The Joy of Becoming Born-Again

Jesus Christ said in John 3:6-7(NLT), “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’” This is an extremely logical yet supernatural truth that Christ has taught us in John 3:6-7. Indeed, some people are very surprised when they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and learn that they must be born-again in order to receive the gift of eternal life. Becoming born-again is not a physical birth, but a spiritual birth, and Jesus Christ teaches us that we cannot enter the Kingdom of God without having both a physical birth and spiritual birth. Both are miraculous by any stretch of the imagination, and both are only possible because of the grace of our Heavenly Father, but the spiritual birth should be the greatest desire for every living person.

In John 10:10(NKJV), our Lord and Savior said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This more than abundant life that Jesus Christ is referring to in John 10:10 is life in the Spirit. This is the kind of life that God wants for every person, and He sent His Son to the earth to make it available to all of us. Notice that in John 10:10, Jesus Christ also tells us about God’s number one enemy, satan, the devil. The Lord wanted us to know that we have a spiritual enemy, and he, the devil, is a thief that comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

2Corinthians 4:4(NLT) gives us another powerful piece of information. It says, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” Trying to take from us and destroy anything that is important in our lives is the devil’s aim. What he wants most is for us to remain under his dominion and realm of darkness. Chaos, confusion, fear, evil, and death are just a few of the things he controls, and as long as a person remains asleep, and their spirits remain dead to God, the devil attempts to keep their minds blinded so he can trick them into living far beneath their privilege.

Jesus Christ taught the disciples in John 16:7(NLT), “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” We have read in John 10:10 that our Lord and Savior was on God’s mission. This mission was to offer his life as a sacrifice to save the whole world. When he told the disciples that he would be going away, they were deeply saddened of course, but Jesus Christ knew that the Will of God is perfect. He knew that his leaving and returning to the throne of God would accomplish God’s work and restore the connection and holiness that Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience caused. Heavenly Father didn’t want us to be defeated in life, but He wanted us to have His joy, peace, and love in our hearts. We needed access to His treasures. We needed to be helped because we couldn’t help ourselves, and when Jesus Christ returned to the throne, he restored what Adam and Eve lost. He made it possible for us to have God’s Holy Spirit living inside our body temples, so we can walk as children of light everyday of our lives.

God tells us in Romans 10:9-10(NLT), “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 is the ultimate act of humility that is required for every believer, but often arrogance keeps many people from accepting the reality of all that Christ has done for them.

Arrogance is something that God strongly dislikes, and many people are very arrogant when it comes to their spiritual lives. They idolize all kinds of things and call it worship—things like money, fame, popularity, material things, relationships, and people. God is not pleased with this. He commands us not to worship and give focused, intentional adoration to idols. Only God deserves worship. John 4:24(NLT) tells us, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We can’t try to give God pointers on the who, what, how, and when of worship. He created worship, and He’s the One who tells us what He finds pleasing and acceptable. Many people are so full of themselves, and they think they don’t need to be saved, but the truth is that we can’t rescue ourselves. Without Jesus Christ, we cannot stand against the strategies of the devil. We need to be saved, and Romans 10:9-10 tells us that we must believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and we must confess this openly.

Faith is backed up with the strength of our confession. A spiritual transaction occurs every time we confess with a believing heart. Our faith travels up, through heaven’s supernatural fallopian tube, and God’s spiritual seed comes to live within us. 1Peter 1:23(NIV) tells us, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Our human-spirit is recreated through our new birth experience and we become eternally connected to God, our Father. This simple yet life-changing action of believing and declaring our belief in the resurrection of Christ opens our hearts to him. It gives us unlimited access to the realm of our spiritual birth, where the riches of God’s glory abide. Nothing we will ever do will be more important as becoming born-again in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and Lord. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

The Joy of Becoming Born-Again

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