This week we are thinking about what the Gospel offers us through salvation. Saying the words “offers us,” makes it sound like I’m a salesman running around with a wheelbarrow full of items. Imagine if I had such a wheelbarrow and came up to any stranger on the street offering salvation for the cost of repentance and faith. “What does salvation do?” the stranger might ask, “Give me an eternity plus or minus a few days and you and I can discover that together,” I might respond. The gospel is like a well of refreshing water, it goes deeper and deeper yet the water scooped off the top is still able to refresh our souls. This is just a scoop from the top.

 

We could cover an endless number of things accomplished by salvation. Let’s for today just focus on the rebirth. Jesus said that everyone who would be saved must be “born again.” It’s a goofy concept. Just like Nicodemus, I’m trying to imagine curling up my 6 foot frame into a small enough ball to fit inside a womb. Not gonna work. Instead, God, by the power of His spirit rebirths not our bodies, but our spirits. Just like a fetus slowly develops into a chubby baby with God Himself involved in the process, Our spiritual man/woman is created by God. We now have super powers. We can interact with God intimately through prayer and Bible reading, live by faith, serve God, and please Him. (Before faith it was impossible to please God.)

 

Ephesians Chapter 2 says “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them.” Our second creation, the one talked about in this chapter, took as much or more special creative effort by God than our first one. According to this verse, this second man was designed with good works in mind. In fact, there are good works which God has all planned out for us. That is super good news! It means our life won’t be boring or pointless. It’s also bad news because one of the good works might be cleaning the bathroom or washing the dishes every now and then. Obedience to God’s word and the promptings of His Spirit will lead us to glorify God through good works. 

 

Last week the students decided that being unsaved is like being a possum. Possums are the bottom of the line when it comes to critters. Ugly, oversize rats whose focus on the next meal ends them up in many strange places, including the middle of the road. Fortunately, we are not possums. Our bodies are made by God to bear His image, but our spirits before salvation were possum level nasty to say the least. Before Christ, we were left to our own devices, following our sinful desires from one gratification to the next. Thankfully, God rescued us before these decisions killed us. (If you are a ghost reading this blog right now….the last sentence may not apply.) Rebirth transforms us from the inside out. If being unsaved is like being a possum, rebirth is like becoming a Unicorn. Unicorns are magical creatures that function on a different set of rules. Some of them fly, others sparkle.

 

My prayer for us this week is that we stop acting like possums and peruse unicorn-hood. The Spirit of God Himself re-birthed you to glorify Him and do good deeds, Why act on old impulses? The life we now live should be one of faith in the Son of God, “Who loved us and gave Himself for us.”