Born Again
What does it mean be born again?
To understand what it means to be born again, we have to begin with the creation of man. In the book of Genesis – which means “beginnings”- , after God had created all things, it is recorded in Genesis 1:26-28
“26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
God’s process of creation culminated in the creation of a couple – a man and woman – both of which it is stated were created in the image (likeness of God). Here, immediately after creation, we see God conferring to man dominion over the works of His hands. This was God’s ultimate plan for man to exercise dominion over the rest of God’s creation. This seems to have happened after another created being known as Lucifer, who had been entrusted with the same dominion, had been deposed of God from the position due to pride.
Ezekiel 28:13-15
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
This particular text seem to suggest that this being, described as the “anointed cherub” was in the Garden of Eden before the creation of the first humans. Isaiah 14:12-15 states as follows:
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Prophet Isaiah lists the cause of Lucifer, Satan, the devil, the dragon, the serpent’s downfall. He wanted to exalt himself above a position that was allotted to him by God. The writer of the book of Revelation – (John) – who was given a revelation of things in heaven, has this to say about this drama that unfolded in heaven:
” 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:7_12
From the preceding scriptures, we clearly see that Satan was cast down to earth. Jesus Himself said the following about Satan:
” 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:18-19.
What does this have to do with being born again, you may ask. It is because of what is to unfold from Satan’s fall, that makes being born again necessary and meaningful. So, when God creates man and crowns him with dominion, Satan is already envious of man’s elevated position. All things being equal, Satan must submit to man’s dominion. Remember that Satan lost his position because he did not observe his God given boundaries. James tells us the following:
” 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 1:6
So, after God had created man and put him in The Garden, He gave him boundaries as well. In Genesis 2:26-17 we read: ” 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Man already had been put in the midst of good things because everything that God created had to pass His quality inspection and when He inspected everything Genesis 1:31 tells us: ” 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
So why should man eat of this tree in middle of the garden that was going to make man know evil? The prohibition was for man’s protection and for man to exercise his God given sovereign will, either to obey or to disobey. That’s why God did not put a fence around the tree, not initially. In the later part of Genesis 2:17 God tells man that if he proceeded to eat from the forbidden tree that ” thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 3:1-5 outlines the infamous fall of man as follows:
” 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”
Man did eat of the forbidden tree and consequently, he harvested spiritual and physical death which he passed on to the rest of his offspring. Romans 12:12 states:
“12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
Romans 3:23 states:
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23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Romans 6:23 further states:
” 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This includes the moral person, the good works person, even the religious person.
No one is exempt as scripture declares:
” 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
After Adams sin what is usually referred to as the “original” sin man started to grope his way back to God or what I call religion. The story of the tower of Babel which is recorded in Genesis 11:1-9 describes the effort of fallen man trying to reach God without God’s intervention. This was precisely man’s first religion. Until today man is still trying to reach God through his invention of religion. Needless to mention it was the religious folks that condemned Jesus to death to preserve their religious establishment because Jesus challenged their lifeless teachings.
Back to the subject of being born again, Jesus said the following to Nicodemus one of the religious leaders of His time:
“1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:1-7 KJV
Jesus told Nicodemus – a religious leader – that one “must be born again” in order to see the kingdom of God. God is telling you and me the same thing, we “must” be born again. Not should, not could but one must be born again to enter into God’s kingdom.
” But I was baptized in water, therefore I am born again”! That’s the argument many give when confronted with this truth about being born again. Nowhere in the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus did Jesus infer to water baptism. However, I can easily see how the untrained in the word can be led to believe that Jesus was referring to water baptism. Jesus told the thief who was crucified with Him but who himself expressed his faith in Jesus, that he would be in Paradise with Him. Evidently the thief did not have a chance to get baptized.
When we let scripture interprete scripture, we find that we are born again of God’s word. 1 Peter 2:22-23 states “
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Mankind died by disobeying the word of God, mankind gains life (becomes born again) by responding to God’s word.
How is this done? Romans 10: 8-9 states, ” 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
To be born again, two things must occur:
1. One must make a confession of Jesus Christ with own mouth.
2. Also one must believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.
In my experience as a minister of the Gospel, I have met a countless number of people who believe in Jesus Christ and that God raised Him from the dead, but have never taken a step of making a confession of Jesus Christ.
This is not a formula of making it to heaven but rather a commencement of a transformational processes in which a believer dies to sin and grows more and more to be like his savior.
What happens when One is born again?
1. One’s sins get forgiven. Luke 7:48.
2. One’s name is written in the lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:27.
3. One becomes a child of God. John 1:12-13
4.Spiritually one becomes a baby and needs constant feeding on the word of God to grow spiritually. I Peter 2:2
To receive Jesus in your heart, and get born again say this prayer:
Dear Jesus, come into my heart. I accept you today as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me of all my sins. I turn away from them and repent. I will now serve you the rest of my life. In Jesus’s name, I pray.
God bless you.
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