REGENERATION
Anita Clark – PastorGrace Chapel, Carbondale, Kansas
“Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed Thee: what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:27-28.) The word “regeneration” occurs two times in the Bible.
The word “regeneration” means in the Greek, “spiritual renovation,” or change. When Jesus speaks of the “regeneration,” He is speaking of His Kingdom during the millennial (1000 years) reign coming in His time very soon. Note the phrase, “ ...when the Son shall sit upon the throne of His glory.”
Apostle Paul uses this word “regeneration” in Titus 3:4-5, when speaking of our salvation provided by the death of Jesus, “For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedience, deceived... but after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Which was shed abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Note we are “washed.” I Cor. 6:11, says, “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God.” “Sanctified” mean to make holy and to purify. “Justified” means “to make righteous.” All the human race needs “regeneration.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away.” Read John 1:11-13. We are born again by the “will of God.”
Process of Regeneration - Ezekiel 36:26-29 gives us wonderful promises about how God changes us. “Vs. 26 - “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, ...” Read again Titus 3:4-5. These verses show the process of regeneration in our lives.
Instrument of our Regeneration - I Peter 1:22-23. In Vs. 22 we see that “ye purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” In verse 23 we read - “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Ephesians 5:25-27 shows forth and explains the work of Christ to bring the believers to the place He desires - His Bride. “... Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it. That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Vs. 30 “For we are members of his body of His flesh, and of His bones.”
This portion of Jeremiah 31:33 was written for the nation of Israel, but applies to us today and God’s work in our lives. “After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Because of Israel’s rejection of the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, God has turned to the Gentiles. Apostle Paul is the Apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ. He wrote fourteen books of the New Testament. We are thankful for his teaching. This verse in Jeremiah 31:33 shows us the Work of God our Father in us and our regeneration.
1. The Process is the same for us. God puts His Law (His will, His precepts, and statutes) in our hearts. We receive the new life of Jesus in us, and the process begins.
2. God “writes it in our heart.” We have a new spirit, and want to know God, and He wants us to study the Word of God. It becomes a part of us in our new life.
3. He will be our God - We accept Him working in us, and taking care over us. We yield to Him and His power over us.
4. We shall be His people. He takes all responsibility for His sheep.
5. “They shall all know me.” Jesus said, “The sheep hear his voice and they follow me.” John 10:3
Jeremiah 33:8 says, “And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity; whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned ...” Regeneration is not by our works of our flesh, but by the grace of our dear Lord Jesus.
