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(John 1:12 KJV)
But as many as received him, "Jesus" to
them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(John 3:3 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
John 3:16 - 18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 4:40 - 42 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
In this
lesson, we are going to look at deliverance and what it
means to be born again. Let's see if we can get an
under-standing of why we need a Saviour, and what we need
to be delivered from.
Savior = a deliverer
Salvation = deliverance from
danger or evil
Phil 2:12b says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Rom 13:11 says knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Gen 1:26 - 28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Gen 2:7, 8 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
image = a likeness or impression
likeness = similar or comparable
1 Tim 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
We were created by God in his image and likeness. Not necessarily in the physical body appearance or just the body appearance, but the image is in the area of the soul and spirit which are invisible! We were created to have fellowship with God, to be like Him in, to be his children. Adam was created sinless, and perfect he was created as a three part being; body, soul, and spirit. Adam had perfect fellowship and communion with God.
glory = praise or honor/fame
Isa 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Rom 1:20,21 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
John 7:17,18 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Let’s take a little look at spirit and truth.
God
is Spirit John 4:24 . . . God is a Spirit:
Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
1 Cor 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
James 2:26a . . . the body without the spirit is dead,
Phil 1:23,24 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
A) The words of Jesus are Truth . . John 8:31,32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
B) Jesus himself is Truth . . John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
C) The comforter "The Holy Ghost" is the Spirit of Truth
Jesus said : . . John 14:16,17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:26 . . . But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
D) The words of God the Father are Truth.
John 17:1 - 26 Jesus prayed to the Father, for the disciples and all that believe on him,
In v.17 He said : . . . Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Every since the garden of Eden God has been looking for them that will worship Him in spirit and truth. God is deeply personal and can be worshiped only at a personal level, from our spirit to God's, who is a Spirit. Worship is not offered to a physical object or in a mechanical way. We worships God in our heart “spirit”, and we should continually be in the spirit of worship. True worship of God must be in a personal relationship, spirit to Spirit and in Truth.
Col 3:16 says: . . . Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Gen 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Gen 2:15 - 17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God created us in his image, in his likeness, to give him praise and honor, to have fellowship with him. This is a choice of our freewill. We are free but have limits. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Spiritual death is the ultimate form of death, the separation from God; The loss of spirit to Spirit fellowship with God. Adam died spiritually the same day he eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he lost that spirit to Spirit relationship with God; yet he lived physically many years after he sinned to be 930 years of age.
Rom 8:14 - 16 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Lost of
the Image of God . . Gen 1:27
So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them.
Lets take a closer look at some scriptures on that, the Lost of the Image of God
2 Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Rom 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
When sin
entered the human race, the image of God in which man was
created was lost or lost to some degree.
Gen 3:21 - 24 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
When Adam obeyed Satan's information "lie" he became a servant or a slave to Satan and Satan became Adam's god. Every time we disobey God in essence what we are doing is falling down and worshiping the devil. In the same manner, now when we obey the commands of God and receive his Son Jesus we become God's children. Brand new creatures in Christ, born again.
Rom 5:12 NLT When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Rom 5:15 NLT And what a difference between our sin and God's generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God's bountiful gift.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When Adam sinned and covered himself with fig leaves, God saw his state of being; separated from him. God shed innocent blood of animals and covered Adam and Eve with the skins. Adam and Eve were already covered by fig leaves. Fig leaves are your own means or way and your way can not get you to heaven, fellowship with God, it is only through the blood of Jesus.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rom 3:23, Rom 5:8 and Rom 10:9, 10, 13 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Eph 2:8 . . . For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Faith = confidence trust in God, to trust someone or believe in something
1 Pet 1:16 - 21
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if
ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of
your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot: Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do
believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and
gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God.
2 Tim 1:9, 10 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
Eph 1:3 - 7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Before
the foundation of the world we were predestinated unto the
adoption of children. We need to distinguish between the
foreordaining to adoption, and the actual act of adoption
which starts at the believing and receiving of Christ
Jesus as our atoning sacrifice for our sins, believing in
Christ, from our heart. We read in Romans chapter 8 and verse 23 And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.
God has
called all people to come to the waters of life freely and
drink of his salvation, deliverance. We read in Revelation 21:6 in the New Living
Translation And he also said, "It is
finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega-- the Beginning
and the End. To
all who are thirsty I will give freely from the
springs of the water of life.
Isaiah 55:1-3
Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and
milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that
which is not bread? and your labour for that which
satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye
that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and
your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
God said
to come; it is free to all it does not coast you any thing
for you to come. Jesus said that one needs to count the
coat. We read in Luke
14:26,27 If any man come to me,
and hate not his father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my
disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me,
cannot be my disciple.
and he went on to say in verse
33 So likewise, whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Salvation
is free but it will coast you all you have, Jesus compared
the kingdom of heaven with a valuable treasure. While we
cannot pay for salvation, it is worth all we have, there
is nothing we have that is worth keeping if it means we
can't be in the kingdom. we read in Mat 13:45, 46 Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had,
and bought it. This parable and the one
before it teach us that when some one is really convinced
of the importance of salvation they will give up
everything to win Christ and eternal life.
Salvation is deliverance, it’s the power of God to fallen mankind, to bring mankind back into fellowship with Him, It is the power to become the children of God.
God said in order to go to heaven one must be born again. We read in John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
To be saved
To be born from above
(John 3:3 - 8 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Jesus was
telling Nicodemus that he must be born from above out of
the darkness of walking in the lust of his flesh. That he
needed to pass from the darkness into His light, even as a
baby is in darkness in his/her mother's womb; even so we
are in a state of spiritual darkness with out Christ. Even
as a baby needs to emerge from his/her mother's womb into
the sunlight of the world in order to live. Thous in
spiritual darkness need to let the Holy Spirit carry them
out of spiritual darkness.
In the old
testament God worded it like this
(Ezek 18:31 KJV) Cast away from you all your
transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed;
and make you a new heart and a
new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of
Israel?
God
said we are to make our hearts new that is purify our
spirits, that is be born again. The good news is that God
made a way for all to be made new, even the worst of
sinners can be forgiven. Jesus said in Mat 9:13 But go
ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and
not sacrifice: for I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Jesus said He came to call sinners that is those that
are spiritually died, calling them to repent that is turn
from there sinning, to turn from darkness to light.
The Spirit
of God is the one who saves you. All you must do is allow
the Spirit of God to save you by understanding that you
are in darkness. You need to acknowledge agree fully in
your heart that you are guilty before God and desperately
need to be saved from your life of sin.
Admit that you have been one who has rejected His love up to this point, and then turn from your unbelief and sin and start to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
You must
realize you are a sinner. We read in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God. Because you are a
sinner, you are condemned to death, We read in Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.
Sin pays with death eternal separation from God in the
lake of fire. But God loved you so much that He gave His
only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your
place. We read in 2
Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
God paid it all for us; he created the salvation plan for all and anyone. All you have to do is Believe it and Receive it, it is Gods free gift to you.
By
saying this prayer, or one similar to it, and believing
with your heart on the Lord Jesus and making him lord of
you life, you can become born again, have fellowship with
God and in the world to come have eternal life.
Luke 18:29-30 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Pray to God in the name of Jesus
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the son of God, and that you died on the cross and shed your blood for my sins. I believe you resurrected from the dead, having victory over death and the grave, and that you now live and reign as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I confess that I am a sinner and I ask you Lord Jesus to forgive me of my sins and wash me with your shed blood. I receive you now as my personal Lord and Saviour and I invite you to come into my heart and save me in Jesus name. Please live in me now and fill me with your Holy Spirit and power. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer and for saving me and giving me the gift of your spirit. I am now a born again Christian. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Romans 12:2 . . . “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
As we meditate on God's Word, the BIBLE, the Spirit renews our minds and reveals the glory of God, transforming us back into the Image of God. We do not become mature Christians overnight. It is a process, it is a process of seeing God throw His Word and forsaking the old man and his deeds, the lust and sins of our old life of darkness. As we allow the work of the Spirit of God through the mirror of the Word of God to change us, by being obedient to the Holy Spirit.
