This is a Christian blog with biblically-themed articles. It also includes respectful articles on the errors of Mormonism. If you would like to be automatically notified each time a new article is posted (once a month), please contact me at janishutchinson@comcast.net.
Do you know how
conception and birth operate in the spiritual realm—what literally takes place
when a Christian is "born again" and becomes a new creation? As adults we already
understand the physical process of birth. The father produces the seed, the
woman the egg, these two germ cells meet, conception (fertilization) takes
place, an embryo is formed in the womb and a baby is birthed. In addition, the
Law of Heredity dictates that the baby inherits the same ability as the parents
to also birth babies.
But did you know that these same principles function in the spiritual realm? Yep—it’s in the Bible. Does that mean that when an individual is Born Again that God literally implants a seed into them like a father and an actual conception and birth takes place? Also, does the Law of Heredity suggest that after Christians are birthed as new creations, they inherit the same ability to also give birth to something—a spiritual baby?
But did you know that these same principles function in the spiritual realm? Yep—it’s in the Bible. Does that mean that when an individual is Born Again that God literally implants a seed into them like a father and an actual conception and birth takes place? Also, does the Law of Heredity suggest that after Christians are birthed as new creations, they inherit the same ability to also give birth to something—a spiritual baby?
Do you know about
birthin those kinds of babies? Or maybe you’re throwing up your hands,
exclaiming like Prissy to Scarlett
O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, “I don't know
nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!”
Well, after you learn about this kind of birthin', it should prove to be one of the greatest discoveries you'll ever make. It will not only be an "Aha!" moment for you, but one big "WOW!"
Well, after you learn about this kind of birthin', it should prove to be one of the greatest discoveries you'll ever make. It will not only be an "Aha!" moment for you, but one big "WOW!"
THE
CHRISTIAN MYSTERY OF SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION: BEING BORN AGAIN AND THE LAW OF HEREDITY
Some years back, I
accepted the Biblical Jesus and was spiritually Born Again. However, what that
meant to me at the time was that I had converted from Mormonism and entered
traditional Christianity. I really didn’t understand the full implications of
my new birth until much later. When I did, my discovery not only produced an “Aha!”
but ultimately turned into one grand, “Wow!”
Here’s what this
article will cover:
- How spiritual discoveries happen
- The six Aha! moments of discovering the universal principle of conception and birth
- The one Aha! of discovering the spiritual principle of conception and birth
- The Born Again experience
- The Law of Heredity and its application to being Born Again
- What the Christian is to birth
((Last month's article, "The Mormon Temple Ceremony" is below this article.)
How do spiritual discoveries happen?
How do spiritual discoveries happen?
Like many
discoveries, they come as the result of acquiring bits of information over a
period of time. Then, after a certain amount has accumulated, a light suddenly
goes off and you “get” it in a way you never did before. It’s what they call in philosophical circles as the Aha! moment. A scientist may exclaim,
“Eureka! I found it.” Mine produced exclamations like, “So that’s how it
works!” Here’s an example:
Remember when you
were in school and you just couldn’t understand how to solve a complicated math
problem? Then, after exerting every bit of your mental energy to understand (and
still not really getting it), someone comes along, gives you a little extra input, and then you
experience that thrilling moment of insight when the light suddenly dawns and
you exclaim, “Aha! I get it!”
Well, this is also the way it works in the Christian experience. It’s
like a light goes off, and all the Biblical and spiritual information you’ve
accumulated over the years (Bible
study, listening to teachers, preachers, etc.) instantly gels together and you suddenly comprehend some aspect of
God, clarification of a scripture, or a deeper meaning of the cross in a
way you never did before. “Aha!” you say. So that’s what it means!”
My Aha experiences that led to my spiritual Aha! began as a child
through simple observation of life in the world around me. Then, over time, I
began to see how the principles that God used were observably “universal.”
Since they were universal, that enabled me to find in the spiritual world a parallel to the identical principles.
These Aha moments along the way stockpiled and eventually led to
the ultimate “Wow-ness” of what I spiritually discovered about spiritual
conception and birth. Best of all, scripture confirmed all of it. But, I’m
getting ahead of myself.
I need to back up a few years, so hang in with me. I’ll get to the
spiritual stuff pretty quick.
My first Aha! moment: My dog, Blackie
When I was 6 yrs
old, my first “Aha!” experience occurred when my pet dog, Blackie, gave
birth to four little puppies. At that
young age, I knew nothing about conception. I only realized that something
mysterious, like magic, had happened. I held those tiny pups in my hand, and
knowing that Blackie loved me just like I loved her, I concluded, She’s birthed these pups as a gift to me.” I can’t describe how elated I was to think
that Blackie would give me four more Blackie’s to love. What a happy difference
it made in my life. But, I puzzled, what made it happen?
My mother then told me, in detail, the process of how Blackie’s puppies
were conceived. I stood there listening wide-eyed with my mouth hanging open,
unable to believe what I was hearing. That, of course, was my first really big Aha!” moment in
finding out what had to happen first to produce a birth.
After the initial
shock, I continued thinking about it.
I marveled that a tiny seed from the daddy dog and Blackie’s seed (or egg)
could come together and grow into more doggies. But even more than that—how they were able to shape themselves into dogs rather than
cats or rabbits! How did those seeds know what to make themselves into? Then my mother explained. This produced my
next Aha!
My second Aha!— God’s awesomeness and ingenuity
My mother explained to me that God made a law that each one of his creations, whether they be elephants, giraffes, humans beings, or whatever, could only produce after their own kind. When pigs conceive, they only produce pigs. When cats conceive, they only produce cats. “So,” she added, “that’s why you didn’t turn out to be a giraffe.”
That was my second “Aha!” experience—a new awe and
respect for God’s power and ingenuity to make things work exactly right.
Fascinated with how it all worked, I soon found myself discovering
other kinds of birth based on the very same principle of seed, conception and
birth (gradually proving the universality of the principle).
My third Aha!—Grammar school
Our fourth-grade class was asked to sing at a Kiwanis meeting. The song we were to sing was “Trees,” based on Joyce Kilmer’s poem. Here is one verse:
♫ I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed,Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray. ♫
Prior to our performance, I focused on memorizing the words. When we
got on stage and began to sing, I was surprised to find out that off to the
side someone was showing colored slides of trees that perfectly matched each
verse we were singing. When we came to the line that says “a
tree that looks at God all day and lifts its leafy arms to pray,” they had the
perfect picture of a tree with its tall branches reaching up into a beautiful,
bright blue sky. It was then that something amazing happened to me. All of a
sudden, the combination of the slides, the music, and the words I was singing,
fused together and touched me inside with a feeling of tremendous beauty and
emotion that as a child I had never experienced before.
After the performance we were transported back to school and I kept
wondering how someone could produce a poem that could make me have such
wonderful feelings inside. I asked my teacher, “Mrs. Granger, how does someone
make a poem like that?”
“Well,” she said, “inside the poet, something special takes place. Two
things come together—an “idea,” plus something called “inspiration.” And when
these two things come together, a beautiful poem is conceived deep inside the
poet and it comes forth as a gift to others.” The light bulb over my head
clicked.
Aha! Here was another way conception and birth
worked. The idea and inspiration that produced
Kilmer’s poem were just like the seed and egg that came together and made Blackie conceive
and produce puppies—but with Joyce Kilmer, rather than birthing a dog he
birthed a poem! And further, just like the birth of Blackie’s pups blessed me
and made me happy, even so the birth of Joyce Kilmer’s poem blessed me and made
me happy, no doubt making others happy besides me.
My fourth Aha!—High school
I discovered additional ways the principle of conception and birth worked. I learned about great artists like Leonardo DeVinci who produced the famous paintings of The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa; and Michelangelo who painted the magnificent ceiling of the Sistene Chapel and sculptured the famous Pieta’, the statue of Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion; also men like Beethoven and Brahms who composed stirring symphonies.
Aha! I said again. Two seeds of idea
and
inspiration came together inside those men and a conception took place that allowed
them to give birth to great works of art and music that have blessed millions.
Therefore, I concluded that all births are meant to bless.
My fifth Aha!—Birth of my children
Eventually, I married. Each time I was handed my babies in the hospital I looked at those tiny human beings and again marveled that two germ cells, one from me and one from my husband, could come together and produce something external to ourselves. And it goes without saying that they were blessings to us.
My sixth Aha!—Birth in plant life, the cosmos and atomic world
Birth of plant life: In our science class I learned that flowers and vegetables also follow the same principle. Pea plants are good examples. They have both male and female reproductive organs. As a result, they can either self-pollinate themselves or cross-pollinate with another plant. I don’t need to explain this further except to say that the blessing to mankind of the continued birthing of new plants (flowers and trees) is that it gives us beauty to admire, and through photosynthesis provides the necessary oxygen for us to breath by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Vegetables and fruit also provide our food.
Birth of plant life: In our science class I learned that flowers and vegetables also follow the same principle. Pea plants are good examples. They have both male and female reproductive organs. As a result, they can either self-pollinate themselves or cross-pollinate with another plant. I don’t need to explain this further except to say that the blessing to mankind of the continued birthing of new plants (flowers and trees) is that it gives us beauty to admire, and through photosynthesis provides the necessary oxygen for us to breath by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Vegetables and fruit also provide our food.
Birth of stars: Stars are also birthed. They are born
after massive stars that are pregnant with star material burst into stellar
explosions (super novas) and, like a birth, blow off gasses and heavy
elements of star material into molecular clouds referred to as “stellar
nurseries.” The material condenses into spheres of plasma and eventually
smaller stars are born. Do two components, like in other births, have to come
together to conceive and give birth? Yes.
New studies state that in stellar explosions there are
(and has to be) two stars involved. One star has to be a white dwarf (less
mass and luminosity than other stars); the other can be a normal star, like
the sun (greater mass and luminosity). They orbit around each other,
speeding in excess of 1 million mph, getting closer and closer to each other. (For
a picture, see below referenced Url) As their orbits grow smaller and bring
them closer to each other, they eventually merge. We could say that in that
merging, conception takes place. The merging then produces the fireworks of the
“mama” supernova that expels the material that births stars. (see http://tinyurl.com/mkqz8cm)
What is the blessing all that produces? The blessing for
Christians, as we observe our gigantic universe and contemplate all the forms
of matter, stars, space-time, energy, momentum and the physical laws and
constants that govern them, is that they provide evidence of God’s power and
handiwork. For non-Christians, it at least gets them to thinking; for even if they believe in the Big
Bang, they may stop to consider that someone had to cause it to bang!
Birth of molecules: Atoms, as the parents, give birth
to molecules. Simply put, it’s like atoms (the basic building blocks of
matter) “marry” other atoms. Similar to sexual attraction, they are attracted
to each other by each’s negative or positive charges. And then, comparable to
conception, they chemically bond together to produce offspring of molecules.
Molecules are the next step in building blocks of matter.
The assessment of
my Aha’s!
I soon saw that God operates and functions throughout all
aspects of life in our universe using similar methods of conception and birth.
And when it takes place, the birth of whatever it turns out to be—whether
puppies, children, poems, artwork, music, trees, galaxies, stars or
molecules—always proves to be a gift meant to bless.
Although recognizing how God makes everything work proved a large Aha!
for
me, it was nothing compared to my next one.
My seventh Aha!—Spiritual seeds
This Aha! came when I was reading the Bible about the Christian’s new birth and it said that God’s “seed” is implanted into us when it merges with the believer’s faith-seed. The new believer, Peter says in I Peter 1:23, is born again because of two seeds coming together, the “incorruptible seed of God” and the new believer’s “seed of faith.” I did a double-take. Say what? I never heard of spiritual seeds before . . . but the scriptures were describing it!
You have been regenerated - born again - not
from a mortal origin (seed, sperm),
but from one that is immortal by the ever
living and lasting Word of God.
(I Pet 1:23 Amp. Words in parentheses are not mine)
His principle of life, the divine sperm,
remains permanently within him [the new believer]
(1 John 3:9; brackets mine)
The Greek word for
“seed” is (sperma). The word is not referring to vegetable or fruit
seeds, otherwise it would have used speiro. The New Testament writers
are talking about a literal, spiritual conception.
So, this was another “Aha” experience—discovery that there was such a
thing as spiritual seeds. And just because they were spiritual, didn’t make
them any less real.
What fertilizes God’s “divine sperm” and the believer’s faith-seed in
our spirit to make conception take place? The answer . . . the infilling of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, third member of the Trinity, enables conception
in the believer when the seeds come together.
Like the wind the Holy Spirit is invisible; nevertheless, powerful. He
is God’s breath which dispenses God’s life-force and breathes spiritual life
into Christians and they become a new creation in the spirit, just like when
God “breathed the breath of life into the first man and he became a living
soul” (Gen. 2:7). The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, meaning “wind,”
“breath,” or “spirit.”(1) (See endnote for two excellent
articles on the Holy Spirit.)
Is there a spiritual womb? Yes. It is the heart of the person’s
spirit.
God’s love has
been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
Who has been given
to us.” (Rom. 5:5. Amp)
And because you
[really] are (His) sons, God has sent the (Holy) Spirit of His Son into our hearts,
crying, Abba
(Father) Father! (Gal. 4:6 Amp)
Paul calls this spiritual conception and birth a mystery that had been
hidden for ages, but now is manifest to the saints:
God has sent me to help His church and to tell His secret plan to you Gentiles.
He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased Him to tell it to those who love Him and live for Him, and the riches and glory of His plan are for you Gentiles too. And this is the secret: That Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.
(Col. 1:27; Living Bible. Underlining mine)
What God desires for His New Testament saints to know, that the Old Testament saints could not know, is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The coming of the Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament, but the idea that He would actually indwell us was beyond anyone's imagination. However, the New Testament is clear that Christ, by the Holy Spirit, takes up permanent residence in all believers. (Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 6:19-20 and Eph 2:22; underlining mine.)(2)
This is what caused Paul
to say “Christ liveth in me”(Gal. 2:20). hIS bold declaration was not
some determined kind of power of positive thinking or egotistical
self-gratification that made him state that. Neither were Peter or Paul simply
playing on an analogy or metaphor that
doesn’t really exist in reality. It’s something that really happens—for most
assuredly, Christians testify that they are not the same person they were
before their Born Again experience.
For those who have not had this experience, more simply put, here’s how
it works:
When you come to believe in the biblical Jesus and ask in faith for Him
to come into your heart, God’s seed, or “divine sperm” (I Jn 3:9), is implanted into
you, joining with your seed of faith. The infilling of the Holy Spirit causes a
spiritual conception to take place deep within the heart-womb of your spirit so
the birth can take place and you can be reborn. The Holy Spirit has that
particular power (among others), for we read in
Matthew 1:20, that the angel told Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary because
“that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, indicating that
various kinds of conception is one of the roles of the Holy Spirit. Now, of
course, Mary’s conception was different in that she was made to give birth to
the physical Messiah, whereas in the Christian’s life it is the believer who is
born.
The new nature
Like physical offspring who inherit the nature of their physical parents, Christians, as God’s spiritual offspring, inherit Christ’s nature. 2 Peter 1:4 states that Christ is put into us so that “ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” I John 3:9 says:
No one born (begotten) of God (deliberately
and knowingly) habitually practices sin;
for God’s nature abides in him—His
principle of life, the divine sperm,
remains permanently within him and he cannot
practice sinning because
he is born (begotten) of God. (Amp. Underlining mine)
John also confirms this. He tells us that when Jesus appears,“we
will see that we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). That does not mean that because we have Christ’s nature in us that we
will become a God; rather, that we have the potential to mature and become
Christ-like in the same way a toddler has the potential to mature and take on
the values and standards of its parents. Therefore,
all born-again men and women having the seed of God within them should, unless
they stray off, become like Christ. (At the same time of this infilling,
Christ’s nature also endows us with God’s “love,” but since that is such a huge
subject, it won’t be covered in this article.)
Why is it assumed that we will have the nature of Christ? Because the
universal principle of conception and birth dictates that every seed must
produce after its own kind, and nature—that is, elephants will produce
elephants with elephant natures, and tigers with tiger natures. When two doggies come together, the nature of
their offspring will be like their doggy parents. If two humans come together,
the nature of their offspring will be like their human parents. When God and
the believer come together, their nature will be like Christ.
Are we sure that taking on the divine nature of Christ is literally
something that takes place? Yes. How can we prove it? The proof is in the
pudding. When individuals are spiritually born again, their lives are changed;
people are freed from addictions; marriages are saved; people turn kinder, they
begin loving others, etc.
My big Aha!
over understanding the acquirement of Christ’s divine nature, plus the
literalness of spiritual seeds and conception, was one of the biggest ones I’d
had. But, I still had a ways to go yet to change that Aha to a big Wow!
The following is what did it:
The Law of Heredity
“Hmmm,” I said. “I now see that the principle
of seed, conception and birth are universal principles because they operate
everywhere, both in the physical world and the spiritual. Therefore, I
certainly can’t leave out the other component that goes hand and hand with
birth:
The principle (or
law) of conceiving and giving birth is always hereditary.
Heredity dictates that each offspring from mortal parents automatically
inherits the power to also conceive and give birth, e.g., your parents were
able to have children, so they gave birth to you. You inherited that same
ability so were also able to give birth to children. And your children, in
turn, will give birth to more children and so on down the line. The principle
is universal. It applies to animals, plant life, stars, the atomic and
subatomic world, otherwise all existence would have died out long ago.
If you’re a Christian, here’s a question for you (a
question for non-Christians comes later):
If a conception took place in you wherein you were birthed as a new spiritual creation,according to the Law of Heredity what are you, in turn,supposed to spiritually give birth to in order to bless others?
So, take a minute to answer that question.
When I discovered the answer to the question of what “I” was supposed
to give birth to, the light really turned on. “Wow! That’s
what’s supposed to happen? That’s what it’s all about?” I then
progressed to the Wow! experience.
What are Christians to give birth to?
It’s something that Christians probably know intellectually, but may never have translated into any Aha or Wow experience in their spirit. That can only happen when one fully understands the miraculous principle of God’s seed in us, the heredity factor, and the role of the Holy Spirit.
Paul further explains the Holy Spirit’s role in 1 Cor. 12 by saying
that after you were birthed as a new creature in Christ you received the permanent
residence within you of the Holy Spirit. He has multiple functions. He gives you
guidance in your personal life, facilitates your prayer life, reveals,
intercedes, and enables you to be a light to the world. But he also has an
additional function—to birth a special gift inside you. (Aha, another
conception!) The purpose is for you, in turn, to birth it externally and share
that spiritual offspring, or baby, with others. Why?
Christians are meant to birth their gift to bless others and glorify God
How will birthing a gift bless others? Even as I was blessed by Blackie birthing her pups, Kilmer birthing his poem, Michelangelo and DaVinci birthing their artwork, the composers birthing their music, in like manner what we birth is also meant to bless others. And because it is a gift not of our own making, it glorifies God. How does it glorify God? We can’t glorify ourselves in these gifts because we had nothing to do with them; they were conceived in us by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the only glory would have to be given to God.
Also, we cannot
choose which gift we want. It is up to the
Holy Spirit which gift (or
abilities) God wants us to give birth to. Paul explains:
All these achievements and abilities are inspired and brought to pass by
one and the same Holy Spirit who apportions to each person individually,
exactly as He chooses. (I Cor. 12:11 Amp)
Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments
(extra-ordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians), due to the power of
divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit, and they vary, but
the Holy Spirit remains the same. (I Cor 12:4 Amp)
What are these gifts? Many are listed below: (See
I Cor 12:28ff)
The gifts of:
Wisdom
Word of knowledge
Prophecy
Discerning of
Spirits
Faith (beyond one’s
normal faith)
Healing
Miracles
Tongues
Interpretation of
tongues
Other gifts:
Teaching
Administration
Pastoring
Missionary
Evangelist
Preaching
Exhortation
Music
Writing
Art
Giving
Helps
Hospitality
Faith, gift of (a
gift beyond one’s normal faith)
Intercessory
prayer
Ministering to the
homeless
Serving others
. . . and perhaps
many others, all designed to serve as a blessing to build up, edify, encourage
and help others in Christ and glorify God.
“Having gifts
(faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us,
let us use them …”
(Rom. 12:6 Amp)
Be aware that the gift may or may not be birthed immediately. There may
be (not always) a gestation period comparable to a pregnant mother’s nine months
while the gift and spirit is nourished within you. (example of the mother’s nine months is not to suggest that the
spiritual gestation will always be nine months.)
When will it come forth? Your already-conceived-gift is inside you,
waiting for the right time based upon your maturity, willingness, and
opportunity to let it be birthed. The following is a good example of the
latter:
I attended a church seminar designed to help members ascertain what
their gift was. I recall that after we finished filling out a questionnaire
that was supposed to help everyone discern it, they became quite excited. One
lady said, “You know, I’ve always had a tremendous urge to pray for people who
are sick or having problems.” She indicated, however, that she wasn’t doing it
but that she just knew she had this inside her. Others expressed
similar feelings. However, many went home after receiving confirmation of what
their gift was, not knowing how to give birth to them. One contributing factor,
among other possibilities, is that the church one belonged to may not provide
opportunity to function in some of the gifts. As a result, the participants
filed their paper away, went home, and that was the end of it. It was like
after being born again someone, something, or their own fears and hesitations,
gave them the morning-after pill and aborted the birth.
What is the best way to birth your gift(s)?
You don’t have to announce to others, “This is my particular gift.”
But, you do have to step forward. You take advantage of opportunities that
present themselves wherein in your spirit you feel moved to function. And
that’s birthing them. For example, if you feel a special burden for someone, go
over to them and say, “You know, I’d like to pray for you.” Then, just take
their hand and pray a simple prayer.
Your gift will prove to be a blessing to them, and God will give you the
words to say. He may even give you supernatural insight on what the person’s
problem is without the person telling you.
Some may feel a calling to teach. Talk to the pastor and volunteer. I
might add that if you feel you have this gift but have never done it before,
and need to learn how to put a lesson together, there are those who can help
you with a teaching outline. If you follow the steps you’ll be a successful
teacher and change lives because you already have the gift—and changing lives
is what teaching is all about.
What if you’re a Christian and still don’t know what gift you’re suppose
to birth?
The reason could be that you may not have matured enough in Christ yet.
Even as there is a necessary gestation period while a physical baby is nurtured
inside the mother, you may also need a spiritual gestation period before your
gift can be birthed. During that period, you are to nurture your inner spirit
and gift through study of the scriptures and communing with God, during which
your desire to serve him will be accelerated, your maturity will increase, and
your gift will begin to grow inside you in the way of a strong desire towards
that calling. (But you have to set your priorities straight.
Seek God first, then the gift; not vice-versa) Then ask God to direct you in ways your gift
can be developed. This will eventually lead to its birth. (I
highly recommend reading the excellent article,“Use Your Gifts” by Dr.
Shermaine Sanders; see endnote for website.(3)
How long does it take to recognize your gift?
It depends upon the person, their spiritual growth and attunement with
the Holy Spirit and, perhaps, failing to recognize the gift. This can be
illustrated by the characters in the Wizard of Oz:
The gift that each character wanted from the Great Oz resided within
them already but they didn’t recognize it. When Oz finally gave a diploma to
the scarecrow who wanted a brain, and conferred upon him the Degree of THD (Dr.
of Thinkology), suddenly the scarecrow was able to exercise his gift and burst forth
with: “Some of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles
triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining sides . . . Oh joy - oh
rapture - I’ve got a brain!” But, he actually had it all the time. He just
didn’t recognize it. When someone he thought had authoritative power told him
he had it, only then did he fully give birth to it. (The authoritative power
to tell us is the Holy Spirit)
What about the
sympathetic tin woodsman? He was always rusting himself with his tears because
he was so loving. Nevertheless, he thought he had no heart. When Oz gave him a
clock that ticked like a heart and told him he now had a heart, he then
believed he had one. “Oh, it ticks. Now I have a heart!” And for the Cowardly
lion, when Oz told him he was simply a victim of poor thinking and pinned a
bravery medal on him, the lion then exercised his new-found bravery.
Some aspect of “self” got in the way of recognizing what
they had inside them. Similarly, we may have a problem due to our ignorance of
the subject, a refusal to acknowledge our gift, our own poor thinking, or else
waiting for someone else to tell us what our gift is. (Later, once you are
functioning in it, you may have individuals confirm to you, that it is indeed
your gift.)
Why is this the
most exciting discovery a Christian can make?
The reason why it
proved to be the most exciting discovery for me was because of the literal reality
of it. That is, the gift is not the result of make-believe, e.g., “I can
function in whatever gift I like the best,” or declaring, “I claim such
and such a gift!” or self-hypnotizing yourself into believing it, “I can
heal, I can heal, I can heal!” Instead, it is the result of an actual
conception that takes place between God’s seed and your faith-seed, and you in
turn are REALLY birthed as a new spiritual creation. And because you were
birthed, the Law of Heredity says you are to birth something in turn—your
spiritual baby, so to speak; no different from Blackie birthing her puppies,
Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees,” Da Vinci’s Last Supper, or the great composers of
music.
SUMMARY
- The law of seed,
conception and birth are universal principles, whether it is with humans,
animals, plant life, poetry, artwork, music, the cosmos, atoms, or stars.
Whenever conception takes place, a birth normally follows and the Law of
Heredity dictates that the offspring will be after its own kind and nature
(like the parents).
- Conception and birth
also function in the spiritual world. Born Again Christians, God’s offspring,
are the result of the conception of God’s divine sperm/seed and the believer’s
faith-seed, enabled and sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit. They inherit
the same nature with the potential to mature and become Christ-like.
- The Law of Heredity
states that conceiving and giving birth is hereditary; therefore, Christians
are able to give birth to something external to themselves—a spiritual gift
empowered by the Holy Spirit intended to bless others and glorify God.
- The Christian’s gift
develops and grows through a necessary gestation time-period of being taught by
qualified teachers, bonding with God and studying the scriptures. This builds
the desire to serve God and enables and equips the Christian, after which the
gift will more easily be birthed.
Understanding these principles should not only produce an Aha! but a huge Wow! as you recognize
the literal reality of spiritual conception and birth, the inherited nature of
Christ, and the hereditary factor that enables you to give birth.
However, here’s a
caution. It is important to remember as you read this material, that God is
“Spirit.” When talking about seed/sperm, conception and birth, there may be a
tendency to picture God as a man having a male apparatus to produce seed—a
belief like Mormons have—but this is wrong. Everything that occurs in the Born
Again experience is totally spiritual.
I’ll close now with
two challenges:
challenge for Christians: When you accepted Christ and were
spiritually birthed as a new creation, what is the gift YOU, in turn, are
supposed to give birth to? Do you know what it is? If so, are you hanging back,
or are you functioning in it?
challenge to non-Christians: Would you like to accept Christ and
experience the new birth? If so, go to Endnote 4, and follow the six simple
steps.
So now, with all
this under your belt, hopefully you’re smarter than Prissy—you know all about
birthin’ babies. However (and I may not even need to say this) this
doesn’t imply that you or I now know everything there is to know about the
process; or of God and the universe. While we do gain a few insights here and
there, I compare it to what Sir Isaac Newton, a genius in science and
mathematics, who discovered laws and theories that furthered our understanding
of the universe, gravitational forces, the Laws of Motion, and established
classic mechanics, the beginning of modern Physics and much more, said:
"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
Until next time,
Janis
THANK YOU FOR VISITING!
The next post
will be in approximately 1 month.
However, here’s a caution. It is important to remember as you read this material, that God is “Spirit.” When talking about seed/sperm, conception and birth, there may be a tendency to picture God as a man having a male apparatus to produce seed—a belief like Mormons have—but this is wrong. Everything that occurs in the Born Again experience is totally spiritual.
challenge to non-Christians: Would you like to accept Christ and
experience the new birth? If so, go to Endnote 4, and follow the six simple
steps.
So now, with all
this under your belt, hopefully you’re smarter than Prissy—you know all about
birthin’ babies. However (and I may not even need to say this) this
doesn’t imply that you or I now know everything there is to know about the
process; or of God and the universe. While we do gain a few insights here and
there, I compare it to what Sir Isaac Newton, a genius in science and
mathematics, who discovered laws and theories that furthered our understanding
of the universe, gravitational forces, the Laws of Motion, and established
classic mechanics, the beginning of modern Physics and much more, said:
"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."Until next time,
Janis
THANK YOU FOR VISITING!
The next post will be in approximately 1 month.
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ENDNOTES
(1) Two excellent articles
on the Holy Spirit: http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/holy-spirit-gods-power-work/
and http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roots/Trinity/Holy_Spirit
(2) Andrew Womack’s
commentary: http://www.awmi.net/bible/col_01_27
(4) To receive salvation and be born again, follow
these 6 simple steps:
1. Admit you are a sinner
“There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 310, 23; see also Rom. 5:8; 6:23.
2. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:13; Acts 3:19)
3. Believe in Jesus
Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16; 14:6)
4. Become a child of God and be “born again” by asking Christ to come into your heart
“To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12; Rev. 3:20)
5. Confess and believe in your heart that Jesus is now your Lord and Savior
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10)
6. Then, begin studying the Bible, and seek out a local, biblically- grounded church.
“There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 310, 23; see also Rom. 5:8; 6:23.
2. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:13; Acts 3:19)
3. Believe in Jesus
Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16; 14:6)
4. Become a child of God and be “born again” by asking Christ to come into your heart
“To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12; Rev. 3:20)
5. Confess and believe in your heart that Jesus is now your Lord and Savior
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10)
6. Then, begin studying the Bible, and seek out a local, biblically- grounded church.
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