THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel according to John
Message One—The Regeneration
Scripture Reading: John 3:3, 5; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23; Gal. 6:15; John 3:15-16
I. The divine birth is the basis of our Christian life; the divine birth, which brings in the divine life, is the basic factor of all the mysteries of the divine life—John 3:3, 5; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23; 1 John 1:1-2: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
A. The divine birth—regeneration—enlivens us with God’s life and brings us into a relationship of life, an organic union, with God—Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
B. To be regenerated simply means to receive the divine life in addition to our human life; through the divine birth eternal life has come into us—John 3:15-16; 1 John 2:25; 5:11-13. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
II. To be regenerated is to be born of the Spirit in our spirit—John 3:6, 8: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
A. Regeneration takes place in the realm of the human spirit by the Spirit of God with the divine life—vv. 6, 15-16: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. The divine birth has taken place organically in our spirit—v. 6. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. In regeneration, God in Christ as the life-giving Spirit comes into our spirit to regenerate us with His life and nature—1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
3. The divine Spirit regenerates the human spirit with the divine life—Rom. 8:2, 10, 16.
B. That which is born of the Spirit of God is our regenerated spirit—John 3:6. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
III. Regeneration causes us to become a new creation, something which has the element of God within it—Gal. 6:15: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
A. Through the divine birth we have the divine life and the divine element, thereby becoming a new creation—2 Cor. 5:17. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
B. When we were born again, God’s life in Christ entered into us; this life, with the divine element, has been mingled with our spirit to become the new man within us—Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
IV. In Christ’s resurrection He imparted the divine life into us and made us the same as He is in life and nature; this is the basic factor of our regeneration—1 Pet. 1:3; John 3:15-16: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
A. By the mysterious divine birth with the divine life, we have become children of God—1:12-13; 1 John 3:1: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. It is the greatest wonder in the universe that human beings could be begotten of God and sinners could be made children of God—2:29; 3:1; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. God’s purpose in creating man was not simply to have a sinless man but to have a God-man, one who has the life and nature of God for the corporate expression of God—Gen. 2:9; John 10:10b; 2 Pet. 1:4. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
B. The expression children of God in 1 John 3:1 is very rich in its implications; it implies that God has been born into us and that we possess His life and nature: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. To be a child of God means that God has been conceived within us. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. When we were born of God in our spirit, we were mingled with Him—1 Cor. 6:17. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
C. By being regenerated, we have become children of God—John 1:12-13; 3:3, 5-6; 1 John 2:29-3:1: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. Since to be regenerated is to be born of God and to obtain God’s life, regeneration automatically causes us to become children of God—John 3:6; Rom. 8:16. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. The life we receive through regeneration enables us to be and is our authority to be God’s children—John 1:12-13. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
3. As the children of God with the life and nature of God, we can live God and be the same as God in life, nature, and expression, thus fulfilling the purpose of God’s creation of man—Gen.1:26. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
V. The children of God have been regenerated of God the Spirit to be God-men, belonging to the species of God to see and enter into the kingdom of God—John 3:3, 5-6: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
A. God has a good pleasure to make us, His children, the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Eph.1:5, 9; 5:1: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. Because we have been born of God, we are the same as God in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Rom. 8:2, 10, 16; 2 Pet. 1:4. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. We should never forget that, as children of God, we are God-men, born of God and belonging to the species of God—John 1:12-13; 3:3, 5. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
B. The children of God have a great future with a splendid blessing—1 John 3:2: (2007 ST, msg. 7)
1. The children of God will be like Him in the maturity of life when He is manifested—vv. 1-2. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
2. The right of the God-men to participate in God’s divinity includes the right to bear God’s likeness—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
3. By seeing Him, we will reflect His likeness; this will cause us to be as He is—1 John 3:2. (2007 ST, msg. 7)
4. To partake of the divine nature is already a great blessing and enjoyment, yet to be like God, bearing His likeness, will be a greater blessing and enjoyment—Rev. 4:2-3; 21:11. (2007 ST, msg. 7)