03/10/2021
By the spiritual death of our old selves in Christ we are made to rise again, and to embrace eternal life. This is a cycle of life, death, and rebirth which is repeated many times over throughout God’s creation, and this is the template we were born to follow. We die as one person to sin, but by our death, and subsequent rebirth, we are raised a new creation, and give rise to many others who will follow us and be born in the image of God, and reborn into the perfection of His righteousness... just as we have been.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
John 12:24-25 ESV
When I prayed the prayer of conversion as a boy, and gave myself to a life with Jesus, something amazing happened and I felt it in my body and soul. I was remade in that instant never able to return to the person I once was. Oh, I looked the same, sometimes behaved the same, and even talked the same on occasion, but there was no doubt that the husk which once covered me as a dead grain of wheat was falling away, and my root of faith was finding fertile soil as it lifted me like a crown from the earth. Held up in such fashion I was nourished in my belief, and eventually sprang open to reveal new leaves of righteous life... being made ready to flower, and scatter many new seeds by following the calling of Christ...
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.””
Matthew 4:19 ESV
So without dying to sin we are unable to be reborn as righteous because one cannot tolerate the other, and sin is pervasive; it is like yeast... a little will leaven the entire lump of dough. We see another example of this today in the spread of COVID-19 as we watch it race around the world infecting all it comes in contact with, and bringing death as it goes.
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
Galatians 5:9 ESV
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”
Psalm 5:4 ESV
Now with the mold having been made complete in Jesus, believers are cast by their confession of sin, and profession of faith, in the image of Christ. We die a spiritual death, and are reborn in water and spirit to live eternally with our Heavenly Father. In this way we have let our seed fall to the ground in death to the world, and are made to germinate, be raised green and healthy, then to flower and go to seed again as the gospel is spread.
So as a seed, how are you doing today? Have you fallen on hard ground, or has your faith placed you in fertile soil? Are you alive, and growing? Are you rising up, and flowering in preparation for new seeds and growth, or are you lying dormant on the ground with no sign of rebirth? If you are reborn we rejoice and join together in prayer for your bounty, but if you are yet to be born again we pray for your germination in faith, and that your husk to be opened so that you can take root in the fertile ground of Christ.
“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, “Truly, truly, 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.”
John 3:4-6 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for our rebirth in the spirit, and the faith that springs forth from the seed we once were; that to all appearances looked to be dead. We thank you for your Son Jesus who taught us what it means to be reborn, and who showed us by His death and resurrection the new life that awaits us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who created us to be spiritually reborn, and then surrounded us with examples of your mercy as physical life springs forth from seeds all over the world. Praised be your name for the fertile soil of Christ, and the rain of your Word that waters us. Help us Lord as our husk is softened and our root searches for moist ground. Hear our prayers as we call upon you to shine your light on us, and draw us straight and green towards you. Merciful are you Father whose will is perfect, and in whom we find the glory of your grace. Wash us clean in the blood of your Son, and give us new life in Him that will make us worthy of eternity with you. Praised be your name now and forevermore as we are born again into your house.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:8-11 ESV
Rich Forbes