Three Births

In this blog we are going to talk about three births in order for us to better understand our need for, salvation in Jesus Christ. 

The three births are,

• The birth of mankind.
• Natural birth.
• Spiritual rebirth.

The birth of mankind

I am referring to the creation of the first man and woman as the birth of mankind. Birth and creation can be the same thing as we will see later in this blog.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26-28

In the beginning, God’s desire for mankind was to be made in His image. (When we think of being made in the image of our parents, we think of genes)

 God is living. God is love. God is good. 

In the beginning there was just one command. (Which turned into many commandments later on as a result of the disobedience to this one command) 

the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16-17

 And we know that mankind disobeyed the word of the Good, Loving and Living God. Disobeying God is sin because what God tells us to do is always good for us and will always lead us to love and life.

 the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? 

the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Genesis 3:12-13

Natural Birth

Now, we will briefly look at our natural birth to better understand spiritual rebirth.

The word gene is in the words, generation and regeneration.  

We all know that naturally, we are born in the image of our parents.

And that we inherit our natural genes from our parents who inherited their genes from their parents; generation after generation.

We all know our natural genes contain instructions that make us the unique person that we are, in mind and body.

Spiritual Rebirth

 Spiritually, we are all born in the image of the first two humans, and the  ‘sin gene’ was passed on to us. And just like God said in the beginning, sin leads to death.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Romans 5:12 

I think God knew this first sin would occur but God is love and One cannot love without having someone to love. A bit later, we will see how Love has us all covered if only we will believe Him.

The word regeneration has the word, gene in it just like the word generation has the word gene in it.  We see the word, regeneration in the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the 

• washing of regeneration, and 
• renewing of the Holy Ghost

Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7

The Message version says it like this; New life, new people!

But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new lifeso generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this. Titus 3:4-7 Message

The prefix re-word-forming element meaning "back, back from, back to the original place;" also "again, anew, once more," also conveying the notion of "undoing" or "backward," etc. (see sense evolution below), c. 1200, from Old French re- and directly from Latin re- an inseparable prefix meaning "again; back; anew, against." 

https://www.etymonline.com/word/re-

God reverses the sin and gives us life again! In Christ Jesus!

We are all in need of spiritual new birth. We are all in need of the Holy Spirit’s regenerative work in our spirits. God provided all things new through His Son, Jesus Christ. God provided reconciliation for our sins.

if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 

Jesus once referred to this reconciliation as being born again from above.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God…

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:3,5,16-17 

When we come to Christ, we experience spiritual rebirth/new birth/regeneration! And we are part of a new generation. And we have a new Father!

Regeneration: palingenesía,pal-ing-ghen-es-ee'-ah; fromG3825andG1078; (spiritual) rebirth (the state or the act), i.e. (figuratively) spiritual renovation; specially, Messianic restoration:—regeneration. (Strong’s Concordance)

Believing God’s Word concerning His Son, aka, the Gospel, is being obedient, and because of God’s love, we are made free from the ‘sin gene’ and given a brand new heart and eternal life.

Disbelieving God’s Word concerning His Son, aka, the Gospel, is being disobedient and we remain with the ‘sin gene’ which leads to death. 

Believing God is good for us

Not believing God is bad for us

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:6-10 

We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works,  to live out our new lives serving God here on earth.

we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Ephesians 2:10 

that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.Ephesians 4:24 

put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:Colossians 3:10 

And we were created to live with God forever! Resurrection!

The next block of Scripture is large but needful in order to understand this concept of eternal life in Christ! 

So also is the resurrection of the dead. 

It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 

It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: 

it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. 

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 

And so it is written, 

The first man Adam was made a living soul; 

the last Adam [Jesus] was made a quickening spirit. 

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy: 

the second man is the Lord from heaven. 

As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: 

and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, 

we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:42-54 

By faith in Christ Jesus 

the curse of death is reversed!

The blessing of life is revived!

We could say it like this.

If we only have one (natural) birth, we will have 2 deaths (natural and spiritual)

If we have two births, (natural and spiritual) we will only have 1 death (natural)

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Revelation 20:6 

And we cannot grasp this concept of ‘new life’ in Christ Jesus without first having ‘new life’ in Christ Jesus. God does that! So if you do not understand this blog but want to, there’s a tug at your heart to want to, then pray this prayer,

PRAYER

God above, I believe You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ into this world to save me, to restore my identity with You. I believe on His Name and the power of His blood to save me from my sin. His blood makes me Your blood; Your family. Forgive me of my sins and may Your Holy Spirit of truth and grace wash me inside and out. I ask that You help me continually be renewed in knowledge of Who You are, and who I am in You, as I read Your Holy Word and walk in Your Holy Spirit in this life. And because of this obedience of faith (believing the Gospel) and my confession that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, I have been made holy and will take part in the first resurrection, and the second death will have no power over me. Thank you for the free gift of life eternally with You.

Thank You Father! 

Thank You Jesus Christ! 

Thank You Holy Spirit! 

Amen

if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

Note: I have used the term, ‘sin gene’ repeatedly in this blog. The Bible never refers to our sin nature as a ‘sin gene’, I just thought of it that way one day and thought it would be helpful in helping us understand what it means to be born again from above.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4