1 Peter 1:3-9 – 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
In His mercy He has given us a spiritual birth. John 3:3 records Jesus telling Nicodemus “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” The word that Jesus used may more aptly be translated as “from above.” It is not worth quibbling over, but it does give us insight. If we are “born again” it is because we have been born “from above.” But as we consider both translations, what Jesus was explaining was that while all are creatures of God, since He created all things (Colossians 1:16), yet not all people are His children. That is the reason He said that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Obviously we have all been born into human bodies, but those who seek after and love Jesus have a birth that gives them new life as a member of the family of God. It is at this point that the Holy Spirit comes to reside within a person. The person who does not know Jesus as Savior, and does not follow Him as Lord, does not love Him and therefore does not belong to Him. The Bible is clear that the only way to heaven is through Jesus (Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5). The only way to have the Holy Spirit within is through Jesus (John 20:22).
Born again. Genesis 2:7 “ Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” When God first made man He breathed life into Adam. The NIV here translates man as becoming a living being. The KJV, perhaps more accurately, translates this as man becoming a living soul. So what happened here is that God made the material man and then He breathed into man and man came alive. God breathed life, His life into man. It was only then that the man that God designed came alive. The essence of a man is spiritual and not physical. The physical body was inanimate until the Spirit of God was breathed into Him. It was at that time, when the Spirit of God was placed within the man that the spirit of the man came alive and he became a living soul. We see another example of this in Ezekiel 37. Therefore the man is only alive once the Spirit of God has been breathed within.
After the man rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden, they were driven away from the communion they once had with God. Fellowship, or friendship with God had been severed. Man had become an enemy of God (Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:21). God had told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit. God does not lie, immediately they spiritually died and their bodies began to die. So it is that we, all of mankind, have inherited the sin nature, from our common parents, Adam and Eve. The Bible relates spiritual separation from God as spiritual death. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve we all come into this world with inherited spiritual separation from God. We come in, with living bodies, but dead in the spirit. This was a dilemma for God. It was a dilemma because of His great love for us. That is why He sent Jesus to, by His suffering and dying as a man, pay the full price for our sins. He offers this a free gift to all who come to the Father through Jesus His Son (Ephesians 2:8-9). When we receive this gift of Jesus Christ into our life, the Lord once again breathes His Spirit into us, and once again life is imparted to mankind. Eternal life. Spiritual life. Now, we still have bodies that have the curse of sin upon them, so these bodies shall perish. But our born again, or born from above, spirits live forever. After our earthly lives are over, we will be given new bodies, eternal bodies that will never get sick or old, but shall live forever, our spirits being united with God for eternity. Adam may have rebelled against God, but God’s love and faithfulness for Adam and Eve have never waned.
So, we have received a living hope through Jesus, who was the first to permanently rise from the dead. He leads the way for all of us who would desire to belong to God. We come to a “living hope.” Meaning that it is not something, like the manna the Hebrews ate, that brings sustenance and life but must be replenished lest the man perish. God, through Jesus, puts eternal life within us. He puts Himself within us. Just as He did breathed into Adam and Eve to give them life. The Spirit of God lives eternally and that is who is within the child of God. This is the inheritance that belongs to all of God’s children who come to Him through Jesus. This is what we receive, “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.” Who is the keeper of this inheritance, none other than God Himself! He gave it to us and He stands guard lest someone, or something, should try to snatch us from Him (John 10:28-30). He gives us this free gift and then protects and grows the gift as He lives within us. He never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). Praise God!
God surely must have been the first one who said “I love it when a plan comes together.” Of course, His plans always do. So we are safe in Jesus. Don’t hope that you are going to heaven, know the reality of your destiny (1 John 5:13) and live a life of gratitude for love and grace of God that He has given us. Is God good, or is He good! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.