12-03-23-ENG.

"In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth. " 

James 1:18 
THE NEW AND THE OLD 

Read It: 1 Peter 1:22-2:1 
Remember when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night in John 3? Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again, which threw Nick off course. So he asked a logical question from a human perspective: "How can a man be born when he is old?" (v. 4). In other words, it doesn't make any sense to try and become a baby again when you've already been through that stage and are way beyond it. Of course, Jesus had to explain to Nicodemus that the birth He was talking about is spiritual, not physical. Well, just as it doesn't make sense in the physical realm for an old man to try and become a newborn baby again, in the same way it doesn't make sense in the spiritual realm for a "newborn babe" in Christ to try and live like the "old man" of the flesh that he was before he met the Savior. Once you've shed the filthy rags of the old life, why would you ever want to put them on again? That's Peter's point in the verses before us today. When we come to Christ and become members of His body, the Church, it changes our perspective spective on everything. So as we continue our studies on the Church, I'd like to talk with you this week about the perspective of the Church-that is, how we should see ourselves as new creations in Christ. Peter sets the context for this new perspective when he reminds us that we have in fact been born again-not physically, as Nicodemus thought, but spiritually by the living and eternal Word of God. See, that truth alone changes everything. Whereas physical birth actually begins the decaying and dying process, spiritual birth is the beginning ning of a growth process designed to last into eternity. 

As we have seen so often in recent weeks, the new birth is such a radical change that we are to consider ourselves dead to our old way of life. Paul says it, and now Peter says it. Since the old life is dead and buried, don't go back and try to dig it up. Since you're a new person in Christ, start living like it. Think About It If you need a reason to praise God today, praise Him for your new birth, which is as secure as His Word.