Jesus Delivered...

What Did Jesus Do?

...children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1.13

To paraphrase the late Vince Lombardi, “Christians aren't born, they are made.” Actually, they are not made so much as re-born. If it was simply a matter of one's birth then there would not be atheists born to Christian parents, or believers born to atheist parents, and most of us can cite examples of both these circumstances. Re-birth is absolutely essential (See John 3.3).

The great thing about rebirth is that it is out of this world, so to speak. This is to say that our earthly situation is quite immaterial to our being re-born. Ancestry does not matter. Economic station has nothing to do with it. Neither does ethnicity or gender. Political persuasion matters not in the least. Not blood nor flesh, nor human desiring are part of the equation. The sole determining factor is the will of the Father. The Son delivers everyone whom the Father wills to be re-born. That's how children of God are made.

If Lombardi's observation about leaders were true about Christians we would all be in big trouble. According to the legendary coach, leaders are “made just like anything else, through hard work...that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal.” Honestly, do any of us think we could ever pay that price? Could any of us work hard enough to make of ourselves a child of God? Not in a lifetime. Not in a thousand lifetimes. It is Christ, and Christ alone, through the Holy Spirit, who delivers daughters and sons to God, according to the Father's will alone.

Of course, once re-born, we are but infants, and this is where the hard work comes in. Not that one grows spiritually by dint of striving in the flesh. But it is essential that the children of God grow and mature in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can't make ourselves grow, but we can arrest our spiritual development through ignoring the Word, avoiding prayer, and cutting ourselves off from the fellowship of other believers. We cannot unmake ourselves children of God, but we can doom ourselves to remain babes unable to consume solid food or handle any mature responsibilities. It is no more the Father's desire that we should remain spiritual infants forever, than it is the hope of any parent that their daughters and sons never escape the nursery.

As God's children, believers have a part in assisting Jesus with the delivery of others. Our prayers for, encouragement of, and witnessing to those not yet re-born is important. This work of believers is in fact part of the Father's will for the re-birthing of his children. If you will, it is how the Church “assists” Jesus with the delivery of God's children.

And, for those who have not been re-born, is there nothing they can do since all rests with the will of the Father? Well, yes, they can pray themselves, they can read the Bible, they can seek out the fellowship of believers. Again, it is the Father's will alone that we should be re-born, and he alone appoints the date, time, and place. Even so, we can be assured that for someone today is the day the Father has ordained for Jesus to deliver!

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4