Being Born Again and the Resurrection
Being Born Again and the Resurrection
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. (I Peter 1:23-25)
The Word of God is as a Seed that is planted in our personality when we call upon the Lord Jesus for salvation.
The Seed came from God. This means that all that is of God is in that Seed, just as all that is of a plant or animal is in its seed.
This means also that when the Seed of God comes to maturity, the result will be a creature that is in the express image of God.
I think this is emphasized in the passage above. "All people are like grass." Why? Because they have been born of other people, going back to Adam and Eve. Adam was not of the Divine Nature. He came from the ground. Such is our inheritance as human beings.
All that was of Adam is in us. We are in the express image of Adam. We are of Adam's seed.
It is evident that the creature born from Adam's seed is altogether different from the creature born from God's Seed. One is the image of Adam. The other is the image of God.
This is an important distinction. The Christian religion leaves the impression that by observing its tenets, people can become closer to God and please God. Perhaps that is true in a sense. But the Christian religion, and every other religion, cannot make us in the image of God, because Adam never can truly be in the image of God. Only the Lord Jesus is in the image of God. He has been begotten of God.
To be in the image of God, which was God's purpose in creating us, we must be born again. We must be born of the Word of God.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12,13)
Thinking in human terms, a child is not "born" at the moment the mother's egg is fertilized. There is a nine-months period of gestation during which the child is formed. It is true also that we are not "born" in the full sense until the Child, Christ, is formed in our personality.
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)
We understand from the parable of the sower that some of the Seed that is sown does not bear lasting fruit. In the fourth kind of ground, an "honest and good heart," the Seed may produce thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or one hundredfold of the Parent, who is God.
It appears reasonable to me that in the day in which we live, the truth that the Christian salvation is not that of making our home in Heaven but of experiencing the change from a living soul to a life-giving spirit, is sorely needed.
So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. (I Corinthians 15:45)
Am I correct? How do you feel about this? Is it true that the Christian churches of today, while they may say that we must be born again, actually deal with the reforming of the adamic nature?
How, then, do we set about to bring that which has been conceived in us to actual birth?
One device that God has given us is the ministries and gifts of the Spirit of God. When they are functioning in an assembling they will serve to bring Christ to maturity in us.
In our own church we are endeavoring to bring forth the ministries and gifts of the Spirit. It is slow-going because we are accustomed to the traditional Protestant format.
I am not referring to emphasizing wild, emotional demonstrations that call attention to undisciplined people, but solid interventions of God that tell us how to grow in Christ.
Another means of making the transition from the living soul to the life-giving spirit is to learn to bring the Lord Jesus into every aspect of our being and behavior, from the least to the greatest action.
If we are to cross over from Adam to Christ we must bring our thinking into conformity to Christ's thinking. Paul said we have the mind of Christ. We should be thinking what Jesus is thinking at all times.
We must bring our speaking into conformity to Christ's speaking. We must be saying what He is saying. This means that before we speak we must look up to the Lord to see what He is saying.
We must bring our behaving into conformity to what Christ is doing. Christ always is looking to see what the Father is doing so Christ may do the same.
We always must be looking to see what Christ is doing so we may do the same.
I believe it may be true that if we keep endeavoring to live along with the Lord Jesus we will be expediting His coming to full maturity in our personality.
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
We are not to be seeking our own maturity but the fullness of Christ.
The Apostle Paul had set as his goal that of attaining to the resurrection of the dead.
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10,11)
Let's take a hard look at this. What is Paul talking about? What resurrection?
I do not believe Paul was saying we can be resurrected the moment we become spiritual enough.
The Apostle is referring to the forming of Christ in our inward nature, which is prerequisite to the change in our body from death to life. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the Resurrection, and to have Him formed in us is to have the Resurrection formed in us.
According to my understanding, there is a first and second resurrection of the dead. When the Lord appears, those who appear with Him, and those on earth who are prepared, will be resurrected.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (I Thessalonians 4:16)
"Will rise first" is not speaking of ascension but of resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
Such is the first of the two major resurrections. This resurrection must be attained to, as the Apostle Paul stated. I do not mean it is to be earned. Rather it is true that it is for believers in whom Christ has come to maturity.
The second and final resurrection is for everyone else. It is not attained to. It is not the resurrection of the Royal Priesthood but for all others of mankind from the beginning of the creation.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12)
You probably will agree with me that the Apostle Paul was seeking to attain to the first resurrection, the resurrection of the Royal Priesthood.
But that brings up some serious questions, doesn't it?
If the Apostle Paul, certainly a mature Christian, was still endeavoring to attain to the first resurrection, the resurrection of the Royal Priesthood, where does that leave us?
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:7-9)
Now think: Most American Christians believe they will be taken up to Heaven in an any-moment "rapture." Well, if the rapture is the first resurrection of the dead, and it is doubtful there will be a resurrection of the dead prior to our being gathered to Christ, then most American Christians will not be gathered to Christ at that time (in the rapture). They are not mature.
Considering the standard of the Apostle Paul, how many American Christians are prepared for the first resurrection, the gathering and catching up of the saints (the rapture)?
Perhaps not very many at this time. Maybe after Divine judgment comes upon America, as it certainly must, given our sins, there may be more Christians who are eligible and competent to be resurrected and caught up to Christ in the air.
How do you feel about this?
If we have been growing to maturity in Christ, learning to live by His Life, then the change in our body (the resurrection) will be the final stage of the born-again experience . It will be the coming forth of the new baby.
I have noticed a trend in Christian preaching. It is a tendency to make the Christian discipleship easier than it actually is. The demands of God are being lessened. It reminds me of the steward who changed the amount owed to the rich man.
This changing of the law to fit the desires of the people is taking place in America. If there is some aspect of life, such as abortion or homosexual behavior, that used to be illegal, it now no longer is illegal because the people want to be free to do what to them feels good.
Accompanying this tendency to change the law to fit the desires of people is a doing away with Christ and His cross from public occasions, as well as a scornful attitude toward the Bible. This is a change in the American culture.
This may be true of the "rapture." It may be that the American believers would be horrified if they believed that Paul is our example in endeavoring to attain to the first resurrection (the rapture). Perhaps they trust that a rapture will come upon them and require no effort on their part other than to attend church.
As one Christian lady said, "If I thought God would let me suffer I would not serve Him."
I am afraid this sentiment is all to common in America. We have lost the fear of God. The iron and fire of the God of Israel may not be foremost in much of our preaching.
It actually may be true that participation in the rapture will be limited to those who have set aside their own life that Christ may be exalted in them.
What about those who are left? I do not know. If I am correct, the Scripture is not clear about the believers who are not gathered with the mature Christians and caught up to Jesus.
I do know that there are several references, such as John, Chapter Fifteen, that tell us if we do not bear the fruit of the image of Christ we will be removed from Christ and cast into the fire.
What this means I do not know, unless it is speaking of Hell or the Lake of Fire. The New Testament gives this warning in several passages.
Let us think of the change in our body from mortality to immortality as the natural transition from Adam to Christ. It is the fullness of the born-again experience.
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (I Corinthians 15:22,23)
Look carefully at the passage above. It is saying that we Christians are not alive until Christ comes. From the standpoint of the New Testament we are not fully alive until we are changed from mortality to immortality; that is, until we have been resurrected.
By resurrected I do not mean caught up from the surface of the earth, but changed from a flesh and blood body to a Holy Spirit body.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (I Corinthians 15:25)
The spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish festival of the Blowing of Trumpets is occurring now as a further move of the Divine redemption. The Lord Jesus is ready to make war against all of His enemies, particularly the spiritual darkness that is dwelling in His saints.
When the Holy Spirit points out to you some behavior that is not of the image of God, confess it clearly to Christ as sin, and tell Him that by His wisdom and power you never shall behave that way again.
This is an eternal judgment on the spirit you have renounced. This is part of the maturing of Christ in our personality and is a prerequisite of the change of the body from mortality to immortality.
So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (I Corinthians 15:45-49)
When we first receive Christ, we are of the dust of the earth. When we are fully redeemed we are of Heaven.
So we see that the Christian tradition that we are saved to go to Heaven is faulty. God has no intention of saving the dust of the earth so it can dwell eternally in a mansion in Heaven. What foolishness this is!
Rather, God is making us of Heaven. That is, wherever we are, once we have been born-again fully, will be of Heaven. Quite a significant difference, and one, when we grasp it, that will affect how serious we are about our discipleship!
The business of a Christian church is to help us make the transition from Adam to Christ. This is not a matter of reforming Adam. Adam can no more be made into the image of God than we could teach a goldfish to play Chopin.
However, Adam must do his part, like getting up Sunday morning and going to church. But little by little, Adam must be replaced by the Divine Nature of Christ.
This is what the Apostle Paul meant by attaining to the resurrection.
God will intervene in our lives in numerous ways, some of them joyful; some of them quite painful. Our task is to keep looking to the Lord to see what He would have us do. Strict obedience is absolutely necessary if we are to press on and become a member of the Royal Priesthood.
Before we are born again we are of the earth. As we continue pressing on, as Paul said, there is a battle between that which is of earth and that which is of Heaven. It if a fight, no doubt about that.
But Heaven can win if we fix our eyes on Christ at all times. By "win" I mean we will be changed into the image of the Lord.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (I Corinthians 15:50)
It seems to me that in our current teaching, the idea is to get Adam to Heaven. But that is not possible. Our goal, according to the New Testament, is the Kingdom of God. We have to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God.
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (I Corinthians 15:52)
The resurrection of the inward nature, which we have been discussing, usually occurs over several years. But the change in our body from flesh-and-blood life to Holy-Spirit life will be instantaneous.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (I Corinthians 15:53)
Such is the completion of the born-again Divine intervention.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." (I Corinthians 15:54)
Physical death is not our friend but our enemy. God did not create us to die, but to live in His Presence—spirit, soul, and body. It appears that our soul has to die, and then be filled with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Something like that.
In any case, the New Testament does not consider us to be alive until our corruptible body is clothed with an imperishable body.
Our new body from Heaven will reveal in itself what we have become in our inward nature. If we are basically a deceitful person, then we will be clothed deceit with in the Day of Resurrection.
If we have lived victoriously in Christ, then that is what we will be clothed with in the Day of Resurrection. The way it is today we can conceal what we truly are like in our inward nature, but it will not be so in the Day of Resurrection.
The New Testament refers to a crown of life and a crown of righteousness. This does mean we will wear a crown on our head. Rather the reference is to the impression given by our personality. We will be seen as filled with the Life of God and as the personification of righteousness.
The reverse is true for those who have not sown to the Spirit of God.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
Mercy and grace will not modify the house from Heaven that will clothe our mortal body. It is a matter of sowing and reaping. Those who sow to the Spirit of God during their lifetime will be clothed with eternal life. Those who have sown to the appetites of their flesh will reap destruction.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7,8)