Читать книгу Born Again: How to Maximize Your New Life In Christ - Ruthven Roy - Страница 5

The main scripture for this chapter formed part of a very important conversation Jesus had with a prominent religious leader of His day. The Savior understood very clearly Nicodemus’ desperate hunger for peace and the assurance of salvation. While his religious pride drove Nicodemus to skirt around his pressing need, Jesus saved him the trouble by answering the unspoken request of his heart with the very decisive statement: “. . . unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ”(John 3:3).

Obviously, from the stand-point of the Savior of the world, to be born again is a very necessary kingdom experience. He said, without it no one can see or enter (John 3:3, 5) the kingdom of God—that is, the kingdom life. Therefore, it is critically important for all kingdom citizens and kingdom prospects to truly understand what this unique, supernatural event is all about.

Truth Nugget #1: “Born again” implies that some type of birth previously occurred.

For a person to be born again, that person must have been born sometime in the past. This first birth is what the Word of God calls natural or flesh birth, the one that originates from the lineage of Adam through our physical birth-parents. The second is what the Bible refers to as divine or spirit birth, the one that originates from Christ through our spiritual birth-parents—the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Here is a simple illustration of this truth:

Born Natural or “flesh and blood” birth

Born-again Divine or Spirit birth

These are the two birthing processes that Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus on the night when this Jewish leader sought His counsel. Further, these two experiences serve as reference points for all those who, like Nicodemus, are seeking eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said: “That which born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, emphasis mine).

It is very important for us to understand that Jesus did not say that that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual, but that it is spirit. There is a big difference between the two. Spirit points to existence or what the person or thing is; whereas spiritual describes nature or how that person or thing behaves or functions. However, these two elements of the born-again experience—spirit and spiritual—will be dealt with further a little later. Nevertheless, whatever is born of the Spirit is not flesh or natural, but spirit or divine. A dog cannot give birth to a cat, or a pig a horse. In the same way, whatever is born again of the Spirit of God cannot be flesh.

Truth Nugget #2: There could be no birth without preexistence.

In the natural realm, a person must first exist as a fetus before he can be born into this world. Now, if we should extend this truth backward, that person must first exist as a seed-life (sperm) in his father, waiting for the appropriate mother and time to provide the opportunity and environment for that seed to take root—that is, conception—and grow. Unless these occur, it is totally impossible for that sperm (seed) to become an embryo, and eventually be born into the world as a viable human being.

When we project this truth of pre-existence thousands of generations backwards, we understand that all naturally born human beings had their pre-existence in the seeds of the first man, Adam. Further, we must not forget that even though Adam needed Eve in order to “father” children into this world, Eve also came from a rib taken from him. Thus, Adam is really the father of all humanity— male and female species.

Truth Nugget #3: Pre-existence does not guarantee birth or safe, healthy delivery into this world.

Although all men carry seeds of potential human beings in themselves, if those seeds never leave their bodies to find the fertile wombs of the mothers appointed to bear them, they will never be born into this world. While a single emission of semen contains millions of egg-seeking sperms, it takes only one sperm to win the fight to penetrate that egg and start the life cycle of another human being. The remaining millions of potential candidates die without a trace. Their existence did not guarantee the completion of their mission to become a fetus in a woman’s womb, and later, a living being in the world.

Beside this “life-or-death” sperm fertilization race, there are many other adverse elements that can pose serious threat to the life of a developing fetus, reducing its chance to exit the womb as a newborn baby. Quite often, a pregnant woman never gives careful consideration to her pre-natal risks until she encounters severe complications with her pregnancy. I know women who have experienced great pain and devastating losses through pregnancy miscarriages. It took many of them several attempts and patient bed-rest before they gave birth to living infants.

Moreover, the infant’s traumatic journey to life through the vaginal passage is nothing short of a miraculous gift of God. Although the distance from the womb to the outside world averages less than a foot, it is fraught with many dangers, which often make giving birth a very long, harrowing experience. Additionally, the staggering increase of embryonic research and of unwanted and abnormal pregnancies are always very clear and present dangers that diminish the likelihood of a baby making it to the outside world.

Consequently, whatever the nature of an individual’s pre-existence before birth, there is absolutely no guarantee that he/she will experience a successful natural, healthy delivery into the world. However, the truth remains that all of humanity pre-existed in the first man, Adam, before anyone was ever born into this world. In the very same way, through God’s perfect plan of redemption, all of humanity has a spiritual pre-existence in Jesus Christ, giving all the opportunity to be born again into the eternal kingdom of heaven.

These two very important truths about humanity’s pre-existence are of vital significance to the following conversation in this book. Therefore, critical elements pertaining to both of them will be explained throughout this manuscript, in order to provide readers with a clearer understanding of the born-again experience.

Truth Nuggets Summary

1.Born again implies that some type of birth previously occurred.

2.There could be no birth without pre-existence.

3.Pre-existence does not guarantee birth or safe, healthy delivery into this world.

Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all me, because all sinned.

Romans 5:12, bracket mine