All Sins Covered by Atoning Blood

Do I have the right topic this morning? Born Again? Has anyone looked at the... Yeah, well, and on the... Let me go to the first slide. On the schedule of these 34 things that Lewis Barry Schaefer developed, we have the Born Again, and the regeneration is under number nine, children of God.

So, that's what I'm going with, but he had them separate. He had regeneration as one point, and born again is another point, right under the topic children of God. And it's tough to, think with me here, it's tough to divide those out, isn't it? Regeneration and being born again. they're synonymous and he might have been he just gave a couple verses I didn't really look at whether he was getting at some little differences between being born again and being regenerated and there could be a difference but I'm going with that they're synonymous this morning and so that's what we're going to study I got this list from Roy.

I couldn't copy his. I was going to do that but he had it in PDF so I couldn't cheat so I had to redevelop it. It's a good list. It's 34 unfathomable riches. And Roger had 35 in one of his notes. Did anyone notice that on the website? I said, is it 35 or 34? And I was thinking, I could have sworn I was 33 going into this. And then that brought back a bad memory of when I was a kid, a little kid.

We were living in Aurora off of Havana near Buckingham Square. You know where that is? So this was way deep in the early 70s. A Dairy Queen came to Havana. I was the first Dairy Queen, maybe in Denver. So they had a drawing contest. No, not a Dare Queen, I'm sorry.

A Baskin Robbins. Baskin Robbins. First one ever in Denver, I guess. So they had the kids have a drawing contest. So I entered, drew the Baskin Robbins building and people going in and out. I put Baskin Robbins, 33 flavors. And it was great. I thought I'd win. But my sister, who's an artist, good artist, older than me, she entered too. She did something, Baskin Robbins, 31 flavors. And so my mom goes, there's not 33 flavors, Andrew, there's 31 flavors. I said, no, no, there's 33, it's 33. So I think she called the manager, we went down there, found out it was 31.

So I had to change, I had to white out and erase. It is bad. You could see the smudge marks. So I lost. I lost that contest to my sister. And ever since then, I have a trouble with 33, 35, 32, 31. So it's a little It goes back to childhood, and I'm sorry. Yeah, and also in childhood, in the fourth grade, we're doing the basics, and I'll tell you this really quick. The teacher went out of the room, so she left the class to just fill in your name, address, age, that we're Colorado, Parker, Colorado.

Then everyone got to sex, M or F, male, female. And we were stumped. We were like, boy. So we had a discussion. So I led the caucus of the boys, and maybe some girls, that the boys are females. And because it's fee, fee, fi, fo, fum, you know. So I thought, it's longer. It's a longer word. And I could have sworn we were females. And I caucused the class. I might have gotten up on a desk and given a speech, you know. Yeah, yeah, like Thomas Paine speech.

Oh, and I fought hard for that. And I lost. So those two issues, I stopped fighting any fights. 34, 33, I don't have any, I've stopped standing up for being right after those two issues in my life. But that's a problem that I see a psychologist for, I don't know.

So 34, riches and we're doing children of God. Roger had this slide. It's good. So regeneration and all these 34 unfathomable riches, there are six things that we're keeping in mind. And one is they're not experienced. I mean, you can experience you can have a feeling that you're born again, that's that but typically, you don't experience you don't feel that you're in Christ after being in Adam. They're spiritual things, so you don't experience them physically, mentally, things like that. They're not progressive, number two. Number three, they are in no way related to human merit.

Number four, regeneration is, it's eternal in character. Number five, it is known only through the word of God that you would know you are regenerated. Number six, it's produced not by man but God alone. So those are the six things, the six parameters that we keep in mind that Roger had when he opened up this series in the riches of God's grace in the 34 things that Louis Barry Schaeffer developed and the guy, I forget his name, he compiled those for us. So regeneration, what is it?

It's the Greek word is this palingenesia. Palingenesia. Palen means again. You see the word in the Genesea there. It's Genesis, so it's again born, again creation, or born anew. So you can see how they got the word in English from the Greek and that's what it means.

Again creation. Creation again. Born anew. Newborn. Things like that. And for these purposes we're interested in the spiritual nature of regeneration. It's curious. Schaeffer gave only two references of regeneration used in the New Testament. You'll see them there.

Matthew 19.28, Jesus talking, and then Titus 3.5. The interesting thing is when Jesus uses the word regeneration, he says, truly I say to you that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." So he's answering a question from his disciples. They ask him, they say, hey, what's in this for us? We're disciples of you, and what are we going to get? What's in it for us, for following you? And that's the answer he gives.

I say down below in the note that that use of regeneration relates to more earthly regeneration. When a thousand year millennial period, when the earth is, sin has been removed, the earth is producing again, the animal kingdom are getting along there's no sickness and death to say I mean you'll live a long time it'll be new things and that's what he's talking about and he could even be projecting that his eternal throne into eternity future. So he means earthly and heavenly regeneration there.

But we're interested in what Titus 3.5 says and that's the spiritual aspect of regeneration.

Titus 3.5, He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. So we're focused on the spiritual aspect of regeneration for this lesson. Regeneration, what is it? point one, B, it's a function or an operation of the Holy Spirit, right? And only the Holy Spirit does it. You can't do it yourself. You can't do it through reformation of your life. That's not how regeneration works.

Titus 3.5, again, He saved us, not on the basis of the deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing, and there's the reason for it being a function of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit.

It's said right there in Titus 3.5, that the Holy Spirit is the one doing that. The Holy Spirit imparts a new life into a believer. previously an unbeliever. The Holy Spirit implants a new nature, a divine nature into a person when they are saved, when they are born again. Next point is it's a formation of a new man, a new man in Christ, right? And only the Holy Spirit can do that.

Macintosh has this phrase, breathed in heavenly source of nature, which is a nice way to put it, breathed in heavenly source of nature. And then he has, I took a quote of his, Charles Macintosh, as in nature, water always finds its own level. And Phil, you know about that, right? When something leaks and it finds its way to its own level in a house or building. We have experience with that. It's a drag. But in the spiritual things, it's good because the own level finds its way. It's divine, so it finds its way to its proper source, which is God.

The last point is, I kind of did, have you ever had a, what do they call it, when you make a bunch of leftovers in a soup? Trash soup, or some people call that, or when you just make a soup of leftovers, stew of leftovers. I've heard it called trash soup, but that's my last point is I threw everything I could think of. All the leftover thoughts in my brain went to the last point.

I have a birth into a new root, from an old root, birth into a new family, or placement into a new family, placement into a new figurehead, which was Adam, and now you're placed into Christ when you're regenerated. You had an earthly source, now you have a heavenly source. So those are things that I just threw in the last point there. But I think they're good. I think they're accurate. Why is regeneration necessary? And I have a couple points here.

The most important is our condition, our state of being before we were saved or regenerated was that we're dead in our trespasses and sins, weren't we? Ephesians 2, 1. Let me see if I... Yeah, and Ephesians 2, 1 says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins. So it's stated there emphatically in Ephesians. So, deadness, and dead in trespasses and sins. There's no way out of there without the regeneration, without being born again.

Number two, we are children of wrath. Ephesians 2, 3. Which is, among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest of the people on earth. So we were children of wrath. That's the second thing of why regeneration is necessary. We were under condemnation, and we were dead in those trespasses and sins, weren't we?

Romans 5.12.

Let me read Romans 5.12 really quick. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and you know this verse, this is a familiar verse, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.

So we were dead and we needed to be made alive again. We were fleshly, point number four, instead of spiritual. And I have three verses there as a reference. Number five is something I put in without a scripture reference, but I think it's correct and it's right. I just couldn't find anything specifically to that, but we were of the lineage and stock of Adam is why we needed to be regenerated. And then number six is, I have another trash soup here of a lot of things. as to why regeneration is necessary. And that was because our condition was hopeless. Hopeless condition. And I have quotes from Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ephesians. And you'll see those.

Every intent of the thoughts of his heart, that's man's heart, was only evil continually. There is no one who does good. No, not one. All flesh is grass and the grass withers and the flower fades. So before we were withering and fleshly like grass and when you die you wither away and you're gone. And that's a bad thing. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But we are an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

I believe that's from the Jeremiah passage. The Ephesians passage is having no hope and without God in the world. So just a lot of hopelessness there. You can't escape any of those conditions that we were before we are saved. So the Bible is very clear about the condition of man.

Unregenerated man. Point number seven is from Miles Stanford in his little pamphlet, if you have it, it's The New Birth. It's a good pamphlet. It's all about the new birth regeneration. So he says, you're from the wrong family, wrong root, born wrong, done wrong, wrong conduct, wrong fruit, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23. I like that because he uses wrong so many times in the last chapter of one of those sections of The New Birth by Miles Stanford. Regeneration, point number three. How is it obtained? And this is an easy one. First, let's visit how it's not obtained. And it's not through physical blood. It's not through a human source.

John 1.13.

And that says, John 1.13, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. So it's not of human source. Number two, it's not by the will of man.

We just read that in John 1.13. Not by physical blood, not by the will of man. Not by reforming or improving yourself in morality or character. And as Roger's six points that we started out with, it's not a process. It's not a progressive thing. you know, either you're regenerated or born again or you're not. B, second, how is this new birth, how it is obtained rather than how it is not obtained from the last point. It is obtained of water, John 3, 5. Let me find that. 3-5-3-5.

Oh, Jesus' answer. This is Jesus talking. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. So he mentions, we are born of water and the Spirit. And I have those as the first two points from John 3-5. And I was going to go into this more in depth, but water, and I'll just do it really quick to address it now, it's not water baptism, it's how Jesus uses the analogy of water as a spiritual thing, as a cleansing property, the Word of God is what it means. So it's always water is the word of God. So when he's talking to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, and he's talking about living water, it's not physical water, it'd be his words coming out, even out of his mouth, right? To follow along with that, Ephesians 5 also says that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water.

Yeah, right. The marriage section there, right? which blows everyone out of the water. Husbands and wives, you're like, oh, yeah, oh boy, that's tough to live up to, right? So, yes. So, cleansing of the water by the word and by spoken word. And anything coming out of Jesus' mouth, as we'll see a little later, is scripture, right? It's direct, because He is God. When He speaks, that's the Word of God. So it has a cleansing property.

It's of the Father's own will, James 1.18.

We find James 1.18. Let's see, do I have that? Yes, here it is.

James 1.18.

In the exercise of His will, God's will, He brought us forth by the word of truth. So by the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth. so that we would be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures. So it's brought by, and there it is too, it's the word of truth which Jesus uses his analogy as water in John 3 and John 4 with the woman at the well.

You're born again of incorruptible seed, 1st Peter 1.23 which says for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring here it is again through the living and enduring Word of God in 1st Peter 1.23 and there I've written it down boy I'm smart look at there it's a boiler point right after I said it and then I have And because Jesus' own words in John 3, and he talks about being born again, it's the text of being born again.

John 3 is by simple belief, and you know John 3.16, and we'll look at that a little later, but it is all belief, simple belief.

Belief is simple, but sometimes I think us Christians who are more by the word or doctrinal or maybe fundamental, we stick to the fundamentals, we're accused of easy-believism, aren't we? So they say, oh, you're into easy-believism. So I'm like, I would agree with simple belief. It's simple to believe, but is it easy?

Is it easy? How many people in the world believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, and on the cross, which is to them foolishness? I think it's very hard. Very hard. But it's simple. Jesus makes it simple. I mean, the gospel is simple. Even children understand it.

So regeneration then, what does it result in? And I have several things here. I don't know why I, oh yeah, look at that. I went one through six and then one through five. That should be 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. That should be 1 through 11, but somehow it started again at life eternal.

But anyway, the first thing is we are now a new creation. And the Greek for that new is kainos. So we are a kainos man and a kainos woman. It's new in quality is what kainos means, which is totally new, substantively new. Unheard of. It's not remade, but it's totally new.

And I had a thought that God likes to create. He creates, and He'll destroy too, but He creates. And think of the things that God improves. Is God in the improvement business? Not really. He doesn't improve the old nature. He's not improving the earth any, or society. He creates, and then when things need to be destroyed, he'll destroy. So he's in the creation business. And so we have a new Kainos man as a result of regeneration.

We are now children of God in John 1.12.

John 1.12 says, but as many have received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. Children of God. We are passed from death to life, and we looked at that before.

And I have a reference there, John 5.24. We are now able to, point number four, able to worship God in spirit and truth. And you know that verse, Let me read it, if I can find it.

Anyone have 1 Corinthians 2.16 up? Let me see,

4. Do you? For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. Yeah, okay.

We have the mind of Christ. We are able to relate to God and we now, because we are regenerated, we have the ability or the privilege of sharing divine viewpoint and that's what that verse says there. Number five is we are spiritual and not fleshly as a result of regeneration. Six is we are heavenly citizens and you guys are familiar with that from Ephesians, talks about that. heavenly citizens and I said we are not earthly dust dwellers and I quoted that verse from Genesis till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you shall return so we were earthly and we ate dust and now we are heavenly heavenly citizens we have Point number, or it should be point number seven, is we have eternal life.

And all my scripture references there are from John 3, right? John 3, 16 is the most famous passage you could ever think of about eternal life and believing in Jesus Christ for eternal life. Number eight, I put number 8 through 11, these are from my dad, if you remember.

He had that, he always brought everything from scripturally that things reveal the glory of God, they declare the glory of God, they share the glory of God, and by it we are able to glorify God. So reveal, being regenerated reveals the glory of God, it declares the glory of God, it shares the glory of God with others, right? Or Christ is able to share his glory with us because we are regenerated and in turn we are able to glorify God. And we wouldn't be able to do that if we weren't regenerated.

Declare the glory of God which is should be six seven eight nine Which is point nine, but it's point three on your on the slide here I have it when you share the gospel like in Matthew 28 19 or in Acts 17 23 when you share the gospel you are declaring the the glory of God aren't you to a non-believer that the fact that he Christ died for your sins Acts 17 23 is that passage where Paul is in what city is he in Athens I believe and he says for as I pass by and beheld your devotions I found and all your altars remember he's walking down that boulevard with all the altars He found an altar with the inscription, To the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship, I declare to you. So that God that you have the idol that says to an unknown God, let me declare him to you. So he goes and presents the gospel to him. So that's how I have the fact that we're regenerated.

We declare the glory of God. And Matthew 28, 19 of course is the, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing him in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oh, and then the last point, which should be 11 or 12, whatever it is, is the results of regeneration The whole eternal purpose of God, which my dad always would say, is to reveal, declare the glory of God, share the glory of God, and to, in turn, glorify God. That's God's eternal purpose. But it's developing Christ-likeness, isn't it? Becoming more like Christ.

2 Corinthians 3.18, right? Beholding is in the mirror the Word of God. we are transformed into Christ-likeness.

As a result, we could only do that by being regenerated. Okay. If you were thinking, oh, he's not covering John 3 and Nicodemus. Here it is. Because this is the proof text. of regeneration, or being born again. And in all the things that, all the people that I looked at, Macintosh, everyone, for this lesson, everyone talks about this John 3, right? This Nicodemus. So he, Let me read it really quick. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one does the signs that you do unless God is with him. So Jesus answered him and said, Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus then said, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" And Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born flesh is flesh, and that which is born Spirit is Spirit. Do not be amazed that I say to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus then said to him, How can these things be? And Jesus answered him and said, Are you a teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say unto you, We speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen and you do not accept our testimony. So here's Nicodemus and he comes to Jesus at night. Anyone want to proffer a reason why he would come to Jesus in the dead of the night?

Because this was only between him and Jesus, he didn't want to include anybody else because of possible outrage. Yeah. He was, yeah, I think you're right. I think he was concerned about his fellow Pharisees, right? That they were going to, that he'd be ostracized.

And he didn't want his fellow Pharisees to criticize him for taking this Jesus of Nazareth seriously but it's it's um let me skip to point three down at the bottom does he comes to him and he declares to Christ we know you have come from God as a teacher for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him but he doesn't ask a question does he and then Jesus gives us non-sequitur, basically, which is unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. What does that tell you? So he doesn't have to ask a question, but do you think Jesus knows he has a question?

Deep? Yeah, I think I think Nicodemus doesn't even know he has this question, and something's eating, something's gnawing at him, right? Just way down deep in his soul, and he knows he's not saved, right? So he doesn't know even how to phrase this question. He doesn't even ask a question, and Jesus gives him this, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So that's his true question, Nicodemus's. So yes, I think Nicodemus did have a question that was non-verbalized, but Jesus being God, he knew exactly what his issue was. And Nicodemus, who was Nicodemus?

We'll jump up again to point number two. He was a Pharisee. and if you see that in verse one he was also a ruler of the Jews which means I think he was a Sanhedrin, not a Sadducee, but a Sanhedrin, so a Pharisee and a Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin they were like the supreme court of Israel so they would rule on the law and they were the top the supreme voice on what the law said. As you remember, Paul was only a Pharisee. Well, he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, but he never said he was a Sanhedrin. So Nicodemus might have outranked even Paul. He might have even been above Paul in his understanding of rabbinical law and things like that. Otherwise, I think Paul, if he was a Sanhedrin, he would have mentioned that in his, remember when he lists his credentials and how they are all, he counts them all as loss? He doesn't mention being a ruler of the Jews, a Sanhedrin.

So, it says to you that, this next slide, with this interview with Nicodemus, If you look at verse 12, if I told you earthly things, Jesus said, and you do not believe, how will you believe it if I tell you heavenly things? So Jesus is telling him, Nicodemus is of the earth, and of the law, and all things Jewish were concerned with a Messiah on earth, and ruling on earth. And they didn't really have heavenly things in mind, did they? But when Jesus came along, He's got heavenly things in mind.

And of course, we being saved, we today are all heavenly oriented, aren't we? We don't expect... We aren't looking for a Messiah or a kingdom on... It'll happen, and we'll be glad about that. But that's not where our hope is. Our hope is heavenly. So Jesus is bringing in heavenly things to Nicodemus. Let me skip to the question I have down there. Do you see the two musts? Do you see that must in verse 14?

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. So that's the second must. The first must is, do not, let's see, I'm trying to, if you find it before me, verse 7. Yes, do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. So there's the two must things. I forgot where that first must was. Verse 7, you must be born again. The second must is in verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. So you have the need, you must be born again, and the cure. that the Son of Man must be lifted up. And you remember that story in the Old Testament about the Israelites.

They were complaining in Edom, I think they were in. And they were saying, this journey is long and hard and we're sick of it. And this food you've given us is just terrible, miserable. And then God sent serpents around the camp to bite a lot of Israelites. And when they were bitten, they would die.

So they said, Lord, how do we send? How do we get out of this mess? And that was Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and put it up on a standard and held it up and said, look at that brazen serpent. Look at it and live. And when they did, they would live. They wouldn't die. And that's a direct prefigurement of the cross, isn't it? Look and live at that brazen serpent in the wilderness. So Jesus was predicting his death, his method of death, and it's must.

A must is more of an absolute than an imperative command, isn't it? It's like a command is something that you're told to do. You might do it, you might not do it, but a must is, this just must happen, right? If you get what I'm getting at. It's just, it's... Yeah, it's a fact. If it doesn't happen, it's not going to happen, you know, so it's an absolute.

It's an immense depth and moral power in those two little words, must, in those two verses. You must be born again. And even the Son of Man must be lifted up. And this is from Charles Macintosh. He had this nice article, The Two Musts, by Charles Macintosh. He says it totally sets aside man or any contribution man can give in his very best estate.

After all, Nicodemus, as we learned, was the pinnacle of status in the Jewish hierarchy. He was a Pharisee, Sanhedrin, and Jesus even calls him a master of Israel, and he doesn't understand that he needed to be born again. If I am to have a new nature, it doesn't matter if I'm at the pinnacle, like Nicodemus, or a miserable, I just made this up, drug-addicted washout. I just thought of what could be the worst type of person in the worst type of estate, and I thought, well, miserable, drug-addicted, a washout. If you're Nicodemus or if you're that person, You are shut out. You've been stamped with the image of your fallen parentage, haven't you? You're in Adam. You have no way out.

And that's why that Jesus must be lifted up on that cross, isn't it? So, the two musts, that word, it speaks to every class, every condition, every grade and shade of character. to man in every rank and every clime, to every creed and every denomination in its own clear, emphatic, sweeping style, and says, you must be born again. It bears down with far more weight upon the conscience than any appeal that could be made on the ground of moral conduct. It does not interfere in the least with the question of moral reform. We looked at that before. There's no way to reform your way out of it. in any one of its many phases. So I like this, I like this what Charles Macintosh said in this article he wrote. The second must is that the son of man must be lifted up. It's the answer to who, where am I to turn? How am I to get this new life? How am I to be regenerated? How am I to be born again?

Well, the son of man must be lifted up. A second man has to enter the scene, doesn't it? First man being Adam, second man being Christ. There are two men and two musts. Am I completely struck down by the first must? If I am, am I overwhelmed by the insurmountable difficulty it proposes to me? Am I on the verge of despair and impossibility of what must be? Why must he? Because I must have a new life.

And that's why he was lifted up on that cross. I have that quotation again from, I think it's from Peter and from Genesis. All flesh is grass and the glory of man as a flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower fades away. That's our condition before we are regenerated or born again. The death of the second man is the only ground of life to the first. That's what Macintosh says. Christ, as lifted up for me, is life eternal. The moment this look is given, the new birth takes place. Remember that Linda Ronstadt song? I think it's Linda Ronstadt.

Just one look. That's all it took. Just one look, that's all it took. That's a pretty good song that would describe this thing really well. I mean, those Israelites just had to look, and they were saved from death. Just one look, that's all it took. Sorry, you guys weren't Linda Ronstadt fans, I guess. And if you change the lyric to be more Christian, it would be a great Christian song, wouldn't it? better than any of the stuff they're cranking out these days. So one look at that for the Israelites at that serpent on the standard and one look for us at the cross of Christ is how we are saved.

Supplement, I was down in the basement yesterday looking for some toothpaste or something. I thought I left this bag last time I was here like toothpaste and maybe shampoo. I thought, oh, maybe I was in the basement. So I went to the workbench. Maybe I just left it. It wasn't there.

Looked all around. I saw a box of stuff I was supposed to take back up to Telluride. And in the box was some notes from my dad. And I saw this thing that he had produced, the two men in God's eye. And I looked at it, and I said, ah, this is perfect for tomorrow. So I redid it. Here it is, what I found. But I redid it so it sort of is a little clearer and a little updated. But I'm going to put it as a supplement to this lesson.

But look at that. what we are in Adam, on the left, what we are in Christ, on the right. There's two representative heads, two lives, two orders of life, two sources of life, two races, and two image-bearers. In the Adam column, it gives what his characters are. In the Christ column, down, it gives what Christ's characters as in each of those sources of life and races and orders of life and things are.

So that and all the scripture you want to look at to go along with that. And again, I think it's you probably even did I print it up for you? So it's really cool little, it's a really cool little chart. So that's where we leave it. Because there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff there. in that Adam and Christ thing. But it's good. Yeah?

As far as the must, I thought there might be another reference in John 3, 5. It says, Most certainly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And I've always wondered, what's the water part? What is the water part? The real deal. Well, so you're talking about John 3, 5, right?

Yes. Okay. So, yeah, there's, well, there's two schools of thought. One is a lot of commentators will agree with that. And it can be right. It's a good interpretation unless you're born physically, and that involves water, right? I'm not as up as Tom is. I just think that babies come from under cabbage patches. I still think that. But anyway, so there's water involved. So yeah, it's a physical thing.

But then if you look at how water is used as a picture in by Jesus, or even Peter uses it. Who said that before? Yeah, the Ephesians 5 passage. It's, water is the word of God, so unless you are born of the word of God, So replace that with, truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born of the Word of God and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. So yes, and it could be that he means a physical birth, that's totally acceptable, but then a lot of, because he uses water so much as an analogy, to the Word of God.

And Peter does. And Paul does. And even in the Old Testament, that's used as the Word. They really think that the water means the Word of God. Because it's true, if you can't be born again unless you know... I mean, Jesus spoke those words, right? You must be born again. That's the Word of God. Anything he spoke was coming out scripture was infallible.

So that's what I think it means, but both can be correct, I think. If that answers your question. Any nays on that? All right. Well, let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time we've had this morning and pray that we have learned what really being born again means and that we will be more rich because of it. And we thank you that just as in the wilderness you lifted up that brazen serpent on that standard, you also did it for us with Jesus being crucified on the cross for our sins and by looking at him we are able to live and have eternal life just like he said and we thank you for that and we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.