Have you ever wondered, why you must be born again? Why couldn’t humanity stay the way they were, after the fall? Why isn’t a confession of your faith statement, a church visit, reading the Bible, a prayer, ወዘተ. enough? Why is regeneration necessary? Why do we need to be born again?
That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit
ኢየሱስም መልሶ, በእውነት, በእውነት, እልሃለሁ, ሰው ዳግመኛ ካልተወለደ በቀር, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (ዮሐንስ 3:3)
ኢየሱስም መልሶ, በእውነት, በእውነት, እልሃለሁ, ሰው ከውኃና ከመንፈስ ካልተወለደ በቀር, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. ከሥጋ የተወለደ ሥጋ ነው።; ከመንፈስም የተወለደ መንፈስ ነው።. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (ዮሐንስ 3:5-8).
ይላል ቃሉ, that you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God and to see the Kingdom of God. ብቻ, if you are born of water and of the Spirit, you will enter and see the Kingdom of God. There is no other way to enter nor to see the Kingdom of God.
The reason why Jesus came to this earth
In order to understand the words of Jesus and the necessity of the new birth, you should know the reason why Jesus Christ, የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ, came to this earth and what His mission was.
Jesus came to the earth to restore the state of fallen man and to reconcile man back to God.
Jesus needed to restore the state of fallen man and reconcile man back to God, because the union between God and man was broken. Who broke the relationship? Man did. (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ‘ኢየሱስ በወደቀው ሰው እና በእግዚአብሔር መካከል የነበረውን ሰላም አስገኘ‘ እና ‘ኢየሱስ የወደቀውን ሰው ቦታ መለሰ'').
Let’s go back to the moment in the Garden of Eden, in order to understand the necessity of the new birth and the reason why you must be born again.
Man chose the flesh over the Spirit
በዘመናት ሁሉ, we see that man rather chose the way of the flesh, instead of the way of the Spirit. This already began in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve chose the carnal tree of knowledge of good and evil, rather than the sacred tree of life.
God had commanded man, to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had warned man what would happen if they would eat from that tree. If they would eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would die.
But despite the warning and commandment of God, Adam and Eve chose to eat from the fruit of the forbidden tree.
They were led by curiosity and began to doubt the words of God. They obeyed the devil and became disobedient to God. Because of their disobedience to God death entered.
The sentence of death came upon them and upon everyone, who would be born of the seed of Adam. Therefore the sentence of death came upon the whole human race.
አዳም ሕያው ነፍስ ነበረ, born of the Spirit. He was one with God (dead for sin). But when he became ለእግዚአብሔር የማይታዘዙ and sinned, the death sentence came upon him. The spirit in man died, and man came under the authority of death. As he was created out of the dust, he would return to dust.
Before Adam sinned, his predominant characteristic was spirit. But after Adam sinned his spirit died and came under the authority of death and his predominant characteristic was flesh.
Born of the flesh
ሁሉ ኃጢአት ሠርተዋልና።, የእግዚአብሔርም ክብር ጎድሎአችኋል (ሮማውያን 3:23)
Man fell from his position, እግዚአብሔር ለሰው የሰጠው, and the sentence of death was passed on to the entire human race.
ሁሉም ሰው, who would be born of the flesh possesses a sinful nature and is sentenced to death. There is no exception! No one is born of the Spirit when (ኤስ)he comes into this world.
Flesh and blood can’t enter the Kingdom of God
በእውነታው ምክንያት, that everyone is born of the flesh, as a sinner, no one can enter the Kingdom of God, in this carnal sinful state, which is the state of ኃጢአተኛ.
ኃጢአት የለብንም ብንል, ራሳችንን እናታልላለን, እውነትም በእኛ ውስጥ የለም።. ኃጢአታችንን ከተናዘዝን።, ኃጢአታችንን ይቅር ሊለን ታማኝና ጻድቅ ነው።, ከዓመፃም ሁሉ ያነጻን።. ኃጢአት አልሠራንም ብንል, እኛ ውሸታም አደረግነው, ቃሉም በእኛ ውስጥ የለም። (1 ዮሐንስ 1:8-10)
The natural carnal man, who exists of flesh and blood and whose spirit is dead, is unspiritual and can’t comprehend, nor receive the things of the Spirit of God, because it’s foolishness unto the carnal man.
But the natural man receive not the things of the Spirit of God: ለእርሱ ሞኝነት ናቸውና።: ሊያውቃቸውም አይችልም።, በመንፈስ የሚታወቁ ናቸውና።(1 ቆሮንቶስ 2:14)
አሁን ይህን እላለሁ።, ወንድሞች, ሥጋና ደም የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት ሊወርሱ አይችሉም; ሙስናም አለመበላሸትን አይወርስም። (1 ቆሮንቶስ 15:50)
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (ዮሐንስ 4:24)
ከሥጋ የተወለደ ሥጋ ነው።. ሥጋ እግዚአብሔርን ማስደሰት አይችልም።. The flesh is not able to see or enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore a person must be born again in the spirit in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God.
Only when a person becomes born again; ከውኃ የተወለደ and the Spirit, a person shall enter the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life. Water and Spirit, means the baptism in water and the baptism with the Holy Spirit (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ‘The meaning of water baptism, ‘ጴንጤ ምንድን ነው??‘ እና ‘How can a person become born again?'').
Faith is the catalyst, which brings you to an encounter with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates you. ስለዚህ, you are born into the heavenly realm and Kingdom, just as you were once born into the natural (earthly) realm and kingdom.
4 Reasons why you must be born again
Let’s look at the 4 reasons why you must be born again:
1. The universal result of sin demands regeneration
ስለዚህ, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (ሮማውያን 5:12)
ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈ, There is none righteous, አይ, not one (ሮማውያን 3:10)
2. Unregenerate man is unable to understand the things of God and His Kingdom nor receive the gifts of God
But the natural man receive not the things of the Spirit of God: ለእርሱ ሞኝነት ናቸውና።: ሊያውቃቸውም አይችልም።, በመንፈስ የሚታወቁ ናቸውና። (1 ቆሮንቶስ 2:14)
3. Without the new birth everything you do, every impulse and action is defiled
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, ግድያዎች, Thefts, covetousness, ክፋት, deceit, ሴሰኝነት, an evil eye, ስድብ, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man (ምልክት ያድርጉ 7:21-23)
4. Unless you are born again, you have no escape from the judgment of God
ሀnd you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: በእነዚህም መካከል እኛ ሁላችን ደግሞ በፊት በሥጋችን ምኞት እንመላለስ ነበር።, የሥጋንና የአዕምሮን ምኞት መፈጸም; በተፈጥሮም የቁጣ ልጆች ነበሩ።, እንደ ሌሎች እንኳን (ኤፌሶን 2:1-3)
"የምድር ጨው ሁን"
