WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE BORN AGAIN?

Why Do We Have to be Born Again?

(UPDATED ENCORE PRESENTATION)

by Ken Simmons

Unfortunately, most Christians know that we must be born again -- Jesus said so -- but they don't know why.?There is a great deal more to it than simply saying we need to be born again to get to heaven. The apostle John tells us that when we are born again eternal life begins for us at that moment (see 1 John 5: 11-12). ?We need to be born again to enable us to even exist in heaven! ?Read on to find out why this is true.

This is a serious and deeply profound subject that contains a great deal of meat and very little milk. That means we're skipping kindergarten and moving up to post-graduate school. In other words this is Christianity for grownups.?

You may need to read, and then re-read this to come to an understanding. As you read I will try to cover in the next few pages what took me many years to begin to comprehend. Consider this as sort of an introduction to your doctorate dissertation on the subject of being born again.

Today it’s likely that everyone in the modern world has heard the phrase “born- again Christian.”?The secular world bristles at the phrase, seeing it as some sort of spiritual superiority, i.e. “I’m a born-again Christian, are you?” The term is often bandied around in much the same way one might say, “I’m a VIP member at the Pebble Beach Country Club, are you?” Still, others have seen this as some kind of harsh command from a tough, iron-fisted God who is saying to the world,

"It’s My way or the Highway" -- demanding “You must be born again or I'll send you to hell." ?However, if you follow the teaching of Jesus you will discover that there is no other kind of Christian except one who has been born again.

If the world only knew who God is.?He is not some mean-spirited taskmaster who has placed before us an impossible obstacle course through which, if successful, we might gain entry to heaven -- that is if we’re lucky enough to survive the gauntlet of His torturous tests during our brief lifetime.?No, being born again is a “love gift for the asking,” and not a test.?It was Jesus who said,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life” (see John 3:16). A few verses earlier he said,

“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (see John 3:3).?

Jesus also said, “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God” (see John 3:18).

Adam and Eve were perfect beings, created in the image of God (See Genesis 1:26-27), and as such had a fellowship with God the Father that no one since has known except for Jesus Christ, who, as part of the Godhead comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, became flesh and lived among us.?But God, in his grace and mercy, has arranged it so that we can have that same fellowship that Adam and Eve enjoyed before their rebellion, and we don’t have to wait around until we get to heaven. Similarly, unlike the high priest in the temple, we do not have to wait to enter once a year to enter the holy of holies, because when Christ died the earth shook, the heavens trembled, and the veil in the temple was split from top to bottom giving us direct access to the Father. Because of that single act of Jesus on the cross we now have “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” (See Colossians 1:27) ?

Although I wouldn’t be so bold as to build a doctrine around this concept, I suggest you consider the following: Mankind was made in His image, which was Spirit, Soul, and Body. This was in essence a race of beings in whom God *breathed "the breath of lives," (see Genesis 2:7) and when He breathed into Adam’s nostrils *every human being since has his DNA. ?It was God’s intention to create a race of beings that were spiritual, with whom He could fellowship. God desired this relationship with mankind, who would become a reflection of His glory (see Genesis 1:26). You should underline that last sentence for it is on that basis and understanding that you will begin to know God’s purpose for mankind, i.e., why we're here.

It was only after the fall of man that, in essence, another race came into being, and that was the natural man, and the natural man completely reversed God's order. This was a metamorphosis if you will, from being one of Spirit, Soul, and Body, to becoming that of Body, Soul, and Spirit. The consequences of this tragic transformation would be profound and would last forever unless we experienced another transformation that would bring us back to our original state of Spirit, Soul and Body, a state which could once again fellowship with God as was intended from the beginning, and which would permit us to even exist in the holy atmosphere of heaven! Jesus told us how to accomplish this through the experience He described as being “born again,” in effect reversing the tragic metamorphosis when they rebelled and ate of the forbidden fruit.

Here's an analogy that might help you to understand.?Imagine that the caterpillar wants to fly around in heaven with the butterflies, but regardless of his efforts he can never do so unless he first goes through a transformation (metamorphosis) and dies, to become a beautiful butterfly that can fly around in heaven.?Similarly, the natural man, like the caterpillar, must go through a transformation and die to become a spiritual man, like the butterfly, in order to exist in heaven. Likewise, a grain of wheat must be put in the ground and die before it can become a stalk full of wheat that can multiply many times over. Just like the caterpillar, the seed of wheat must die before it can be transformed.

Does that suggest that this new "transformed" being has been perfected??No, it simply means that everyone who has had this transformation -- this metamorphosis -- is now capable of being perfected, and God sees those who have been born again as "justified."?Those who have not yet had this transformation are incapable of being justified.?They can never be good enough, righteous enough, religious enough, or penitent enough to be worthy of heaven. They have to go through the transformation.?Now the phrase “born again" is no longer a great mystery.

When you experience this new birth, this born again experience, your body and soul remain unchanged and don’t yet reflect this new birth, but your spirit is born again, and made perfect. At that moment we were given the spirit of Christ, and in Him is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (see Colossians 1:27, 2:9). That is powerful! This means that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now live inside of you if you are a born again follower of Jesus. Our soul will begin to reflect the new birth of the spirit by being “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (see Romans 12:2)

You may recall in our opening statement that we declared that being born again was necessary . . . to even exist in heaven.?The following should shed light on that declaration;

When Moses saw the burning bush on the mountain and he met with God, he was instructed to hide in the cleft of the rock and he was permitted to see only the “hindered parts” of God (see Exodus 33:21-23).?Moses was permitted to have a brief glimpse of the backside of God, and when he came down from the mountain he had to place a veil over his face because his countenance was so bright “the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold him”, such was the effect of his brief encounter with God (see 2 Cor. 3:7).

And, “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves?and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (See Matthew 17:1-2).?

If Moses’ brief encounter with God was such a radical experience that the Israelites couldn’t look at him due to his bright shining countenance -- and when Jesus, the Son of Man, was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, ?and His face “shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light,” what do you suppose would happen if a natural, unredeemed man -- who had not experienced the born again transformation, was permitted to be saturated in the holy atmosphere of heaven??Such a being could not exist even for a brief moment – ?he would most likely be instantly extinguished – vaporized! ?????

How do we experience that metamorphosis -- how do we change from being Body, Soul, and Spirit, and revert back to being Spirit, Soul, and Body??We believe in and surrender to Jesus and make Him the Lord of our lives, and we experience the new birth.?Even though we are still imperfect beings God sees us as perfected through the sacrificial blood of Jesus.?There was a price to be paid for sin and Jesus paid that price.?That selfless act is what saves us and gives us the assurance of eternal life. He stood in our place so we would never have to stand before a righteous God and hear the words "GUILTY!"

I have done my best to explain these truths and the revelations that the Holy Spirit has given me regarding this aspect of the kingdom of God and why we must be born again.?

--oo0oo--

*When someone breathes onto a glass mirror, if he were then to swab the little foggy mist and have it analyzed it would reveal that person’s DNA. Thus, when God breathed into the nostrils of Adam, He passed his DNA on to all mankind.