BORN OF THE WORD IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT

Friday 29 November

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NKJV)

Having been born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which lives and abides forever. 1 Peter 1:23. Born again here means ‘born from above’ as we discussed in a recent devotion titled ‘born again?’ if you want more on that topic.

Jesus said to Nicodemus ‘that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.’ John 3:6. He was basically saying thing as Peter about being born from above.

Most Christians know that Jesus is the Word but do we know that Jesus is the Spirit? Let’s take the term ‘lives and abides forever’ from 1 Peter 1:23 and then look at John 14:16-18 at what Jesus says in reference to the Holy Spirit.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

So the Word and the Spirit abide in you forever. Pay close attention to what Jesus says next.

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.

He told His disciples plainly ‘you know Him for He dwells with you.’

Who was the ‘Him’ that was dwelling with them that Jesus was referring to? The obvious answer is Himself. He goes on to say ‘and will be in you.’ I will be in you is what He was telling his disciples. In John 14:28, Jesus said ‘I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you’.

He confirms this in John 14:28a ‘You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’

What does this show us? The Word who became flesh came back to the believer in the Spirit. He left to come back. Jesus Christ who is the living Word is now living and abiding in us through His Spirit. This should help us understand when Jesus said ‘I in them and you in me’ (John 17:23a).

Remember what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 28:20? See I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ How was He with them and how is He with us? By the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

This is something we need to understand. Before creation in the dateless past, He was one God. When God was there in the beginning of creation, He was one God. After Adam fell, He made Himself Father, Son and Spirit for the purpose of redeeming or ‘buying back’ man by coming as a man, to die as a man to pay the price to save man. Why? He loves mankind.

The Father sent the Son and then the Father sent The Holy Spirit to live and abide in us forever. We have received the Spirit of adoption or Sonship whereby we cry Abba Father! ‘Beloved now are we the sons of God’. (1 John 3:2)

He is the Word who is Spirit. He is God and we have become inseparably one with Him. ‘He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 6:17). We are born of the Word/born of the Spirit which means we are born of God. We have God’s D.N.A. and 1 John 5:4a says ‘whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.’

1 John 4:4 says ‘you are of God little children and have overcome them for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.’

In Christ we are world overcomers and more than conquerors because He has conquered death and the grave for us! With Christ in us, we are victorious always.

APPLICATION

Live daily with the consciousness that you have God in all His power and glory on the inside of you and be filled with the Spirit continually to unlock all your potentials in Christ.