REGENERATION - A LIFE WITHIN (John 14:10-11 John 15:1-5 )

INTRODUCTION

A. By definition regeneration is the life of God imparted to the sinner on the basis of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.

I. At least 85 N.T. passages state that a Christian is a changed person by virtue of the fact that he has received the life of God into his being. (Col. 3:3-4 )

2. The Son of God was given that sinful men should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

3. The gift of God is eternal life (Rom 6:23)

4. I am come that they might have life (John 10:10)

B. That leads us to this question - what really happens at the New Birth.

I. Keep in mind that the creature has no other end to his existence than to be a manifesto of God the Creator.

2. God in man and God through man - therefore a human being is not a true human being until he is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

3. Nothing can function apart from the laws of its being.

4. A car won't go unless the machinery works right.

5. A man or woman can never really work right until they are God indwell.

6. Humans were not made to work any other way.

C. Life is a jigsaw puzzle until the Master hand pieces it together, that is why there is no peace saith my God to the wicked.

I. The wicked are all of us who have a dethroned God and an enthroned self at the center of our being.

2. There can't be any purpose in the redemption of man unless it is to restore humanity to the original condition.

II. God cannot create a creature except to contain and manifest Him.

A. God is seen in the heavens around us - the heavens display the glory of God the firmament showeth his handiwork.

I. Heaven and earth exist to display His glory.

2. The scripture says-the whole earth is full of his glory.

B. Mankind however has the awesome responsibility of intelligent choice.

1. Created free to choose his destiny of being the conscious container and transmitter of God-he could and did refuse and became a child of the devil.

2. By that I mean man is a rebel and a self seeker the very stuff of which the devil is made.

C. There can be only one possible purpose in salvation.

1. To restore man to his sole and original destiny. Christ in you, the hope of Glory.

2. I stress this because God's plan of salvation is not always made plain by gospel preachers.

3. The emphasis is usually, God wants to forgive your sin, and to deliver you from the wrath to come and give you a home in heaven. These are all true but not the whole

D. God's way of salvation is to destroy the false form of life in which we now live. -- What is that form?

I. The false form of life has self at its center me living for myself and my own satisfaction -- the nature of Satan.

2. The true form of life is that which has Christ at its center-- Christ living in me.

III. Paul uses a striking expression to describe his conversion.

A. Gal 1:15-16 - When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me

I. The Damascus road experience was not just on external revelation of an ascended Christ but an internal revelation of the indwelling Son - A Christ within.

2. This eternal life begun in Paul was not something in a detached sense as a gift from the Heavenly Father.

3. But it was the start of an eternal union.

B. With Paul's deliverance from that Satanic spirit of egoism at the Cross, another Ego, Jesus Christ had begun to live His life within the emptied ego of Paul.

I. In other words life-eternal life is nothing less and can be nothing but Jesus Himself occupying His temple.

2. II Cor. 6-16 - Ye are the temple of the living God-I will dwell in them and walk in them-I will be their God.

3. I Cor. 6:19-know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you and ye are not your own.

4. We are now the branch attached to the Vine, with the life of the Vine filling the branch.

IV. Salvation is Only Salvation When!

A. It is God the Father returning to live in the personality created for Him.

1. Ours is not merely an external faith in a Christ crucified 2000 years ago. but an inner revelation of Christ in me.

2. I can now say He is my Savior, my Lord because of an inner witness of the Holy Spirit.

B. The failure to realize this truth results in a weak birth and Stunted growth.

1. This self loving self must be dealt with and Jesus knows exactly how to deal with it.

2. He comes in at your invitation to live in you.

3. He comes to crucify that deified self. I have come to live. Gal 2:20.