By Administrator in Devotionals

Oct 11, 2016 00:00

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 6:63 (KJV)

In the previous study we learnt that man is a spirit who possess a soul and lives in a physical body. Through our spirits we can commune with the spirit world, with our souls we commune with the mental and intellectual realm and with our physical bodies we contact the physical realm. John 4:23 says that God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. Worship is communion with God and the only way we can truly commune with Him who is a Spirit is through our spirits. Actually the Bible calls them that worship the Father in spirit and in truth the true worshipers.The word true comes from the Greek word alethinos which implies real, ideal or genuine. Therefore genuine worshipers are they that worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Ideal worship is that which is done in spirit and in truth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if any man be in Christ he is a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. When we came to God through the new birth experience we got a brand new us. We were born again, the old nature was replaced by a new nature. The new birth experience is a spiritual experience not physical. If you are born again you know that you did not get a brand new body or any part of the body. You still have the same body you had before, but thank God one of these days you're going to get a brand new body as well when the Lord Jesus comes. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Thanks be to God, our physical bodies will also be transformed so that they take an incorruptible form.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:18 (NIV)

God chose to bring us forth....I like the sound of that...He chose to give birth to us. John 1:12-13 says that as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Not only so, He says that we were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God. It was God's desire to give birth to us. When you got born the first time you didn't have a past, did you? The same is true for you now that you're born again. When you got born again the old man died and you got born again a new person. James also tells us that God chose to give birth to us that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. The firstfruits represent the first and the best. He says in 1 Peter 2:9-10 that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people called to show forth the praises and the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Oh we are fearfully and wonderfully made! We have become as a wonder to many, and any person looking at us ought to see the excellence of our God and give glory to Him!

…having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…

1 Peter 1:23 (NKJV)

John 3:16 says that whoever believes in Jesus Christ the Lord shall not perish but shall have everlasting life. How is that so? Because he has been born again of the imperishable. He is imperishable and will always endure as long as the Word of God endures. The quality of an offspring is determined by the quality of seed sown. The quality of seed determines the quality of life, and the type of seed also determines the type of creature generated. Now the Bible tells us that we have been born again of the imperishable seed of the word of God, so we are also imperishable. We have the nature of God in us. We have the God quality of life in us right now. Now the God quality of life can only be sustained by the God quality of food. When an offspring is born it continues to get nourished by the bearer. In the natural, for any offspring to sustain its natural life it has to continue feeding from the 'mother' up to a certain point when it becomes independent. Now our case is a little bit different because we never outgrow our dependence on God. We need Him every time and in every way.

…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…

1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV)

The word of God, which gave birth to us has milk too. The milk of the word is a God type of food for feeding the newborn offspring which has the God kind of life. The word of God has other types of food too. Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of the word of God said that He is the bread of life, life in this case meaning the God quality of life. In 1 Corinthians 3:2 the Apostle Paul talks of feeding the church with milk not with solid food for they were still babes. Now that means that after having milk for a certain period one is expected to outgrow that stage and start feeding on solid food. Thanks be to God there's food for all stages. In Hebrews 5:13 the Apostle tells us that milk is for the babes, that is those who are unskilled in the word of righteousness. But he also tells us that solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. The whole point we are trying to make is that you need the word of God to live whichever stage of spiritual growth you are in, babyhood or maturity.

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