ExploringGod's Word
Good News From The Lord
The Way into Kingdom of Heaven - Part 2 of 3
John 3:3
The moment we are saved through the grace of God, through the redemption that
is in Jesus, we are also born of the Spirit.
Three questions:
1. Why must we be born again?
2. How are we born again?
3. What is the nature of the new birth?
4. The necessity of the new birth
Why must we be born again?
In the beginning, “God created man in his own image. In God's image he created
him; male and female he created them” (WEB). The image of God that man was created
includes the natural image, political image, and the moral image. The natural
image includes a spiritual being with understanding, freedom of will, and
various affections. The political image includes the right to govern the world
with dominion over it and its creatures. The moral image according to the
Apostle Paul is true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians
Created in the image of God Adam was able to obey or disobey God. God warned
Adam if he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he
would die. Even after God warned Adam he would die if he ate the forbidden
fruit Adam ate the forbidden fruit. When he ate the forbidden fruit he
willfully disobeyed and rebelled against God. He openly declared he would
govern himself; he would not be subjected to the will of God, and would seek
his happiness in the world and the things of the world.
Note the phrase, warning “you shall surely die” (Genesis
There are those who claim the warning “you shall surely die” refers only to the
body. If the warning refers to only the body God lied, because Adam did not die
immediately after eating the forbidden fruit. According to Genesis chapter five
and verses three and four Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and became
the father of a son in his own likeness according to his image and named him
Seth. According to verse four the days of Adam after the birth of Seth were
eight hundred years, during this time he had other sons and daughters.
There is something very important in verses three and four that are often ignored.
Note, in verse three it is written Adam became the father of a son in his own
likeness according to his image. What was lacking in Adam when this son was
born, the moral image of God. In verse four it is written Adam lived eight
hundred years after the birth of Seth and had other sons and daughters. If Seth
was born in the likeness and image of Adam the other sons and daughters of Adam
were born in the likeness and image of Adam. If Seth and the other sons and
daughters of Adam were born in the likeness and image of Adam, every descendant
of Adam is born in the likeness and image of Adam.
What happened when Adam disobeyed and rebelled against God? First, immediately
following his disobedience and rebellion there was a spiritual change, the love
of God was extinguished in his soul, his soul was filled with fear, and he was
alienated from God. Adam’s fear was so great he tried to hide from God (Genesis
3:8). Second, when Adam disobeyed and rebelled against God he lost both the
knowledge and love of God and at the same time lost the moral image of God. He
sank into pride and self-will the image of Satan. He sank into sensual
appetites and desires. Therefore the warning, “you shall surely die” is not a
reference to the body it is a reference to the spirit. It refers to the loss of
the moral image of God.
The consequence of Adam’s disobedience and rebellion is that every descendant
of Adam comes into the spiritual dead; they come into the world with the same
mind and heart of Adam. They come into the world lacking the moral image of
God, His righteousness and holiness that was originally in Adam. They come into
the world baring the image of Satan, pride and self-will.
Adam’s sin resulted in the corruption of the human nature. Therefore we are
born in a state of sin and separation from God. Everyone who is born of a woman
must be born anew of the Holy Spirit. The old nature must be uprooted and
replaced by the godly nature that was uprooted when Adam disobeyed and rebelled
against God. This is why we must be born anew.
Since we must be born anew we need to know how we are born again.
The new birth is not by human powers or wisdom. How it begins and ends no man
knows.
Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel did not understand what Jesus was referring to
when He said, “unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God” even
though Jesus was borrowing an expression commonly used when an adult Gentile
was converted to the Jewish religion. He was baptized and circumcised. When he
was baptized it was said he was born again. Jesus was using the expression in a
stronger sense. Those who will see the
Before a child is born he has imperfect use of his senses, no knowledge of the
world or the things of the world. When he is born he begins to live in a
different manner from what he did in his mother’s womb.
In his natural state a man has imperfect use of his spiritual senses, no
knowledge of God or the things of the
The nature of the new birth
The nature of the new birth is a change that God works in the heart when he
raises the soul from death to life. When the soul is created anew and renewed
after the image of God. The love of the world is changed into the love of God.
Pride is changed into humility. Hatred, envy, and malice are replaced by
unselfish love. The sensual mind is turned into the mind that was in Jesus.
The necessity of the new birth
The new birth is necessary to regain the righteousness and holiness lost in
Adam’s act of disobedience and rebellion. Righteousness defines our
relationship with God and with other people. It promotes peace and well-being
in our relationships. If Adam and Eve would have acted righteously in their
relationship with God we would not be living in an evil and wicked age.
Holiness is not a list of dos and do not, it is the image of God stamped upon
the heart. It implies a continual thankful love to Him who gave His only
begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. Holiness fills the heart with
mercy, kindness, and long-suffering. It permits us to offer our souls and
bodies as a living sacrifice to God. However this holiness has no existence in
the heart of men and women until the image of the mind is renewed; until a
change is wrought in the soul. This does not happen until the Spirit of God
overshadows us and we are brought of darkness into light. Then we are delivered
from the power and influence of Satan and come under the power of God and the
influence of the Holy Spirit.; this occurs when we are born again, which is why
the new birth is necessary.
Without holiness no man shall enter the
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