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Author
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Topic: Born From the Above
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epouraniois
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Nicodemus asks a question, and the Christ reveals one of the deepest mysteries of creation. We will also reference I Cor 15. The subject is the spirit, man, and our relationship to the ages. I trust we are all aware that we all shall be changed. Most of us know that the words “born again” in John 3:3 & 7 should read “born from above”. This is the foundational theme for this mini study.
Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
And immediately we are given the understanding by which the Lord's statement is received. That of physical birth. Birth in being born from above.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Joh 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
The Christ tells us a man must be born of water and spirit. We know the angels were with God before flesh man was ever formed, and we need to keep this in mind, as we shall soon be contemplating these matters. The flesh and the spirit are born. This is a figure of speech [no article, Hendiadye], as they are one thing, not two. In verse 8, the word is translated “wind”. In every other verse it is translated “spirit”, and should be so rendered here as well. Remember, when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord [2Co 5:8]. That is to say, our body returns to the dust from which it was made while the spirit returns to God who gave it [Ecc 12:7].
So far, we can say that God created our spirit and placed it within this tabernacle we call our flesh body. When we die, our spirit returns to God. In verse 5, we are told that no man can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he is first born of water and of the spirit. This response from our Savior to the question in verse 4, tells us that we cannot understand these things using our rational mind, for in verse 7 He tells Nicodemus to “marvel not” at this saying, as [v8] we do not know where the wind [spirit] comes from or where it goes. This is a figure of speech. The subject has not changed, it is still the “spirit” which He speaks.
So, lets make it as plain as possible for ourselves, and say we don’t know where the spirit comes from, or where it goes except that it returns to God who gave it. We do know that it comes from above, referencing the Heavens to which it returns, upon the conclusion of the flesh body. Nicodemus cannot understand this saying [v9-10], and, check it out > Christ acts like He cannot believe Nicodemus does not understand, since he is of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews. In verse 11&12 the Christ tells us they who are earthy cannot understand that which is spiritual [heavenly], as they do not even believe what they are told regarding that which is earthy. Ask yourself a question. If the leaders do not know or understand, how can they teach us the truth? We are warned over and again not to put our trust in man; specifically those that teach God’s Word, but to search the scriptures ourselves to see if a thing is so. Let us begin:
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
A “great mystery” indeed! Lets go back. Way back, and recall Jer 4:22-end, where we are told of the previous earth age, and how his children were wise to do evil, so God destroyed that age time. This refers to the overthrow between Genesis 1, verses 1&2. What type of children rebelled? Were they not angelic beings? Yes, they were, for we read in Rev 12:4 that a full 1/3 of all the stars of Heaven followed after Satan, who is the enemy of God, and in Job 38 we find the morning stars sang together when the foundations of the earth were first laid. Above, in verse 26&27 we are told God would wash [baptize] and sanctify the “church” by His Word. This word for “wash” is used only one other time in the NT, and occurs in Titus, with relation to “regeneration and renewing”, which is [like Ephesians] a book on this side of the dispensational boundary which separates “the church of the mystery” from the previous church era [pre Acts 28:28, see papers titled 3 aspects of blessings, the unity of the spirit, & principles of interpretation}. (we should reflect upon the same word ‘foundation’ in Eph1.4, where we find He hath chosen us before the overthrow of the world).
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Knowing that the plan of God is that plan of redemption, where Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world; then we should, and will, include these facts, as they brought about this entire flesh age, which is not permanent. Furthermore, we are told that the things which are seen are made from things that are not seen [Heb 11:3], which looks to glory and eternal life [2 Cor4:17-18], again speaking of this flesh as a temporary, yet necessary fix for the “rent” made by the rebellion [see paper: ages of ages].
So, by His mercy, v5 above, He saved us. To recap, 1/3 of God’s children followed Satan, so God puts into action His redemptive plan based upon His foreknowledge, destroys the old earth age and all things therein, and forms man out of the dust, using this existing material to repair this “rent” and bring His children home. These children must be born of water and of spirit. They must be “born from above”, and when the body dies the spirit returns to the above. That is to say, the spirit returns to God who gave it, Ecc. 17. 7).
Psa 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Psa 104:2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Psa 104:3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Psa 104:4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Psa 104:5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
Psa 104:6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
In verse 4 above, we are told that God “maketh His angels spirits”. Lets look at the next verses in the NT where we have the same subject of creation; specifically verses 6&7.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Heb 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Heb 1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Heb 1:12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
We have just read in the two sections above, that God “maketh His angels spirits”. This is important. Now, let us look at His purpose:
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
He foreknew his children. Well, when was that? This is a hard saying to take delivery of. As God hated Esau, yet loved Jacob before they were in the womb, we are also told He knew Jeremiah before he was in the womb. He knew all of us before we were ever made flesh. Before we were ever born from above, we were known personally by God. We shall look at this again momentarily. For now, let us look at a most difficult passage:
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Verse 46 is a question. The subject is our flesh body and our spiritual body. It is asking: How is it you say that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural is first? To ask it more clearly: Why do you say the natural man is first, and not the spiritual man? But it continues, and is poorly translated. After the semi colon, omit the word “and”. Also omit the words “that which is”, and insert the word “the”. It should read: ; “afterward the spiritual”. Lets put it all together now. It is better read:
1Co 15:46 Why do you say that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; (and) afterward the spiritual?
The whole point is: the natural is not first. There is nowhere in scripture that contradicts the spiritual coming first, then the natural. God is Spirit and God breathed the breath of life, and then after that, man became a living soul. But before that, man was not living as a flesh man, a living soul, and yet, we just read that God knew us before we were born.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Where did we ever get the idea that the natural man came before the spiritual man? I wonder. Now that we have reestablished the fact that the spiritual came before the natural, and that all of us are His children who He knew before we were ever in the womb, we are ready to begin understanding this “born from above” statement of the Christ.
1Co 15 above, verse 47 is speaking of Christ’s second coming and can be read with the paper 2 Adams. In verse 49 we are told: now that we have born the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. We, God’s children, bore the image of the earthy. Verse 50, flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. First the spiritual, then the flesh. After all this, now we are prepared to be changed and enter the kingdom of heaven by the shed blood of our Savior, Christ the LORD.
This is the redemptive plan of God for His children. This is God’s foreknowledge. This is the method God used to repair the “rent” in the kingdom. He separated Satan, and us, from all other aspects of His creation, thereby limiting the reign of Death [Satan] to this one sphere, the limited sphere, which will be rolled up like a tent and put away. And in Titus, we learned that it is through some type of washing that God shall regenerate and renew His children.
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
It is given for all men to die but once. Of course, in our limited reasoning, God could have destroyed all those children [angels], but being clothed in honor and majesty, perfect in all His ways, He began His perfect plan of redemption, and placed His children in flesh bodies so they would become acquainted with Death, the enemy called that old serpent and the devil and Satan. We shall all be changed, either by death, or by His coming at the 7th trumpet; then He will judge us to see what we have learned, or rather, if we have learned. By our heart choices we condemn ourselves. We also save ourselves to reward through understanding by His shed Blood on the Cross. We work out our own salvation, that is to say, the degree which we shall hereafter receive, but Salvation is of God.
Now, angels have been called “men”. [Genesis 18:2, two men and YHVH, the two men called angels in 19:1, 15; and Luke 24:4, called angels in John 20:12.]. In Daniel 9:21, Gabriel is not only called a man, but his name means "man of God". Satan himself is referred to as a man in Isaiah 14:16 [ish]. Malachi means “my messenger”, and angels are called messengers. It seems that these terms are often interchangeable. There are many more examples of this type of cross-reference, such as in Daniel.
Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
After this, Michael tells Daniel the prince of Greecia will come, and should need to be dealt with. Now these “princes” are not human men. No human could fend off the arch angels Gabriel & Michael for even a moment in battle. In Rev 12 we are told that angels fight. All through scripture we are told an enemy has done this. Can you imagine 10’s of 1,000’s of angelic beings doing battle? Its probably a good thing we cannot see these things, to be sure.
2 Cor 11:14-15
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Lets look at the Greek word for “transformed”:
3345 metaschematizo (met-askh-ay-mat-id'-zo);
from 3326 and a derivative of 4976; to transfigure or disguise; figuratively, to apply (by accommodation):
Satan’s angels are coming with him, proclaiming Satan is Jesus and acting like they are ministers of righteousness. The problem for Satan and his angels, is that they do not come thru the water and blood of a woman [nothing new under the sun; Gen6], and therefore are condemned to perish no matter what. They broke the rules, thereby blaspheming the Holy Spirit by leaving their first estate. That is to say, there own spiritual habitation, [but that is a separate study]. Satan is the only “named” being to perish, but clearly, there are many who were never written in the book of life who will be cast into the lake of fire with him. It is necessary to be born into this world by the water and blood of a woman. To be born of water and spirit [one thing]. This is the “washing” spoken of in Titus above:
1Jo 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Rom 9:21-24
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Did you get this? God formed us as a potter forms clay. Why? “that he might make known the riches of his glory”. For His glory, God had afore [before] ordained us to be in these vessels of mercy, to the end that we should come to know and love our Father, who is Spirit. He prepared us before the foundations of this world age that we may in glory be with Him in His Glory according to the promise of the adoption of the kinsman redeemer [Ruth]. From cover to cover, it is redemption. Again I ask you, what and who needed to be redeemed?
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
God knew He would lose certain of His children to their own self will, but desired to call as many as would hear, and He knows a great deal of which children will respond in this flesh because He knew us before, He saw how we responded before the overthrow, and therefore institutes the plan where He and us, would only need to do this thing but once. I thank God that I did not follow Satan so whole heartedly that I came here without going through the water and the blood. Who can know who followed Satan in the previous earth age? It is a useless question. We should only be looking in the direction the cherubim are looking, and that is to the Christ and His Mercy Seat.
Num 3:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 3:12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;
Num 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.
The matrix is the process where God would have His children come through the womb [water & blood]. It is a supernatural thing God has done to implement His plan of redemption to usward. It is so strange, that we struggle to comprehend a glimpse of these spiritual truths.
Isa 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
2Sa 5:20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.
2Sa 5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
2Sa 5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
“Baal-perazim” means “lord of the breaks”, as “the breach of waters”; and associated with the “Rephaim” who are angelic beings who did not come here under law. That is to say, they did not come through the water and blood. They did not come through the “matrix”.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. -- Eph 1:3-12—
Of course, this is a simple mini study, designed for us to glean a glimpse of revealed truth.
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