Monday, December 10, 2007

THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH


According to (Eph 1:3-8) we all had our beginning in the love of God our Creator, long before we were ever conceived in our mother's womb. So that's where the real miracle began, in the loving heart of God! Most of us know a bit about how our physical life came about, by the joining of a sperm from our father with the egg in our mothers womb. Then from this small beginning, the miracle of birth continued until some 9 months later we emerged from the temporary safety of our mother's womb, into the light of day. This day of our birth was duly recorded and has been celebrated in some way every year since then! This is the brief description of how the "natural physical" birth of each one of us human beings came about. But we know from scripture that we were all born with something missing! This missing ingredient was a "spiritual" life, in (Eph 2:1-3) Paul makes it clear that we are all born into this world as little "sinners", with a sinful nature inherited from Adam. But thank God that Paul continues "But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead (it is only by God's grace that you have been saved). (Eph 2:4-5) This "spiritual birth" is also very much a miracle birth, as outlined by Jesus to a very religious man, as recorded in (John 3: 1-8). We see that Nicodemus was a religious leader from the Jewish denomination known as the Pharisees. This was a very strict group, that could be compared to any of our Conservative Evangelical Denominations of today, who adhered strictly to the scriptures of the day. Jesus made it clear that being a leader in the Pharisee Party was not good enough, but that Nicodemus must be "born again"! This requirement for knowing God, and becoming part of His forever family, has never changed since that time. Joining some church will not make you a Christian. There is only one way to become a true Christian, or a follower of Jesus, and that is by way of the "new birth". Some churches have developed different forms or traditions whereby people can become members of that particular church, but this must not be confused with actually becoming a member of God's family. There is only one way to enter the family of God, and that is by confessing our sins and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Jesus makes this fact clear in (John 14:6), when He declared "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me". There is no way around this statement of Jesus, and it requires a "miracle of the new birth" to make it real!!

Sincerely submitted.

Gramp

1 comment:

Micah and Katie said...

Amen! Very good post and good timing to as we are about to celebrate the physical birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus!