When you became born again the old things passed away
and everything became new. Below is a summary of what we became new. It is a
brief synopsis that will lead us into a more detailed discussion of this in the
coming weeks and months.
You are alive. Jesus is your life.
“In
Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Jn1:4
“So
also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living person";
the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 1Cor15:45 NET
When we get born again, God removes the old man (old
corruptible spirit) that we were by birth and replaces it with a brand new
spirit who is exactly like Christ. This new man is incorruptible and alive.
This new spirit is where God resides and because He resides there; His life is
the life of this new man. The old man (spirit) was dead because he didn’t have
the life of God. Being dead doesn’t mean the he didn’t exist, it means that he
was without God and without life. Only in Jesus is their life. The new man
(spirit) is alive because God dwells in Him, Jesus is His life. This is what
the prophet Ezekiel prophesied
“For
I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and
bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your
idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take
the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put
My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My
judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” Ezek36:24-28
Jesus kept saying this to His disciples but they never
seemed to get it. Sadly, even now most of us still don’t get it; we don’t
understand that JESUS IS OUR LIFE!! Here is Jesus talking;
“For
as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives
life to whom He will…"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word
and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into
judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of
God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He
has granted the Son to have life in Himself” Jn5:21, 24-26
“It
is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak
to you are spirit, and they are life.” Jn6:63
“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. "I am
the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Jn10:10-11
“Jesus
said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.” Jn14:6
“A
little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.
Because I live, you will live also.” Jn14:19
Paul the apostle is able to see this wonderful truth
clearly. This is his record of what the Holy Spirit reveals to him;
“But
you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells
in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if
Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Rom8:9-11
“For
you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our
life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Col3:3-4
“I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal2:20
Peter the apostle is also able to see this magnificent
truth. This is what he says about it when finally He is able to see it by the
revelation of the Holy Spirit.
“Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever.” 1Pet1:23
By revelation Peter sees that we who have become born
again have been born of a new seed. Instead of the old corruptible seed of Adam
by which the whole world is born naturally, he sees that the Christian is born
of a new seed, an incorruptible seed, the Word of God, JESUS!!
Notice how He says that this Word by which we are born
‘liveth’. He uses the Greek word zaō which means to live, breathe, be among
the living (not lifeless, not dead), to
enjoy real life, to have true life, be active, blessed, endless, of living
water having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul, to be
in full vigour, to be fresh, strong, efficient, powerful, efficacious
This means that this is not just some passive word
that God spoke and we believed and thus became born again. Not at all. This
Word is alive and living even now, it is not just written words in a book
(bible), this word is a person who is alive, His name is Jesus, and He lives in
whoever has believed in Him and makes us alive with His very life! Jesus is the
living Word of God.
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jn1:1,14
“Now
I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His
eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name
written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.”
Rev19:11-14
“For
there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Spirit; and these three are one.” 1Jn5:7
Peter says this Word lives; Question is where does He
live?
If He is incorruptible seed where is He planted? Seeds
are for planting in a garden, where is the garden where this incorruptible seed
was planted, where He lives and abides forever??
“I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who
plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he
who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward
according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's
field…” 1Cor3:6-9.
We are God’s field, His garden. We are the ones where
God Has planted this incorruptible seed which lives and abides forever! We are
the garden where Jesus lives and abides forever, releases His true life, produces
His fruit and is fresh and active. We are the garden of God. Just as Adam lived
in Eden and expressed Himself in it, Jesus now lives in us and expresses
Himself in us, and releases His life in us, and rules in us and has dominion in
us. We are the Eden of God!!!
This is such a clear truth in the bible; it is amazing
that we don’t see it at all. We are always striving to ‘live our lives for
God’. Such a concept does not exist anywhere in the bible, nor is there any
scripture that tells us to give God our lives!! Instead the scriptures tell us
that God has discarded our natural life and given us life in His Son, true
spiritual life. True life is only in Jesus. God has planted life in us and He wants this life to be manifest
in this world, we are the garden of life!!
“Jesus
replied to them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I
can guarantee this truth: A single grain of wheat doesn't produce anything
unless it is planted in the ground and dies. If it dies, it will produce a lot
of grain. Those who love their lives will destroy them, and those who hate
their lives in this world will guard them for everlasting life. Those who serve
me must follow me. My servants will be with me wherever I will be. If people
serve me, the Father will honor them.” Jn12:23-26 GW
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