Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians15:45-49
As I read this passage over and over,
it remained a mystery to me. Finally, a pattern began to emerge that helps
answer the question, “Where have we come from, and where are we going?” It clarified for me who we are as humans and
who we are in Christ. It’s a matter of birth and inheritance in both cases.
Our origin is from Adam, the first
human being. We inherited from him our physical bodies, by
means of which we live
our earthly lives. We were born into
this world and, therefore,
share life here with every other human being.
Our end is in Christ, the second Adam.
We were given spiritual life when we were born
again.
We
inherited from Him our spiritual being as we are born of the Spirit.
Sin was born in Eden through the first Adam. We inherited our sin nature
from him.
Our sin was borne by Christ. We inherited His Spirit that we may bear His likeness and,
therefore, enter into His
kingdom.
In John 3:1-9, Nicodemus was puzzled
by this notion or being born again. He was told by Jesus (vs 3), “…no one can
see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Nicodemus asks (vs 4), “How
can a man be born when he is old? Surely, he cannot enter a second time into
his mother’s womb to be born!”
Perhaps our passage in 1 Corinthians
sheds some light on Nicodemus’ dilemma. Because we are born into this physical
world, we have borne the image of the earthly; likewise, because we have been
born again (ie born of the Spirit), we shall bear Christ’s likeness and, therefore,
enter into His Kingdom.
Adam became a living being from dust
(Gen 2:7). Through him, we were given a natural body and earthly life. But being
related to the first Adam is not nearly enough for us who want to be connected
to God – we need relationship with the last Adam (Christ) who became a
life-giving spirit (Jn 5:26) to His redeemed people!
Thank you, Jesus, for giving us an inheritance with you in your kingdom
when we were born again by Your Spirit. Amen.
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