July 1, 2007
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of Jesus |
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A disciple’s witness
Once we understand and accept that the Kingdom of God has come into this world, the natural next step is to seek entrance into the kingdom. Our lord Jesus tells us that all who enter the kingdom must be begotten from above. To be begotten from above, while in this world, is to be recognized by the father in heaven as his child.
From the Faithful New Testament: FNT
GENNAO
"gen-AH-oh" (γενναω) is used of `begetting'
by the father, and `birthing' by the mother in the Greek literature in general
as well as the Septuagint. Thus it refers to the reproductive process as a
whole. GENNAO is also used of the special relationship between a Master and his
disciples, where no literal begetting or birthing is involved. Since there
isn't really an English word that encompasses the whole reproductive cycle,
GENNAO is reluctantly translated as 'born' except in those contexts where it
would be strange to the English reader to say 'born of a father' or 'begotten
by a mother'.
What is the spiritual birth?
This is the birth that must occur in order that one may enter the kingdom of God, this is the preparation necessary for the inheritance of the kingdom. Our father desires offspring and it is for this reason and this alone that we exist in this world today, that we might be born children of the living god. The matured self, formed as a result of the temporal birth, is the soil intended for the seed of life, the seed of life that begets our father’s children. The seed of life is the spiritual word spoken in the world by Jesus, which is grown up in the receiver, matured as an identifiable fruit, a persevering believer, an abiding witness, and thus an enduring son.
John 3 FNT
3 Jesus answered and said to him: Truly truly I say to you, if someone not be begotten from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus says to him: How is [a] man able to be begotten being old? Is he able to enter into his mother's belly [a] second time and be begotten? 5 Jesus answered: Truly truly I say to you, if someone not be begotten out of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is begotten out of the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten out of the spirit is spirit. 7 You should not marvel that I said to you, You must [all] be begotten from above
John 6 FNT
63 The spirit is the [one] making zoe-alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are zoe-life.
Luke 18 FNT
17 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as [a] child does not enter it.
John 17
FNT
3 This is eternal zoe-life, that they know you the only
true God and whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
Who?
All are offered, the whole world is offered the seed of eternal life, but very few will accept it. Those in love with their lives in this world, seduced by the false glory of the world and unable to resist the lies of Satan are not capable of receiving and keeping the life giving word of our father. It is the poor, the mournful, the thirsty and the hungry, the merciful, the pure of heart, and the peacemakers, who will receive, believe, and keep the truth. It is those lost in this world, not belonging to the world, called out as sheep and instinctively following their master’s voice home to our father in the heavens, it is those who guard the word and keep it through to the resurrection.
John 3 FNT
15 so that everyone believing in him may be having eternal zoe-life. 16 For God thus agape-loved the world: so that he gave his uniquely-begotten son, so that everyone believing in him not perish but be having eternal zoe-life.
Matt 7 FNT
14 And confined is the way leading to zoe-life, and few are those finding it.
Matt 10 FNT
39 The [one] finding his psyche-life shall lose it, and the [one] losing his psyche-life because of me will find it.
John 17 FNT
16 They are not of the world just as I am not of the world.
When?
Jesus only speaks a few times of the human birth, but it seems a logical aid for our understanding. All instances recorded where he is speaking of the human birth, including his, are in conjunction with those of matured individuals. Jesus chose mature men, working in the world to be his apostles, who would later be converted, and were acknowledged by Jesus, while they remained in the world, as his siblings.
The prodigal son was not a spiritual fetus; a son of the father is fully matured, conceived, and birthed of the spirit, conscious and in possession of his own thoughts and actions, un-invested in the thoughts and actions of the world. He is an offspring of the father, as every child is an offspring in the likeness of its father and a sibling displaying similar characteristics and an identical witness to that of Jesus.
Upon belief; when this occurs, the fruit is forthcoming, this is a conviction that is confident, secure, and fully sustained by the unmovable faith that brings one to this point. When the belief has retained the strength that is likened to that of the belief of an innocent child unto his father.
Luke 15 FNT
18 Having arisen I will go to my father and will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 no longer am I worthy to be called your son, make me as one [of your] hired-hands.
John 6 FNT
29 Jesus answered and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in whom that [one] has sent.
Matt 18 FNT
3 and said: Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become as the child, you will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
Why?
Jesus speaks of his own purpose for birth into this world. His purpose is the reflection and representation of our father and the witness of the absolute truth in the world, and the same attributes apply to all children of our father. Children are born of the spirit, in order to witness to the truth, with hopes of eternal inheritance of the kingdom. So we could say that all children of our father are born into the world for this, in order to witness to the truth. The father loves his children and desires for them to be where he is. The child is tested through his time in the world and assigned a mission in the world just as Jesus was assigned his mission in the world. He has already demonstrated the way to the father, and all children must follow his lead. The children do not want to do this, they do not want to be in the world, just as Jesus did not want to be in the world. They want to be with the father, but they do it anyway out of love and obedience to the father, just as Jesus did. The father sent Jesus into the world and likewise all children are thus sent into the world.
John 18 FNT
37 Pilate therefore said to him: So are you [a] king? Jesus answered: You say that I am king. I am born for this and am come into the world for this, in order that I witness to the truth. All those being from the truth hear my voice.
Matt 13 FNT
38 And the field is the world, and the good seed these are the sons of the kingdom, and tares are the sons of the wicked [one].
John 17 FNT
18 Just as you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world.
23 I in them and you in me, in order that they be completed into one [thing], in order that the world know you sent me and [that] you agape-loved them just as you agape-loved me.
Where?
The spiritual birth is evidenced or manifested in the world as a matured, fruit-producing branch. Even though we cannot see this happen as Jesus explains in John 3, the birth is evidenced by the reproduction of like fruit, as indicated in the parable of the Sower, the vine, and the wheat. Children of the kingdom are the good seed, good seed is found in or on good fruit, thus a child is identified by the fruit he produces. If the seed is the life giving word spoken by Jesus, then of course the fruit will be the speaking and repeating of the same word, and the doing of the word as commanded by Jesus. Fruit is only produced on the branch dwelling in the vine, and given by that which falls on the good soil. The spiritual birth is evidenced in heaven by the joy of the angels and the recognition by the father of his children!
John 3 FNT
8 The wind blows where it wants, and you do not know whence it is coming and where it is going, in this manner is everyone who has been begotten out of the spirit.
Matt 13 FNT
8 On the other hand some fell on the good soil, and was giving fruit, on the one hand hundredfold, on the other sixtyfold, [and] on the other thirtyfold.
Matt 7 FNT
21 Not everyone saying to me: Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the [one] doing the will of my father who [is] in the heavens.
Luke 9 FNT
62 But Jesus said to him: No one having set his hand to the plow and looking back is suitable for the kingdom of God.
How?
A child of our father must be born of the spirit as a result of true belief and true belief stems from the purity of heart. The birth is a cause of pain and sorrow, because there is a detachment, or severance that occurs between the child and the world. It is a willing detachment, but painful nonetheless and yet replaced with a joy that can be taken away by no one. Jesus’ apostle’s spent physical time with him, spoke face to face with him, and still believed not his word, they thought they believed him and even confessed to knowing that he was the Christ, performed miracles in his name, Simon thought he was ready to give his life for him, yet still they did not truly believe until well after the resurrection. I can only imagine their sorrow during this time of testing. Simon, for example, denied Jesus and wept bitterly after realizing what he had done. There is no ache so deep, and no anguish so heartfelt as the realization of failing our master. It took his apostles three times of seeing Jesus after his resurrection for them to truly believe, to experience the birth, and bear fruit, yet it seems he knew who would be converted, for he makes reference to them as his brothers, to the two Mary’s. True belief requires an unwavering faith, endurance, and staying power as intense as one seeking to save his life, even though it is exactly the opposite for the children of the father, who must hate their life in this world and be willing to part with their life in order to preserve it eternally.
John 16 FNT
21 The woman when she gives birth has pain, because her hour has come, but when the child be born, no longer does she remember the sorrow because of the joy that [a] human has been born into the world. 22 And you therefore now indeed have pain. But you will see me again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
John 8 FNT
31 So Jesus was saying to the Jews having believed in him: If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 15 FNT
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. The [one] dwelling in me and I in him, this [one] bears much fruit, because apart from me you are able to be doing nothing.
In Conclusion:
The Spiritual birth is the means by which our father begets offspring. Children of the light emanate this light while in the world. The bearing of spiritual fruit is the evidence of the spiritual birth and there is no other way to distinguish the children of the living-god. One must be born of the flesh to perceive the world, and one must be born of the Spirit to perceive the kingdom. Our physical self is our proof of physical birth and our spiritual fruit is our proof of the spiritual birth. Unless one abide the time required to produce the fruit, however long that takes, one will not experience the birth, and produce the fruit, that witnesses to the truth. Conception is a given in statements regarding birth, we know that had this not occurred, there would have been no birth, however the opposite is not true, we cannot assume birth has or will occur because of conception. Our father offers life to all who would accept it, yet only a few will, and those who accept, choose life over death, and love their father with the wholeness of their being. They intuitively know the voice of their master -- know that they are not of the world and are vessels of purity able to endure the truth and grow up in the spirit.
Matt 13 FNT
23 But what was sown on the good soil, this is the [one] hearing the word and understanding, who indeed bears fruit and produces on the one hand [a] hundredfold, on the other sixty fold, [and] on the other thirty fold.
John 10 FNT
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, 28 and I give them zoe-life eternal, and they will not perish to eternity, and no one will seize them from my hand. 29 My father who has given [them] to me is greater than all, and no one is able to be seizing [them] from the hand of my father.
Mark 10 FNT
15 Truly I say to you: whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as [a] child, he may not enter into it.
Matt 7 FNT
18 [A] good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor [a] rotten tree to bear good fruit.
For this are his children born, as witnesses unto the truth of our master, Jesus of Nazareth.
Peace to you