November 5, 2008
I have always been fascinated with the strange conversation that Jesus Christ had with a religious Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus told him that unless he was born again he would never see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Born again? I ask why must we be born again? This makes perfect sense if we realize that we all died spiritually in Adam. This death alienates us from God. If we are to be restored to a right relationship with God we must compensate for our spiritual death by receiving a spiritual birth.
How does this happen? We do not have to be Bible scholars to figure it out. All we have to know is a little something about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, and we’re there. The science of biological reproduction is a God ordained fact of life. Following His initial creative act, God ordered that all living organisms reproduce themselves by biological regeneration.In the beginning God established this unchanging blueprint. God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12)
God created plants to grow and produce seed and that seed is used to regenerate other plants. He created trees that produce fruit and then seed and the seed again regenerates the tree. God’s reproductive cycle has held its pattern since the dawn of creation. The seeds always produce fruit after their kind. James said that the fig tree does not produce olives nor does the grapevine produce figs (James 3:12). God established His same biological pattern for all living creatures.
God created human beings and placed them upon the earth. Like the plants and the animals, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and to multiply and fill the earth and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28). Before they could begin this dominion, Adam and Eve sinned and died. After the fall they began to obey God and reproduce and fill the earth but something was very wrong. Their children began to die. Death passed on all men. Death is the indicator that man’s seed had become corrupt. When Adam sinned God caused the entire biological world to crash with him (Romans 8:20-21). All physical seed has become stained with death.
God is the great genius! He allowed two kinds of seed to slip past the corruption of the fall. The living seed of the woman that produced the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15) and the living seed of the word of God found in the Bible (Hebrews 4:12)! Catch this glimpse! This is the very reason that God gave us His written word. God’s word is the spiritual seed that the Holy Spirit is using to regenerate a new people, a heavenly people, called Christians. The apostle Peter teaches this very truth when he says, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25).
The words “born again,” actually mean, born from above. This new birth is a heavenly birth. Peter is careful to make the contrast. It is not corruptible seed that produces this birth but incorruptible seed. Corruptible seed has been tarnished by the fall. Incorruptible seed escaped the fall. Corruptible seed produces life that is destined to die – after its kind. The imperishable seed of the word of God germinates life that lasts forever – after its kind. Is that not an amazing thought?
Peter uses a quote from Isaiah to prove his point. All members of the human race are like grass. “And all the glory of man is like the flowers of the grass. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8). Here the negative effects of the fall are made crystal clear. Adam the first produces lives that are like the grass and the flowers that they produce. As the grass dries up and the flowers fade so human beings wither and the glory that is attached to us is soon past. Human life and human glory is temporary. Neither will last. James says, “life is like a vapor that appears for a little while and then it is gone” (James 4:14). In contrast the word of God endures forever. The life that this miraculous seed regenerates will never die. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
Peter continues, “Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” Peter calls the portion of the word that brings eternal life, the gospel. It is not just the individual words of the Bible that bring life to us. It is the truth of the identity, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ presented from the Bible that the Spirit uses to produce life. The Holy Spirit guides this truth into the dead mind and there He germinates the seed and spiritual life is conceived. God, what an amazing genius you are! What a glimpse of your grace!
James agrees with Peter. Speaking of God, he writes, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18). “Of His own will” expresses God’s personal decision. This phrase, grammatically speaking, is called a genitive of source. It is from the source of God’s own choice that He brings us forth. “Brought us forth” is one word in the original language. It is a birthing term meaning “to beget,” or “to give birth to.” God is the One who gives it. And note carefully what God uses to regenerate this birth. God births us by the word of truth. It is God’s word that brings life. The results of this birth are that fallen sinful human beings become the “First fruit of His creatures.” “First fruits,” is speaking of the beginning of a new generation of people unstained by the corruption of the fall. These people are called “Christians.”
In order to live forever with God, one needs neither reformation nor religion. This does not make a spiritually dead person, alive. One does not need to follow the teachings of Islam or Buddha, or become a devout Hindu, or a Mormon, or a Jehovah’s Witness, or a Scientologist, or even to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. A person does not need to become a Baptist or a Presbyterian, or a Catholic, or an Episcopalian. One needs to be born of God. Christians are people who are born again from the seed of the word of God.