P'-rebein asked,
Now, regarding regeneration..........
FYI
What is regeneration in the Bible?
- Holman Bible Dictionary. Regeneration. (ree' gehn uhr ay' shuhn) The radical spiritual change in which God brings an individual from a condition of spiritual defeat and death to a renewed condition of holiness and life. The biblical doctrine of regeneration emphasizes God's role in making this spiritual change possible.
I will add the Macmillan English dictionary which defines REGENERATE as follows:
--- to develop something new again or to bring it to its original state or as Science would have it, to grow a new body part or to be grown as a new body part or organ. ----which brings us to the works of Christ Jesus on earth, which can be narrowed down to:
1. Atonement - He atoned for our sins and earned us the forgiveness of our sins by laying down his life for mankind and thereby reconciling us with God. He was manifested to take away our sins. (1 John 3:5). In this, we witness the degree or level of his love, humility and obedience to the will of his father, our father God Almighty.
2. Redemption – By his humble submission, implicit obedience, sacrificial death and resurrection, he made us free from the power of sin and death to the intent that we are no longer under the influence or power of sin, evil and death, thus, freeing us from their bondage.
3. Regeneration – He gave us a new “body” by replacing the seed of sin which Adam passed down to us with the seed of the righteousness of God and restored us to our original state, with no longer the consciousness of sin to dominate our life. It is like putting each of us back into the garden of Eden as the new Adam with the mandate to go into the world and multiply, and subdue the earth as God told the first Adam.
Adam and Eve disobeyed and sinned against God thereby planting the seed of sin in the body which yielded fruits of the flesh. Mankind continued to water the seed from generation to generation by developing and growing this consciousness of sin in their hearts and mind and yielding in abundance fruits of the flesh and darkness to the extent that it became impossible for man not to sin as the consciousness and motions of sin in the body drive him further into the abyss of darkness. Adam and Eve chose the material or fleshly path of life that is earthy and we, ourselves, have borne this image of the earthy by choosing to follow their footsteps and we have become earthy as well. But that is not our true selfhood which lies in righteousness. Likewise, our Lord Jesus obeyed the will of God and have cultivated the seed of the righteousness of God and purging away the sinful seed of disobedience. It is left for us to develop and grow on a continual basis this consciousness of God in our heart and mind to yield in abundance eternal fruits of the Spirit. This is the eternal path which we all are called to follow to find peace and eternal life here on earth and hereafter. We can do this by the renewing of our mind to prove that which is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The Holy Spirit guides our feet through this renewal. As we have followed Adam and Eve to sin, we have to follow Jesus Christ to righteousness and perfection.
4. Teaching/Healing – embedded in his lifestyle. He declared and exemplified to us in words and works the righteousness of God and how to live in this righteousness, to be holy and perfect as our father which is in heaven. He gave us the understanding we need to eschew evil and sin and embrace good and eternal life, making ignorance no longer an excuse to disobey God. He taught us how to live above the false evidences of the physical senses and claim our heritage as children of God. The Holy Spirit today continues to teach, heal and guide our feet to our eternal inheritance
These works of Atonement, Redemption, Regeneration, Teaching and Healing are for all mankind and every one of us dwells in this grace (love and kindness) of God. Therefore, with this grace, we are no longer under the power of evil or sin. We all are empowered and capable of subduing all manner of evils including sickness, diseases, irrespective of their nature. We are all capable of taking dominion of the earth as blessed by our father --- if we follow the way of life declared to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.-
Jesus came to reconcile and unite us with God. He broke down the wall of partition between us, nailing on the cross the enemy which is sin. By destroying the body of sin, he makes this unity possible. But, just like in the time of old, our hardened hearts have continued to follow the way of life of sin and death instead of following the way of life in Christ rooted in love and spirit of holiness which guarantees us this eternal unity. Our father wants us to live heaven on earth now and always but we are not willing. He came to show us how to live heaven on earth but we are jettisoning His way and choosing our usual way of sin and death. It is our duty to be holy and perfect here on earth. It is the purpose of His will that we, His children, by His grace should live His kingdom on earth. When dealing with the Israelites of old, who were under the law, He confirmed, yes, He said, nobody was found righteous, all have sinned and come short of His glory. The same thing seems to be happening in our time.
His own arm brought salvation to earth and we live today to testify to His goodness and mercy. God is God yesterday, today and forever. It is the same God, merciful, compassionate, faithful and long suffering , Almighty, all in all , the Alpha and Omega, the I am that I am. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He continues to bear with our foolishness and iniquities but not even His mercy will stop the collective eternal judgement for He has purposed it to be. When His Will of this eternal judgement will be manifested physically on earth just as He manifested Himself in the flesh for our salvation, as He purposed and promised, what will be our fate? The transgressors will be destroyed totally. The end of the wicked shall be cut off and the righteous lives on. It is our choice.
There shall be no more sin and death as mortality yields to immortality.
Jesus said in John 12:48, he that rejects me and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the words that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (old KJV). It is the same words he spoke and confirmed through the 12 apostles that will be judging the world in righteousness in the last day.
Jesus"s answer to Peter in Mathew 19:28 applies to all true believers. It shows the state of the inheritance of the Apostles in Christ as well as all true believers. When we interpret that verse in a restrictive sense, by the letter, we tend to loose the essence of the spirit in the word.
Culled from the book ---- SOLVING THE MATRIX OF BEING (Understanding who we are in relation to God Almighty)
which can be purchased at Amazon.com. It has both the digital copy and paperback. Search by the tittle of the book.