It is clear from the Bible that
in order for man to spend eternity with God, a new birth is
necessary. The need for this special birth was the very subject
of a very famous conversation between our Lord and a religious
Jew named Nicodemus.
“Jesus answered and said to
him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:3)
Christ explained to Nicodemus
that this new birth was not optional but critical. There is no
way for man to experience the kingdom of God without it (Jn.
3:4-5). This spirit birth is designed by God to transform us
from the realm of our physical flesh and blood life into the
realm of the spiritual life of God (Jn. 3:6-18).
Two Greek words can teach us the
amazing truth of regeneration. The first is the word
paliggenesia.
“But when the kindness of God
our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus
3:4-5)
This word “regeneration” comes
from a combination of the Greek words "palin", which is
translated “another,” and “genesis”, which means, “birth”
or “life.” The single word could then be translated “another
birth,” or “another life.”
You Were Dead (Ephesians 2:1-10)
According to the apostle Paul,
the Ephesians were dead in trespasses and sins. Note the past
tense “were.”
“And you were dead in
your trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1a)
Every member of the human family
is born physically alive, but spiritually dead. This spiritual
death results from an inescapable connection with our human
forefather Adam. We do not become a sinner with time and evil
influence; we are born sinners. David said that his mother
actually conceived him into sin.
“Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psa. 51:5).
The Breath of Lives
“Then the LORD God formed
man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life (lives). And he became a living being.”
(Gen. 2:7)
When God created the first man,
Adam, He breathed into him the breath of lives (Heb., Nephesh
chayim). As a result, man became a living being. As strange
as it may sound the Hebrew plural word lives is extremely
important. It means that God breathed into man a duel spiritual
capacity, a soul and a spirit. Man’s soul was created with a
living spirit. This living spirit is that which connects us to
our Creator.
Man was created different from
the animals. No animal is said to have received Nephesh
chayim. The animals receive life from God’s Nephesh Chaya
(singular) (Gen. 1:24). Therefore, no animal has the
capability for fellowship with God.
At the moment that God exhaled
into man His breath, man inhaled and became a living being. The
word “being” is the Hebrew word for “soul.” Adam's soul
awakened him to the consciousness of life; that is physical
life. And because of the spiritual aspect of the soul he had a
relationship with God. So, in his innocent state, Adam had
consciousness of life and a relationship with God.
Adam’s Test
“The LORD God commanded the
man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat
freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you
will surely die.’” (Gen. 2:16-17)
God promised Adam that if he ate
from the tree, he would die. Death in the Bible means
separation. If Adam chose to disobey God, he would instantly be
separated from God. He sinned and he did die! He did not
immediately fall over physically dead but was suddenly separated
from God. His soul remained consciously aware, but his
spiritual connection to God, died. He no longer had a
relationship with God. He was no longer connected to God in the
way that he was before. This spiritual separation made the “new
birth” necessary.
But God had already prepared a
Lamb before the foundation of the world. This is a wonderful
truth that emphasizes that God anticipated man’s fall. God
already had His plan in mind. Adam’s sin did not shock God! God
was going to use Adam and the fall to make known the riches of
His glory upon His vessels of mercy (1 Pet. 1:20; Rom. 9:23).
When God created Adam, He placed
into him the genetic building blocks necessary to produce every
person who would ever live. The Bible teaches clearly that we
all came from Adam and Eve. The moment Adam's human spirit died,
the human spirit of every person who would ever live also died
“in him.”
This explains what the Bible
means by “In Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). The death of Adam’s
human spirit was then physically passed down to every person who
would ever live upon this earth.
“Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so
death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
If we come into this world
through the usual method, we are all born into this world with a
living consciousness but a dead soul.
Children of the Devil
We are not sinners because we
sin; we sin because we are sinners. The nature to sin is born
within us because of our spiritual separation from God. We come
into this world with a bent to do those things that are in
rebellion against God. This evil nature is under the power of
Satan, the archenemy of God.
“In which you formerly walked
according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all
formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Eph. 2:2-3)
Read carefully the words of Jesus
Christ as He confronted the evil that was coming from men's
hearts in His day. These religious leaders knew the rumors that
were flying about concerning the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
They made the accusation that they “knew” who their father was.
They had one father. Notice how Christ responds.
“’You are doing the deeds of
your father.’ They said to Him, ‘We were not born of
fornication; we have one Father: God.’ Jesus said to them,
‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded
forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My
own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand
what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You
are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires
of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in
him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’” (Jn.
8:41-44)
So man is born dead and is born a
child of Satan.
But God
“But God, being rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and
raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4-6)
Many times it is the small words
in the Bible that carry the most spiritual weight. That is the
case here. Paul, having stated our spiritual position of death
in Adam, now gives us this tremendous contrast: “But God” (Eph.
2:2a).
God is the one who initiates
salvation. It is God who gives His life, “the new birth,” to
man. God is the one who gives grace. Understanding that we are
born dead gives us the knowledge that we need God’s life. We do
not need to be reformed because reformation cannot give us life.
We do not need religion, because religion is man's attempt to
make us better. But better is not sufficient. We need life!
Mercy and Love
“But God being rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us, even when
we were dead in our transgression.” (Eph. 2:4)
God’s mercy and love motivated
Him to be gracious to us. This proves without any doubt that
God’s life does not come to anyone on the basis of good works.
Think of this! What good work of any kind can the dead
perform? It should be obvious that the dead can do nothing at
all for themselves. The dead are helpless and hopeless. The dead
are dead!
“For while we were still
helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
(Rom. 5:5)
When we were dead in our sin, God
reached down to us in mercy and love. . . to do what?
Made Us Alive With Christ
The second word that can teach us
the truth of regeneration is óõæùïðïéÝù ; suzoôopoieoô;
“Even when we were dead in
our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved).” (Eph. 2:5)
The word is a combination of the
preposition sun translated “together,” and zoopoieo which
means “to give life.” The result is translated by the phrase
“to give life together.”
Paul places this word beside
Jesus Christ and the truth of regeneration comes into focus.
God has made us alive together with Christ. “Together”
indicates that our being connected with Christ is that which
gives us life. God, who is rich in mercy and love, has made us
alive together with Christ. Believers were formerly connected
with Adam and his death but are now connected to Christ and His
life.
At the moment that we trust in
Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit places us into union with the
body of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). And because we are placed
into Him we receive His life, which is eternal life.
“And the testimony is this,
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son.” (1 Jn. 5:11)
Our spiritual connection to the
one man, Adam, gave death, and our spiritual connection to the
other man, Christ, gives life.
“For as in Adam all die, so
also in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22)
God, because of our faith in
Jesus Christ, instantly infuses His life into us. We are born
into this world physically alive but with a dead human spirit.
When we are born again by faith in Jesus Christ, our human
spirits are “made alive.” No longer are we dead in trespasses
and sins, but we are made alive in Jesus Christ.
A Change in Positions
Being alive in Christ and
children of God replaces our “dead” status and the fact that we
were children of Satan. Paul indicates this former state by his
use of the terms “formerly walked” and “formerly lived” (Eph.
2:2-3).
At the moment of our faith in
Christ, we are seated with Him in heavenly places.
“And raised us up with Him,
and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the
surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6)
It is from this amazing position
in Christ that God will, in the ages to come, reveal to us more
of the fabulous riches which are ours in Christ. God’s
wonderful life in Christ comes to us as a gift of grace that is
simply to be received.
“For by grace you have been
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may
boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
“For if by the transgression
of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and
the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound
to the many.” (Rom. 5:15)
Though we were once dead in
trespasses and sins, we now are to produce good works that are
pleasing to God. These good works are the result of our being a
new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
“For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)
Regeneration is all about
receiving life. It is passing from death in Adam to life in
Christ. To have Him by faith is to have His life. Not to have
Him is to remain dead in trespasses and sins.
“He who has the Son has the life; he who does
not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 Jn.
5:12)
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