How CHANGED When Born Again
How shall we be changed? The next words answer!
"For this corruptible [flesh, as we now are] must put on incorruption [spirit — that which is born of God is spirit] and this mortal must put on immortality." Be changed from material flesh to spirit!
Until born again, we cannot see the Kingdom of God — (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:3).
Until born again, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God — (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:5).
Until no longer flesh, but changed into SPIRIT, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God — (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:6-8).
While still flesh and blood (as Nicodemus was and we are) we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God — (Paul to the Corinthians, I Cor. 15:50).
Until the resurrection, at Christ's coming, we shall not be changed from corruptible flesh into incorruptible SPIRIT (Paul — I Cor. 15:50-53 and verses 22-23).
Until the resurrection, therefore, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. WE CANNOT BE BORN AGAIN UNTIL THE RESURRECTION!
Now Heirs — Not Yet Inheritors
While in our present status, born of the flesh and composed of flesh, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. Notice, now, the status of the truly converted Christian, in this life — this world:
"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). Unless one has received the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit is dwelling in him, he is not a Christian. Joining a church does not make one a Christian. Receiving and following God's Spirit does!
Holy Spirit Entering Compares to Sperm Entering Ovum
But now see how God's Spirit entering and dwelling in one compares to the physical sperm impregnating the ovum — the imparting of eternal SPIRIT life, later to produce — to bring forth — a SPIRIT PERSON! A fertilized ovum — an embryo — is NOT a born human person. Life from the father has been imparted to it — he has begotten it — but neither embryo nor fetus is YET a born person. In the same manner the Spirit-begotten human is not, yet, a SPIRIT PERSON or BEING, as Jesus said he shall be when born again!
Continue: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (verse 11).
UNDERSTAND THIS! There is a direct comparison between having been born of the flesh, and being born AGAIN of God. Jesus said that which is born of the flesh is flesh — a born human. That which is born of the Spirit (God) is spirit — a born SPIRIT PERSON!
A mortal human life starts when a sperm cell from the body of the father impregnates — imparts physical LIFE to — an ovum (egg cell) in the mother. At this point the father begets, sires. He does not "bring forth": the mother does that, later. His part in the PROCESS leading to final birth is then done. BUT THERE IS A TIME ELEMENT. At the TIME of begettal, birth (parturition) has not YET occurred.
It is necessary to make this explanation, at this point, because the popular deception of a deceived traditional "Christianity" is to claim that when one "receives Christ" — "accepts Christ" — "professes Christ" — or first receives God's Holy Spirit to dwell in him, that he is already "BORN AGAIN."
First, then, notice the physical type and comparison.
The TIME Element
In human physical reproduction, there is a TIME ELEMENT. From impregnation — begettal on the part of the father — having conceived on the part of the mother — to BIRTH, or parturition, or being delivered from the mother's womb is a TIME ELEMENT of nine months.
That nine-month period is called gestation. Upon conception, the now fertilized ovum is called an embryo. A few months later, it is called a fetus. But during this nine-month period of gestation, we do not speak of the embryo-fetus as having been born. It is in the PROCESS toward birth. It is the child of its parents. But it is then the unborn child of its parents. The father has already begotten it — sired it. But the mother has not yet given birth to it. Yet it is, during the gestation period, the unborn child of its parents.
Now in being "born again," the PROCESS of this birth begins when GOD'S divine SPIRIT-LIFE IS imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, from His very PERSON, entering to dwell within us. Repeat, from Romans 8:
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [change to immortal spirit] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (verse 11). This is describing the same thing explained in I Corinthians 15:50-53, the resurrection.
Millions of sincere professing Christians believe that when they profess Christ (or receive His Holy Spirit) they are "born again." What actually happens is this:
The Church Our Mother
When one, after repentance. faith and baptism receives the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God puts him into — baptizes him into — God's Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ. So we read: "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (I Cor. 12:13).
Again, the Church is called "Jerusalem above," or "the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:22-23). Now notice, in Galatians 4:26: "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."
The analogy is this: When begotten by God the Father by receiving His Holy Spirit, we are put into the Church, which during this gestation period is our MOTHER.
The human mother of the fetus within her womb serves the function of feeding her unborn child with physical food, so that it may develop and grow physically. And also she carries it where she may best protect it from physical injury or harm, until parturition — delivery from her womb.
The spiritual mother — the Church — is commissioned to "feed the flock" (I Pet. 5:2) through the ministry which God has set in the Church "for the perfecting of the saints . . . for the edifying ,of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man . . ." (Eph. 4:11-13). Just as the human fetus develops and grows physically during the PRE-birth gestation period, so WE, after begettal by God's Spirit, develop and grow SPIRITUALLY in PRE-birth state.
But not only is the Church to feed the members on the Word of God — spiritual food — but also to protect these conceived but yet unborn children of God from spiritual harm, as the very next verse shows: "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive . ." (Eph. 4:14).
Then, at the time of the resurrection, we in the Church — the spiritual Mother — shall be DELIVERED from her, and born into — brought forth into — the Kingdom — the spirit-composed FAMILY of God.
Sons of God NOW
Now, further: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). The unborn child in his mother's womb is the child of his father and mother, though not yet born — delivered from the womb. So are we, if God's Spirit dwells in us — if we are being led by God's Spirit — children of God. Yet, at this time, we are in the gestation state, not yet that parturition. And only HEIRS. Not inheritors!
Continue: "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be [future — at resurrection] also glorified together" (verse 17).
Now see how this passage designates the resurrection into GLORY — when we shall BE spirit — as a BIRTH!
"For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" — that is the time of Christ's coming to REIGN, and of the resurrection to (being born of) SPIRIT composition — ". . . because the creation [RSV] itself also shall be delivered [a birth] from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (verses 19-22).
Here is another comparison: we shall be delivered from this world (the Church is in, though not of this world) into the glorious WORLD TOMORROW and the Kingdom which shall rule it.
The CREATION is waiting for this time of Christ's coming, the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God. Because the creation shall be DELIVERED from the bondage of corruption. Not now delivered — SHALL BE — at the resurrection time! Although this is not referring directly to our being born again, it is a direct comparison to the BIRTH of a child being DELIVERED from its mother's womb.
The resurrection — the time when we are changed to BE spirit and to INHERIT the Kingdom — will be a time of DELIVERY FROM the bondage of corruptible flesh and from this world of SIN — A REAL BIRTH!