When man sinned, the spirit died, not in the sense that it ceased to exist, but in the sense that it could not relate with God. When a man gets born again, his dead human spirit is recreated, receives the life of God, and his spirit is born after the image of God. It is not behavioural changes (though behavioural changes should be a consequence of the new birth) – it is the reception of a new nature, the reception of a new life, and of God’s own righteousness which exceed the external righteousness of the Pharisees. This is salvation – to be born from above, born after the Spirit of God through the word of God (John 3:3-8,1 Pet 2:23-25).This has certain implications, some of which will be examined below.
Implication 1 – We belong to the kingdom of God: The man born again is not trying to enter into the kingdom of God, he has BEEN BROUGHT IN to the kingdom of God. He is a member of the kingdom of God. He belongs to that kingdom because the new birth brought him in “ Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and HAS TRANSLATED US INTO THE KINGDOM of his dear Son(Col 1:13). Being in the kingdom from the foregoing verse is not a wish, a dream, a hope, but a present reality. The Christian is ALREADY a member of God’s domain) – the domain of light where God rules (1 Pet 2:9-10), already belongs to a new nation, already belongs to a special breed! The writer of Hebrews also revealed this truth. He contrasted the experience of the Israelites during the inauguration of the Old Covenant at Sinai, who came to a fearful place, terror-evoking, physical place (Heb 12:18-21, Ex 19:12-19, Ex 20:18, Ex 24:17; Dt 4:11, Dt 5:22-26), with the experience of the man born again (Heb 12:22-24). In contrast to the Israelite, the Christian, as a member of the church, has been brought into His kingdom, a place of rejoicing, on the platform of the new covenant established by the blood of Christ (Heb 12:22-24). We have come to a much better place, a superior kingdom not of this world. We have come to Zion.
Zion in the context of Heb 12:22 speak figuratively of the kingdom of God. In the Old Testament, with particular reference to the nation of Israel, it was the city of the Great King i.e Jerusalem where David reigned. It was a type of Zion – the Kingdom of God where Jesus, who was the seed of David reigned (Rom 1:3). Jesus, and not Solomon, was the fulfilment of the promise to David of his Seed ruling on his throne forever (2 Sam 7:12-16, Ps 89:36-37; Ps 132:18, Isa 9:6-7; Jer 23:5-6, Jer 33:15-17, Jer 33:26; Amos 9:11; Mt 1:1, Mt 1:6, Mt 1:16, Mt 1:20-23, Mt 9:27, Mt 12:23, Mt 15:22, Mt 22:42-45; Lk 1:31-33, Lk 1:69, Lk 2:4-6; Joh 7:42; Act 2:30, Act13 :22-23; 2Ti 2:8). In the light of the New Testament, we know that the kingdom over which He rules is not an earthly, but a heavenly kingdom – though we know the time will come when his rule will be established on heaven and earth in the new heavens and the new earth. The day will come when the kingdoms of this world will become His. By virtue of His work, we have obtained membership of His spiritual and heavenly kingdom.
The Jerusalem which is above is the kingdom to which the believer belongs (Gal 4:26.) This has an important implication, especially in the light of popular sentiments which deem the believer as a candidate of heaven. They erroneously assert that being again merely gives the believer a passport to heaven, and that his good works is what gives him a visa which allows him into heaven. The illogicality of this line of thinking is that, in earthly terms, what confer the strongest and irrevocable citizenship on a person is the passport, and not a visa. A visa may be revoked or refused, but possession of a passport excludes the need for a visa. A citizen needs no visa to enter his own country at any time. Contrary to most sentiments in Christian circles which describe the Christian as a CANDIDATE of heaven, the believer is a CITIZEN of heaven! The Amplified translation puts it clearly, “..the church (assembly) of the Firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven…”(Gal 4:26, Heb 12:23, AMP). We are ambassadors, strangers and pilgrims on earth, and represent our kingdom on earth (2 Cor 5:20, 1 Pet 2:11).
Before the coming of Christ men could not become be members of the kingdom. Abraham and all the patriarchs could not be members of the kingdom (Heb 11:13-16, 39-40). Even John the Baptist, the one described by Jesus as being the greatest born among women because he announced and revealed Christ was not part of the kingdom of God (Mt 11:11). They could not be a part of the kingdom because they were not born again, and they could not get born again because Christ had not accomplished redemption. It does not mean they went to hell. His death is what brought them into the kingdom. Men are NOW made a part of that kingdom by being born again.
Implication 2 – You are now a member of the body of Christ Heb 12: 22 – 23
Another implication of being born again is that we, are not just members of His kingdom, but we also belong to the Body of Christ. The body of Christ is a subset of the kingdom of God. In other words, the church is a part of God’s kingdom – numerically, the greater part of the kingdom. It is not everybody that is a member of the kingdom that belongs to the Body of Christ. For example, Angels, which people admire, do not belong to the Body of Christ. We are on greater footing, and have a better position in His kingdom than angels. They are servants; while we are sons. They desired to look into the things wrought on her behalf by Christ (1Pet 1:10 – 12, Heb 1:14, Heb 2:10-11, 1 Cor 6:3). We are members of the Body (while angels are not) of Him who has obtained a much excellent name, and who is superior to angels, having been joined to Him (1 Cor 6:17).
What does it mean to be a member of the Body of Christ?
To be a member of the His Body is a great privilege because of the price paid. Eph 5:25 – 33 illustrates this union between Christ and the Body by using the marriage relationship. With regard to the phrase, “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to Himself”…, does not connote something that will happen in the future. This, Jesus ALREADY accomplished in His death and resurrection. His death sanctified, cleansed and presented a glorious church to Himself, which becomes the reality of a person by being born again.
To be members of His Body is to share the same identity with Him (Heb 2:11). It is to be brought into an eternal union with Him, the way a physical body is joined to the head. We belong to the same Body of which Christ is the Head (1Cor 12: 12). It is a union which the earthly marriage relationship imperfectly tries to depict. He left His Father’s throne/house to be joined to His chosen, the same way a man would leave his father and mother to be joined to His wife (Eph 5:31-33). This should banish all doubts about God’s love, nourishment, commitment or care for us. A person must take care of his body, because it belongs to Him. Christ also on a much grander scale, cares, nourishes, loves, and cannot deny His Body because they are united to Him.
Being born again implies we are members of the body of Christ. There is only one Body, though there are several local assemblies (1Cor 12:12, Eph 4:4). Membership into the Body of Christ is strictly by being born again, and not by church attendance or enlisting in a church. It is possible to join a church and yet not be a member of the Body/Church/Christ. Under normal circumstances every “member” of a church should be a member of the Body of Christ. However, this is not so because not every “member” of a church is born again – which is the only way of belonging to the Body of Christ.
Implications of being a member of the kingdom of God member of the body of Christ:
- It implies that we operate by a different rule i.e. the rule of God. We are not to live by the dictates of this world – a world system largely influenced by Satan. The satanic world system/culture/way of thinking and of doing things has penetrated every sphere of life such as the media, entertainment, business, schools, governance, etc. It is essential to renew our minds so as to live like someone who does not belong to the world; someone who belongs to heaven! We have to change the way we think. In this kingdom, the principles are different. We live by faith; the world lives by sight. The way to greatness for us is serving; while for the world it is about being served. The world measures success by earthly parameters, and comparison; while for us it is about obedience, and conformity and accomplishing God’s purpose and plan. For us to walk by the principles of the kingdom, we need to unlearn worldly principles hitherto learnt from the world, and learn and live by God’s manual i.e. the bible or more specifically, the word of God (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 17:24, Col 3:10, 2 Tim 3:16-17, James 1:21-25).
- It also implies that we belong to a new family – the household of God, under His Fatherhood, with new family members (Eph 2:17–19). We are not strangers to God again or to one another, because we belong to Him. We have boldness and access with confidence to Him (Eph 3:11, Heb 10:19, Rom 5:1-2). This has not dawned on many who still relate to God with a sense of insecurity, as if they are strangers to Him, or as they would with their earthly or distant relative. This is primarily because of how we view ourselves, our experiences, family background etc, but all these reasons end up discounting what Christ has already done. This ought not to be. In our family we enjoy our rights, feel a sense of belonging, freedom and entitlement to things that pertain to the family. It should not be different with respect to God since we are now fellow-citizens with God’s people in God’s household.
- Belonging to the Body of Christ implies that we are His members, as well as members of one another (1 Cor 12:27). This should breed a spirit of empathy, communality, interdependence, mutual caring and shared experiences. Whatever the physical body goes through is experienced by every part of the body, including the head. If the head has a pain for example, that pain affects ever part of the body. If that illustration finds parallels also in the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:14-27), where God has fitted the Body towards the goal of communality. That is why Jesus, our Head, and High Priest identifies with the experiences of His members (Heb 4:14-15), as seen when Christ accused Paul of persecuting Him when He was persecuting Christians (Acts 9:4-5). This dual membership should spur us on into appreciating and esteeming each other’s uniqueness, role, contribution, as well as identifying with one another’s experiences (Heb 13:3, Heb 10: Gal 6:2, 1 Cor 12:14-26). Christ feels our pain and understands whatever we are going through. If Christ endured, endure also for He is a partaker of what we are going through. That is a point of consolation for us as believers!
Pastor Jide Lawal