The will to survive, we all have it! For as long as
I can remember our DNA is designed to
instinctively keep us breathing. Why then do we not all have the same drive when
it comes to eternity? The answer is rather a simple one; “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God.”” (John 3:3) – We have
all been born blind, bar the Lord Jesus Christ and maybe John the Baptist. The
infant Jesus had God the Holy Spirit's DNA and Elizabeth John’s
mother had an encounter whilst pregnant with the Spirit of God.
We (the human
population) all carry the DNA of our parents. Most have eyes to see. From a
very young age we begin to perceive colours and shapes. Eyes are a beautiful
thing, it’s very hard to conceal something you have seen from our minds. Whether
it be a fabulous sunset or a vicious calamity. What we see is instilled into
our thoughts. Hence the power of the forbidden. John puts it like this; “For all that is in
the world—the desires of the flesh and the
desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is
from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but
whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1John 2:16-17)
There are a couple of points we need to
extrapolate, surely its God who has given us eyes to see? This is an undeniable
truth, God created mankind. In fact; “So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” We see a
similarity between God and mankind, we both have eyes. We are carnal but God is
spiritual. It’s the natural that is undeniable, even a mad man would
not be able to denounce his existence in the flesh. We are all privy to the reality
of our natural surroundings. However it is the imagining of heaven, that of the
spiritual realm that we need help with. Hence the Lord Jesus’ teaching to
the man Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; “unless
one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God.” We
need a spiritual set of eyes to see into the heavens, period! How does an
individual receive spiritual eyes? It’s in the text, they need to be “born
again”.
None of us can deny being born of water, if we
exist we have all come into the world in the same fashion, developing inside
our mother’s womb protected by water and nurtured by an umbilical cord. Now
that we have grown and come to an age of understanding, distinguishing right
from wrong, understanding sin, it’s at this stage in our lives that we will be afforded
an opportunity to inquire after the spiritual realm. Where we end up differs on
a personal level. By the grace of God I have been "born again", my
spirit has been quickened, I have received eyes to see into heaven. Do not make
Nicodemus’ mistake and start reasoning with a natural notion. However without
spiritual eyes our minds will default to reckoning with a natural mind. It will
be impossible to arrive at a different conclusion; how often have we heard that
we need to visualise our goals before we will ever conquer them?
“Nicodemus said to
him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time
into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”” (John 3:4-6)
There are two obvious
facts that need considering. In order to see the kingdom of God we need a
spiritual birth and do not be fooled into believing that a babies christening
will do the trick, that’s all that is, a trick. Test the waters for yourselves,
where you christened? I was and yet as blind as a bat growing up when it came
to looking into the kingdom of God. I always believed within the capacity I was
able to believe, if that makes any sense at all. However
I now have the ability to see heaven, and it is a reality that I want
more than anything else. I can see, I can see! Spiritual eyes work in the
spiritual realm and faith is needed to active sight. The flesh and the spirit
biospheres are worlds apart; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Once we reason this
through with a sound mind, it should be a rather simple exercise, but only for
those with eyes from both worlds. The question many of us should now be asking
ourselves is how do I receive sight to see into the spiritual jurisdiction?
I will simplify it
for you, repentance is needed. Acknowledge your sin, take ownership of it, and
repent by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Because, if you confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) - You
will receive sight (eyes of faith) to gaze heavenward. It is a marvellous
mystery that becomes our reality, we now receive a drive to make heaven our
ultimate goal. We now have a new found hope that we were once blind too and
just as the wind blows and we do not understand how it got there or when it is
going, so too is everyone born of the Spirit.
I hope that gives
some clarity on why we need to be born again…
Signing off
Tyrone
No comments:
Post a Comment