Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." - John 3:3
The first consequence of sin was a disconnection between man and God, which humanity could never traverse.
A vital key to understanding existence : We are a SOUL which has a BODY.
Mankind (male & female) was made in the image and likeness of their Triune Creator.
In perfection and harmony with both God and His creation.
When sin occurred, the process of death began within the framework of TIME.
Time is a result of God's MERCY; sin was allowed to exist for a season.
Yet just as God had warned, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." - Genesis 2:17, death did indeed take hold of us.
Our spirit had to immediately die, there could be NO union between Holy God and unholy humanity.
Our body (shell) began the process of wearing out, which eventually dies and disconnects us from God's creation.
Our soul (consciousness) will always exist, yet unattached to either God nor His creation.
"The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit." - 1 Corinthians 15:45
This reality, of being a living soul, is precisely why disciples of Christ Jesus, spiritually reborn, are to live out their lives with a disregard of physical peril (Matthew 10:28).
YES, we are to be good stewards of the tent (body) for which we have been given, how else can we faithfully serve our Lord? But...
NO, we are not to be swayed by fear of personal death or disease while living out His command to "Love one another just as He loved us." - John 13:34
Worrying about me, my, and mine would be SELF love superseding love for others, which defies both the Great, and New, Commands (Matthew 22:37, John 13:34).
Being Born Again!
Jesus came, just as God had promised in Scripture (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Jesus demonstrated who He was by evidence (John 5:36).
Jesus fulfilled all that was required, returned to the Father, Who sent the Helper (John 14:16).
The Holy Spirit (the Helper) leads us into understanding the Truth of Christ (John 16:13).
This gift of GRACE has appeared to everyone (Titus 2:11-14).
This gift of Grace is RESISTED by most (Acts 7:51).
Unyielding resistance of the Holy Spirit's testimony (John 15:26) is UNFORGIVABLE (Matthew 12:32).
Acceptance (ceasing the work of resistance) of God's Truth, by faith, leads to spiritual rebirth... from God for us (John 1:12-13).
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:1-10
Now we are equipped to receive God's Truth and enabled to understand it through the Holy Spirit.
But our minds are accustomed to the former way of living, feeding from this world, deriving purpose and pleasure from this world... Seeing life from a "cradle to grave" perspective.
The body was essential, thus CENTRAL, in our previous state of existence. But now, our thoughts and actions are to transform into another way of living... "To live is Christ" - Philippians 1:21
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