“…Since you have been born again, not of
perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of
God…” (1 Peter 1:23).
We often hear or use the term “born
again.” Here Peter explains what he
means by using that term. He describes
the “seed” that produces new birth. When
we sow seed that produces crops, that seed falls into the ground and
“perishes.” It dies. But Peter says that our new birth is
different because it is produced by a “seed” that does not die! That seed which
produces new birth in us is the word of God.
In other words, when we heard the word of God it contained the seed of
eternal life and that seed was planted in our souls!
Having been born again we begin a
new life and that new life requires a new lifestyle! Our life is a spiritual life and it is
characterized by the Father’s attributes.
He has given us new birth into a new family and he has given us a new
nature to go along with our new lives.
It is this new nature that allows us to love our brothers and sisters in
Christ. This new life and this new nature
are permanent! They are eternal! So our love for one another must also be
permanent and eternal! It is this new
nature that allows us to improve on that love by making it sincere and earnest. Our new nature is imperishable; it will last
throughout eternity. Therefore, the
lives we are living here and now are a type of the lives we will be living in
eternity. The love and fellowship we
share here in this fallen world are a shadow of the reality we will know in the
new heavens and the new earth. So our
lives are presenting an example to the world!
The world watches us and we are to show them the character of the royal
family of God! The love of this family
is meant to be attractive to the people in the world. When they see Christians loving each other
sincerely and earnestly they will be attracted to the Lord who makes such love
possible! But most of all, when we
demonstrate God’s character through loving one another we are modeling the
character of the Holy Trinity. Our love
brings glory to God the Father and to Jesus Christ! All of this shows the great importance of
learning to live in our new natures. We
need to learn to live publicly and transparently before the world which honors
our Father by revealing his character to a lost world!
