Born of God, Part II

John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

We will continue to examine what it is to be born of God. What is involved in the new birth process? What is the true nature of offspring whom the Bible declares are born of God?

We noted in the previous part of this discussion that in normal reproduction process in nature, all living creatures and plants reproduce its own kind or species. A hybrid, which is reproduced by the crossbreeding of species, is not reproduced by natural process but involves man's intervention.

Let us examine what the Bible says about the process of being born of God. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).

Clearly, the Bible’s description of being born of God demonstrates a reproduction process which is not hybrid in manner. There is no intervention or crossbreed in the reproduction of God's offspring, "who were born ... of God."

Let us examine this more closely. Note the Holy Spirit's description of this birth process and the manner in which He excludes completely all interventions except God – “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." It completely excludes bloodline, which refers to human genealogy or genetics. It completely excludes the will of the flesh, which has to do with the choice, will, or determination of carnal or unregenerate man. And, lastly, it excludes completely the will of man, which would involve human interference, choice, will, or determination. In other words, this new birth of God is of God alone and completely excludes humanity. Therefore, the new birth process certainly is not hybrid reproduction between God and man.

One may ask why isn’t man involved with God in the new birth when God created man in His image and likeness. Many Bible teachers promote fallen man’s being in the image and likeness of God with the assumption that all the new birth or salvation involves is virtually a redoing or repair of human nature. They ignore the serious effect which the devastation by the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden had on the nature of man. While it may be true there is still some residue of the image and likeness of God in man no one would seriously want to identify unreservedly the corrupt and sinful nature into which man descended after the Fall with the nature of God. Moreover, God is Spirit, and any likeness and image of God must be spiritual. It is clear that, according to the Bible, death, that is spiritual death, came upon the entire human race through the sin of Adam. This certainly would have destroyed man’s original image and likeness of God. Therefore, there was nothing left of fallen humanity for God to involve in reproducing His own offspring. God has decided that His offspring must be born solely of Him.

This is a profound truth. And we will examine it more closely later. But the following Scripture passage says much about it and we can ponder on it for now. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:45-50: “Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

This is an interesting and important truth which in many instances is not emphasized and brought out in its integrity and plainness as stated in the Scriptures. It is a truth or an important aspect of the faith for Christians to contend for because it contains the fundamental seed or basis of Christianity. Because if we do not know or understand the truth of our beginning in the Christian life, how will we know who we really are and how to live the new life of Christianity?

I know the way we see it here shatters a lot of this human involvement and human restoration ideas which have crept into the Gospel and our understanding of the salvation process. But this is plainly the word of God. And if it seems now different from our received views it is because we have not taken time before to examine it like it is in the Scriptures in order that the Holy Spirit can open up the truth to us.

Let us stop here to absorb what the Lord is saying to us about our salvation, particularly the beginning of the Christian life with the new birth. We will continue to examine the new birth in the next part.