The Second Birth, Part II
[Read The Second Birth, Part 1]
For centuries those who have placed their faith in salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have publicly declared that they have been “born again” through water baptism. Water baptism is the public declaration to both man and God that we have been raised out of our spiritual death and made alive to God in our spirit through the atoning sacrifice made by the cross of Christ. The Holy Scriptures describe Jesus as a “life-giving spirit.” Similar to how a mother can give birth and bring a newborn baby into the world, Jesus has the spiritual authority, to bring us into the spiritually redeemed world and present us alive to the Father. (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
Our physical birth is a wonder and a gift, yet our second birth is still more important and marvelous. Jesus Christ was originally the One who made the connection between physical birth and spiritual birth, and many parallels are worth thinking about. Doing so will help us get a better understanding of how transformative the Christian life truly is. For example, in our physical birth, we are delivered out of the waters of our mother’s womb. Similarly, we rise out of the waters of baptism into a whole new life. Both the physical birth and the spiritual birth are miracles in their own right.
The rebirth revelation comes from a conversation Jesus had with a religious leader, who was confused by Jesus’ statement, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). What Jesus said is spiritual in nature, however, much of the physical events of being born illustrate what to expect from our spiritual rebirth.
For example, as a baby in our mother’s womb, we are in relative darkness, our eyes not yet fully formed nor exposed to light. A baby in the womb is essentially blind and cannot yet see properly. However, at birth, we are exposed to a new light and our eyes begin to function in a realm of sight that had not yet existed in the womb. We were blind, but now we see! Similarly, a person who is “born again” has their spiritual eyes opened for the first time.
Scripture tells us that “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind” (Psalm 146:8). Jesus came to fulfill scripture, and made it clear when he quoted the prophet Isaiah, who wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19). Then Jesus boldly states, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” declaring that those who are in spiritual darkness will now see through Him, who is The Light.
Jesus again points to our new sight by exposing those who don’t have it. He called the Pharisees, “Blind guides to the blind” (Matthew 15:14), and said that the light of His teachings and judgment was so that “those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind”. (John 9:39) Jesus is declaring that false religions and self-righteousness are a spiritual darkness that keeps people blind. Jesus the Son of God, was going to open the spiritual eyes of the heart, and allow the humble and contrite to see that they are sons and daughters of God through the grace granted by His loving sacrifice on the cross. His ransomed life, was the sufficient payment to deliver us from their power of sin and death. Allowing us to be reborn! Those who had been delivered and who could now see, were able to “see the Father God” by recognizing Him in and through His Son. (John 14:9-10)
“We rise out of the baptism water to declare that we “see” the world and our purpose on earth differently. ”
As our eyes see in a new way at physical birth, our spiritual rebirth opens the eyes of our hearts to an entirely different way of seeing the world. We rise out of the baptism water to declare that we “see” the world and our purpose on earth differently. We see eternity differently. We see people differently. We see suffering differently. We see a broken world differently. We now see the way Jesus sees … through love and truth.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:16-21 NKJV).
If our eyes are now open to the light, we are no longer in darkness, and we see situations, people, and circumstances completely different than those in the world, who are still in darkness. We also see ourselves differently. When we look in the mirror, we see someone fashioned in the image of God and destined to walk in similar character, convictions, and conduct of our Lord, Jesus. We see our lives are designed for righteousness, and we are no longer satisfied with a world filled with darkness, but are called to live a life holy and set apart for His purposes. We see ourselves filled with a radiant love that comes from spending time in the light of The Father’s life-giving presence.
I want to encourage you all this month to pray daily the Apostle Paul’s prayer found in Ephesians 1:17-19. Pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might….” Ask the Lord to transform the way you see Him, how you see yourself, how you see your family, and how you see the world around you. Ask the Lord to help you see the way He sees, for you are born again and all things are new!
By Joseph E.O. Mead