regeneration – Page 2

The one thing that differentiated Jesus from every other person that had or ever will live on this planet was his biological connection to his heavenly Father. Jesus was considered to be the offspring of God. In other words, he was conceived by genetic input that was transferred to Mary through the Holy Spirit. The angel of the Lord explained it to Joseph, Mary’s future husband this way: “The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:20). The Greek term translated conceived, gennao means “to procreate” (1080). The figurative sense of the word gennao means to regenerate or be reborn, especially in a spiritual or moral sense. It was most likely the unique and unusual conditions of Jesus’ birth that prompted him to tell Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Jesus stunned the Jews when he told them, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Afterward, the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus because they couldn’t comprehend how a man could be equal with God (John 10:33). The idea that God could exist in human form was beyond their wildest imagination. Jesus explained to them that he was equal with God because he had the same abilities. Jesus’ supernatural power was evidence of his divine character (John 10:25). The central point of Jesus’ argument was his divine appointment to be the Savior of the world. He stated, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:36). The point being that Jesus was merely stating the truth and could not lie to them about his true identity.

Jesus’ final plea to the Jews was in a sense a desperate attempt to get them to consider the facts before them. He said, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:37-38). Jesus’ declaration that his Father was in him was probably not meant to mean that he carried God’s genetic code inside him, but that the spiritual connection between the two of them surpassed human relationships. Prior to Jesus’ birth, God was able to be with his people, but not in them. The key component that Jesus added to having a relationship with God was the spiritual union that enable God to dwell in rather than with his people. Jesus’ statement that he and his Father were “one” (John 10:30) may have been a reference to the spiritual union between them, which was so intimate that they were considered to be one person.

Ezekiel’s prophecy to Israel contained “new covenant” terminology similar to that which was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah before the nation of Judah was destroyed. Jeremiah said specifically, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). The basis or foundation of the new covenant was forgiveness of sins. God said through Jeremiah, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Ezekiel used the term sanctify to identify the process whereby God’s people would be set apart to do his work on earth (Ezekiel 36:23). Ezekiel described four stages of restoration (Ezekiel 36:24-30) that would lead to God’s people being sanctified and specifically detailed a point of regeneration that was necessary for them to be saved. He said:

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Jeremiah 36:26-27).

Jesus referred to regeneration as being “born again” (John 3:7) and said, “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” (John 3:5). The idea that a person could be born a second time confused the religious leader, Nicodemus. He asked Jesus, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9). Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to understand heavenly things in order to enter into God’s kingdom and revealed that the only way he could do that was by believing in him (John 3:15-16).

A key to understanding the concept of regeneration was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Before Jesus’ birth, God used Israel’s return from captivity and restoration of the Promised Land as an illustration of what was yet to be done by his Messiah. Ezekiel recorded, ” Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it” (Ezekiel 36:33-36).