Born Again

This past week I've been reading the book, "Finally Alive" by John Piper. It's a free download online from his site www.desiringgod.org and covers what it means to be born again. I love this topic and I'm so happy that even though I'm not half-way through the book, already it has helped unravel a mystery for me. The mystery of spiritual death and regeneration.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you use to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following it's desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:1-5

It seems so clear now. I can't believe I never got this before. It's all in there, but like the blind man who first saw people as trees sometimes my mind has to grow accustomed to the light of the Word.

The first part is spiritual death. I think what I never really understood before was that Adam and Eve were once alive in a way that no person has ever entered the world since. With an intact spirit, or inner-most being. When they fell their spirits became something dead and every person born through them inherited the defect. God had said that when they ate of the fruit they would die. I had always been a little suspicious of spiritual death. It seemed like a convenient way to sort of mysteriously cover up the part of them continuing to live. Now I am starting to see that they once had a composed spirit and after they sinned their spirit decomposed. It makes sense to me that their flesh died slowly as it was no longer being properly supported from within. To me this is a major elucidation of the concept of spiritual death.

Jesus said "He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:38. Jesus is describing what we are like after we have been fixed. He is saying that when we have faith in Him and are born again our spirit produces life. We were all born with broken spirits and it's horribly dysfunctional. Now I can see that Adam and Eve died in the exact place where their life was sustained from. The original design for people included a spirit which nourished the rest of a person from within.

That brings me to mystery of regeneration, or being born again. Regeneration is another one of those words that held very little meaning for me. It was floating around in the "biblical mumbo-jumbo" bank in my head, but conceptually it meant very little. Regeneration is what happens when a lizard's tail gets broken off completely and a new one grows back. So we are regenerated spiritually when God removes our broken spirit and replaces it with a properly working one. In the beginning we were created with in-tact spirits and we won't be properly functional until we get that part working correctly again. This happens for us by grace when we have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit. Then out of our inner-most being flows rivers of living water.

I prayed a prayer to accept Jesus into my heart when I was twelve years old. I don't understand this, but I am utterly convinced that I was not regenerated until I was much older. In my late twenties I had wandered so far from the things I believed to be true about God. Desperate and broken I began seeking Him with the same attitude that the prodigal son had when he returned home. I thought maybe God would just tolerate me. You know - put up with me attending His church and let me make a few friends. Even writing this I get emotional over how exorbitant I discovered His kindness and affection to be. I changed in a way that I had never experienced before that time. As I changed I discovered I had actual love for the person of Jesus and a deep appreciation for all that the triune God had endured to reconcile Himself to us. I had faith that was living. I guess before I had merely intellectually assented to things taught to me. I had not been born again. Isn't it amazing that God heard my prayer when I was twelve though and He made good on it at the exactly right moment - when I was ready to give up my broken lizard tail.

".... for you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living an enduring Word of God." 1 Peter 1:23

Pushy

"Now the day was ending and the twelve came and said to Him, 'Send the crowd away that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.' But He said to them 'You give them something to eat!'". Luke 9:12&13

And of course - they didn't. He knew they wouldn't. But the point is He asked and I have a hard time believing that Jesus would have given a command that they couldn't fulfill. They could have produced food supernaturally. The twelve disciples had just returned from their mini-mission trip, healing the sick & casting out demons. They probably felt pretty on top of things and then this ridiculous request came out of nowhere. He pushed them past the point they thought they could get to.

Before they left on the mission trip they had seen Him do all the things that they did. They had a format to imitate. This command was different. They had never seen Him multiply food before. It was something new & foreign. When I read about this I don't think that Jesus is trying to teach them one more thing they can do. I think He is trying to push their boundaries beyond what they can conceive of. I think He is saying that all the elements are at His disposal - why can't His servants do impossible things that have never even been imagined?

It's pretty disconcerting to me to realize how angry a command like this would make me. I don't like being pushed. And Jesus didn't push lightly. He didn't couch His command in "I know this sounds crazy guys but trust Me...". No - He just told them what to do and let the chips fall where they may. I really like that about Him. He's not a people-pleaser.

The disciples balked & talked about trying to get money together to buy some food. That's what I would have done. They failed. It's really cool to see that they failed, but they didn't let that cause them to live in defeat or feel unloved. They were still His disciples. I really like that. I need that.

After I read this I prayed for God to help me to be more open to being pushed beyond my perceived limits. I want to remember that I have a river of living water - a wellspring of life & supernatural power living in me. I want to let it live through me.