Who is God? 2of4

THE BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE

How can we receive this eyesight? John 12:44-46 tells us; Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. If we simply believe on Him and turn from our wickedness with a repentant heart, He saves us and gives us new eyesight. Old things pass away and we become new creatures in Him. We not only are born again with a new Father, but within us is the potential to become just like His firstborn Son, Jesus.

John 14:12 goes on to say, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
What kind of works was Jesus doing? He went about preaching, teaching, healing the sick, opening blind eyes, opening deaf ears; He performed miracle after miracle. These same works we can do. How can such a thing be possible? This can only be possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:13-21 continues: And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

John 15:7 gives us the key for becoming like Jesus, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. How can we become like Jesus? Very simply, it is accomplished by abiding or fellowshipping with Jesus and keeping His words. That is why Bible study is an imperative part of our walk with God. The Bible reveals to us the nature of God. The greaest attribute of God is that He is a God of Love.

In I John 4:7-16 we find these words: Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
The kind of love that is mentioned here is not the kind of love that is in the world. God's love is selfless. He gave up His Son that we might live. In Greek there are three words for love: (1) Love that is divine, called "agape"; (2) Love of high ideals, called "phileo" (our city of Philadelphia is named for this brotherly love); and (3) Love of physical passion, called "eros" (our word "erotic" stems from this word). Since the original text of the New Testament was written in Greek we know the verse above was referring to agape love and not the other two. This is evident when we research the Greek manuscripts. (The Old Testament was written in Hebrew with a few passages in Aramaic.)

In studying the Gospels, we find that Jesus died an innocent death on a cross two thousand years ago to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. It was God's great love for us that allowed His Son to suffer death. Jesus conquered sin, death and hell on the cross because He fulfilled the Father's demand for a perfect sacrifice which was an innocent Man without sin. The grave and hell could not hold Him, so He arose victorious and now lives, seated at the right hand of God until the hour for His second coming to this earth. His death and blood atoned for our sins, and if we accept what He has done for us, we need not take the penalty of hell, since He took it for us. Praise God for this sacrifice of love! John 3:16-18 tells of this love: 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.

To sum up all the verses I have quoted, we conclude that God cannot be seen physically, but we can look at Jesus and see what He did for us on the cross. We see God's love through the sacrificial death of His Son. When we accept what Jesus did, and turn from our sins, we are then born again in the spirit and have new spiritual eyes with which to see God.

What great love to take our punishment upon Himself! He did not deserve it; He never sinned. It was due to His love for you and me that this great sacrifice was made.

Not only did Jesus make a sacrifice by laying down His life, but the Father bore much grief also. God had to forsake His own Son at His most agonizing moment because He, being Holy, could not look upon sin.

Matthew 27:46 says, ... Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The Father's heart was broken too, as He turned His back on Jesus while He was made to be a sin offering for us. II Corinthians 5:21 states, 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.

The Holy Spirit of God was grieved, as He too endured the shame and suffering of the cross. Since Jesus offered Himself ... through the eternal Spirit ... (Hebrews 9:14), all the members of the Godhead shared equally in the cost of the amazing plan of redemption. What an act of love! God the Father, loving us; God the Son, loving us; and God the Holy Spirit, loving us. It is difficult for man to realize the agony the blessed Trinity experienced for man. These past few pages have covered the plan of salvation and the miracle of God, the new birth. Nicodemus, a man that came to Jesus, did not understand this and asked Jesus what it meant. You can read that story in John 3. Jesus words in John 3:6-7 were, 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.
When we experience the new birth we enter into the kingdom of God as a newborn baby, and we must do certain things so that we can grow spiritually.