Must be born from above
George Gates
Isaiah 9:6 Add-Awb, Everlasting Father God Our Eternal Father
One of the revealed mysteries of God is “Christ in us the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27.) The God of all eternity made a stop to dwell in mankind. Time seemed to stop as at a time when God stepped out of Heaven and became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. We read more about Jesus dwelling in us in Ephesians 3:16-17,
16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
So as Christ dwells in us we have God the father dwelling in us. When we believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as savior, God the Father adopts us by his spirit as his children as is stated in Romans 8:15,
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
In 1 Corinthians 13:14 we can read the combination of:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The everlasting nature of Jesus and the Father are stated in John 1:1-13:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 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.15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom the Father, He has declared Him.
John 8:58,
Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!
John 16:28,
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
Ephesians 3:9,
And to make all men see what the fellowship of the mystery is, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
We now see that both God the Father and Jesus Christ were from eternity. When Jesus approached Nicodemus a Jewish pharisee, Jesus told him that in order to enter into Heaven he must be “born from above.” In other words, the spirit of God from heaven causes us “to be born from above [heaven,]” by the power of the Holy Spirit, (John 3:3.)
In Titus 3:3-6 we read another way of explaining the “born from above” experience,
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
In most translations John 3:3 reads “you must be born again.” However, the wording “born again” is incorrect and should be written “born from above.” The Greek language is what most of the New Testament was written. The word for “again” in the Greek text is palin [παλιν] as in Romans 15:10,
And again (palin, παλιν) he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”
The correct word from the Greek text is “anothen” (άνωθεν.) According to LDS “anothen” is defined as “above.” Anothen is the same word used in James 3:15 where the passages talk about “wisdom from above.” In turn, the saving wisdom from above brings us into the family of God with God as our eternal father. Those things that have been predestined from eternity, before we were ever born, will begin come to life for the eternal and everlasting spirit of life, brings our destiny to the forefront. Desires we have never had before will begin to manifest in our persona.
As the Psalm 37:4 states, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” What this means is that God gives you “his” desires in your heart. For example, when I first became a Christian, the Lord was giving me deep insight into theological issues. Just being a young Christian, I could tell when the word of God was being “wrongly” divided. In essence God was a developing the five-fold ministry gift of teacher in my life. As I kept “delighting” myself in the Lord other desires came to light. God is also the “Father of lights.” In James 1:17:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
The word “above” is the same word used in John 3:3 for “Born from above.”
Isaiah 9:6, we see a combination of Jesus and God the father, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Just as the Father planted the seed of his Son Jesus Christ in Mary, so God also places the seed of his Holy Spirit in us adopting us into his family as we read in Romans 8:15. In 1 Peter 1:23 we read of “having been born from above, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.” The Greek word “seed” is sperma (σπερμα). Sperma is the word we get the word “sperm” from. So as the Father placed his seed (sperm) in Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit she brought forth the Son of God.
In John 7:42,
Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Matthew 1:18-21,
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded putting her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
In 1 Peter 1:22-25 we can connect many things about this teaching on the Eternal God, being “born from above” and the “seed” of Christ, and through the word of God which “abides forever.”
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”
Jesus leads his disciples about eternity by writing, 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:2-4.
In closing I must write by the Holy Spirit again about our eternal covenant from Hebrews 13:20-21,
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
[i][i] Scripture4All, Greek Interlinear Bible (NT) “Romans 15:10” Accessed 11/30/22 from
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/rom15.pdf
[ii] Scripture4All, Greek Interlinear Bible (NT) “John 3:3” Accessed 11/30/22 from file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/joh3.pdf
[iii] Scripture4All, Greek Interlinear Bible (NT) (1 Peter 1:23 Accessed 12/1/2022 from file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/1pe1.pdf
