God equips us for what He calls us to do. We are not alone in this!
We also have instant access to His throne room at all times, day or night, as God is our Daddy! We can call on Him for help, for instruction, for wisdom and make personal requests of Him just because we are His child.
We have the Bible, God's written word, to teach and instruct us. It is a treasure house and a treasure trove of knowledge, wisdom and guidance. It also is packed with warnings of what not to do!
In our new birth we also have spiritual siblings that go back to the beginning of creation until the end of time! Some we will meet in this life. Some only when this life ends. Some we will instantly connect with. Others we will learn to love despite our personality clashes, like in any family.
This new life in Christ is so amazing that every true Christian wants others to join the family of God through Jesus Christ!
Stay strong! The new birth is not something to miss out on!
NAN
