John 3:3-7 Jesus replied, “Very
truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom
of God unless they are
born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?”
Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb
to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very
truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth
to spirit. You
should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born
again.’
This week Michael writes that in Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus how they could recognize
the signs of His second coming. When we look back through the perspective
of human history, we must keep in mind His Story, the story of Jesus Christ
from the heavenly perspective of the Word of God. The first point of the Gospel
is that the nature of mankind is sinful, for all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God – Romans 3:23. We
were born with the sinful nature that we inherited from Adam. God originally
designed Adam according to His own spiritual nature. Adam’s spirit died the day
that he disobeyed God by doubting God and eating of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. The “fallen nature” of the flesh that we inherited from
Adam is opposed to God’s spiritual nature. However, when we were “born again”
by faith, God created within us a new spiritual nature in regeneration. The new
nature of the regenerated spirit that we inherited when we were “born again”
allows us to see heaven and to perceive the contrast between the “sinful nature”
of the flesh and the “righteous nature” of the Spirit of God, in Christ, in us.
If we, believing and having been “born again”, don’t have eternity in our
regenerated hearts by setting our affections on things above, we cannot
understand God’s eternal perspective.
Ephesians 2:1-6 “As for you,
you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you
used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit
who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us
also lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature
deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is
rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions - (born again) - it is by grace you have been saved. And God
raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
When the crisis comes and
courage is required, God expects His children to have such confidence in Him
that they will be the dependable ones. They will have the peace that
passes all understanding and the joy that cannot be stolen. They are the
ones who are willing to sacrifice for the good of others. This is the example
of our Lord Jesus Christ who looked evil in the face and acknowledged His
mission that He came not to condemn the world but rather to shed his innocent
blood that the world through him might be saved – John 3:17-18. When Saint Thomas Moore was sentenced to
death for his faithful stand, he said to his executioner, “Thank you for
sending me to my Father.” He understood the purpose for which God
designed him. As the Apostle Paul said, “I press toward the mark of the
upward calling of God in Christ Jesus” – Philippians
3:14 According to Micah 6:8,
"But what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?"
The devil’s purpose is the
exact opposite of God’s design for our lives. Jesus said, “The Thief
comes not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that
they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly” – John 10:10. Our adversary the devil was
a murderer and a liar from the beginning – John
8:44. This is the nature of the adversary and the fallen nature that we
inherited from Adam. The natural man cannot help but sin; it’s hard wired
into the fallen nature of the flesh. Before we were “born again”, we were
slaves to sin because we had no choice. We were held captive to the flesh and
to the adversary’s destructive purposes.
Let's pick up Michael's message "By Divine Design" tomorrow.
In Christ, Brian
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