MINISTUDY
What It Means to Be Born Again
During that meeting, Jesus revealed a profound
truth — something that completely mystified Nicodemus. "Unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," said Jesus (John 3:3).
Totally
perplexed, Nicodemus asked: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can
he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" (verse 4).
Nicodemus
understood what it meant to be born. But he did not understand how
anyone could be "born again." He thought Jesus was referring to a
second human birth.
But Christ was actually describing two
different kinds of birth — one physical, the other spiritual. He was
comparing spiritual birth to physical birth, the physical being a type
of the spiritual.
When one is born of his mother he is composed
of flesh. But "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," said Jesus
(verse 6) — no longer composed of flesh, but of spirit.
That's
the plain teaching of the Bible. The second birth is not some kind of
emotional experience, as so many have erroneously believed! Let's begin
to understand the awe-inspiring truth revealed in the Bible.
Simply
look up and read in your Bible the scriptures you are directed to after
each question. Comments following the questions will elaborate on the
verses just read. (This study is based on the Revised Authorized
Version of the Bible, but you may use any translation.) Now let's begin
this eye-opening study.
1. After whose "image" and "likeness" was man created? Genesis 1:26-27.
In
God's pattern for all life, kind reproduces like kind. Just as each
form of plant or animal life reproduces after its own kind, so humans
reproduce humans. But unlike any of the animals, man was created in
God's own image and likeness. God made man like Himself — seme form and
shape. But why?
The astounding truth is that God's purpose is to
create man after the God kind! This includes God's character as well as
composition.
Notice again in Genesis 1:26 what God said: "Let Us
make man in Our image." The original Hebrew indicates far more than
merely God's outward appearance. "Image" also refers to mind and
character. God wants us to develop His holy, righteous character during
this mortal life. But more about this later in the study.
2. Even though man is made in the likeness of God, are both of the same composition? John 4:24, Genesis 2:7, 3:19.
There
is a vast difference between spirit and dust. Although man was created
in the very shape and likeness of God, he was not created out of
spirit. He was made out of the dust of the ground, subject to death and
decay. But God's purpose is to one day make him a spirit being.
3. How does I Corinthians 15:46-49 corroborate this marvelous truth?
Clearly, man is much more than any animal. Man has the potential to become divine spirit — just as God is spirit.
Astonishing
as it may sound, God is now in the process of creating His greatest
creation of all — His supreme masterpiece. God's purpose is to create,
from mortal mankind, individuals composed of spirit possessing perfect
spiritual character. Notice the overwhelming proof:
4.
What interesting comparison is drawn in Isaiah 64:8? Did Job realize
God was forming a special creation in his life? Job 14:14-15.
Notice
especially the latter part of verse 15: "You shall desire the work of
Your hands." The "work" was Job. Job knew he was being molded and
shaped spiritually by the hands of the Master Potter.
5. Are true Christians being fashioned by God for a specific purpose? Ephesians 2:10.
"We,"
then — if we arc indeed Christians — are God's "workmanship." We,
today, are in the process of being "created" — why? — "for good works."
God, through the power of the Holy Spirit He places within us (after
repentance and baptism), is forming in us His holy, righteous
character. With our cooperation
through obedience to Him, God is creating in us His own character-image.
The
Gospel message Jesus brought to mankind reveals that God is in the
process of reproducing Himself through mankind. Jesus' Gospel is the
good news of the "kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14). But the Bible shows that
Kingdom is dual. It is not only the ruling government that Christ
willestablish on earth when He returns, it is also the Family of God.
And, incredible as it may sound, Jesus taught that humans can be bom into the Family, or Kingdom, of God!
At
present there are only two members in the God Family — God the Father
and Jesus Christ the Son (John 1:1-2, I Corinthians 8:6). But God is
planning to expand His Family.
6. Does God
plainly show that it is His purpose to increase His divine Family by
bringing many spiritual children into it? II Corinthians 6:18, Hebrews
2:9-11, Revelation 21:7. Is Jesus Christ actually the "firstborn" of
many children of God? Romans 8:29.
To
be conformed to the image of Christ means to become like Him — to be
glorified as He is now glorified — to be a member of the divine Family
of God even as Christ now is.
Few have really grasped the
tremendous significance of this marvelous truth. But this is what
salvation is all about. Our awesome potential is to become God's
literal. Spirit-born children — members of God's own divine Family!
7.
Are true Christians already, during this mortal life, God's children? I
John 3:1-2, Romans 8:14-16. Are they inheritors of the Kingdom of God,
or only heirs to it? Verse 17.
Although
they are now the children of God, Christians are only heirs — ones who
shall, in the future, inherit the glory of God's Family with Jesus
Christ. Why only heirs? Because they are now only Spirit-begotten
children (I Peter 1:3). They are unborn children of God. It is when
they are born of God that they will become inheritors of God's Kingdom
— divine members of the Family of God.
Before the second phase
of our creation —our spiritual creation — can begin, God the Father
must first beget each of us by placing His Holy Spirit within our
minds. Thus our minds can be compared to an egg or ovum, and the Holy
Spirit to an impregnating seed or germ of eternal life.
Receiving
God's Spirit is the begettal of the spiritual life of God within our
minds. And as a newly begotten physical embryo begins to grow in its
mother's womb, we must begin to grow in God's spiritual character after
we are begotten by His Spirit (I Peter 2:1-2, II Peter 3:18, Ephesians
4:11-15). This growth comes from Bible study, prayer and walking with
God in obedience to Him as we are empowered by His Holy Spirit within
us.
And so all Spirit-begotten Christians are the unborn
children of God the Father in the same sense that an unborn human
embryo or fetus is the child of its parents.
8. Can
anyone, while still flesh and blood. inherit or enter God's Kingdom? I
Corinthians 15:50. What must happen to us to be born as divine members
in God's Family? Verses 51-53.
"That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit," said Jesus (John 3:6). But we
have not yet been born of the Spirit. We are still flesh and blood
— capable of pain and bleeding when injured. But when born into
the God Family, we will be free of pain and suffering (Revelation
21:4). And with our new spirit bodies, we will be unfettered by the
physical limitations of time and space.
9. To what did Jesus compere one who is born of the Spirit? John 3:8.
The
effects of the wind are easily discerned, but the wind itself cannot be
seen. When one it born again — born of the Spirit of God —-he will be
invisible to mortal eyes like the wind.
After Christ was resurrected — born again — was He able to pass through solid walls? John 20:19, 26.
Obviously, any human who claims to be born again is in error, for he is still flesh and blood.
Jesus
Christ is the only one who has ever been born again. He said we must be
"born of the Spirit" — composed of spirit — to see or enter the Kingdom
of God (John 3:3, 5). When the glorified Christ returns to earth, the
Spirit-begotten children of God who have died through the ages will all
be resurrected to spirit life, and those still alive will be instantly
changed into spirit (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Then, at that
moment, they all will be born again, this time as glorified immortal
members of God's own Family, and they will begin to ceign on earth with
Jesus Christ!
(Be sure to request our free booklet Just What Do You Mean — Born Again? for a more detailed explanation of this subject.)
