Born Again!

 

   How utterly ironic that God chose a childless man of about 85 years of age to impregnate with faith – a spiritual conception so to speak. We read of it in Genesis 15:5,6 –

“Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be. And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

 

   God spoke the Word, Abram believed and the holy seed of faith germinated, commencing a divine ‘gestation’.

 

   Now, my terminology may seem unusual but conceiving, growing and then giving birth are indeed what this promise above was all about and it was to be symbolized by cutting the body member associated with impregnating. You see, immediately following, God ‘cut covenant’ with Abram.

 

   If you consider the symbolic sacrifices used in it, you get a clear picture of Christ – a three year old heifer (calf) which was the biblical animal of sacrifice, a three year old goat which was the animal of transference, the three year old ram which was the animal of substitution, the dove which was the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the nestling which was the symbol of innocence.

 

   This is all a fascinating study in and of itself, but it is sufficient herein to note that God’s own ‘cutting’, His part was the sacrifice of His Son. Abram’s cutting, that is the symbol of circumcision, came a couple of chapters later –

“And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.” (Gen 17:9-11)

 

   Now, I’ve long wondered why God chose the male sex organ to ‘cut’ as the binding symbol, generation after generation, of His committed relationship to Abraham (note the name change) and his descendants and their commitment to Him. But, I suggest it was truly a perfect picture of what God had done. You see, He had just planted the seed of faith in the father of the Jewish people – the people God calls His Wife. (See Isa 54:1-6)

 

   And with this insemination came conception and gestation – something spiritual and eternal. You see, the picture of God’s plan continues for just as the human gestation period is 40 weeks, broken up into three periods, three trimesters, so the line of descendants from Abraham to Christ as recorded by Matthew (that is, the Messianic line) is 40 generations broken up into three equal parts. (See Matthew 1)

 

So, what did the spiritual pregnancy bring forth? Well, of course, Jesus Christ and His church – revealing the gift of eternal salvation. That’s why Jesus specifically put salvation into this context when He said to Nicodemas,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

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, “Most assuredly, 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. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

   In a spiritual sense, the descendants of Abraham acted as a womb, a place where the faith in and knowledge of God Almighty, the great I AM, ultimately birthed the glorious Light of Truth, Redemption, Grace and Eternal Life! This is pictured for us also in Revelation 12:1,2 –

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.”

 

   Herein, the woman is the Jewish nation as Jacob, the father of Joseph pointed out in Genesis 37:9,10.

 

   But, as we know, the Jewish people did not take hold of this – the Light shone elsewhere. This was also alluded to when God told Abram,

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” (Genesis 17:4-6)

 

   In fact, it is no accident that the word “nations” is specifically gentile nations. Except for the first few years of Christianity, that’s where the Gospel Light was received – in every tribe, tongue and nation apart from Israel. But that is about to change in a big way.

 

Isaiah foretold,

“And He will destroy on this mountain (Jerusalem)
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.

And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” (Isa 25:7-9)

 

   For what was conceived in Abram and birthed by way of Christ applies to both Gentile and Jew. Though it has been ‘delayed’, if you would, (by design) for the sake of the Gentile church, the same salvation will be born in the hearts of the Jewish people – the Bible calls them the “remnant”.

 

   Speaking prophetically of the last days, John the Apostle said,

“After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:” (Rev 7:1-4)

 

   And, the ministry of this group will result in the filling of heaven with a huge number of ‘newborns’ (see Rev 7:9,10 and 14b). In God’s wisdom, the Jews were ‘set aside’ so that the world could be saved, but when they are saved, it’s gonna really get wild! Paul wrote,

“For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom 11:15)

 

   And that day is virtually upon us! Isaiah, speaking for the Almighty, spoke rhetorically,

“Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.

“Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;” (Isa 66:9,10)

 

   Are you ready? “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham.” (Gal 3:7) May the new life that was born with Christ be found in you. Be born again by the Spirit of God and be ready for His return!