Let CHRIST Explain!
If those who are deceived would listen to JESUS, and be willing to believe He meant what He said, THEY COULD UNDERSTAND!
Let's look at all that Jesus said! Let's understand what it means to be BORN of God — in what respect one shall be different after he is BORN of God — let's see WHEN this spiritual BIRTH takes place!
This man Nicodemus was a Pharisee, in an office of authority over the Jews. The Pharisees considered Jesus as "a religious -independent" — they didn't endorse Him, they sought to discredit, persecute, and kill Him. Nicodemus didn't want to be seen talking to Jesus. So he came around under cover of darkness.
But Nicodemus did recognize that Jesus was actually sent by God, with a Message from the Creator to mankind.
Jesus said to him: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
Immediately carnal-minded Nicodemus was as puzzled and confused as carnal-minded religionists today. But he knew one clear and specific fact they seem not to grasp — he knew what being BORN means!
"How can a man be born when he is old?" asked this Pharisee ruler. "Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"
Jesus was here talking about the actual spiritual BIRTH — not the begettal. Let us understand that. In this passage, the Greek word "gennao" is correctly translated "born." So, let us now see how Jesus explained this final spiritual BIRTH.
"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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit" (Verses 5-8).
Now LOOK AT THAT! Nicodemus had defined the only kind of BIRTH he knew — physical birth — and he knew it was not the conception, but the actual delivery out of a human mother's womb. Jesus accepted this explanation of the actual BIRTH. He did not say, "Oh, I'm not talking of being actually BORN, but merely of the conception." Jesus was here talking of being actually BORN!
But He was talking of being born of GOD, not of a human father. He was talking about a different, and a second BIRTH — a spiritual birth, not a human or physical birth. Yet Jesus used the physical birth as the exact type or illustration!
NOTICE! "That which is BORN of the flesh, IS flesh," He said. When an infant is delivered out of its mother's womb, it is born of a fleshly, human, physical mother whose ovum, or egg-cell, was given physical life by the fleshly FATHER. So, this human infant is born of the FLESH — and it is physical, material FLESH. Yes, Jesus was speaking of literal BIRTH.
NOW notice! Just as the infant born of the flesh actually IS flesh — a physical person — so, in like manner, the man or woman, when BORN of the SPIRIT, actually will BE SPIRIT.
Is that so hard to understand?
GOD is not composed of matter. GOD is A SPIRIT — He is composed of SPIRIT — as Jesus explained, in John 4:24. But, God says He formed MAN of the "dust of the ground" — of MATTER (Gen. 2:7 ). So MAN is material FLESH. And those born of material, fleshly parents ARE FLESH — that's what they ARE. But God is A SPIRIT, composed of SPIRIT, and those BORN of GOD, the heavenly Father, become SPIRIT. They are no longer composed of material flesh — no longer human — no longer MORTAL; they then shall be, as Christ now is, composed of SPIRIT — then actually divine — IMMORTAL!
What is matter? It is anything that occupies space, and has weight. You can SEE matter — or feel it, or taste it, or smell it, or HEAR the vibrations of matter which we call sound. But you cannot SEE spirit. You cannot hear, feel, taste or smell spirit. But Jesus took the sense of sight as an example.
He compared the SPIRIT, of which those BORN of God shall be composed, to WIND. Nicodemus was a carnal-minded man. He could receive knowledge into his mind only through one of these five senses. So Jesus took a material substance, which this man could UNDERSTAND, which, so far as SIGHT is concerned, resembles spirit.
The WIND, he explained, blows wherever it wills. But it is INVISIBLE — and although you HEAR the sound of it, you cannot SEE where it comes from, or where it goes. "So," he explained, "is everyone that is BORN of the SPIRIT." After people are actually BORN of God, they, too, shall BE SPIRIT, just as GOD is Spirit. They will be INVISIBLE to material human sight, just as angels are.
Now that ought to be plain. A converted person — one who has repented, accepted Christ as Savior, received God's Holy Spirit, does have a changed attitude and outlook and purpose — his whole character begins to change, and travel in an opposite direction. BUT HE IS NOT INVISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYES OF OTHER PEOPLE! He is not composed of SPIRIT. He is still composed of material flesh, even though God's Holy Spirit has entered, and now dwells in, and leads and influences, his HUMAN MIND.
He is now BEGOTTEN of God. The very LIFE and NATURE of GOD has entered into him, impregnating him with immortal spirit-life, exactly as the physical sperm-cell from the human father enters into the ovum or physical egg-cell when a new HUMAN LIFE is first CONCEIVED, IMPREGNATED, OR BEGOTTEN. But, just as that tiny ovum, as small as a pinpoint, is merely BEGOTTEN of its human father — NOT YET BORN — so the converted human is, at what we properly call conversion, merely BEGOTTEN of GOD the heavenly Father — NOT YET BORN.
He is still material FLESH, even though God's Spirit has now entered into his MIND. He is still VISIBLE.
And now he has about as much of God's Holy Spirit in him, by comparison, as the tiny human sperm-cell compares in SIZE to a baby being born. A human sperm-cell, from which human life generates, is about one-hundredth part as large as the egg-cell, which is about the size of a pinpoint. The sperm-cell is much too small to be seen by the human eye, without a microscope.
Once entered into the human ovum, it must grow, from material food received through the mother, to a size averaging 6 to 9 pounds before it is ready to be BORN.
A newly converted human is actually BEGOTTEN of GOD. Such a person is, already, an actual begotten SON OF GOD. He can call God "FATHER." But he is not yet BORN Of God.
Notice this, in I John 3:1: "Behold, what manner of 'love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called THE SONS OF GOD. . . . Beloved, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when HE (Christ at His second coming) shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall SEE HIM as He is" (I John 3:1-2).
WHAT We Shall Be
Now notice that! Understand WHAT we shall be, when we are BORN of God! Then, next we shall see WHEN we shall be born of God.
This Scripture, in this marvelous 3rd chapter of I John, plainly says that "WE" — meaning begotten, converted CHRISTIANS — are, now, already, the SONS of God. Yes, of course, and the tiny fetus no larger than a pinpoint in its mother's womb is, already, the SON (or daughter) of its human father, even though not yet BORN.
Next, this Scripture reveals that "it doth not yet appear WHAT WE SHALL BE."
Grasp that! Isn't it PLAIN? We are, later, to BE something different. Of course! Although we already are begotten SONS of God, we are still FLESH — still matter — still VISIBLE. But WHAT WE SHALL BE has not, yet, appeared. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, we SHALL BE immortal SPIRIT. That is what we shall, later, be!
BUT, this Scripture continues — READ IT! — UNDERSTAND this wonderful, WONDERFUL TRUTH! — we know that, when HE, Christ, shall appear at His second corning to earth, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM!
Now what shall HE be like? If you can know that, you can know what BORN-AGAIN Christians shall then be like — for they shall be LIKE HIM!
After His resurrection, Jesus was INVISIBLE, except when, by a process that is not explained, He was manifested, or made visible, to human eyes. Angels are normally INVISIBLE to mortal sight. Yet in many instances the Bible describes incidents when angels were made visible, so they could be seen — and they appeared like MEN.
After Christ's resurrection, two disciples were walking that Sunday afternoon, on the road to Emmaus. Suddenly Jesus appeared beside them. But, later, He "vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:31). The twelve disciples were in a room, with the doors closed, and probably bolted, because they were afraid of the Jews. There was no knock on the door. No door opened. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Christ APPEARED.
How does Jesus Christ appear, Now? What does He look like? He has now been BORN of God (Rom. 1:4). He was begotten of God, from the instant of conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But He was HUMAN and MORTAL — although begotten of God (differently than we may be, since His conception was divine, not human) — He was composed of MATERIAL FLESH, subject to human DEATH. He did die!
But, He was then BORN of God! HOW? But a Resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). WHEN? At the time of His resurrection!
He ascended to heaven, to the very THRONE of GOD, that RULES THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. He was GLORIFIED! He has been ever since. It is the GLORIFIED Christ who shall return to earth.
What does the GLORIFIED Christi look like? His eyes blaze forth like flames of fire! His feet glow like finely burnished brass. His face shines like the SUN, in FULL STRENGTH — so bright, it would blind your eyes if Hp were visible to you now! (Rev. 1:14-16; 19:12-13; Mat. 17:2)
And THAT is the way YOU and I shall look, if and when we are finally BORN of Goo! These deceived people who talk about having had a "born-again experience" certainly don't look like THAT!
WHEN Born Again?
That tremendous, glorious event of being BORN of God is to take place AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST — at the time of Christ's second coming to earth! Notice these PLAIN Scriptures! BELIEVE them!
Notice: "For our CITIZENSHIP (marginal correct translation) is (now) in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (at His Second Coming): WHO SHALL CHANGE OUR VILE BODY, THAT IT MAYBE FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY."
We are now FLESH — vile, corruptible flesh subject to rotting and decay. But, at Christ's coming, when we shall be BORN of God, this vile body shall be CHANGED, and made exactly like Jesus in His GLORIFIED BODY!
Yes, I know — this is probably TOO WONDERFUL for you to grasp!
But Scripture after Scripture piles up on us, CONFIRMING THIS TREMENDOUS TRUTH!
Look at the very Resurrection chapter, I Corinthians 15.
The BIBLE, which is GOD'S MESSAGE and INSTRUCTION to MANKIND, no where teaches any such thing as the PAGAN doctrine of an "immortal soul" going to heaven at death. It teaches that the soul is MORTAL, and shall DIE (Ezek. 18:4, 20).
But it does teach the RESURRECTION of the DEAD.
Now WHEN? At Christ's SECOND COMING!
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be ma4e alive, but every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits;" — that was more than 1900 years ago — "afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" (I Cor. 15:22-23).
That is WHEN — at Christ's COMING! And, notice, Christ is the "first-fruits" — the first of those who have been human to be BORN OF GOD by a resurrection from the dead! The true Christians — those that are Christ's shall be made alive AT HIS COMING!
Now How? What kind of BODY? That question is asked in verse 35. Notice GOD'S answer:
". . . that which thou sowest" — bury in the ground — "thou sowest not the body that shall be" (Verse 37). The IMMORTAL body that comes up in the resurrection will NOT be this vile, rotting body of material flesh — but a DIFFERENT body. Continue: "But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, . . . So is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. . . It is sown a natural body" — that is, of NATURE — MATERIAL FLESH — "it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY" — composed, of SPIRIT! "And as we have borne the image of the earthy" — material flesh — of the earth — earthy (verses 47-48) — "we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" — like GOD — like CHRIST in His glorified body!
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood" (human people of material flesh) "cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." (This is precisely what Jesus said to Nicodemus. This proves that the CHURCH is not the Kingdom of God. It proves also that no human of material flesh has been BORN of God)
Continuing: ". . . We shall not all sleep" (be dead) "but we shall all BE CHANGED, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" (the time of Christ's Coming): "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we" (if then still living) "shall be CHANGED. . . . 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!" (I Cor. 15:38-54)
All true Christians who shall have died before Christ's coming shall rise first — in a resurrection — and then all Christians still alive, in mortal flesh, shall be instantaneously — in the twinkling of an eye — CHANGED from mortal to IMMORTAL — from material flesh to immaterial SPIRIT — from HUMAN to DIVINE, at last BORN of GOD!