Week of Prayer and Fasting - Day 2 - Birth

Growing - Birth

John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

You must be born again! Jesus tells this to Nicodemus, a teacher of the Jewish law.  Nicodemus just doesn’t understand the importance of birth.  He thinks it is just something that happened a long time ago and something that can never happen again.  But he is not seeing with spiritual eyes.

The Bible talks about this spiritual birth in a couple of different ways.

2 Corinthians 5:16-19 - 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 

19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

When we were born spiritually or born again there was a change that took place.  Our lives changed, our focus and what is important in life changed.  We speak of a newborn as a new life.  We celebrate that life and the possibilities that it represents.

1 Peter 2:9-10 - 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 

10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

We have been called out of darkness to walk in the light.  We often talk about physical birth in this way as well.  Seeing the light of day.  Being born into a family in many ways defines who we are.  In this “new birth” we are Christians or literally “Christ ones”.  It is easy to forget who we are and what that means but birth, especially for the “one like Christ” defines who we need to be.  If we forget that we forget who we are and what is important.  Focusing on our birth then should focus our attention on what it means to be like Christ!  Am I like Him?  How am I like Him”  How am I not like Him and what needs to change? What does our Heavenly Father want His children to look and act like?

Birth is also something that we celebrate.  We celebrate birth once a year but really we celebrate it more often than that as well.  Every time we consider what our lives mean or what another person means in our lives we are at least in some small way celebrating birth.  When we have a party it is not just for presents or to be thankful for another year of life.  It is also a remembrance of that day long (or not so long) ago.  Something joyful happened.  Something changed forever.

If we look at spiritual birth as just some past event we are in danger of losing ourselves - who we are!  If we were really made to be a new creation and we brought out of darkness into life and light, then it is important to remember and celebrate that.  It defines who we are, where we are going and what is expected of us.  That is why the New Testament writers are always coming back to that foundation... that birth.  We are children of the king.  It is not just a place of privilege, but perhaps especially a place of responsibility, service and humility.  Remember where we came from.  Darkness.  What has that grace give us? Light, salvation, freedom, hope!  Our attitude concerning the gift that is life will greatly influence what we do with that life.  “You must be born again” opens up to us all kinds of new and wonderful possibilities but it also mean that old things are past (and should be put in the past) making room for the new.