Since the disaster of the avalanche which engulfed a hotel in Italy, at least one lady has compared her rescue with being born again. It wasn’t glibly done, either: she explicitly credited God with her deliverance.
I may previously have referred to the words of Coxswain Frank Blewett of the RNLI when he described the steep ladder leading down to the survivors’ cabin:
“These are steps trodden by the reborn. When we have snatched a man out of the jaws of death, this is where he begins his second life.”
Going back to the lady in the hotel, I would guess that the word she used for “reborn” was “renata”. I believe this was a name fondly used by ladies in northern Italy as they made a brilliant discovery, or rather re-discovery, of a Bible truth. They did it as the new learning called the Renaissance blossomed throughout Europe. Re-examining their Bibles in a new light, they discovered that the real qualification for gaining eternal life was to be born again.
This basic truth had become lost or submerged for centuries. This was hardly surprising. When Jesus first uttered it, it caught out the Jewish law expert Nicodemus. In John 3 we learn that Jesus told him,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Nicodemus could not understand that these words should be interpreted in a non-literal way.
“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
Jesus explained:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus still didn’t get it. Jesus expressed astonishment that a man of Nicodemus’s learning could not detect the inner meaning of His words, even after He had clarified it. He had to spell it out.
“No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
People today make fun of the expression, “Born Again”, because they don’t understand it. As a result, Christians involved in outreach tend to shy away from it. Yet sometimes it strikes a chord. I remember one evangelist with Birmingham City Mission who would go up to people on New Street and ask them bluntly, “Are you born again?”. He had some quite interesting and profitable conversations as a result!
The new birth is no novelty. It goes right back to the teaching of Jesus Himself. Believers should welcome it as a key part of their heritage.
Sunday 29 January 2017
Wednesday 11 January 2017
Different Jobs, Same Profile
This new year, the Our Daily Bread notes brought home to me an intriguing truth: shepherds and kings have more in common than we realise.
We have just emerged from the Christmas season with its stories of the Bethlehem shepherds and the wise men (often depicted as Three Kings). We assume that the two groups are worlds apart. In many ways that's as it should be. It is an important truth that Jesus's magnetism attracts all sorts of people, the great and the humble alike.
Yet both shepherds and kings need a certain skill set in order to carry out their particular work well. A good, conscientious Shepherd will care for, control, govern and protect his flock. Surely a good king is expected to do no less?
Young David was a shepherd boy who also hailed from Bethlehem. When the prophet Samuel came to his father Jesse’s house in search of the man who should succeed Saul as king of Israel, he was out tending the flock. The last thing on his mind was ever becoming head of God’s people. Yet, guided by God, Samuel was unerringly prompted to choose and anoint him as the successor to Saul.
David’s wealth of pastoral experience soon came into its own. When God’s people were being taunted and threatened daily by the Philistine giant Goliath, it occurred to David that his shepherding skills might come in handy in saving the nation and restoring God’s honour. He duly felled Goliath using only the simple sling and stone that served him in warding off wild animals from his flock.
God arranged things so that David would have oft-repeated reasons to draw on his shepherd days for wisdom about kingship:
He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skilful hand.
Psalm 78:70-72 ESV
Amid all the fame and pomp and glory of kingship, King David never forgot the lessons taught him in his former calling. He saw God Himself as the ultimate role model for shepherds:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23
Jesus the descendant of David, the Messiah, was supremely the Good Shepherd. Yet He is also described as a sacrificial Lamb! His death on the cross is a sacrifice atoning for our sins. In an extraordinary verse in Revelation, the risen Lamb once more becomes the Shepherd, looking after those faithful souls who have passed through the great tribulation:
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:17
Thank God for a great Shepherd whose skills never become rusty through disuse. Will you place yourself under His sure protection?
We have just emerged from the Christmas season with its stories of the Bethlehem shepherds and the wise men (often depicted as Three Kings). We assume that the two groups are worlds apart. In many ways that's as it should be. It is an important truth that Jesus's magnetism attracts all sorts of people, the great and the humble alike.
Yet both shepherds and kings need a certain skill set in order to carry out their particular work well. A good, conscientious Shepherd will care for, control, govern and protect his flock. Surely a good king is expected to do no less?
Young David was a shepherd boy who also hailed from Bethlehem. When the prophet Samuel came to his father Jesse’s house in search of the man who should succeed Saul as king of Israel, he was out tending the flock. The last thing on his mind was ever becoming head of God’s people. Yet, guided by God, Samuel was unerringly prompted to choose and anoint him as the successor to Saul.
David’s wealth of pastoral experience soon came into its own. When God’s people were being taunted and threatened daily by the Philistine giant Goliath, it occurred to David that his shepherding skills might come in handy in saving the nation and restoring God’s honour. He duly felled Goliath using only the simple sling and stone that served him in warding off wild animals from his flock.
God arranged things so that David would have oft-repeated reasons to draw on his shepherd days for wisdom about kingship:
He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skilful hand.
Psalm 78:70-72 ESV
Amid all the fame and pomp and glory of kingship, King David never forgot the lessons taught him in his former calling. He saw God Himself as the ultimate role model for shepherds:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23
Jesus the descendant of David, the Messiah, was supremely the Good Shepherd. Yet He is also described as a sacrificial Lamb! His death on the cross is a sacrifice atoning for our sins. In an extraordinary verse in Revelation, the risen Lamb once more becomes the Shepherd, looking after those faithful souls who have passed through the great tribulation:
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:17
Thank God for a great Shepherd whose skills never become rusty through disuse. Will you place yourself under His sure protection?
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