Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
My guess is you have a special day that you celebrate every year… just you, even if everyone else is oblivious to your celebration. It’s your Birthday! Just that word… birthday… brings memories, doesn’t it? I hope great memories, fun filled memories. Many of us have a second birthday. Sadly, many of us can’t exactly remember the date on the calendar and we don’t celebrate this second birthday every year. But the truth is, this second birthday is far, far more important than our first birthday. Can you guess why?
The second birthday I’m referring to is the day I, and millions of us, recognized our sin separates us from God and we can do nothing to fix that problem ourselves. We realized we needed a Savior to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin and we trusted in the truth of Jesus… WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus accomplished on the cross, as His death paid the full price so God could save us from our sin! The day we took action, and confessed our sin to God, turned from our self-reliance to trust in Jesus to be our Savior, is the day God did something far more important than our original birth. On that day God saved us from our sin and birthed in us a new spiritual nature so that we can live here on earth free from our sin bondage and in a wonderful, loving relationship with Holy God! That is our second birthday, and Peter refers to this experience when he writes: “In His great mercy, God has given us NEW BIRTH into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:3,4)
Do you see my friends, that just as it is God who accomplishes our first conception, gestation and birth, so it is God who accomplishes our second birth, our regeneration! Do you see that while our first birth is wonderful, and celebrated for many reasons, our second birth is so much more significant for our first birth actually launches us on an earthly journey of aging and eventual death. But our second birth launches us on a new journey ‘…into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” For every human being their first birth will end eventually in death. For every human being who experiences a second, spiritual birth, it will lead to eternal life with God in heaven! Oh, my what a contrast, do you see that my friends?
Now consider this: our first birth is a physical process; our second birth is a spiritual process. Our first birth depends on our human mother and perhaps the help of a midwife or other medically trained person. Our second birth is entirely and only dependent on God doing His miraculous birthing work in us. Our second birth is only possible because Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is our alive, risen Savior! I’m sure you understand this: a dead person cannot save any living person from anything!
Oh, my friends, do you see Peter’s final phrase in this very powerful and promising statement: “…and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” In the human journey ‘inheritance’ is important, isn’t it? No matter what culture you call ‘home’, your ancestors before you have been tracing a journey and now you are living in the shadow of their reputation, their legacy. But for us as Christians, those of us who have experienced this second birth, we live now in the power of the reputation of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit alive in us!
Peter reminds us that we also live now anticipating a glorious inheritance, an inheritance Jesus Christ Himself earned for us through His death and His victorious resurrection and His glorious ascension back into heaven where He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords! I wonder how much you know about this magnificent, heavenly inheritance? I wonder how the assurance you have of the Jesus earned inheritance awaiting you is affecting how you live here on earth each day in our turbulent, fearful world?
May I suggest our heavenly inheritance will include at least these things…First, an unending eternity in sinless, holy, glorious heaven, with God the Father, Jesus Christ our Savior, the Holy Spirit, all the holy angels and all the redeemed people of God from all earthly time! I doubt any of us can really imagine what that will be like!
Second, the Scripture tells us we will receive rewards from God in heaven. Those rewards are based on what we, God’s people, have done with the opportunity to be God’s ambassadors here on earth, entrusted with the privileged ministry of reconciliation, given the mission of inviting our world to know Jesus and experience His salvation! (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) Oh what a celebration that will be friends.
Those rewards will also be based on how the Holy Spirit has enabled us and guided us in utilizing the spiritual gifts He entrusted to us after our salvation, for the accomplishment of God’s purposes for God’s glory. (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12)
Tomorrow we’ll look more at what Peter writes for us about this heavenly inheritance, but in closing today, look at those words of promise from Peter: “…an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:4) It’s probably safe to assume that everything tangible, that you might inherit on earth, will either perish, spoil or fade. And even the intangible things like reputation and legacy do in fact fade in the memories over time, or they spoil as secret things are discovered, and eventually it all will perish. But not those things in heaven which Jesus has earned for us! That inheritance is God protected, in God’s presence in heaven. Nothing can damage your heavenly inheritance and mine!
Tomorrow we’ll dig more deeply into this. Today, let’s celebrate that those of us who are ‘born again’ have a God accomplished second birthday which is far more important than the day of our human birth. Let’s celebrate how we can live victoriously today and every day with the Holy Spirit of God powerfully energizing us for living God honoring lives! Let’s celebrate that no matter what human inheritance you may have, the heavenly inheritance Jesus has for us is far, far more exciting! I think it’s time to worship and praise, and here’s a song to help us…!
Today’s Scripture is 1 Peter 1:3-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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