Tag: savior

John 3 – “You Must Be Born Again”

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

Jesus was very clear about the change that must take place in order to become one of his own and see the kingdom of God.

“You must be born again” John 3:7

Must I go to church? No, you must be born again. Must I pray a certain prayer? No, you must be born again. Must I give to the poor? No, you must be born again. Must I be baptized? No, you must be born again. Must I follow the law? No, you must be born again. Must I teach Sunday school or sing in the choir? No, you must be born again!

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3:3

One of my spiritual heroes, C.H. Spurgeon, illustrated this truth this way (in my own paraphrase):

Suppose that in England, there should be a law passed that admission to courts, preference to office, and any privileges in the nation were only given to the natural born citizens of the country. What then, would court officials say if an native Indian man came to them and said, “I will change my name” or “I will change my dress” or “I will change my family, my friends,” or “I will learn the language” or “I will work for it!” You see none of these things could admit the man, for the law is absolute, the man must be an natural born citizen to obtain the privileges, and he is not.

This illustration also correlates with us as Christians. We cannot change our names (call ourselves Christians), change the way we dress, change our friends, change our behavior, learn to talk like Christians, learn to pray like Christians, give away our money, help the poor, or do any type of Christian service. For God’s statement is clear: “You must be born again.”

This new birth is a sweeping process which is more than a change, it is a creation. Not just reformation, but regeneration. Not just becoming religious, but being born. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefor, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; Behold, the new has come.”

Do you exhibit a different life than you did before? Do you now hate the very things you used to love? Have your desires changed? Do you have a hunger for reading and understanding God’s Word? Do you desire to be around other believers? Can you persist in sin? What is your attitude towards sin- are you brokenhearted over it? or are you still indifferent to it? To whom have you entrusted your whole life to?

We cannot bring about these changes ourselves, nor make ourselves “born again.” We are only born again of the Spirit, the power of God. Salvation is a magnificent work where a soul is saved and made completely new. Ultimately, Jesus is the only one who can bring about this new creation in us.

It is imperative to understand that he brings about this change. “Behold” says Christ, “I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Dear friend, you must be made new; you must be born again! I paraphrase Mr. Spurgeon again, “Christ can make you really pure in heart; he can make you a new creature, so that you shall be converted and become as a little child. “Oh!” say you, “how can I get it? How can I prepare myself for him?” You do not want to prepare yourself for him. Go to him just as you are; trust him to do it, and he will do it. That is faith, you know–trust, dependence. Can you believe that Christ can save you? Oh! you can believe that; well now, will you trust him to save you? Will you trust him to deliver you from your drunkenness, from your angry temper, your pride, your love of self, your lusts? Do you desire to be a new creature in Christ Jesus? If so, that very desire must have come from heaven. I could fain hope that he has already begun the good work in you, and he that begins it will carry it on.”

“”Oh! make me a new creature!” If you have said that from your heart, you are a new creature, dear brother, and we will rejoice together in this regenerating Savior.” (Spurgeon, A New Creation, published July 15, 1915.)

Jesus in the Old Testament: Isaiah 53:7 (Part One)

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ” –Isaiah 55:7

The book of Isaiah was written about 2700 years ago, an entire 700 years before Jesus walked the earth. Yet he writes about Jesus several times, identifying several specific aspects about his life and death that are perfectly fulfilled at the end of Jesus’ life. This is clear proof that God had preordained and planned the very events of the crucifixion that would cover the sins of the world!

Verse 7 of Isaiah 53 says that Jesus didn’t open his mouth. What does this mean? Well, when Jesus was brought before Pilate, twice scripture tells us that he was accused by the high priests several times, and in Matt. 27:13 Pilate asks him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” And in verse 14 it says, “But he gave him no answer, so that the governor was greatly amazed.” In very good book I read this past month, Pontius Pilate, it describes how unusual this was that Jesus didn’t offer a defense against the accusations of the Pharisees. Those who weren’t guilty would emphatically declare their innocent, yet even those who were obviously guilty offered some type of argument or defense. Jesus didn’t need to argue back or defend himself, for he knew what was to come, and knew that a defense would only hurt his testimony, his humility, and his obedience to the Father. In that moment, we were on his mind, and he remained quiet to be obedient, fulfill what Isaiah wrote, and to humbly embrace the crucifixion sentence that was coming.

This passage of Isaiah also describes Jesus like a “lamb that is led to the slaughter.” In ancient Judaism, the lamb was the most powerful sacrifices to atone for sin. We can clearly see this in the Passover in Egypt, when the Hebrews were required to sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood over their door so that they would be saved. When the angel of death came through Egypt to fulfill the final plague, those who had the lamb’s blood over their door were “passed over” and were saved from death. We must not think that this referring to Jesus as a lamb is a coincidence! In John 1:29 we read, “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John exclaimed this the first time that he saw Jesus, for he knew exactly who he was and exactly what he came to do. Likewise, Isaiah intentionally prophesies about Jesus, calling him a lamb. When we compare the use of the lamb to the passover story mentioned above, we can see an amazing parallel that relates directly to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us. Those for whom Jesus died (believers) are covered by the blood of the cross, just like the Hebrews were covered by the blood of the actual lamb, and by this covering we are saved from spiritual death, just as they were saved from a physical death!

It is through His death on the cross as God’s perfect sacrifice for sin and His resurrection three days later that we can now have eternal life if we believe in Him. The fact that God Himself has provided the offering (a perfect “lamb”) that atones for our sin is part of the glorious good news of the gospel that is so clearly declared in 1 Peter 1:18-21: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

 

The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Lamb-Of-God#sthash.0sFBM4vo.dpuf
The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Lamb-Of-God#sthash.0sFBM4vo.dpuf “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” John 1:29

Gospel Call: “Come to me….and I will give you rest.” -Jesus

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Miscellaneous4 Comments

We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  This is one of my favorite verses of scripture because it depicts the call to salvation, a demonstration of what saving faith looks like, and the promise of rest that Jesus intends for us to live with! So, let’s unpack it:

First, Jesus issues a command: “Come.” It’s a simple term, but can mean so much. How do we come to him? Well, we can’t come to him with the idea that he will just be the cherry on top of our lives. That’s not coming to him. We don’t just need Jesus as another component to our lives to just complete our lives, we have to come to him with the intent of making him the center of our life, laying everything down at the feet of the cross. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus declared; “he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Jesus issues the command to “Come” to those who labor and are heavy laden. The Pharisee’s at the time were imposing so many religious laws, acts, and rituals on the Jew’s at the time, that if they made even a small error they were counted unrighteous and unfit for heaven. Jesus is saying, “Are you tired of working for salvation? Are you tired of worrying if you’ve done enough to get into heaven? Are you tired of trying hard to be good enough to please my Father? Good, you should be, because you can’t please him…on your own. ” If anyone at the time felt like this, they were personally encouraged by Jesus to come to him. Although the term itself is not used in the text, Jesus gives a call to repent, to turn away from the self-centered and works-centered life and come to Him. The person who is weary and heavy-laden despairs of his own ability to please God. He comes to the end of his own resources and turns to Christ. Desperation is a part of true salvation, because a person does not come to Christ as long as he has confidence in himself. To repent is to make a 180-degree turn from the burden of the old life to the restfulness of the new. If a person does this, Jesus promises them rest.

So, what is the rest that Jesus promises?

The dictionary gives several definitions of rest that remarkably parallel the spiritual rest God offers those who trust in His Son. First, the dictionary describes rest as cessation from action, motion, labor, or exertion. In a similar way, to enter God’s rest is to cease from all efforts at self-help in trying to earn salvation. Second, the dictionary defines rest as something that is fixed and settled. Similarly, to be in God’s rest is to have the wonderful assurance that our eternal destiny is secure in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. If we back up to verse 11, Jesus says that there is no one on earth who is greater than John the Baptist, yet the person who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he! Guys, we have such an amazing glory awaiting us in heaven. Jesus promises us that even the person who is the least in heaven, is considered much greater than the best person who lived on earth! And if we come to Jesus, he promises that this glory awaits us! At the end of our lives, if we are in the faith, we are not rewarded for what we have done, we are rewarded for what Christ has done! And how much glory and praise does He deserve!?- So much that there cannot even be a time frame on it, because it would not be enough-it has to be eternal!

Third, rest is defined as being confident and trustful. When we enter God’s rest we are given the assurance that “He who began a good work in [us] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Finally, the dictionary describes rest as leaning, reposing, or depending on. As children of God, we can depend with utter certainty that our heavenly Father will “supply all [our] needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

My friends, you are invited to this eternal rest. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

He promises rest, and so much more. It’s up to you to go to him!