Saturday, December 31, 2005
The EU about to enter the twilight zone?
Intl. Intelligence
Walker's World: The EU's grim year
By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- After a grim year of slow growth, riots and terror attacks from its Muslim immigrant underclass, rows over its budget and two thumping rejections by Dutch and French voters of its planned new constitution, the European Union's leaders can hardly wait for 2005 to be over to make a fresh start in the New Year.
Sadly, they will find the same old, familiar agenda waiting for them. It is an agenda that is likely to mean more rows over Turkish accession to the EU, divisions over what to do about Russia's use of its energy power to bully Ukraine, anguish over immigration, and a great deal more rhetoric about economic reform but only modest action.
To understand the depth of the EU gloom and the nature of the divisions, it is worth taking a close look at the 68-page report from the high priests of the European movement. Calling themselves "The Friends of Europe," this high-level group of EU movers and shakers have conferred on what to do next, and come up with very slim and not at all ambitious answer.
The Friends advocate pursuing economic reform, not through the EU itself, but through the mechanism of the eurozone, the sub-group of 12 (out of 25) EU nations who use the common currency. They propose that the Commission, the EU's executive arm, reform itself and come up with some new ideas. And they suggest drafting a shorter, simpler and clearer new Treaty (shrinking from the word Constitution) to help define the EU's future progress.
It is as if Moses had come down from Mount Sinai with just two Commandments, one saying, "Be nice to one another," and the other, "Have a nice day."
The Friends of Europe heavyweights who drafted the report "Getting Europe Back on Track" include Pascal Lamy, former EU commissioner and now head of the World Trade Organization; Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister; Giuliano Amato, former Italian prime minister; Javier Solana, former secretary-general of NATO and now the EU's diplomatic chief; Peter Mandelson, EU Trade commissioner; Paul Revray, Europe director of the Trilateral Commission, Joachim Bitterlich, former German national security adviser, and so on.
They are the custodian idealists of the great European dream, the true believers in ever more Europe and ever more integration, the Euro-elite who have helped steer the grand project forward -- until it faltered this year. And they beat their breasts and mourn at the way they have lost touch with people they were supposed to be leading into the bright new Euro-tomorrow.
"In the hectic journey through enlargement and the Constitution, we forgot the sovereign, the citizen, his trust and our credibility," writes Bitterlich.
"The EU is often perceived as part of this process of globalization that threatens us," notes Lamy.
"Today's politicians have lost all sense of idealism regarding the European integration project, and after a decade of raging inter-governmentalism, are driven essentially by naked nationalism," writes Revray.
"Few things have been as misdirected and counterproductive as all the talk about safeguarding some imaginary European social model. It has created the impression that change and globalization is something that is threatening and dangerous, and that the task of politics is to resist change. It has been truly damaging to Europe as a whole," writes Bildt.
Taken together, these gloomy analyses sound like a ruling class that has lost confidence in itself and in its mission. But the former Swedish prime minister then goes on to make a genuinely new and fresh contribution to the EU debate.
"We must understand that we are at the beginning of the creation of a new European economy in the context of a rapidly changing global economy. The stagnation in some of the central economies isn't the really interesting story at the moment -- the interesting story is the success of the radical reform policies initiated by Estonia a decade ago and recently reinvigorated by Slovakia. Over time, the success of these reforms, and the new growth opportunities they are creating, will influence all the other European economies," Bildt notes.
The reforms that have been adopted in these Eastern European countries include the flat tax, low corporation taxes, deregulated labor markets, a clear welcome to foreign investment -- an aggressive adoption of what French and German politicians sneer at as "the Anglo-Saxon agenda" of free markets and free trade.
But these are the kinds of reform that were supposedly adopted by the EU at their Lisbon summit five years ago, adopted but not enacted and never very seriously tried.
Peter Berry, who is not one of the aging grandees in the Friends of Europe group, but instead the much younger editor of the online journal EuropaWorld, says the real question is "whether Europe actually wants to be led at the present time at all?"
"We may have a Europe of the 25, but it is a Europe of 25 troubled and fractious countries, uncertain as to their future direction on almost all fronts," he suggests.
"In the absence of a clear, rational and coherent European perspective, member states are therefore dancing on the European stage to the tunes played by their electorates back home. Some look forward, others back; some embrace grand solutions, others the minimalist option. The major issues, the constitution, the economy, sustainable development, migration, foreign and security policy and now budgetary reform are themselves becoming, by proxy, a new set of European battlefields," Berry argues.
That is where Berry, speaking for the Europhile young generation, meets the older generation of the Friends. They both want to reinvigorate the Commission, and revive its traditional mission as custodian of the European idea and powerhouse for the planning and reform to drive it forward. That was the role the Commission played until the 1990s, when the nation states decided it had become too potent under Jacques Delors and it was time for the national governments to take over.
Even if adopted (and the national governments would not much like it), such a revival of the Commission would revive the old arguments about Brussels elitism and grand bureaucratic projects that have little public support or democratic legitimacy. The lesson of 2005 is that Europe's citizens do not want "more Europe," but simply prefer good jobs and schools and pensions and health care they can rely on.
Or as Commissioner Mandelson put it to the Friends of Europe: "The jobs and living standards argument for Europe no longer rings true." European voters no longer see the EU as guaranteeing the prosperity and security they have come to expect. Until they do, the EU will continue to falter.
*******************************************************************
The emphasis was mine, since biblical prophecy clearly reveals Europe will ultimately be composed of the TOP TEN nations in their unholy union, the final revival of the unholy Roman Empire of the GERMAN NATION, spellbound by Germany and the Jesuits, as Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall warns.
Friday, December 30, 2005
WHAT SCIENCE CAN’T DISCOVER ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND by Herbert Armstrong
WHAT SCIENCE CAN’T DISCOVER ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Why cannot the greatest minds solve world problems? Scientists have said, “Given sufficient knowledge, and we shall solve all human problems and cure all our evils.” However, as the world’s fund of knowledge rapidly increases, so too do humanity’s evils.
Why? Is something wrong with the human mind? Is something missing? There most certainly is a missing dimension in human knowledge. A human manufacturer sends along with the instrument or device he manufactures an instruction booklet describing what his product is intended to do with full directions for accomplishing its purpose. The most perfect mechanism ever designed and made is the marvelous mind and body that is man. And it is also only natural that our Maker sent along His instruction manual—revealing for our good what we are, why we are, where we are going, and what is the way.
That instruction book is the Holy Bible. Yet man has made this the most misunderstood, misinterpreted and maligned book that ever came into human hands.
Nevertheless, the missing dimension in knowledge is all there revealed. The incredible human potential is there revealed and made plain—if man would only read it—and believe what it says!
It is our source book. It reveals to us why we humans were put here on Earth—what we are—where we are going—the unrealized incredible human potential—how to operate this human mechanism of mind and body to live happily in peace and to achieve that awesome potential.
But the greatest human minds have never comprehended that divinely revealed knowledge. It is as if God our Maker had sent His message to us in an unbreakable secret code.
And the greatest human minds have never cracked that secret code. Modern science cannot understand it. Psychologists do not themselves understand of what the human mind is composed.
Something of supreme importance is missing from the greatest of human minds! That something is revealed within this instruction manual. It is not taught in any college or university. It is hidden from the worldly wise and prudent. The greatest mind which ever lived said of it, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes” (Matt. 11:25, New King James Version).
But to the spiritual babe, our instruction manual reveals that originally from eternity, there existed God and with Him there coexisted, also from eternity, “the Word,” a second person who also is God. God created all things by and through this coexisting Spirit Being called “the Word” (John 1:1-4).
In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim, a uniplural name meaning one God who is composed of more than one person. In other words, a divine FAMILY, of which the God mentioned in John 1:1 is Head.
God first created angels—also composed of spirit, though lesser beings than God, and lacking in creative power.
Next, God created—brought into existence—the physical universe, including the Earth. At Earth’s creation, a third of the angels were placed here. They were put under rule of the government of God, administered by the great archangel Lucifer, a cherub. Under the government of God the Earth was filled with wonderful peace, happiness and joy. But ultimately Lucifer led his angels into rebellion. The government of God was rejected, no longer enforced. The Earth, as a result, became waste and empty, in confusion and utter darkness.
Then in six days God renewed the face of the Earth. During this “creation week” of Genesis 1, God formed the first life-forms that reproduced themselves—the flora and then the fauna—without the thinking, reasoning, decision-making process, and without ethical, moral or spiritual capabilities.
Finally came the creation of man—created in God’s own image and likeness—form and shape—but like animals composed of physical matter from the earth. Man, to be born ultimately into the very God family, was designed to have godly-type mind—ability to think, to reason, to make choices and decisions, capable of forming ethical, moral and spiritual attitudes.
Remember, God’s purpose in creating man is to reproduce Himself—with such perfect spiritual character as only God possesses—who will not and therefore cannot ever sin! (i‑John‑3:9).
Such perfect spiritual and holy character cannot be created by fiat. It must be developed, and that requires time and experience.
Such character is the ability in a single entity to come to comprehend and distinguish the true values from the false, the right way from the wrong, to choose the right and reject the wrong, and, with power of will, to DO the right and resist the evil.
Animals are equipped with brain and instinct. But they do not have power to understand and choose moral and spiritual values or to develop perfect spiritual character. Animals have brain, but no intellect—instinct, but no ability to develop holy and godly character.
And that pictures the transcendental difference between animal brain and human mind.
But what causes that vast difference?
There is virtually no difference in shape and construction between animal brain and human brain. The brains of elephants, whales and dolphins are larger than human brain, and the chimp’s brain is slightly smaller.
Qualitatively the human brain may be very slightly superior, but not enough to remotely account for the difference in output.
What, then, can account for the vast difference? Science cannot adequately answer. Some scientists in the field of brain research conclude that, of necessity, there has to be some nonphysical component in human brain that does not exist in animal brain. But most scientists will not admit the possibility of the existence of the nonphysical.
What other explanation is there? Actually, outside of the very slight degree of physical superiority of human brain, science has no explanation, due to unwillingness to concede even the possibility of the spiritual.
When man refuses to admit even the very existence of his own Maker, he shuts out of his mind vast oceans of basic true knowledge, fact and understanding. When he substitutes fable for truth, he is of all men most ignorant, though he professes himself to be wise.
When man, in the name of science, denies—or by indifference, ignores—his Maker, he blinds his mind to what he is, why he is, where he is going, and what is the way! No wonder this world is filled with evils! There has to be a cause for every effect!
But when our minds are opened to the knowledge of our God and His purposes, then we have glorious access to the vast missing dimension of knowledge: the very knowledge that God is the divine family—that God is reproducing Himself—that He is using matter in the process, and that He opens our understanding to vast vistas of new knowledge.
So now consider. God is composed of spirit. God is Creator, Designer, Ruler, Educator. God has supreme mind. He IS the perfect holy and righteous character!
But He is using material substance from this physical Earth with which to reproduce Himself. Out of physical earth He has formed man in His image and likeness (form and shape).
But if man is to become God, in the process of God reproducing Himself, then the character that is to be built in him must emanate from God—and the spirit life that is to be his also must emanate from God.
In other words, God has had to plan to bridge the gap between matter (of which man is now wholly composed) and spirit (which God now is, and man must become).
Matter is not spirit—cannot be converted into spirit. How, then, can God change mortal, material man into immortal, spirit-composed God?
Click here for the rest of
WHAT SCIENCE CAN’T DISCOVER ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND
by Mr. Armstrong
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Why cannot the greatest minds solve world problems? Scientists have said, “Given sufficient knowledge, and we shall solve all human problems and cure all our evils.” However, as the world’s fund of knowledge rapidly increases, so too do humanity’s evils.
Why? Is something wrong with the human mind? Is something missing? There most certainly is a missing dimension in human knowledge. A human manufacturer sends along with the instrument or device he manufactures an instruction booklet describing what his product is intended to do with full directions for accomplishing its purpose. The most perfect mechanism ever designed and made is the marvelous mind and body that is man. And it is also only natural that our Maker sent along His instruction manual—revealing for our good what we are, why we are, where we are going, and what is the way.
That instruction book is the Holy Bible. Yet man has made this the most misunderstood, misinterpreted and maligned book that ever came into human hands.
Nevertheless, the missing dimension in knowledge is all there revealed. The incredible human potential is there revealed and made plain—if man would only read it—and believe what it says!
It is our source book. It reveals to us why we humans were put here on Earth—what we are—where we are going—the unrealized incredible human potential—how to operate this human mechanism of mind and body to live happily in peace and to achieve that awesome potential.
But the greatest human minds have never comprehended that divinely revealed knowledge. It is as if God our Maker had sent His message to us in an unbreakable secret code.
And the greatest human minds have never cracked that secret code. Modern science cannot understand it. Psychologists do not themselves understand of what the human mind is composed.
Something of supreme importance is missing from the greatest of human minds! That something is revealed within this instruction manual. It is not taught in any college or university. It is hidden from the worldly wise and prudent. The greatest mind which ever lived said of it, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes” (Matt. 11:25, New King James Version).
But to the spiritual babe, our instruction manual reveals that originally from eternity, there existed God and with Him there coexisted, also from eternity, “the Word,” a second person who also is God. God created all things by and through this coexisting Spirit Being called “the Word” (John 1:1-4).
In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim, a uniplural name meaning one God who is composed of more than one person. In other words, a divine FAMILY, of which the God mentioned in John 1:1 is Head.
God first created angels—also composed of spirit, though lesser beings than God, and lacking in creative power.
Next, God created—brought into existence—the physical universe, including the Earth. At Earth’s creation, a third of the angels were placed here. They were put under rule of the government of God, administered by the great archangel Lucifer, a cherub. Under the government of God the Earth was filled with wonderful peace, happiness and joy. But ultimately Lucifer led his angels into rebellion. The government of God was rejected, no longer enforced. The Earth, as a result, became waste and empty, in confusion and utter darkness.
Then in six days God renewed the face of the Earth. During this “creation week” of Genesis 1, God formed the first life-forms that reproduced themselves—the flora and then the fauna—without the thinking, reasoning, decision-making process, and without ethical, moral or spiritual capabilities.
Finally came the creation of man—created in God’s own image and likeness—form and shape—but like animals composed of physical matter from the earth. Man, to be born ultimately into the very God family, was designed to have godly-type mind—ability to think, to reason, to make choices and decisions, capable of forming ethical, moral and spiritual attitudes.
Remember, God’s purpose in creating man is to reproduce Himself—with such perfect spiritual character as only God possesses—who will not and therefore cannot ever sin! (i‑John‑3:9).
Such perfect spiritual and holy character cannot be created by fiat. It must be developed, and that requires time and experience.
Such character is the ability in a single entity to come to comprehend and distinguish the true values from the false, the right way from the wrong, to choose the right and reject the wrong, and, with power of will, to DO the right and resist the evil.
Animals are equipped with brain and instinct. But they do not have power to understand and choose moral and spiritual values or to develop perfect spiritual character. Animals have brain, but no intellect—instinct, but no ability to develop holy and godly character.
And that pictures the transcendental difference between animal brain and human mind.
But what causes that vast difference?
There is virtually no difference in shape and construction between animal brain and human brain. The brains of elephants, whales and dolphins are larger than human brain, and the chimp’s brain is slightly smaller.
Qualitatively the human brain may be very slightly superior, but not enough to remotely account for the difference in output.
What, then, can account for the vast difference? Science cannot adequately answer. Some scientists in the field of brain research conclude that, of necessity, there has to be some nonphysical component in human brain that does not exist in animal brain. But most scientists will not admit the possibility of the existence of the nonphysical.
What other explanation is there? Actually, outside of the very slight degree of physical superiority of human brain, science has no explanation, due to unwillingness to concede even the possibility of the spiritual.
When man refuses to admit even the very existence of his own Maker, he shuts out of his mind vast oceans of basic true knowledge, fact and understanding. When he substitutes fable for truth, he is of all men most ignorant, though he professes himself to be wise.
When man, in the name of science, denies—or by indifference, ignores—his Maker, he blinds his mind to what he is, why he is, where he is going, and what is the way! No wonder this world is filled with evils! There has to be a cause for every effect!
But when our minds are opened to the knowledge of our God and His purposes, then we have glorious access to the vast missing dimension of knowledge: the very knowledge that God is the divine family—that God is reproducing Himself—that He is using matter in the process, and that He opens our understanding to vast vistas of new knowledge.
So now consider. God is composed of spirit. God is Creator, Designer, Ruler, Educator. God has supreme mind. He IS the perfect holy and righteous character!
But He is using material substance from this physical Earth with which to reproduce Himself. Out of physical earth He has formed man in His image and likeness (form and shape).
But if man is to become God, in the process of God reproducing Himself, then the character that is to be built in him must emanate from God—and the spirit life that is to be his also must emanate from God.
In other words, God has had to plan to bridge the gap between matter (of which man is now wholly composed) and spirit (which God now is, and man must become).
Matter is not spirit—cannot be converted into spirit. How, then, can God change mortal, material man into immortal, spirit-composed God?
Click here for the rest of
WHAT SCIENCE CAN’T DISCOVER ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND
by Mr. Armstrong
The Holocaust Industry
The Holocaust WAS an industry for GERMANY, and according to biblical prophecies the next holocaust (against the American, British and Jewish peoples primarily) WILL become an industry for the GERMAN-JESUIT EU.
Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall
Paddy Ashdown and Nazi-Muslims
LATEST FROM UKCONSERVATISM
Now that the supreme ruler of Bosnia, able to sack elected politicians, overturn constitutions and rule without accountability, Paddy Ashdown, is stepping down it is worth recognising his true nature by looking at those he admires:
"There can be no peace nor co-existence between the Islamic Faith and non Islamic institutions....The Islamic movement must and can take power as soon as it is morally and numerically strong enough not only to destroy the Islamic power but to build a new Islamic one". Alia Izetbegovic the President of Bosnia (the Muslim Declaration of 1969)
"He became the father of his people - the person who did more than any other to ensure the survival of the modern state of Bosnia and Herzegovina." Lord "Paddy" Ashdown at Alia Izetbegovic funeral October 2003
For the full story of Ashdown in Bosnia go to the Freenations website.
Now that the supreme ruler of Bosnia, able to sack elected politicians, overturn constitutions and rule without accountability, Paddy Ashdown, is stepping down it is worth recognising his true nature by looking at those he admires:
"There can be no peace nor co-existence between the Islamic Faith and non Islamic institutions....The Islamic movement must and can take power as soon as it is morally and numerically strong enough not only to destroy the Islamic power but to build a new Islamic one". Alia Izetbegovic the President of Bosnia (the Muslim Declaration of 1969)
"He became the father of his people - the person who did more than any other to ensure the survival of the modern state of Bosnia and Herzegovina." Lord "Paddy" Ashdown at Alia Izetbegovic funeral October 2003
For the full story of Ashdown in Bosnia go to the Freenations website.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
The Truth About NEW YEAR'S!
The Truth About NEW YEAR'S!
How did the celebration of New Year's Eve begin? Why is the beginning of a year placed in the middle of a dead winter? And where did the many customs surrounding it originate?
by William H. Ellis
MOST people carelessly assume that celebrating New Year's Eve is a Christian custom.
But did the practice of "waiting the old year out" really come from the Bible?
Is January 1 the true beginning of a new year? Who has the AUTHORITY to determine when a new year begins?
An Ancient Pagan Custom
New Year's is one of the oldest and most universal of all pagan TRADITIONS! The custom of celebrating it has remained essentially unchanged for 4,000 years!
"There is scarcely a people, ancient or modern, savage or civilized," writes Theodor H. Gaster, in his definitive book "New Year", "which has not observed it ... in one form or another. Yet no other festival has been celebrated on so many different dates or in so many seemingly different ways."
In ancient Babylon, New Year's festivals were closely bound to the pagan feast called "Christmas" today. The little-known connection of New Year's with Christmas is made clear in our free booklet, "The PLAIN TRUTH About CHRISTMAS!" If you haven't read it before, write for it immediately.
When and how did New Year's celebrations originate? Who began the custom?
Notice the proof of history.
"Mesopotamia," writes Earl W. Count, "is the very ancient Mother of Civilization. Christmas began there, OVER FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO, as the festival which renewed the world for another year. The 'twelve days' of Christmas; the bright fires and probably the Yule log; the giving of presents; the carnivals with their floats, their merrymakings and clownings, the mummers who sing and play from house to house; the feastings; the church processions with their lights and song -- all these and more began there centuries before Christ was born. And they celebrated THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW YEAR!" ("4000 Years of Christmas", pp. 20-21.)
That is how it began. The celebration of New Year's began in ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia. It was a pagan custom of ancient sun-worship 2000 years before the birth of Jesus.
The celebration of New Year's is never once commanded in the Bible. Jesus and the apostles never observed it. Moses forbade it!
Don't say "it doesn't matter." It does matter to God whether we adopt the customs of the heathen. Your Bible says, "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2).
PHOTO CAPTION: New York's famed Times Square at midnight, December 31, as thousands gather to usher in the pagan Roman New Year. The undampended spirits of the crowd bring to mind the ancient Roman Saturnalia. Probably not one in the crowd really understands how Christ will solve the troubles brought on this world by its foolish pagan traditions!
A Pagan Roman Feast
The New Year's festivities that had originated in Babylon found their way to Greece and finally to Rome. The Romans called it "Saturnalia" -- in honor of Saturn. Among them it was extremely popular -- a time of revelings, drinking bouts, orgies -- finally ending in HUMAN SACRIFICE!
"The first day of the Saturnalia shifted during the lifetime of Rome ... it began around the middle of December ... and continued until January first. In its midst was December twenty-fifth, the day, as the Romans calculated, when the sun was at its lowest ebb ...." (E. W. Count's "4000 Years of Christmas", page 28.)
It was Julius Caesar, Emperor of pagan Rome, who instituted the New Year's festival on January first. In 46 B. C., Caesar adopted the Julian calendar. He transferred to the first of January ALL of the licentious customs surrounding the Roman Saturnalia!
Accepted by "Church Fathers"
But how did such a thoroughly pagan day ever insinuate itself into our modern "Christian" calendar?
Read the answer from church history -- about 375 A.D. This is the period Emperor Constantine imposed "Christianity" on the Roman world.
"There were many immigrants into the ranks of the Christians by this time," writes Earl W. Count. "The Church Fathers discovered to their alarm that they were also facing an invasion of pagan customs. The habit of Saturnalia was too strong to be left behind. At first the Church forbade it, but in vain" (page 31).
Rather than resist the influence of pagan customs, the Catholic Church fathers compromised!
"The Church finally succeeded in taking the merriment, the greenery, the lights, and the gifts from Saturn and giving them to the Babe of Bethlehem .... The pagan Romans became Christians -- but the Saturnalia remained!" (E.W. Count, page 31.)
Modern Christians have gone A STEP FURTHER!
Rather than present a gift to Jesus Christ on the day they falsely assume to be His birthday, the world is busily trading presents among themselves! Christ has been not only forgotten at Christmas time, but is not so much as toasted amidst the partying of New Year's Eve!
During the Middle Ages many of the ancient Roman customs were maintained and augmented by the incoming heathen rites of the Teutonic peoples. It was during this period that the customary yule log and mistletoe were added to the popular New Year's festivities. The yule log is a carry-over from the bonfires of sun-worship, and mistletoe is a parasite used in Druid rites as a symbol of sex-worship!
As Teutonic customs were added, the date of New Year's celebrations was temporarily changed to March 25, to coincide with the Germanic spring rites of fertility.
Finally Pope Gregory re-instituted the ancient pagan Roman date of January first. He imposed it on the whole Western world in 1582 when his Gregorian calendar "reforms" were accepted. All Roman Catholic countries accepted this change AT ONCE! Sweden, Germany, Denmark and England, the strongholds of Druid customs, finally acquiesced to Rome in the 1700's!
The Modern Attitude of Compromise
Today, New Year's Eve has become a time for people to wallow in excesses of liquor! The modern attitude seems to be, "have a wild time on New Year's Eve, and turn over a new leaf on New Year's Day!"
New Year's resolutions are empty and meaningless, usually trifling matters of jest! Few people make a lasting change.
Most people seem to have convinced themselves that God is out of the picture for good. That God is not concerned with their modern revelings, drunken parties, promiscuous behavior!
What does God have to say about New Year's? Does He condone observing a pagan festival? practicing pagan customs in the name of Christ?
God Labels New Year's "PAGAN"!
God Almighty does not compromise! Notice the Eternal's stern warning to Israel as they conquered the pagan nations of the promised land:
"Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou INQUIRE NOT AFTER THEIR GODS, saying 'How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.' THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE ETERNAL THY GOD: for EVERY ABOMINATION to the Eternal, WHICH HE HATETH, have they done to their gods ...." (Deut. 12:30-31.)
What were the customs God hates and condemns in Deuteronomy? What are those pagan rites that are an ABOMINATION to Him?
These very rites and customs practiced in ancient Canaan and Syria included the NEW YEAR'S FESTIVALS! From the ancient Canaanites the Greeks learned the same rites.
Greek God of WINE!
Theodor H. Gaster writes concerning the familiar "New Year's babe":
"Actually the New Year babe is FAR OLDER than he looks. In ancient Greece, it was customary at the great festival of Dionysus to parade a babe cradled in a winnowing basket. This was taken to symbolize the annual (or periodic) rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility!" (New Year.)
Who was this Dionysus?
None other than Bacchus -- the god of wine! In his honor the Greeks held a festival called the "Festival of the Wine-Press" at the time which corresponds to our months of January-February!
Today more alcoholic beverages are consumed during the "holiday season" than at any other time of the year! New Year's Eve is noted for its licentious, wild, and wanton partying. People are deceived by riotous pagan holiday spirits -- for the most part emanating from liquor bottles -- all the while calling it "Christian"!
"Father Time"
Another symbol of New Year's celebrations is equally pagan! It is the familiar figure of a white-haired man carrying a scythe. What does he represent? The ancient Greek god Cronos. It is from the name "Cronos" we derive our "chronograph" which measures time.
Among the Greek gods, Cronos originally cut a swath of HUMAN SACRIFICE with his sharpened scythe! The "silent reaper" anciently "reaped" little children in horrible episodes of mythical CANNIBALISM! This Greek rite of human sacrifice was adopted by ancient Rome, where human sacrifice was practiced at least until 300 A. D.
No wonder God Almighty warns the pagan New Year's celebration is AN ABOMINATION to Him! See Deuteronomy 12:31.
Strange as it seems, the professing Christian world praises and practices customs and days of pagan origin -- thinly cloaking them in "Christian" sounding names! You too, may have accepted these vain traditions of men, never realizing they are PAGAN TO THE CORE!
"In VAIN do they worship me," said Jesus Christ, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men!"
Jesus said it is possible to WORSHIP GOD -- to venerate the NAME of Christ -- and still do it ALL IN VAIN!
"Full well YE REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, that ye may keep your own tradition," He continued, "... making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered!" (Mark 7:7, 9, 13.)
Many people will confess, when forced to, the pagan origin of these days. But they stubbornly REFUSE to stop observing them! God is their Judge!
Don't you make this mistake!
When Does God Begin the New Year?
Remember! It is God Almighty who created the Universe. He set the heavenly bodies in their courses at Creation. It is by His "master-clock" that time is determined.
The earth's rotation regulates the length of a day -- the lunar phases indicate the length of a month. And the orbit of the earth around the sun dictates the length of a year!
But ONLY GOD has the AUTHORITY to set the date of the beginning of the new year!
God's sacred calendar year begins in the spring -- not in the middle of a dead winter! Notice Exodus 12:1-2, "And the Eternal spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR TO YOU."
The first month of God's sacred calendar is called, in the Bible, "Abib". It means the month of "green ears." Later, the Jews called it "Nisan" -- a Babylonian word having the same meaning.
It was in the month of Abib or Nisan that Israel came out of Egyptian captivity under Moses (Ex. 34:18). The Hebrew month Abib overlaps the months of March-April on the pagan Roman calendar in use today.
God placed the beginning of the sacred year in the early spring to mark the beginning of the seasonal harvests. The two annual harvests in Palestine foreshadowed God's Plan for the twofold SPIRITUAL harvest of souls to be born into His Kingdom.
Your Bible speaks of a great false religious system which will "think to change times and laws" (Dan. 7:25). This system has deliberately thought to change the beginning of God's calendar year in an attempt to hide God's Plan for the salvation of mankind! But man has no authority to change God's "master-clock."
Satan, however, has cleverly deceived the world into believing the new year begins on January first!
Why National Captivity?
The very same pagan practices God condemns in the Old Testament are being perpetuated in our modern world today!
The very same festivals of paganism adopted by ancient Israel have become an integral part of this modern society!
Read, in II Kings 17:15-18, the reason why God Almighty took ancient Israel into captivity: "And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them!"
What was the result of Israel following the customs of the heathen nations around them?
"Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight .... and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight .... SO WAS ISRAEL CARRIED AWAY OUT OF THEIR OWN LAND TO ASSYRIA UNTO THIS DAY!" (II Kings 17:18, 20, and 23.)
Israel NEVER returned as a nation to the land of Palestine!
Israel was lost! Its true identity was concealed until modern times! Now there is proof that the lost ten tribes of ancient Israel migrated to Northwestern Europe. The chief peoples among them have become the United States and British Commonwealth today! (If you don't already have your copy of our free booklet, "The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy", send for it immediately.)
Modern Paganism Will Be Punished!
Do you suppose God has changed His mind about compromising with paganism?
"For I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT!" warns the Eternal in Malachi 3:6. This same reminder is repeated in Hebrews 13:8.
Speaking to the modern nations of Israel today, Almighty God says, "As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Eternal God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols and thereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but POLLUTE YE MY HOLY NAME NO MORE with your gifts and with your idols" (Ezek. 20:39).
In other words, God is saying, "Be pagan if you insist; but quit calling it Christian."
God continues to warn modern Israel against the holidays of paganism, in Hosea 2:11:
"I will also cause all her mirth to cease, HER feast days [days THE PEOPLE chose], HER new moons [marking the beginning of the pagan New Year], and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts." Notice that these were Israel's feast days -- those Israel had acquired from the pagan nations around them -- NOT those God had originally instituted through His Bible! "And I will visit upon her the DAYS OF BAALIM, wherein she burned incense to them ..." (verse 13)!
The very same punishment awaits any nation today that forsakes God's law as revealed in His Holy Bible, and turns to the customs of pagan nations -- observing pagan days of worship!
Does it make any difference if YOU continue observing pagan customs -- like New Year's? IT CERTAINLY DOES! God says so!
What You Should Do
God Almighty prophesies a final revival of Babylonian religion in great power just before He cuts short man's misrule of this earth. Read His warning in Revelation 18:
"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he said mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen.
"Her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues!"
New Year's celebration began in Babylon 4,000 years ago. It is practiced today by almost every people on the face of the earth. Satan the Devil has indeed deceived the whole world! (Rev. 12:9.)
But God Almighty has sent His ministers to warn this world -- to cry aloud, and spare not, and SHOW HIS PEOPLE THEIR SINS (Isa. 58:1). Punishment will not be forever withheld!
May God help you to HEED THIS WARNING, and FORSAKE THE PAGAN PRACTICES of this modern world!
The Plain Truth - December, 1964
How did the celebration of New Year's Eve begin? Why is the beginning of a year placed in the middle of a dead winter? And where did the many customs surrounding it originate?
by William H. Ellis
MOST people carelessly assume that celebrating New Year's Eve is a Christian custom.
But did the practice of "waiting the old year out" really come from the Bible?
Is January 1 the true beginning of a new year? Who has the AUTHORITY to determine when a new year begins?
An Ancient Pagan Custom
New Year's is one of the oldest and most universal of all pagan TRADITIONS! The custom of celebrating it has remained essentially unchanged for 4,000 years!
"There is scarcely a people, ancient or modern, savage or civilized," writes Theodor H. Gaster, in his definitive book "New Year", "which has not observed it ... in one form or another. Yet no other festival has been celebrated on so many different dates or in so many seemingly different ways."
In ancient Babylon, New Year's festivals were closely bound to the pagan feast called "Christmas" today. The little-known connection of New Year's with Christmas is made clear in our free booklet, "The PLAIN TRUTH About CHRISTMAS!" If you haven't read it before, write for it immediately.
When and how did New Year's celebrations originate? Who began the custom?
Notice the proof of history.
"Mesopotamia," writes Earl W. Count, "is the very ancient Mother of Civilization. Christmas began there, OVER FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO, as the festival which renewed the world for another year. The 'twelve days' of Christmas; the bright fires and probably the Yule log; the giving of presents; the carnivals with their floats, their merrymakings and clownings, the mummers who sing and play from house to house; the feastings; the church processions with their lights and song -- all these and more began there centuries before Christ was born. And they celebrated THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW YEAR!" ("4000 Years of Christmas", pp. 20-21.)
That is how it began. The celebration of New Year's began in ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia. It was a pagan custom of ancient sun-worship 2000 years before the birth of Jesus.
The celebration of New Year's is never once commanded in the Bible. Jesus and the apostles never observed it. Moses forbade it!
Don't say "it doesn't matter." It does matter to God whether we adopt the customs of the heathen. Your Bible says, "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2).
PHOTO CAPTION: New York's famed Times Square at midnight, December 31, as thousands gather to usher in the pagan Roman New Year. The undampended spirits of the crowd bring to mind the ancient Roman Saturnalia. Probably not one in the crowd really understands how Christ will solve the troubles brought on this world by its foolish pagan traditions!
A Pagan Roman Feast
The New Year's festivities that had originated in Babylon found their way to Greece and finally to Rome. The Romans called it "Saturnalia" -- in honor of Saturn. Among them it was extremely popular -- a time of revelings, drinking bouts, orgies -- finally ending in HUMAN SACRIFICE!
"The first day of the Saturnalia shifted during the lifetime of Rome ... it began around the middle of December ... and continued until January first. In its midst was December twenty-fifth, the day, as the Romans calculated, when the sun was at its lowest ebb ...." (E. W. Count's "4000 Years of Christmas", page 28.)
It was Julius Caesar, Emperor of pagan Rome, who instituted the New Year's festival on January first. In 46 B. C., Caesar adopted the Julian calendar. He transferred to the first of January ALL of the licentious customs surrounding the Roman Saturnalia!
Accepted by "Church Fathers"
But how did such a thoroughly pagan day ever insinuate itself into our modern "Christian" calendar?
Read the answer from church history -- about 375 A.D. This is the period Emperor Constantine imposed "Christianity" on the Roman world.
"There were many immigrants into the ranks of the Christians by this time," writes Earl W. Count. "The Church Fathers discovered to their alarm that they were also facing an invasion of pagan customs. The habit of Saturnalia was too strong to be left behind. At first the Church forbade it, but in vain" (page 31).
Rather than resist the influence of pagan customs, the Catholic Church fathers compromised!
"The Church finally succeeded in taking the merriment, the greenery, the lights, and the gifts from Saturn and giving them to the Babe of Bethlehem .... The pagan Romans became Christians -- but the Saturnalia remained!" (E.W. Count, page 31.)
Modern Christians have gone A STEP FURTHER!
Rather than present a gift to Jesus Christ on the day they falsely assume to be His birthday, the world is busily trading presents among themselves! Christ has been not only forgotten at Christmas time, but is not so much as toasted amidst the partying of New Year's Eve!
During the Middle Ages many of the ancient Roman customs were maintained and augmented by the incoming heathen rites of the Teutonic peoples. It was during this period that the customary yule log and mistletoe were added to the popular New Year's festivities. The yule log is a carry-over from the bonfires of sun-worship, and mistletoe is a parasite used in Druid rites as a symbol of sex-worship!
As Teutonic customs were added, the date of New Year's celebrations was temporarily changed to March 25, to coincide with the Germanic spring rites of fertility.
Finally Pope Gregory re-instituted the ancient pagan Roman date of January first. He imposed it on the whole Western world in 1582 when his Gregorian calendar "reforms" were accepted. All Roman Catholic countries accepted this change AT ONCE! Sweden, Germany, Denmark and England, the strongholds of Druid customs, finally acquiesced to Rome in the 1700's!
The Modern Attitude of Compromise
Today, New Year's Eve has become a time for people to wallow in excesses of liquor! The modern attitude seems to be, "have a wild time on New Year's Eve, and turn over a new leaf on New Year's Day!"
New Year's resolutions are empty and meaningless, usually trifling matters of jest! Few people make a lasting change.
Most people seem to have convinced themselves that God is out of the picture for good. That God is not concerned with their modern revelings, drunken parties, promiscuous behavior!
What does God have to say about New Year's? Does He condone observing a pagan festival? practicing pagan customs in the name of Christ?
God Labels New Year's "PAGAN"!
God Almighty does not compromise! Notice the Eternal's stern warning to Israel as they conquered the pagan nations of the promised land:
"Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou INQUIRE NOT AFTER THEIR GODS, saying 'How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.' THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE ETERNAL THY GOD: for EVERY ABOMINATION to the Eternal, WHICH HE HATETH, have they done to their gods ...." (Deut. 12:30-31.)
What were the customs God hates and condemns in Deuteronomy? What are those pagan rites that are an ABOMINATION to Him?
These very rites and customs practiced in ancient Canaan and Syria included the NEW YEAR'S FESTIVALS! From the ancient Canaanites the Greeks learned the same rites.
Greek God of WINE!
Theodor H. Gaster writes concerning the familiar "New Year's babe":
"Actually the New Year babe is FAR OLDER than he looks. In ancient Greece, it was customary at the great festival of Dionysus to parade a babe cradled in a winnowing basket. This was taken to symbolize the annual (or periodic) rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility!" (New Year.)
Who was this Dionysus?
None other than Bacchus -- the god of wine! In his honor the Greeks held a festival called the "Festival of the Wine-Press" at the time which corresponds to our months of January-February!
Today more alcoholic beverages are consumed during the "holiday season" than at any other time of the year! New Year's Eve is noted for its licentious, wild, and wanton partying. People are deceived by riotous pagan holiday spirits -- for the most part emanating from liquor bottles -- all the while calling it "Christian"!
"Father Time"
Another symbol of New Year's celebrations is equally pagan! It is the familiar figure of a white-haired man carrying a scythe. What does he represent? The ancient Greek god Cronos. It is from the name "Cronos" we derive our "chronograph" which measures time.
Among the Greek gods, Cronos originally cut a swath of HUMAN SACRIFICE with his sharpened scythe! The "silent reaper" anciently "reaped" little children in horrible episodes of mythical CANNIBALISM! This Greek rite of human sacrifice was adopted by ancient Rome, where human sacrifice was practiced at least until 300 A. D.
No wonder God Almighty warns the pagan New Year's celebration is AN ABOMINATION to Him! See Deuteronomy 12:31.
Strange as it seems, the professing Christian world praises and practices customs and days of pagan origin -- thinly cloaking them in "Christian" sounding names! You too, may have accepted these vain traditions of men, never realizing they are PAGAN TO THE CORE!
"In VAIN do they worship me," said Jesus Christ, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men!"
Jesus said it is possible to WORSHIP GOD -- to venerate the NAME of Christ -- and still do it ALL IN VAIN!
"Full well YE REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, that ye may keep your own tradition," He continued, "... making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered!" (Mark 7:7, 9, 13.)
Many people will confess, when forced to, the pagan origin of these days. But they stubbornly REFUSE to stop observing them! God is their Judge!
Don't you make this mistake!
When Does God Begin the New Year?
Remember! It is God Almighty who created the Universe. He set the heavenly bodies in their courses at Creation. It is by His "master-clock" that time is determined.
The earth's rotation regulates the length of a day -- the lunar phases indicate the length of a month. And the orbit of the earth around the sun dictates the length of a year!
But ONLY GOD has the AUTHORITY to set the date of the beginning of the new year!
God's sacred calendar year begins in the spring -- not in the middle of a dead winter! Notice Exodus 12:1-2, "And the Eternal spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR TO YOU."
The first month of God's sacred calendar is called, in the Bible, "Abib". It means the month of "green ears." Later, the Jews called it "Nisan" -- a Babylonian word having the same meaning.
It was in the month of Abib or Nisan that Israel came out of Egyptian captivity under Moses (Ex. 34:18). The Hebrew month Abib overlaps the months of March-April on the pagan Roman calendar in use today.
God placed the beginning of the sacred year in the early spring to mark the beginning of the seasonal harvests. The two annual harvests in Palestine foreshadowed God's Plan for the twofold SPIRITUAL harvest of souls to be born into His Kingdom.
Your Bible speaks of a great false religious system which will "think to change times and laws" (Dan. 7:25). This system has deliberately thought to change the beginning of God's calendar year in an attempt to hide God's Plan for the salvation of mankind! But man has no authority to change God's "master-clock."
Satan, however, has cleverly deceived the world into believing the new year begins on January first!
Why National Captivity?
The very same pagan practices God condemns in the Old Testament are being perpetuated in our modern world today!
The very same festivals of paganism adopted by ancient Israel have become an integral part of this modern society!
Read, in II Kings 17:15-18, the reason why God Almighty took ancient Israel into captivity: "And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them!"
What was the result of Israel following the customs of the heathen nations around them?
"Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight .... and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight .... SO WAS ISRAEL CARRIED AWAY OUT OF THEIR OWN LAND TO ASSYRIA UNTO THIS DAY!" (II Kings 17:18, 20, and 23.)
Israel NEVER returned as a nation to the land of Palestine!
Israel was lost! Its true identity was concealed until modern times! Now there is proof that the lost ten tribes of ancient Israel migrated to Northwestern Europe. The chief peoples among them have become the United States and British Commonwealth today! (If you don't already have your copy of our free booklet, "The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy", send for it immediately.)
Modern Paganism Will Be Punished!
Do you suppose God has changed His mind about compromising with paganism?
"For I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT!" warns the Eternal in Malachi 3:6. This same reminder is repeated in Hebrews 13:8.
Speaking to the modern nations of Israel today, Almighty God says, "As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Eternal God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols and thereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but POLLUTE YE MY HOLY NAME NO MORE with your gifts and with your idols" (Ezek. 20:39).
In other words, God is saying, "Be pagan if you insist; but quit calling it Christian."
God continues to warn modern Israel against the holidays of paganism, in Hosea 2:11:
"I will also cause all her mirth to cease, HER feast days [days THE PEOPLE chose], HER new moons [marking the beginning of the pagan New Year], and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts." Notice that these were Israel's feast days -- those Israel had acquired from the pagan nations around them -- NOT those God had originally instituted through His Bible! "And I will visit upon her the DAYS OF BAALIM, wherein she burned incense to them ..." (verse 13)!
The very same punishment awaits any nation today that forsakes God's law as revealed in His Holy Bible, and turns to the customs of pagan nations -- observing pagan days of worship!
Does it make any difference if YOU continue observing pagan customs -- like New Year's? IT CERTAINLY DOES! God says so!
What You Should Do
God Almighty prophesies a final revival of Babylonian religion in great power just before He cuts short man's misrule of this earth. Read His warning in Revelation 18:
"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he said mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen.
"Her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues!"
New Year's celebration began in Babylon 4,000 years ago. It is practiced today by almost every people on the face of the earth. Satan the Devil has indeed deceived the whole world! (Rev. 12:9.)
But God Almighty has sent His ministers to warn this world -- to cry aloud, and spare not, and SHOW HIS PEOPLE THEIR SINS (Isa. 58:1). Punishment will not be forever withheld!
May God help you to HEED THIS WARNING, and FORSAKE THE PAGAN PRACTICES of this modern world!
The Plain Truth - December, 1964
Europe launchs space race against the US
EUobserver.com
First Galileo satellite lifts off
28.12.2005 - 09:51 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
The European Union's first satellite of the Galileo navigation program has been launched from Kazakhstan, a move considered as the start of Europe's space race with the US.
The 600 kg British built spacecraft, named "Giove A," took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz rocket early Wednesday morning (28 December).
The satellite is part of Galileo, the €3.4 billion system from which the EU is aiming to deploy a total of 30 satellites by 2010.
The network will provide access to precise timing and location services delivered from space to the bloc's member states, currently relying on a system controlled by the US millitary.
The Galileo project, which is designed to rival America's Global Positioning System, aims to revolutionise industries including transport and will be used in maritime, rail and other navigation systems.
It will help the EU to set up a new air-traffic control system, allowing pilots to fly their own routes and altitudes, BBC reported.
The European governments will get tools needed to introduce wide-scale road charging, while mobile phone users will be able to pinpoint hospitals, car parking lots or hotels thanks to a Galileo chip integrated in their phones.
Giove A will test technologies needed for the other components of the project, like the in-orbit performance of two atomic clocks or radio frequencies assigned to Galileo within the International Telecommunications Union.
Galileo is a joint project between the EU and the European Space Agency, and is regarded by experts as Europe's largest space project to date.
First Galileo satellite lifts off
28.12.2005 - 09:51 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
The European Union's first satellite of the Galileo navigation program has been launched from Kazakhstan, a move considered as the start of Europe's space race with the US.
The 600 kg British built spacecraft, named "Giove A," took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz rocket early Wednesday morning (28 December).
The satellite is part of Galileo, the €3.4 billion system from which the EU is aiming to deploy a total of 30 satellites by 2010.
The network will provide access to precise timing and location services delivered from space to the bloc's member states, currently relying on a system controlled by the US millitary.
The Galileo project, which is designed to rival America's Global Positioning System, aims to revolutionise industries including transport and will be used in maritime, rail and other navigation systems.
It will help the EU to set up a new air-traffic control system, allowing pilots to fly their own routes and altitudes, BBC reported.
The European governments will get tools needed to introduce wide-scale road charging, while mobile phone users will be able to pinpoint hospitals, car parking lots or hotels thanks to a Galileo chip integrated in their phones.
Giove A will test technologies needed for the other components of the project, like the in-orbit performance of two atomic clocks or radio frequencies assigned to Galileo within the International Telecommunications Union.
Galileo is a joint project between the EU and the European Space Agency, and is regarded by experts as Europe's largest space project to date.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
In Memory of God's End-Time Apostle
Steadfast Church of God presents:
This Real Video is a special memorial to Herbert Armstrong peformed at the Feast Site in Tucson, Arizona in 2003. (You will need RealPlayer to play this.)
To download this memorial right click here and select "Save Target As"
"Many times I have told you, dear Brethren, that when God first called me, beginning in the autumn of 1926, that the living Christ brought me into His truth a step at a time. YOU have not had to learn the truth so slowly -- Christ used me to do it for you. And one of the very last truths He opened to me was that of CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT!"
1974 Membership Letter
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
I Timothy 4:16
This Real Video is a special memorial to Herbert Armstrong peformed at the Feast Site in Tucson, Arizona in 2003. (You will need RealPlayer to play this.)
To download this memorial right click here and select "Save Target As"
"Many times I have told you, dear Brethren, that when God first called me, beginning in the autumn of 1926, that the living Christ brought me into His truth a step at a time. YOU have not had to learn the truth so slowly -- Christ used me to do it for you. And one of the very last truths He opened to me was that of CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT!"
1974 Membership Letter
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
I Timothy 4:16
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
A Sanitary Christmas
Essay: A Sanitary Christmas
by Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The winter solstice has just passed, beginning the coldest three months of the year, and this means that Christmas is only days away. It used to be that the solstice and Christmas coincided—a remarkable coincidence (wink, wink)—but because of the inexactitude of our calendar, the solstice has crept forward a few days over the past few centuries. If we were to stick around long enough, we could witness Christmas celebrated in springtime! Come to think of it, a hefty percentage of the world's population already celebrates it as the heat of summer arrives—but for reasons altogether different!
Lately, Christmas-keeping Christians have been forced to stand up for Christmas. Atheists, agnostics, and the ACLU-crowd have been clamoring for the removal of religion from Christmas celebrations. They want advertisers to market the season without reference to "Christmas," instead using the innocuous "Holiday" moniker. They want businesses to ditch playing traditional Christmas carols over their in-store audio systems in favor of "winter music"—in other words, to play "Sleigh Bells" instead of "Away in a Manger." Countless courts have weighed in—some on one side, some on the other—concerning Christmas crиches on public property. Christian groups have had to file lawsuits to force school systems to allow their students to sing "Silent Night"—and not some wintry parody—during winter concerts!
This is all extremely ironic—even hilarious at times. Christmas-celebrating Christians rush to the barricades to defend this most sacred holiday from the godless hordes, all the while totally missing the fact that they are defending the indefensible! Where is their authority to keep the day in the first place? Rome? Probably. Jerusalem? Nope. Bethlehem? Hardly. The Bible. Not a chance!
In reality, by its materialism and syncretism, this world's Christianity has helped the modern, secular world sanitize—not Santa-ize—Christmas. This supposedly Christian holiday has been systematically disinfected of its biblical "taint" simply because it is fundamentally unbiblical! Its only scriptural basis is the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, and they prove that the traditional Christmas teaching sits on foundation of sand.
The Nativity—a fancy word for "birth"—of Jesus Christ is found in two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke. Try as one might, a birth date for our Savior cannot be found in either, and in fact, honest, objective scholars and theologians admit that a winter date is perhaps the least likely time. December, as any biblical geographer will attest, is the beginning of the rainy season in Palestine, and shepherds would have stopped leaving their flocks in the fields at night a good month or two before then. Majority opinion places Jesus' birth in the autumn, probably on or near the fall festivals of Trumpets or Tabernacles.
Other aspects of the traditional Nativity also fail the test of biblical authenticity. For instance, the Gospels do not say that there were three wise men, nor are their names anywhere recorded in history. In this case, the number three has its source in the number of gifts the wise men gave to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is certainly possible that He received other gifts from them, but Matthew decided to highlight these particular three for symbolic reasons.
Many of the manger scenes even get details wrong, like the fact that when the wise men showed up, Jesus was no longer a newborn lying in a manger, but as Matthew writes, a "young Child" living in "a house" (Matthew 2:11). Traditional Christmas crиches also tend to combine Luke's account of the shepherds' arrival almost immediately after His birth with the coming of the wise men, which evidently occurred perhaps weeks or months later (see verse 16: Some contend that it could have been as long as two years later!). And, of course, none of the Nativity participants wore halos!
These few scenes are the extent of the Bible's information about Christ's birth. Neither Mark nor John saw fit to add to what Matthew and Luke had already written. Both Mark and John begin their narratives about the time of Jesus' baptism three decades later. Why? In the grand scheme of Jesus' life, His birth is of less importance than His ministry, death, and resurrection. Certainly, it was a wonderful day when God-in-the-flesh appeared among us, but it pales in meaning to what He taught, what He sacrificed for us, and what He now does for us as our living High Priest. Why dwell on His past, helpless infancy when we can rejoice in His present, powerful advocacy?
The Christmas controversy does not hinge on whether it is politically correct to wish someone "Merry Christmas!" but on a factor that is far more significant: truth. Is Christmas true? The biblical facts shout a resounding, "NO!" Then why celebrate a lie? Falsehood is never good, never beneficial, never right. Keeping a false holiday in dedication to Jesus is still a lie. Do we really think He feels honored by a lie, which is sin (check Exodus 20:16 and Revelation 21:8; 22:15)? He receives much more honor when we, instead, keep His commandments (John 14:15; 15:10).
We can only hope that today's swirl over this holiday wakes Christians up—not just to America's eroding Christian values, but to the sad fact that what most assume to be ever-so-Christian is nothing of the sort./
Christmas is an abomination
by Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The winter solstice has just passed, beginning the coldest three months of the year, and this means that Christmas is only days away. It used to be that the solstice and Christmas coincided—a remarkable coincidence (wink, wink)—but because of the inexactitude of our calendar, the solstice has crept forward a few days over the past few centuries. If we were to stick around long enough, we could witness Christmas celebrated in springtime! Come to think of it, a hefty percentage of the world's population already celebrates it as the heat of summer arrives—but for reasons altogether different!
Lately, Christmas-keeping Christians have been forced to stand up for Christmas. Atheists, agnostics, and the ACLU-crowd have been clamoring for the removal of religion from Christmas celebrations. They want advertisers to market the season without reference to "Christmas," instead using the innocuous "Holiday" moniker. They want businesses to ditch playing traditional Christmas carols over their in-store audio systems in favor of "winter music"—in other words, to play "Sleigh Bells" instead of "Away in a Manger." Countless courts have weighed in—some on one side, some on the other—concerning Christmas crиches on public property. Christian groups have had to file lawsuits to force school systems to allow their students to sing "Silent Night"—and not some wintry parody—during winter concerts!
This is all extremely ironic—even hilarious at times. Christmas-celebrating Christians rush to the barricades to defend this most sacred holiday from the godless hordes, all the while totally missing the fact that they are defending the indefensible! Where is their authority to keep the day in the first place? Rome? Probably. Jerusalem? Nope. Bethlehem? Hardly. The Bible. Not a chance!
In reality, by its materialism and syncretism, this world's Christianity has helped the modern, secular world sanitize—not Santa-ize—Christmas. This supposedly Christian holiday has been systematically disinfected of its biblical "taint" simply because it is fundamentally unbiblical! Its only scriptural basis is the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, and they prove that the traditional Christmas teaching sits on foundation of sand.
The Nativity—a fancy word for "birth"—of Jesus Christ is found in two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke. Try as one might, a birth date for our Savior cannot be found in either, and in fact, honest, objective scholars and theologians admit that a winter date is perhaps the least likely time. December, as any biblical geographer will attest, is the beginning of the rainy season in Palestine, and shepherds would have stopped leaving their flocks in the fields at night a good month or two before then. Majority opinion places Jesus' birth in the autumn, probably on or near the fall festivals of Trumpets or Tabernacles.
Other aspects of the traditional Nativity also fail the test of biblical authenticity. For instance, the Gospels do not say that there were three wise men, nor are their names anywhere recorded in history. In this case, the number three has its source in the number of gifts the wise men gave to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is certainly possible that He received other gifts from them, but Matthew decided to highlight these particular three for symbolic reasons.
Many of the manger scenes even get details wrong, like the fact that when the wise men showed up, Jesus was no longer a newborn lying in a manger, but as Matthew writes, a "young Child" living in "a house" (Matthew 2:11). Traditional Christmas crиches also tend to combine Luke's account of the shepherds' arrival almost immediately after His birth with the coming of the wise men, which evidently occurred perhaps weeks or months later (see verse 16: Some contend that it could have been as long as two years later!). And, of course, none of the Nativity participants wore halos!
These few scenes are the extent of the Bible's information about Christ's birth. Neither Mark nor John saw fit to add to what Matthew and Luke had already written. Both Mark and John begin their narratives about the time of Jesus' baptism three decades later. Why? In the grand scheme of Jesus' life, His birth is of less importance than His ministry, death, and resurrection. Certainly, it was a wonderful day when God-in-the-flesh appeared among us, but it pales in meaning to what He taught, what He sacrificed for us, and what He now does for us as our living High Priest. Why dwell on His past, helpless infancy when we can rejoice in His present, powerful advocacy?
The Christmas controversy does not hinge on whether it is politically correct to wish someone "Merry Christmas!" but on a factor that is far more significant: truth. Is Christmas true? The biblical facts shout a resounding, "NO!" Then why celebrate a lie? Falsehood is never good, never beneficial, never right. Keeping a false holiday in dedication to Jesus is still a lie. Do we really think He feels honored by a lie, which is sin (check Exodus 20:16 and Revelation 21:8; 22:15)? He receives much more honor when we, instead, keep His commandments (John 14:15; 15:10).
We can only hope that today's swirl over this holiday wakes Christians up—not just to America's eroding Christian values, but to the sad fact that what most assume to be ever-so-Christian is nothing of the sort./
Christmas is an abomination
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Christmas, a Jewish holiday?
"Christmas, a Jewish holiday?
However, we all realize that the Christmas season brings to mind thoughts of peace and thoughts of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and it's also an incredible time for introducing others to the greatest Jew who ever lived. "
Christmas isn't a Jewish holiday and it's not a Christian holiday: Christmas is a PAGAN HOLIDAY and folks who are IN DENIAL of this fact continue to shamefully misrepresent the real Jesus and true Christianity to the world. The biblical God rejects all their religious whitewash and condemns their Catholic "mass of Christ" as an ABOMINATION. Those who honestly follow the Truth acknowledge this fact and avoid such baptized paganism like the Babylonian plague!
Christmas is an abomination
The Two Babylons by Hislop (zip)
However, we all realize that the Christmas season brings to mind thoughts of peace and thoughts of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. It is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and it's also an incredible time for introducing others to the greatest Jew who ever lived. "
Christmas isn't a Jewish holiday and it's not a Christian holiday: Christmas is a PAGAN HOLIDAY and folks who are IN DENIAL of this fact continue to shamefully misrepresent the real Jesus and true Christianity to the world. The biblical God rejects all their religious whitewash and condemns their Catholic "mass of Christ" as an ABOMINATION. Those who honestly follow the Truth acknowledge this fact and avoid such baptized paganism like the Babylonian plague!
Christmas is an abomination
The Two Babylons by Hislop (zip)
Monday, December 19, 2005
Bavarian pope to pump life into the EU body
Excerpt from [Comment] Who will lead Europe in 2006?
19.12.2005 - 09:52 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT
Europe needs leadership
Yet what Europe does need, clearly, is leadership. Leadership that is capable of forging a transnational consensus and commanding respect among the electorates of member states.
This can't be other than political: the notion that somehow if we 'listen' to 'citizens' we shall miraculously find them saying the same (or at least not incompatible) things is clearly preposterous.
As is the idea, seemingly prevalent in some quarters of the Commission, that the good souls of Europe have locked away inside them some 'vision' of a European future, which politicians at the national level have missed.
For a moment in the blissful dawn of the Tony Blair's European Parliament speech it did seem as though he really might succeed in providing this necessary political leadership. Clearly that was not to be.
But without such a coherent vision, whether it comes from a member state politician or from a European Parliamentarian, the European project risks falling victim to the vacuum that is its empty centre.
It would then simply and slowly disintegrate, with smaller budgets and reduced powers, into the type of Organisation of European States advocated by the Czech President, Vaclav Havel, and others. If this is the democratic will, so be it, but Europe deserves better than for this to happen by default.
We can only hope that cometh the hour, cometh the man - or indeed woman - someone who will not only advocate reform but deliver it as well. Who indeed will succeed in drawing this sword from the stone? That is the real question for 2006.
Nadolig Llawen, as we say in these parts, a Blwydden Hapus Dda.
The author is editor of EuropaWorld/
Biblical prophecy, which is often history recorded in advance by our Great Creator God, the Superior and Supreme Being of the Universe (who far surpasses mortal capabilities), not only declares there shall be a United States of Europe, the final revival of the unholy Roman Empire of the German Nation as Herbert W. Armstrong warned, but gives us the details that it shall be composed of both weak and strong elements that don't share the right chemistry to form a longlasting relationship, and that such a corrupt cohesion will last only 3 1/2 years.
The EU will ultimately consist of a core group, the top ten nations, who will serve as the nucleus the other member states circle their wagons around, especially when threatened by an Islamofascist leader and his confederation to the south.
Watch for the Bavarian pope to get more lively about Europe's direction and seek to influence public opinion to support the Vatican's elect to lead Europe in the direction they feel Providence has chosen. The pope will powerfully back their man with lying signs and wonders, having the masses eating out of his hand, and declare such "miracles" are proof that Providence has chosen this hour to reveal such a man to save Europe and lead the world. The pope will bring the EU body to life! The emperor will revive the Roman empire!
19.12.2005 - 09:52 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT
Europe needs leadership
Yet what Europe does need, clearly, is leadership. Leadership that is capable of forging a transnational consensus and commanding respect among the electorates of member states.
This can't be other than political: the notion that somehow if we 'listen' to 'citizens' we shall miraculously find them saying the same (or at least not incompatible) things is clearly preposterous.
As is the idea, seemingly prevalent in some quarters of the Commission, that the good souls of Europe have locked away inside them some 'vision' of a European future, which politicians at the national level have missed.
For a moment in the blissful dawn of the Tony Blair's European Parliament speech it did seem as though he really might succeed in providing this necessary political leadership. Clearly that was not to be.
But without such a coherent vision, whether it comes from a member state politician or from a European Parliamentarian, the European project risks falling victim to the vacuum that is its empty centre.
It would then simply and slowly disintegrate, with smaller budgets and reduced powers, into the type of Organisation of European States advocated by the Czech President, Vaclav Havel, and others. If this is the democratic will, so be it, but Europe deserves better than for this to happen by default.
We can only hope that cometh the hour, cometh the man - or indeed woman - someone who will not only advocate reform but deliver it as well. Who indeed will succeed in drawing this sword from the stone? That is the real question for 2006.
Nadolig Llawen, as we say in these parts, a Blwydden Hapus Dda.
The author is editor of EuropaWorld/
Biblical prophecy, which is often history recorded in advance by our Great Creator God, the Superior and Supreme Being of the Universe (who far surpasses mortal capabilities), not only declares there shall be a United States of Europe, the final revival of the unholy Roman Empire of the German Nation as Herbert W. Armstrong warned, but gives us the details that it shall be composed of both weak and strong elements that don't share the right chemistry to form a longlasting relationship, and that such a corrupt cohesion will last only 3 1/2 years.
The EU will ultimately consist of a core group, the top ten nations, who will serve as the nucleus the other member states circle their wagons around, especially when threatened by an Islamofascist leader and his confederation to the south.
Watch for the Bavarian pope to get more lively about Europe's direction and seek to influence public opinion to support the Vatican's elect to lead Europe in the direction they feel Providence has chosen. The pope will powerfully back their man with lying signs and wonders, having the masses eating out of his hand, and declare such "miracles" are proof that Providence has chosen this hour to reveal such a man to save Europe and lead the world. The pope will bring the EU body to life! The emperor will revive the Roman empire!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Germany and the Vatican covet the Temple Mount!
www.barrychamish.com
ON TOP OF MOUNT ZION, ALL COVETED BY ROME
by Barry Chamish
Just a few weeks ago, the following was the issue of the day in Israel:
http://www.isfsp.org/zion-docs.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=91526
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C13509-1823149%2C00.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/642171.html
Report: Israel to hand control of Jerusalem holy site
to Vatican
Haaretz November 6, 2005
By Amiram Barkat
Israel is to give the Vatican control over one of the
most sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem, several
European newspapers have reported recently. According
to the reports, Israel will give the Holy See
possession of the Coenaculum, or the Room of the Last
Supper (also known as the Upper Room or the Cenacle),
on Mount Zion.
In response to the news, I wrote an article which proved the handover of the Old City of Jerusalem was a done deal. In fact, it was one of the secret clauses of the first Oslo "peace" accord signed by the Israeli government.
A week after, I received a phone call from a rabbi of the Diaspora Yeshiva. He explained that the Tourism Minister was visiting their school the next day and he was trying to fill the study hall to prove to the government that their yeshiva was too valuable to be given away.
I replied that I would not partake in such a spectacle. I might come if the students forcibly barred the Minister or any government official from entering the property. Hadn't he learned anything from Gush Katif? The government of Israel couldn't care less about him and could care even less how many students he can pack into a room. Mount Zion was a litmus test of how much opposition the government and its corrupted army could expect when all of the Old City was turned over to the Vatican.
He said I must talk to the headmaster of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Goldstein.
An hour later, I was honored by a call from Rabbi Goldstein. Soon, however, I was in despair. As far as he knew, the Vatican wanted to turn his school into a money making tourist site and the Ministry of Tourism was being enticed by the prospects of millions of Catholic tourists visiting Israel to see the Last Supper room.
I did my best to wake the Rabbi. I told him that tourism was the facade, not the issue. I tried to explain the global forces using their muscle to get the Jews out of Jerusalem's holy sites. I noted that the government of Israel was the worst enemy of Judaism and that he must block the entrance of their representative with whatever force he could muster.
However, as with the Rabbis of Gush Katif, my words were wasted. Mount Zion will give up without a real fight. You watch.
Nonetheless, the truth marches on. A brilliant Jerusalem-based German-born historian, Dr. Asher Edar, also honored me with a conversation. Vive le difference:
BC - Why is the Vatican suddenly so interested in getting its hands on Mount Zion real estate?
AE - There's nothing sudden about it at all. In fact, the roots of the desire go back 1200 years to the time of Charlemagne. He was the Vatican's military tool for converting Europe to Roman Catholicism.
He succeed magnificently and created what is known as the Holy Roman Empire but what was then called The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation. Charlemagne's capital was at Aachen and there he built his first cathedral.
BC - Excuse me but, so?
AE - Next to the yeshiva on Mount Zion is the Dormition Abbey, built by the Germans starting in 1906. It is an exact duplicate of Charlemagne's Aachen Cathedral.
BC - How did that happen?
AE - Kaiser Wilhelm II came to Jerusalem in 1898 to build two churches, a modest Lutheran Church of minor religious significance and a magnificent Catholic structure on Mount Zion. In 1898, the ruler of a nation didn't make such a difficult journey to a diplomatic backwater unless it was extremely important. The Vatican was worried that the British had an operating church in Jerusalem and its presence could solidify and spread. The Vatican provided much of the funds for the trip and the bribe to the Turkish Sultan, Khamid. Since Wilhelm had a Protestant population to appease, he put up a smaller Lutheran church as well, but the real prize was Mount Zion.
BC - Why all the money and trouble if the Vatican gets the real estate? What was in it for Germany?
AE - Germany has never given up its dream of reviving the Holy Roman Empire. At the height of that empire, their greatest king, Frederick the Great, marched into Jerusalem and became the city's king. Jerusalem was once part of the Holy Roman Empire and the dream is that it will be again. In this empire, the delineation of powers was strict. The pope was the spiritual leader, but the political leader was whoever ruled Germany. This dream led straight to World War I.
BC - Where do the Jews fit in all this?
AE - Nowhere. Herzl tried to get a role for the Jews and met with Wilhelm in Jerusalem. Wilhelm would have nothing to do with him. His goal was to save Jerusalem for a Christendom led politically by Germany and spiritually by Rome. Nothing has changed except now the pope is a determined German. The Vatican want the Jews out of the Old City and apparently our government is agreeing with them.
Now a history lesson with little comment:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0858236.html
Encyclopedia—Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor and German king
King of Jerusalem
Having married (1225) Yolande, daughter of John of Brienne, he claimed the crown of Jerusalem, but again postponed his departure on crusade. He further offended the pope by reasserting at the Diet of Cremona (1226) the imperial claim to Lombardy. The Lombard League was immediately revived, but open conflict did not break out until 1236. On the insistent demand of the new pope, Gregory IX, Frederick embarked on a crusade (Sept., 1227), but fell ill, turned back, and was excommunicated.
In 1228 he finally embarked. His “crusade,” actually a state visit, was a diplomatic victory. At Jaffa he made a treaty by which Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem were surrendered to the Christians, with the Mosque of Omar being left to the Muslims. In 1229 he crowned himself king at Jerusalem.
http://www.notfah.com/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
In 1226, by means of the Golden Bull of Rimini he confirmed the legitimacy of rule by the Teutonic Knights under their headmaster Hermann von Salza over the Prussian lands east of the Vistula, the Chelmno Land.
At the time he was crowned Emperor, Frederick had promised to go on crusade. In preparation for his crusade, Frederick had, in 1225, married Yolande of Jerusalem, heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and immediately taken steps to take control of the Kingdom from his new father-in-law, John of Brienne. However, he continued to take his time in setting off, and in 1227, Frederick was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for failing to honor his crusading pledge - perhaps unfairly, at this point, as his plans had been delayed by an epidemic. He eventually embarked on the crusade the following year (1228), which was seen on by the pope as a rude provocation, since the church could not take any part in the honor for the crusade, resulting in a second excommunication. Frederick did not attempt to take Jerusalem by force of arms. Instead, he negotiated restitution of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to the Kingdom with sultan Al-Kamil, the Ayyubid ruler of the region.
http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm
THE TEUTONIC ORDER OF HOLY MARY IN JERUSALEM
Some forty knights were received into the new Order at its foundation by the King of Jerusalem and Frederick of Swabia, who selected their first Master in the name of the Pope and Emperor. The knights of the new confraternity had to be of German birth (although this rule was occasionally relaxed), a unique requirement among the Crusader Orders founded in the Holy Land. They were drawn predominately from the noble or knightly class, although this latter obligation was not formally incorporated into the rule until much later. Their blue mantle, charged with a black cross, was worn over a white tunic, a uniform recognized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and confirmed by the Pope in 1211. The waves of German knights and pilgrims who followed the Third Crusade brought considerable wealth to the new German Hospital as well as recruits. This enabled the knights to acquire the Lordship of Joscelin and, soon thereafter they built the castle of Montfort (lost in 1271), the rival of the great hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. Never as numerous in the Holy Land as either the Hospitaller or Templar Orders, the Teutonic knights were nonetheless a formidable power.
http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/holysep.htm
THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER OF JERUSALEM
© Guy Stair Sainty
The origins of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher have been disputed for centuries. In this examination of the history of what is today a major Catholic Order of Knighthood, under the direct protection of the Holy See, it has been my intention to separate fact from fantasy and outline the historical development of this great institution. It now has a world-wide mission to support the Holy Places, particularly in Jerusalem, and has approximately eighteen thousand members across the globe. [1]
Two Christian sources who are certain the goal of the "peace" process is to establish a German/Vatican capital in Jerusalem are David Ben-Ariel, and the Philadelphia Trumpet:
Looking to Jerusalem
We have also said that the next pope would have his sights set on Jerusalem. Ratzinger was known for statements he made concerning a reconciliation of sorts with the Jews. That reconciliation being, “the moment in which Israel too will say yes to Christ.” After all, the “star points to Jerusalem,” Ratzinger said once. Watch for this new pope to have a more fervent interest in Israeli politics and affairs surrounding Jerusalem.
For the rest of the story: www.barrychamish.com
ON TOP OF MOUNT ZION, ALL COVETED BY ROME
by Barry Chamish
Just a few weeks ago, the following was the issue of the day in Israel:
http://www.isfsp.org/zion-docs.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=91526
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C13509-1823149%2C00.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/642171.html
Report: Israel to hand control of Jerusalem holy site
to Vatican
Haaretz November 6, 2005
By Amiram Barkat
Israel is to give the Vatican control over one of the
most sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem, several
European newspapers have reported recently. According
to the reports, Israel will give the Holy See
possession of the Coenaculum, or the Room of the Last
Supper (also known as the Upper Room or the Cenacle),
on Mount Zion.
In response to the news, I wrote an article which proved the handover of the Old City of Jerusalem was a done deal. In fact, it was one of the secret clauses of the first Oslo "peace" accord signed by the Israeli government.
A week after, I received a phone call from a rabbi of the Diaspora Yeshiva. He explained that the Tourism Minister was visiting their school the next day and he was trying to fill the study hall to prove to the government that their yeshiva was too valuable to be given away.
I replied that I would not partake in such a spectacle. I might come if the students forcibly barred the Minister or any government official from entering the property. Hadn't he learned anything from Gush Katif? The government of Israel couldn't care less about him and could care even less how many students he can pack into a room. Mount Zion was a litmus test of how much opposition the government and its corrupted army could expect when all of the Old City was turned over to the Vatican.
He said I must talk to the headmaster of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Goldstein.
An hour later, I was honored by a call from Rabbi Goldstein. Soon, however, I was in despair. As far as he knew, the Vatican wanted to turn his school into a money making tourist site and the Ministry of Tourism was being enticed by the prospects of millions of Catholic tourists visiting Israel to see the Last Supper room.
I did my best to wake the Rabbi. I told him that tourism was the facade, not the issue. I tried to explain the global forces using their muscle to get the Jews out of Jerusalem's holy sites. I noted that the government of Israel was the worst enemy of Judaism and that he must block the entrance of their representative with whatever force he could muster.
However, as with the Rabbis of Gush Katif, my words were wasted. Mount Zion will give up without a real fight. You watch.
Nonetheless, the truth marches on. A brilliant Jerusalem-based German-born historian, Dr. Asher Edar, also honored me with a conversation. Vive le difference:
BC - Why is the Vatican suddenly so interested in getting its hands on Mount Zion real estate?
AE - There's nothing sudden about it at all. In fact, the roots of the desire go back 1200 years to the time of Charlemagne. He was the Vatican's military tool for converting Europe to Roman Catholicism.
He succeed magnificently and created what is known as the Holy Roman Empire but what was then called The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation. Charlemagne's capital was at Aachen and there he built his first cathedral.
BC - Excuse me but, so?
AE - Next to the yeshiva on Mount Zion is the Dormition Abbey, built by the Germans starting in 1906. It is an exact duplicate of Charlemagne's Aachen Cathedral.
BC - How did that happen?
AE - Kaiser Wilhelm II came to Jerusalem in 1898 to build two churches, a modest Lutheran Church of minor religious significance and a magnificent Catholic structure on Mount Zion. In 1898, the ruler of a nation didn't make such a difficult journey to a diplomatic backwater unless it was extremely important. The Vatican was worried that the British had an operating church in Jerusalem and its presence could solidify and spread. The Vatican provided much of the funds for the trip and the bribe to the Turkish Sultan, Khamid. Since Wilhelm had a Protestant population to appease, he put up a smaller Lutheran church as well, but the real prize was Mount Zion.
BC - Why all the money and trouble if the Vatican gets the real estate? What was in it for Germany?
AE - Germany has never given up its dream of reviving the Holy Roman Empire. At the height of that empire, their greatest king, Frederick the Great, marched into Jerusalem and became the city's king. Jerusalem was once part of the Holy Roman Empire and the dream is that it will be again. In this empire, the delineation of powers was strict. The pope was the spiritual leader, but the political leader was whoever ruled Germany. This dream led straight to World War I.
BC - Where do the Jews fit in all this?
AE - Nowhere. Herzl tried to get a role for the Jews and met with Wilhelm in Jerusalem. Wilhelm would have nothing to do with him. His goal was to save Jerusalem for a Christendom led politically by Germany and spiritually by Rome. Nothing has changed except now the pope is a determined German. The Vatican want the Jews out of the Old City and apparently our government is agreeing with them.
Now a history lesson with little comment:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0858236.html
Encyclopedia—Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor and German king
King of Jerusalem
Having married (1225) Yolande, daughter of John of Brienne, he claimed the crown of Jerusalem, but again postponed his departure on crusade. He further offended the pope by reasserting at the Diet of Cremona (1226) the imperial claim to Lombardy. The Lombard League was immediately revived, but open conflict did not break out until 1236. On the insistent demand of the new pope, Gregory IX, Frederick embarked on a crusade (Sept., 1227), but fell ill, turned back, and was excommunicated.
In 1228 he finally embarked. His “crusade,” actually a state visit, was a diplomatic victory. At Jaffa he made a treaty by which Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem were surrendered to the Christians, with the Mosque of Omar being left to the Muslims. In 1229 he crowned himself king at Jerusalem.
http://www.notfah.com/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
In 1226, by means of the Golden Bull of Rimini he confirmed the legitimacy of rule by the Teutonic Knights under their headmaster Hermann von Salza over the Prussian lands east of the Vistula, the Chelmno Land.
At the time he was crowned Emperor, Frederick had promised to go on crusade. In preparation for his crusade, Frederick had, in 1225, married Yolande of Jerusalem, heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and immediately taken steps to take control of the Kingdom from his new father-in-law, John of Brienne. However, he continued to take his time in setting off, and in 1227, Frederick was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for failing to honor his crusading pledge - perhaps unfairly, at this point, as his plans had been delayed by an epidemic. He eventually embarked on the crusade the following year (1228), which was seen on by the pope as a rude provocation, since the church could not take any part in the honor for the crusade, resulting in a second excommunication. Frederick did not attempt to take Jerusalem by force of arms. Instead, he negotiated restitution of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to the Kingdom with sultan Al-Kamil, the Ayyubid ruler of the region.
http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/teutonic.htm
THE TEUTONIC ORDER OF HOLY MARY IN JERUSALEM
Some forty knights were received into the new Order at its foundation by the King of Jerusalem and Frederick of Swabia, who selected their first Master in the name of the Pope and Emperor. The knights of the new confraternity had to be of German birth (although this rule was occasionally relaxed), a unique requirement among the Crusader Orders founded in the Holy Land. They were drawn predominately from the noble or knightly class, although this latter obligation was not formally incorporated into the rule until much later. Their blue mantle, charged with a black cross, was worn over a white tunic, a uniform recognized by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and confirmed by the Pope in 1211. The waves of German knights and pilgrims who followed the Third Crusade brought considerable wealth to the new German Hospital as well as recruits. This enabled the knights to acquire the Lordship of Joscelin and, soon thereafter they built the castle of Montfort (lost in 1271), the rival of the great hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. Never as numerous in the Holy Land as either the Hospitaller or Templar Orders, the Teutonic knights were nonetheless a formidable power.
http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/holysep.htm
THE EQUESTRIAN ORDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER OF JERUSALEM
© Guy Stair Sainty
The origins of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher have been disputed for centuries. In this examination of the history of what is today a major Catholic Order of Knighthood, under the direct protection of the Holy See, it has been my intention to separate fact from fantasy and outline the historical development of this great institution. It now has a world-wide mission to support the Holy Places, particularly in Jerusalem, and has approximately eighteen thousand members across the globe. [1]
Two Christian sources who are certain the goal of the "peace" process is to establish a German/Vatican capital in Jerusalem are David Ben-Ariel, and the Philadelphia Trumpet:
Looking to Jerusalem
We have also said that the next pope would have his sights set on Jerusalem. Ratzinger was known for statements he made concerning a reconciliation of sorts with the Jews. That reconciliation being, “the moment in which Israel too will say yes to Christ.” After all, the “star points to Jerusalem,” Ratzinger said once. Watch for this new pope to have a more fervent interest in Israeli politics and affairs surrounding Jerusalem.
For the rest of the story: www.barrychamish.com
Saturday, December 17, 2005
JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN ... BORN AGAIN?
JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN ... BORN AGAIN?
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Why did not the Pharisee Nicodemus understand when Jesus said to him: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”? (John 3:3).
Why do people not understand those words today?
How many know, today, that Jesus’s gospel was a sensational, never-before proclaimed news announcement?
Jesus Was a Newscaster
Those in Judea knew—or should have known—Malachi’s prophecy concerning this. It was the gospel of God—and the word gospel means good news!
Jesus was a newscaster. His news was something absolutely new—never before proclaimed to mankind. It was the most wonderful news ever reported. Actually almost too wonderful for humans to believe. It was news of the utterly transcendent potential of man.
A humorous columnist wrote a bit on the news printed in daily newspapers. It is actually not news, he insisted, since it is a reporting of events that already have happened. Therefore it is no longer new, but old when printed. He insisted it really ought to be called olds!
The tremendous message that Jesus brought was news! It was not a report of past events. It was advance news!—news of an almost unbelievable utopian World Tomorrow!
And it is sure!
And it was news that we may be born again! Yet almost nobody understands it!
How many, even today, know that Jesus’s gospel was not in any sense a new or different religion—yet it was actually so breathtaking—so seemingly incredible, so startling, it should have left its hearers in a daze of awe! It didn’t. Why?
Why has it never been recognized by the world as the stupendous news that it actually was?
Simply because the leaders in Judea rejected it—hated it—hated Jesus for announcing the wonderful great news—turned most of the people against it. And it has been so misrepresented, so distorted and maligned, that the whole world has been deceived—and has totally misunderstood it! Your Bible says the whole world—all nations—have been deceived about that gospel!
The time was at hand, then, for this message to be announced! The time is at hand, today, for its true meaning to be made so plain that people may understand it!
It will be, in this booklet! And it is a crucial challenge to you who now read it!
And you have to understand what was that news announcement, or you can never understand what Jesus meant about being “born again.”
What Was the News?
Notice, briefly, first, what that astonishing new message was!
The pre-announcement, in Malachi’s prophecy, says: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek [the Messiah], shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant …” (Mal. 3:1).
Now notice the beginning of the Messenger’s proclamation of that message.
It is recorded in Mark’s Gospel, chapter 1: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets …” (vv. 1-2). Then follows the citation from Malachi, written above. That is followed by the account of John the Baptist, preparing the way before the Messenger.
Then, verses 14-15: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” That is, believe the good news!
What is the Kingdom of God?
What did He mean—the Kingdom of God?
Jesus’s whole message—His gospel—was about the Kingdom of God! Yet few know anything about it, today.
A kingdom is a) a nation composed of people, and b) the government of the nation.
In some cases, the people of a nation are the descendants—the children—of one man. The nation of Turkey is the descendants of the ancient Esau, twin brother of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, father of the nation Israel. Before the twins were born, God said to their mother, Rebekah, “Two nations are in thy womb …” (Gen. 25:23).
Now Jesus the Messiah was to come as “the Messenger of the covenant.” The “Old Covenant” had established the human children of Israel as a nation or kingdom of humans, called the kingdom of Israel. Jesus came as the Messenger—heralding the message of the New Covenant that shall set up the Spirit-composed children of God as the kingdom of God!
As the ancient kingdom of Israel was composed of the human family of the human man Israel, so the Kingdom of God will be composed of the divine family of the divine God!
And what does this have to do with “being born again”? It has everything to do with it!
Daniel foretold it
The Prophet Daniel wrote of this Kingdom of God. In his second chapter, after foretelling of the Chaldean Empire (Babylon), the Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire with its four divisions, and the Roman Empire, stretching even into the now-forming resurrected “Holy Roman Empire” in Europe, we read the following: “And in the days of these kings [the forthcoming United Nations of Europe] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed … but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan. 2:44). To “stand for ever” it will, of necessity, be a Kingdom of immortals, not mortals.
It will be a world-ruling Kingdom!
Daniel’s 7th chapter portrays it again—and shows the connection with being “born again.” The four world empires—Babylon through Rome and its coming resurrection in Europe—are pictured as four beasts—wild animals.
Saints Become Immortal
Verses 17-18: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [kingdoms], which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” To possess it for ever, the saints will have to be immortal!
Then the Babylonian religious power, now Roman, “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days [Christ at Second Coming] came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (vv. 21-22). Read also verse 27.
The Second Coming of Christ is described thus: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).
Yet in spite of these and many more such scriptures, many deceived theologians today mislead the people saying that the church is the Kingdom of God! Or, that “the Kingdom” is some mysterious ethereal nothing “in men’s hearts.”
Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
What did He mean? Why had this message never been proclaimed before? The answer requires a pre-history background.
There Was Once Peace on Earth
It isn’t popular, today, to mention the existence of a devil. But the Bible, again and again, puts great emphasis on the presence of a real, literal devil.
Biblical revelation shows that originally, this Earth was a place of peace, happiness—a real utopia. It was then ruled by the government of God. That government will be once again restored (Acts 3:20-21) by Christ returning to Earth in the supreme power and glory of God!
But what happened? Why don’t we have that government, now? Why is there no peace on Earth?
When the Earth was originally created, the angels shouted for joy! (Job 38:7). It was beautiful. It was peaceful. It was populated by angels—not then by humans. It was governed by the government of God. There was a super arch-angel—a cherub named Lucifer (meaning bringer of light)—one of two cherubim whose wings stretched over the very throne of God in heaven. Lucifer was thoroughly trained in the administration of the government of God (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-17).
God governs by His spiritual law—a law based on the principle of love. Love, first, to God with submission and obedience, and secondly to His creatures—the way of outgoing concern for the good and welfare of others. But Lucifer’s heart was lifted up in vanity, because of his beauty and vast knowledge. He rebelled against God, mutinied, set out to organize his angels into an invading army and to conquer God—in order to rule the entire vast universe. This disqualified him as Earth’s ruler. However, the very principle of God’s government requires that the ruler retain office until a successor qualifies and is inducted into office.
Lucifer’s name was changed to Satan, the devil. His angels became demons. As a result of this universal rebellion on Earth, universal destruction and chaos struck the surface of the Earth. In six days God re-shaped the Earth’s surface (Gen. 1), creating fauna and flora—and man!
When Man Appeared
God formed man, not after any animal kind, but in God’s own likeness—not of spirit composition as is God, but of material flesh and blood. The first man, Adam, father of the human race, allowed Satan’s attitude of rebellion to enter his heart, failing to qualify as Satan’s successor.
When Jesus was baptized by John (Mark 1:9-11), immediately He underwent the most titanic struggle ever, in His temptation by the devil (vv. 12-13).
Jesus had come to qualify to replace Satan—to restore the government of God on Earth, and bring back world peace! But, as the first Adam had undergone and succumbed to Satan’s temptation, Jesus had to face and overcome this disqualified Satan.
Jesus underwent this test under the most trying and difficult conditions possible. He had been almost totally depleted of physical strength by fasting 40 days and nights—no food and no water! Yet even in this physical weakness, He was made the stronger spiritually.
Few have ever realized the stupendous struggle that took place in that crucial temptation. Jesus resisted Satan’s supreme temptations. He did it by quoting Scripture and obeying God. He proved under the maximum possible test that He would obey God’s laws and administer God’s government faithfully. Then, in utter physical weakness but supreme spiritual strength, He proved He was Satan’s Master, by giving Satan a crisp command to leave—and the defeated Satan slunk away!
Then (Mark 1:14), having qualified for the executive administration of the government of God on Earth, Jesus came into Galilee, saying, as quoted above, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand”! (v. 15).
Why the News Was New
How was the time fulfilled?
Why was the Kingdom of God then at hand—and not before?
Simply because the wonderful news of the coming Kingdom of God could not be announced until a successor had qualified to replace Satan as Earth’s ruler!
At last the Kingdom of God—God’s government over the Earth—was at hand! At last, it was assured, and the time was fulfilled! The one who had qualified to rule the Earth was now free to announce His coming government!
Why Kingdom Not Yet Set Up
Yet Jesus was not going to take over the reign immediately. There were a number of reasons:
1) God had set a definite plan, with a definite time-program, for working out His purpose here below! It is a 7,000-year plan of seven millennial “days,” of which the first seven literal days of re-creation were a type. The first six of these millennia were allotted for man, of his own free volition (though swayed by Satan) to go his own way. Also, in effect, they were allotted as the six millennial “days” for Satan’s “labor” of deception over humanity, to be followed by the millennial “Sabbath,” in which Satan will observe enforced rest from his work of deceiving the nations, and God will teach humanity His truth!
2) Jesus, in God’s plan, was first to choose and teach disciples to become apostles, to carry on the proclamation of the good news—and to become the foundation of His Church.
3) Christ is going to set up a world government over all Earth’s nations only with the administration of a thoroughly trained and experienced organization. The first 6,000 years of human experience has proved abundantly that man, under Satan’s sway, is utterly incapable of ruling himself. Human-devised governments always have failed to bring world peace. Yet man, even now, seems unwilling to admit that fact. Men are still trying, in vain, to work and fight for peace. And that is where being “born again” comes in.
And that, also, is where being “born again” has been tragically misunderstood and misrepresented! God’s government will be divine government, by the saints converted into divine spirit persons, born of God! As those born of humans are human beings, so those born of the divine God will be divine beings, having been given immortality! They shall be born into—enter into—inherit the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom Is a Family
A kingdom is a nation composed of people, as well as the government of that nation. The Kingdom of God is composed of the divine family of God. The one Being we habitually think of as God is the Father of that family.
Christ is a Son of God—a member of that divine family, even as we may be! That divine family is the Kingdom of God.
There are five kingdoms—the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom (we are not of the animal kingdom, erroneous education to the contrary notwithstanding!), the angel kingdom—and the God Kingdom!
God (Heb. Elohim—a name, plural in form, meaning more than one person, forming the one God) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” We were made of material flesh, but in the form and shape of God, and with minds on a totally different plane than animal brain. The human family was made so that we might be able to receive God’s Spirit, and become His children. Animals were not so made.
In God’s wonderful plan for working out His purpose here below, God has allotted the time period between Jesus’s first coming in human flesh, and His Second Coming in power and glory, for the calling of some to receive His Spirit and be spiritually educated and trained, through His Word, to become rulers with Christ when He sets up His Kingdom.
The Crux of Salvation
4) In order that man might be reconciled to God, Jesus also came for the express purpose of death, by His shed blood paying for us, in our stead, the death penalty we have incurred as the penalty of sin. In order that we might be given God’s gift of eternal life, Jesus’s resurrection from the dead was necessary before we could receive eternal life.
5) The plan called for Jesus’s ascension to God’s throne in heaven—the throne of the government of God over the universe—to become our High Priest, during these years of training and spiritual development of the heirs of God to be used in the executive administration of the government of God when Christ does set up that government over Earth’s nations.
6) Jesus could not induct Himself into the office while here on Earth in human form. It was necessary for Him, as explained in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19), to go to heaven to there receive the authority of the Kingdom from God (the Father)—and to be crowned! The coronation ceremony will take place in heaven at God’s throne, before Christ’s return in power and glory!
7) Then He must return in all that power and glory and supreme authority to rule!
Those are the reasons why Jesus did not then, immediately, set up, or establish the Kingdom of God!
But even Jesus’s own disciples could never seem to understand that He was not going to set up the Kingdom of God immediately. It is human to want things now!
Why Jewish Rulers Hated Message
The Jewish rulers of Jesus’ day, also, thought He was proclaiming a government to be set up immediately—to overthrow the Roman Empire, then ruling Judea as a vassal state.
One of these rulers of the Jews was a man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were hostile to Jesus, because of this new gospel. Nicodemus, however, wanted to meet this astonishing Messenger and discuss it with Him. To avoid criticism from his colleagues, he came to Jesus by night.
“We know,” he said, “that you are a teacher come from God.”
The “we” implies that the divine identity of the Messenger and the Source of His message was known to the Pharisees. But they were “now” people, concerned with protecting their status as rulers under the Roman government, not with receiving revelations from God.
Judea was a vassal state, under the rule of the Romans. The Romans were shrewd enough to force leaders among the Jews to administer most of the details of government, under higher Roman officials. Of course, the Roman rule was protected by occupying military forces. This system made life for the Jewish sub-rulers very desirable—a status worth maintaining.
At once Jesus perceived the import of Nicodemus’s first words. His message was the good news of the coming world government of God—that is, the Kingdom of God—the government of God.
These Jewish rulers feared that message. Jesus was of their race—a Jew. If they did not oppose Him, they feared being shorn of their power, and perhaps put to death as subversives threatening the overthrow of the Roman government. And the Pharisees thought Jesus proclaimed the immediate takeover of that rule!
Not of This Age
Therefore Jesus did not waste words. He struck straight through to the crux point—the Kingdom of God is not of this world—this time—this age—but of the World Tomorrow—a different and a following age. Not composed of humans, but of immortals—the God family!
So Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Notice carefully, please—being “born again” has a vital connection with the Kingdom of God—with the fact that it is not of this time—this age. And—I repeat—Jesus’s gospel—His message—was the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus’s abrupt opening statement left Nicodemus confused. The religious leaders, and the hundreds of denominations and sects professing Christianity today, are confused and deceived! Today’s religionists put a different twist on it than did Nicodemus, however.
Nicodemus did understand clearly what is meant by being born. He knew it meant being delivered from his mother’s womb. It meant being delivered into the world! Today’s religious leaders read into it a different meaning! What Nicodemus could not understand was how—in what manner—anyone could be born again! And of course, being carnal-minded, he could only conceive of a second physical birth. But he knew what being born meant!
Born Human a Second Time?
Puzzled, he asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (v.‑4). He was not confused about what is meant by being born. What Nicodemus could not understand was a second birth. He thought Jesus was talking about a second human birth.
He was unable to conceive of any but a second physical birth—his mind could not grasp spiritual things.
Now Jesus had made clear that the Kingdom of God is something that can be seen—but not until, or unless, one is “born again.” Not during this physical lifetime! Also, verse 5, the Kingdom of God is something a man may enter into—but not until after he is born again—another and entirely different birth.
Then Jesus came quickly to the point—that the Kingdom of God is not of this present human life in this present world—it is not of this time—this present life-time—or age. It is the succeeding age—and the life to come.
Here is the crux point that explains it all: Jesus said:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6).
Man is now flesh—human. He is material substance. “[D]ust thou art,” said God to Adam, “and unto dust shalt thou return.” Again, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 3:19 and 2:7).
Those Born Again to be Spirit
But, said Jesus plainly, when one is born of the Spirit he will be spirit! Look at it! Read it in your own Bible.
The Kingdom of God will be composed of spirit beings—not of humans!
At birth of human flesh, one is delivered from his mother’s womb into this world. When born of the Spirit, one will be delivered from the Church of God (physical) into the Kingdom of God (a Kingdom of spirit beings!).
Man is now composed of flesh—material substance—matter.
When born again he will be spirit—a spirit being, no longer human. He will be composed of spirit—of spirit composition—with life inherent—with self-containing life—not then existing by the breath of air and the circulation of blood.
Of the next age when the Kingdom of God will rule the world—the next life—Jesus said, “[T]hey neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God …” (Matt. 22:30). Marriage is a physical, fleshly union. In the age of God’s Kingdom—when “born again”—we shall be spirit, not flesh. Born of God as spirit beings, no longer human. Angels are spirits—composed of spirit (Heb. 1:7). Jesus did not say we shall then be angels—but as the angels—sexless and composed of spirit. Angels are spirit beings—created as such—but not begotten and born of God as God’s own born children. We therefore shall be much higher than angels!
Jesus explained this further to Nicodemus: “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 everyone that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
You cannot see wind. Wind is compared to spirit. It is invisible. That’s why mortal flesh, as we now are, cannot see the Kingdom of God. Those who inherit it will be spirit—normally invisible to eyes still human.
Energy of an A-Bomb?
Jesus was comparing also the power of one born of the Spirit to that of wind. A scientist of the U.S. Weather Bureau, Dr. J. Murray Mitchell, Jr., research climatologist, said that the energy of one average hurricane is much greater than an A-bomb such as destroyed Hiroshima. I am quite certain that no human claiming to have been “born again” in this human life is capable of exerting a tiny fraction of that kind of energy. But—as I shall show in this booklet, one when he becomes spirit will have that kind of power!
Not While Flesh and Blood
The Apostle Paul made clear that the Kingdom of God is something a human may inherit, but not in this age—not while he is composed of material flesh. He may, now, become only an heir, not yet an inheritor!
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50).
Leading up to this verse, Paul had made it very clear. “The first man is of the earth, earthy [human]: the second man is the Lord from heaven [a divine God Being]” (v. 47).
This is what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. He was of the earth, earthy—human—he was flesh, not spirit. He was born of the flesh, so that’s what he was—flesh. When one is born of the Spirit, he will be spirit. Paul is here explaining the same truth.
But we cannot be spirit in this present age.
There is a time element concerned with being born again!
Continue, now, in i Corinthians 15: “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy …” (v. 48). That is precisely what Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus. He was born of the flesh—he was flesh. He was born of the earth—he was earthy. And so are we all! And, same verse, “… as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” But for us humans, when? Not in this life!
Next verse: “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall [future—resurrection] also bear the image of the heavenly” (v.‑49). As we are now flesh, we shall be spirit—at the resurrection. That is when we shall be “born again”—when we shall see, enter into, the Kingdom of God—when we are spirit—at the resurrection!
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [be dead], but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the then living] shall be changed” (vv. 50-52). There is the time when we may be born again—when we may see, enter into, inherit the Kingdom—when “born again”—and not before!
How Changed When Born Again
How shall we be changed? The next words answer!
“For this corruptible”—flesh, as we now are—“must put on incorruption”—spirit—that which is born of God is spirit—“and this mortal must put on immortality”—be changed from material flesh to spirit!
Until born again, we cannot see the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:3).
Until born again, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:5).
Until no longer flesh, but changed into spirit, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:6-8).
While still flesh and blood (as Nicodemus was and we are) we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (Paul to the Corinthians, i‑Cor. 15:50).
Until the resurrection, at Christ’s coming, we shall not be changed from corruptible flesh into incorruptible spirit (Paul—i Cor. 15:50-53 and verses 22-23).
Until the resurrection, therefore, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. We cannot be born again until the resurrection!
Now Heirs—Not Yet Inheritors
While in our present status, born of the flesh and composed of flesh, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. Notice, now, the status of the truly converted Christian, in this life—this world:
“… Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). Unless one has received the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit is dwelling in him, he is not a Christian. Joining a church does not make one a Christian. Receiving and following God’s Spirit does!
Holy Spirit Entering Compares to Sperm Entering Ovum
But now see how God’s Spirit entering and dwelling in one compares to the physical sperm impregnating the ovum—the imparting of eternal spirit life, later to produce—to bring forth—a spirit person! A fertilized ovum—an embryo—is not a born human person. Life from the father has been imparted to it—he has begotten it—but neither embryo nor fetus is yet a born person. In the same manner, the Spirit-begotten human is not, yet, a spirit person or being, as Jesus said he shall be when born again!
Continue: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (v. 11).
Understand this! There is a direct comparison between having been born of the flesh, and being born again of God. Jesus said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh—a born human. That which is born of the Spirit (God) is spirit—a born spirit person!
A mortal human life starts when a sperm cell from the body of the father impregnates—imparts physical life to—an ovum (egg cell) in the mother. At this point the father begets, sires. He does not “bring forth”: the mother does that, later. His part in the process leading to final birth is then done. But there is a time element. At the time of begettal, birth (parturition) has not yet occurred.
It is necessary to make this explanation, at this point, because the popular deception of a deceived traditional “Christianity” is to claim that when one “receives Christ”—“accepts Christ”—“professes Christ”—or first receives God’s Holy Spirit to dwell in him, that he is already “born again.”
First, then, notice the physical type and comparison.
The Time Element
In human physical reproduction, there is a time element. From impregnation—begettal on the part of the father—having conceived on the part of the mother—to birth, or parturition, or being delivered from the mother’s womb, is a time element of nine months.
That nine-month period is called gestation. Upon conception, the now fertilized ovum is called an embryo. A few months later, it is called a fetus. But during this nine-month period of gestation, we do not speak of the embryo-fetus as having been born. It is in the process toward birth. It is the child of its parents. But it is then the unborn child of its parents. The father has already begotten it—sired it. But the mother has not yet given birth to it. Yet it is, during the gestation period, the unborn child of its parents.
Now in being “born again,” the process of this birth begins when God’s divine spirit-life is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, from His very person, entering to dwell within us.
Repeat, from Romans 8: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [change to immortal spirit] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (v. 11). This is describing the same thing explained in i Corinthians 15:50-53, the resurrection.
I want to make this crystal clear. Millions of sincere professing Christians believe that when they profess Christ (or receive His Holy Spirit) they are “born again.” What actually happens is this:
The Church Our Mother
When one, after repentance, faith and baptism, receives the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God puts him into—baptizes him into—God’s Church. The Church is called the body of Christ. So we read: “[B]y one Spirit are we all baptized into one body …” (i‑Cor. 12:13).
Again, the Church is called “Jerusalem above,” or “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22-23). Now notice, in Galatians 4:26: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
The analogy is this: When begotten by God the Father by receiving His Holy Spirit, we are put into the Church, which during this gestation period is our mother.
The human mother of the fetus within her womb serves the function of feeding her unborn child with physical food, so that it may develop and grow physically. And also she carries it where she may best protect it from physical injury or harm, until parturition—delivery from her womb.
The spiritual mother—the Church—is commissioned to “feed the flock” (i Pet. 5:2) through the ministry which God has set in the Church “[f]or the perfecting of the saints … for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man …” (Eph. 4:11-13). Just as the human fetus develops and grows physically during the pre-birth gestation period, so we, after begettal by God’s Spirit, develop and grow spiritually in pre-birth state.
But not only is the Church to feed the members on the Word of God—spiritual food—but also to protect these conceived but yet unborn children of God from spiritual harm, as the very next verse shows: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (v. 14).
Then, at the time of the resurrection, we in the Church—the spiritual mother—shall be delivered from her, and born into—brought forth into—the Kingdom—the spirit-composed family of God.
Sons of God Now
Now, further: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). The unborn child in his mother’s womb is the child of his father and mother, though not yet born—delivered from the womb. So are we, if God’s Spirit dwells in us—if we are being led by God’s Spirit—children of God. Yet, at this time, we are in the gestation state, not yet that parturition. And only heirs. Not inheritors!
Continue: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be [future—at resurrection] also glorified together” (v.‑17).
Now see how this passage designates the resurrection into glory—when we shall be spirit—as a birth!
“For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God”—that is the time of Christ’s coming to reign, and of the resurrection to (being born of) spirit composition—“… because the creation [rsv] itself also shall be delivered [a birth] from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (vv. 19-22).
What could be more clear?
Here is another comparison: We shall be delivered from this world (the Church is in, though not of, this world) into the glorious World Tomorrow and the Kingdom which shall rule it.
The creation is waiting for this time of Christ’s coming, the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God. Because the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Not now delivered—shall be—at the resurrection time! Although this is not referring directly to our being born again, it is a direct comparison to the birth of a child being delivered from its mother’s womb.
The resurrection—the time when we are changed to be spirit and to inherit the Kingdom will be a time of delivery from the bondage of corruptible flesh and from this world of sin—a real birth!
Christ Born a Second Time By the Resurrection
Continue in Romans 8: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brethren” (v. 29).
Now compare with Romans 1:3-4: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God … by the resurrection from the dead.”
Jesus was, in the human flesh—His first birth—a descendant of David, and, by the resurrection from the dead (born again)—the Son of God, now no longer human, but composed of spirit—a spirit being. He thus became the first so born of many brethren who shall be born again at the time of the resurrection of those who are Christ’s.
Of course we understand, and so did Paul in writing the above, that Jesus was also the Son of God while in the human flesh. Though born of a human woman, He was sired by God. But this is comparing the two births—the one from the human Mary, as descended from the human David—the other, by His resurrection to glory, as Son of God by His resurrection, in the same manner we may be.
Emphatically this does not imply that Jesus was a sinner needing salvation. He was the pioneer, setting us the example, that we, too, may be born of God.
When Born Again What Shall We Be Like?
When we are born again, what shall we be like?
Here is the answer: “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body [flesh], that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body …” (Phil. 3:20-21). And what is Christ’s glorious body like? His eyes are as flames of fire—His face bright as the sun at full strength (Rev. 1:14-16).
A Time When Begotten but Not Yet Born
Thus, scripture after scripture—analogy after analogy—comparison after comparison—shows that being born of God is a process, in which there is a time element. Just as being born of the human flesh is a process.
At the time when the father begets and the mother conceives—of the union of sperm cell and ovum—the fertilized ovum becomes an embryo. But it is not yet delivered from the womb—not yet born! And will not be for nine months. A pregnancy is in progress. Yet during this period of physical development and growth, it is the unborn child of its parents.
In like manner, at the time when the Spirit Father, God, begets a human with the Spirit (the spiritual counterpart of the physical sperm)—the Holy Spirit—he becomes a son of God! He is then already a son of God.
But he is still human—he is still material flesh and blood. He must now undergo a period (until death, the resurrection) of spiritual development and growth. He is in the gestation state in the process toward being born. He is in the Church of God, but the Church is not the Kingdom of God.
The Church is composed of human, flesh-and-blood children of God. And, flesh and blood cannot see, cannot enter into, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is made up of spirit-composed children of God. The Spirit-begotten human in the Church is in the process of being born of God, but he has not yet entered the Kingdom of God. He has not yet been born of God.
He is in the gestation state toward spirit birth, but not yet born of the Spirit. He yet has a lot of spiritual developing and growing to do—acquiring the spiritual character-image of God.
Power Greater Than Energy of Wind
There is another passage, understood by almost none, that reveals our astonishing, transcendent potential!
It begins in Hebrews 2, verse 6. But first, notice about Christ, in chapter 1: “God … Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things [Moffatt and others, the universe], by whom also he made the worlds; Who, being the brightness of his glory, [Moffatt] stamped with God’s own character and upholding [sustaining] the universe by the word of his power …” (Heb. 1:1-3). All power, in heaven and Earth (Matt. 28:18), has been given to Christ. He is now Chief Executive of God’s government of the universe.
Now begin with Hebrews 2:6; a citation from Psalm 8:4-6: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
Yes, why should the great God be concerned about us mortals? Why did He put us here on Earth? What is the purpose of life—what is our transcendent potential? It is so far above and beyond anything you have thought or imagined, it seems shockingly incredible!
Can you believe it? Are you willing to believe what is now plainly stated? Here comes the astonishing answer, beginning verse 7: “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ….” Some translations have it, “for a little while lower than the angels.” Continue: “[T]hou crownedst him [kingship] with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands”—that is, God’s creation. Continue:
Not Yet the Universe!
“Thou hast put all things [Moffatt: the universe] in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. …” Can you grasp that? The entire vast, endless universe! But that is for born sons of God. Man is not yet born—except Christ only! Continue: Here comes the answer:
“… But now [in this present gestation state] we see not yet all things [the universe] put under him” (v. 8).
But what do we see, now?
“But we see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour …” (v.‑9). Yes, as revealed in chapter 1, Jesus has already been given the executive administration of God’s government—the Kingdom of God—over the entire universe! Only, until our time to inherit and possess the government of Earth, at Christ’s return, He is allowing Satan to continue on this Earth his work of deception. Now continue:
“For it became him [Jesus], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain [margin: leader—or, forerunner, pioneer—the One who has gone on before us, as we are to follow] of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (vv. 10-11).
Christ FirstBorn of Many
We are, as quoted before, heirs of God, and joint-heirs—as brethren—with Christ. He has gone on ahead, through a resurrection, to glory as the pioneer!
He is the firstborn of many brethren! He has inherited “all things”—the universe! We are still heirs—still in the gestation stage of the process of being born of God. Jesus is now our High Priest, supervising our spiritual development—preparing us to be kings and priests, reigning with Him!
The first thousand years we shall reign on the Earth. For He shall have “made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).
The First Thousand Years
For that first thousand years, Jesus is to reign on the throne of His earthly ancestor David in Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7). And, “he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron …” (Rev. 2:26-27). But how and from where shall we rule?
Jesus said, again, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne [at Jerusalem], even as I also overcame, and am [now] set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21).
When born of God, we shall be spirit, no longer human flesh and blood. We shall be given power! As Daniel revealed, the saints then shall take the kingdoms of Earth’s nations and rule them—for the first thousand years.
And … after that? The passage in Hebrews 2 shows that then, under Christ, we shall be given power to rule over the entire vast universe—literally all things. For that is the power that has been given to Christ, and we are joint-heirs, to become joint-inheritors with Him.
All Power—The Universe
Most people have passed right over many vital statements in the Bible, not recognizing their tremendous import!
Let me give you a few. Ask yourself if you have ever recognized the true import of these statements in God’s Word?
Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spake unto them [after His resurrection], saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
Matthew 11:27: Jesus said: “All things [the whole universe] are delivered unto me of my Father .…”
John 3:35: “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
John 13:3: During the last Passover: “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God.”
John 16:15: “All things that the Father hath are mine .…”
I Corinthians 15:27-28: “For he [the Father] hath put all things under his [Christ’s] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he [the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
And—incredible, yet true!—we, in Christ, are made co-heirs with Christ in this ultimate supreme rule.
Incidentally, 1 Corinthians 15:27-28, along with verses 22-26, indicate that our reign over the universe shall follow the thousand years’ reign on the Earth.
Must Grow During Gestation
Human life starts with what the Bible terms “corruptible seed”—physical male sperm. Divine life starts with that which is incorruptible—the Holy Spirit of God entering the human person. But as the human embryo must grow till it becomes a fetus, which must grow to the point of being born into the human family, so the Christian in whom divine life has been started by the gift of God’s incorruptible Spirit must grow toward perfection to be born into the God family. He will then be perfect, unable to sin.
Peter gives an analogy of this: “Being born again …” (i Pet. 1:23). Being—in process of—not having been—not yet an immortal person—but being “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible .…” (Other translations use the term “begotten.”) Greek: annagennao—to beget anew (Young). Peter is here referring to the process having started within us by the incorruptible Spirit of God—not as our human life was begotten by human physical sperm. Peter here shows that the Spirit of God is the incorruptible “seed” that imparted the presence of eternal life within us. Continue: “by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Peter continues, chapter 2: “Wherefore … As newborn babes‑…” (vv. 1-2). Not that we are already-born perfect divine spirit persons having entered into and inherited God’s Kingdom. He is comparing the Christian’s spiritual “gestation” period to the growth of a newborn human physical baby simply because it would be awkward indeed to compare it to a physical embryo or fetus. He is not saying we are already born babes in God’s Kingdom—but as—or like newborn human babes. It is an analogy, which Webster says is a comparison or “likeness between two things … consisting in the resemblance not of the things themselves, but of two or more attributes, circumstances or effects.”
Peter is simply showing that, as a newborn human babe must be nourished and grow physically (even, for that matter, as must the unborn fetus), so Christians must grow spiritually. Continue: “… desire the sincere milk of the word” [rsv has, “long for the pure spiritual milk”], that ye may grow thereby” (v. 2). Paul styled it “unto a perfect man” (Eph. 4:13)—unable to sin. When born again, we shall not be helpless spirit babes, but spirit beings of perfection unable to sin. This Christian spiritual growth is in spiritual character and knowledge in this present human life. As a physical babe must grow physically, so we in the Christian life must grow in spiritual knowledge and character (see ii Pet. 3:18) to become perfect, which we shall never attain until born as spirit beings.
The Comparison
During our converted human Christian life, we are already children of God, as yet unborn. We have within us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the presence of eternal life—Spirit life—divine life—but, only from and through God. We do not, yet, have any eternal life inherent—of ourselves, independent of God! And, we could lose it—be aborted!
This compares to the unborn physical fetus, in the gestation period. It has human life—but only through the umbilical cord and from the mother—not independently of itself. And it can be aborted!
This is so clearly brought out in the Bible, in i John 5:11-12: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” It is not inherent in us. We do not now in this life have born life of our own, independent of Him. Our contact with Him through His Spirit is the umbilical cord through which we are partaking of eternal life from Him. Continue, verse 12: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.” If one is cut off from Christ, he has no eternal life.
A born human baby has human life on its own—independent of its mother. That defines the difference between the state of begettal and a born state! The only difference is, in the Christian life we are fed and protected by and through the spiritual mother—the Church, while our actual eternal life comes into us through and from God. But when born again, of God, we shall have eternal life inherent—of our own! We are not now in that state!
How Jesus Was the Only Begotten Son
King David of Israel had God’s Holy Spirit. Praying for forgiveness following his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, he implored: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:10-11).
The prophets had received God’s Holy Spirit. Peter wrote: “…‑[H]oly men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (ii Pet. 1:21). They could not be called “holy men” unless God’s Spirit was within them.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are to be seen in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said so. Therefore God’s Spirit was “dwelling in them”—they were begotten of God—but they were not Born of God—for Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren.
But if they were begotten of God by the Holy Spirit—and hundreds of years before Christ was born, how could Jesus be called “the only begotten Son of God”?
Answer: The scriptures calling Jesus the only begotten Son of God all apply to His begettal as the human Son, His first birth—born of the human mother, Mary. Jesus was the only human ever begotten by God prior to human birth. In Revelation 1:5, the Authorized Version speaks of Christ as the first begotten—but other translations render it, properly, firstBORN—referring to His resurrection, not His human birth from His mother Mary.
Jesus was not the first begotten in the sense that Abraham, David and Old Testament prophets were begotten.
Before Jesus was conceived by Mary, He was not the Son of God. God is the divine family. He was one of that family. In John 1:1 He is called the “Logos”—the Word. He, like the Father, had existed eternally. But He is nowhere in God’s Word referred to as a son of God prior to conception by Mary. His human birth was His first birth. He gave up the glory He had with the Father in order to be born into the world to save the world.
Abraham and many others—prophets and writers of the Bible—were begotten of God—they were in the same identical state as human Christians who have God’s Spirit within them today. But they have not, even yet, inherited—entered into—the Kingdom of God. They have not yet been born of God.
Jesus had to be the first to be born of God—the firstborn of many brethren. That was His second birth, as the resurrection will be ours! “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise [were not born into the kingdom]: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40).
This, again, proves that the conversion in this life—receiving the Holy Spirit—is only a begettal—not a birth! For Old Testament fathers and prophets received God’s Spirit—but they were not “born again” because Jesus was the first so born!
How does this process of being born again take place?
What Is the Way?
Peter gave the way, and the conditions. Repent, he said, and be baptized, as an act of faith in Christ, His shed blood in payment of the penalty of our sins, and His resurrection making possible our eternal life and being born again. Then, he said, we shall receive the Holy Spirit.
Those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells are Christ’s (Rom. 8:9); all others are not. But if God’s Spirit dwells in them, God will, by a resurrection as He raised Christ from the dead, bring forth all such in immortal spirit life—composed of spirit as Christ is.
All these scriptures make clearly plain that we are to be born again by, and only by, a resurrection to spirit composition.
We are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ—not yet inheritors, or possessors of the Kingdom.
The Human Birth
What is a birth—what is meant by being born?
The actual final birth is called parturition—a baby being delivered out of its mother’s womb.
But this birth requires a father, as well as a mother! If it were not for the part the father contributes in the process, there would be no fetus to be born. But there is a time element. The father’s part in what shall, later, be the birth is to beget—to gender—to sire. From his body emanates the sperm cell that unites with and starts life in an ovum within the mother. This occurs nine months prior to parturition—or birth.
We never say, in the English language, that immediately when an embryo is conceived in the mother—sired or begotten by the father—that the embryo has already been born! Birth has not occurred! To say it would sound idiotic, ridiculous!
From conception must follow the process called gestation for nine months. The embryo takes on human form and is called a fetus. It must develop and grow physically to be born.
So with being born again, in a spiritual birth.
What comes from the divine Father is the Holy Spirit. Just as the unborn child in the mother’s womb is, even in the fetal state, the child (yet unborn) of its parents, so those in whom God’s Spirit dwells are, already, children of God. But they are still of this first birth—still human—still composed of physical flesh. They are still in their spiritual mother—the Church—which is still in this corruptible present world, though not of it. When born of the Spirit, said Jesus, they shall be spirit.
But if God’s Spirit dwells in them, God then will resurrect them (if they are dead), or change them (if still living) from physical to spirit composition at Christ’s coming. They will then be brought forth—delivered from their mother, the Church, into the Kingdom of God.
Of the first birth we are, and remain, flesh! Human beings!
Of the second birth, which is spiritual, we shall be spirit, no longer flesh—but spirit beings!—divine beings!
The Greek Words
The New Testament of the Holy Bible was originally written in the Greek language. It is inevitable that some difficulties confront translators in the rendering from one language to another.
For example, there are some idiomatic expressions common to one language that have no equivalent in another.
One word may have more than one meaning in a language where the equivalent word in another language would not have the same different meanings. For example, the English word saw may mean did see, or it might mean—as a noun—a carpenter’s instrument to cut through wood, or, as a verb it may mean to cut with a saw.
However, by checking different translations, and by understanding of the context and all other passages of the Bible in relation to the same subject, we may come to the correct meaning as expressed in English.
One such example is the original Greek word for the English born—a word Jesus used in speaking to Nicodemus.
The Greek word used in John 3:3-8 for born is gennao (pronounced ghen-ah-o). Here are the English definitions of the Greek gennao from leading lexicons—Greek-English dictionaries:
Thayer: “gennao: 1. properly: of men begetting children. Matt. 1:1-16; Acts 7:8, 29; foll. by ek with gen. of the mother, Matt. 1:3, 5, 6; more rarely of women giving birth to children. Lk 1:13, 57; 23:29; Jn. 16:21, etc. 2. a. univ. to engender, cause to arise, excite. … d. peculiarly in the Gosp. and 1st Ep. of John, of God conferring upon men the nature and disposition of His sons, imparting to them spiritual life i.e. by His own holy power, prompting and persuading souls to put faith in Christ and live a new life consecrated to Himself.”
Liddell and Scott: “gennao: to beget, of the father; to bear, bring forth, of the mother; ii, to generate, produce.” (Webster defines “generate” “to beget; procreate.”)
Strong: “gennao: to procreate (prop. of the father, but by extens. of the mother); fig. to regenerate:—bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring.”
Young: “gennao: to beget, bring forth.”
George Ricker Berry: “gennao: to beget, give birth to, produce, effect; pass., to be begotten, born (often in John of spiritual renewal)” (That is, receiving or having received the Holy Spirit, being begotten.)
One man, a native Greek from Cyprus, in a private communication, stated it this way: “the verb gennao denotes the production through birth.” And further, “denotes a production through a process that always includes a birth.” He put major emphasis on birth, rather than begetting or conception—but when asked if it does not include an impregnation by male sperm, and conception, as well as gestation period, he agreed that it does.
However, it is to be noted that the scholarly authorities whose definitions are quoted above, all put first and primary emphasis on the begetting by the father. It is, as I have always said, a process, with the time element at different stages of the process.
It might be made more clear, in nontechnical language, to explain that in some languages words may be all-inclusive as to time, without distinction as to past, present or future state of a process. For example, in German there are not the two words designating the two states of being an heir or an inheritor. The one German word would be used in describing a young man who is his father’s heir, having not yet inherited anything, or a man who, after the death of his father, has become an inheritor of his father’s estate.
A Frenchman said, “If I were an author, I would much prefer to write in English, because there are so many more words, expressing various shades of meaning.”
There is a time period between fertilization by a male sperm and parturition—delivery from the womb—which state as to time, in English, is medically termed gestation. We never refer, in English, to that gestation state as a born state. Likewise, in English, we cannot properly refer to the Christian in whom God’s Spirit dwells as having been “born” of God. My commission is to make the truth plain in English.
Definition: “Supernatural Begettal by the Holy Spirit”
“To beget means begetting, the action or process of generating or producing; generation”—from New English Dictionary of Historical Principles, 1888. It is interesting also, in this dictionary to find the following: “Begettal (f. beget v. + al, cf. Commital) Begetting, 1873, C. M. Davies: They believe in his preternatural begettal by the Holy Spirit.”
Thus, the one Greek word, gennao, means production through a process that includes and is generated by the imparting of the fertilizing or lifegiving element by the father. There is a time when the culmination in birth has not yet occurred.
In the Greek, gennao, the word is all-inclusive as a production process. But in English, the word birth is not all-inclusive, and refers only to the final stage of the process—the time of parturition—delivery of child from the womb. One’s birthday in English always means the day—or anniversary of the day—of his delivery from his mother’s womb.
Status of Christian, Now
Now let us notice one of the problems to be expected in rendering the verb gennao into our being born again of God.
When Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, He was referring to the time when we may see, enter into, the Kingdom of God. And that is the time of the final birth. For the Kingdom is literally the family of God. Therefore the translators correctly rendered the Greek gennao in John 3:3-8 in the English word born.
Combining this with i Corinthians 15:45-53, the resurrection chapter, it is made absolutely plain that we do not enter into and inherit the Kingdom of God while still flesh and blood, but only after the resurrection to spirit composition.
Being born again refers to the time—the future state—when we shall be spirit, no longer flesh and blood—born actually by the resurrection.
But in certain passages, the Greek gennao is used, in referring to the present state of those who have received the spiritual life-begetting, impregnating Holy Spirit. They are, upon receiving His Holy Spirit, children of God, in the same sense that the embryo-fetus is the unborn child of its human parents.
We are in the state—the time element—after generation-conception, but prior to birth. In the human instance, the medical term for this state is gestation.
We are now begotten children of God—but still flesh-and-blood humans—still heirs—not yet spirit-composed divine beings—not yet inheritors—not yet having been “brought forth” into, or seen or inherited the Kingdom of God—therefore, not yet born of God.
In other words—shocking though His truth may sound to some to whom this truth is new, that which is born of humans is born into the human family—the human kingdom—and that which is born of God is born into the God family—the God Kingdom—the Kingdom, or family, of God! But while still flesh and blood, we are merely begotten of God—we have not yet been “brought forth” into His family—His Kingdom!
The English Verb “Beget”
Now a word of explanation about this English verb beget—or the adjective form, begotten.
The simple dictionary definition (Webster) is: “1: to procreate, as the father: sire. 2: Cause,” Above, I quoted the definition from the New English Dictionary of Historical Principles: “begetting, the action or process of generating or producing‑.…”
Also this same dictionary in giving an example of the use of begettal in a sentence, quotes, from author C. M. Davies, 1873: “They believe in his preternatural [supernatural] begettal by the Holy Spirit.”
Beget refers to the father. And the father’s action is to cause the start of the process toward birth.
Various Translations
Since the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language, our English language Bibles have been translated from the Greek.
And since the Greek gennao is an all-inclusive term—referring to begetting by the father, but also, secondarily according to the lexicons, including the process culminating in birth, the translators had to decide which English term to use in each case.
It had been the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that its church is the Kingdom of God. When one embraces the Catholic faith, he is regarded by Catholicism as having already entered into the Kingdom of God. Protestants have largely followed this assumption as applying to Protestantism, though some regard the Kingdom of God as some ethereal something “set up in men’s hearts.” Many translators assumed this error. This led to translating gennao into the English term born in many instances where it rightly should be translated begotten. They simply chose the English term that conformed to their erroneous belief. And since the Greek gennao is a term including the whole process of birth even from conception, they in some cases translated gennao by the English word born—where I have proved by many passages flesh and blood humans have not been yet born again, of God.
In every instance where the Greek gennao refers to Spirit-begotten Christians, it should be rendered “begotten.”
Notice a few outstanding examples!
In John 1:13, the Authorized, or King James, Version of the Bible renders it: “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” In the American Revised Version a marginal rendering says: “or, begotten,” as it should be. Other examples appear in John’s first epistle. Notice:
In the American Revised Version, i John 2:29 is correctly translated: “is begotten of Him”; but in the Authorized Version it is, incorrectly, “… every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.”
i John 4:7, the Authorized Version incorrectly has it: “… and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” But the Revised Version corrected this error, rendering it: “…‑is begotten of God.”
i John 5:1, in the Authorized Version, incorrectly has it: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.”
Here, this same Greek word, gennao, was inspired by the Holy Spirit three times in the same verse. The first time, the King James translators erroneously rendered it into the English word “born.” The second time gennao is used in the Greek they could not render it “him that was born” or “him that ‘borned’”—for it refers to God, and not the human believer. Here they were forced to choose the correct translation of gennao, in the past tense, as “begat.” Then, since they already had to use the past tense “begat” in that instance, they also correctly rendered it, in the third place the word occurred, “is begotten.”
The Revised Version also corrected this error, rightly rendering it: “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God, and whosoever loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him.”
One final example: i John 5:4—the Authorized Version erroneously renders it: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world …” but the Revised Version corrected it to read: “For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world .…”
Correctly Translated
Now quickly notice a few instances where the same Greek word was correctly translated “begotten.”
i Corinthians 4:15, the Apostle Paul is talking to those converted under his ministry. “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” There it is correctly translated, showing that Paul’s converts at Corinth, as his “spiritual children,” had been begotten of God, but not yet born.
The experience of conversion, in this life, is a begettal—a “conception”—an “impregnation”—but not yet a birth! This we have made very plain!
One more—Hebrews 1:5—speaking of Christ’s begettal in the virgin Mary. This verse shows that Christ, later born of God by a resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4), was an actual begotten Son of God, in a manner that no angel is, or can be. Angels are merely created beings. They are not actually begotten of God, so in this sense they are not His born sons, as Christ now is—and as we may also be. Notice the verse: “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? …”
Now that ought to be plain. A converted person—one who has repented, accepted Christ as Savior, received God’s Holy Spirit, does have a changed attitude and outlook and purpose—his whole character begins to change, and travel in an opposite direction. But he is not invisible to the human eyes of other people! He is not composed of spirit. He is still composed of material flesh, even though God’s Holy Spirit has entered, and now dwells in, and leads his human mind.
When We Cannot Sin
There is a particular verse that has puzzled millions, discouraged thousands who didn’t understand, and caused some to accuse the Bible of contradicting itself.
Look at this verse! It says: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (i John 3:9).
Now is that a contradiction of verse 8 of the first chapter of the same book, which says we deceive ourselves if we think we have no sin? The answer is easy to understand.
Remember that in New Testament language the pronoun “we” or “us” refers to converted Christians. (The unconverted are referred to as “they” or “them.” An example is i Thessalonians 5:3-4: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them … and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”)
i John 1:8-10 reads: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we [Christians]”—this verse is referring to sins committed, though of course not deliberately and willfully, after being converted—“confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we [we Christians] say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Then, the next verse, i John 2:1: “… And if any man sin, we [Christians] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” It is here speaking of Christ in His present office as our High Priest.
Christians Should Not Sin
Of course the Bible teaches that Christians should not sin. The first part of 1 John 2:1 (not quoted above) teaches that. The emphasis all through the New Testament is on rooting out sin—overcoming sin—growing in God’s righteousness, always toward perfection.
But these and numerous other verses (especially the Apostle Paul’s experience, Romans 7:14-25) say plainly that converted Christians do sin—though not habitually practicing sin deliberately and willfully. Certainly it is not impossible!
Look at Jesus Christ Himself! The Scriptures say He did not sin—yet they teach plainly that at all times it was entirely possible for Him to sin. Jesus, in the human flesh, “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). No scripture says that He could not sin.
So here we have many scriptures showing that it is not impossible for converted Christians to sin—it was not impossible even for Jesus! Yet, in 1 John 3:9, in the Authorized Version, we have the flat statement that, if and when we are actually born of God, we shall not be able to sin—it will then be impossible!
Two Translations
Here, again, the translators had to decide how to render the verb gennao. And it must be decided by the meaning in the context as a whole.
Some more modern translations render it “begotten” supposing the passage is talking about Christians now not continuing in indifferent practicing of sin, as they did before conversion. They know well that it is not impossible for a human Christian, now, to sin. So they render it in the sense of continuing in the habitual practicing of sin, once begotten of God.
On the other hand, it also can be rendered “born” as in the Authorized Version, without any contradiction.
Notice this, in i John 3: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God …. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he [Christ at His Second Coming] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (vv. 1-2).
This is speaking of the time when we shall be spirit—born of God.
What We Shall Be
Now notice that! Understand what we shall be, when we are born of God! Then, next we shall see—still further—when we shall be born of God.
This scripture, in this marvelous third chapter of i John, plainly says that “we”—meaning begotten, converted Christians—are, now, already, the sons of God. Yes, of course, and the tiny embryo, no larger than a pinpoint in its mother’s womb is, already, the son (or daughter) of its human father, even though not yet born.
Next, this scripture reveals that “it doth not yet appear what we shall be.”
Grasp that! Isn’t it plain? We are, later, to be something different. Of course! Although we already are begotten sons of God, we are still flesh—still matter—still visible. But what we shall be has not, yet, appeared. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, we shall be immortal spirit. That is what we shall later be!
But, this scripture continues—read it!—understand this wonderful, Wonderful Truth!—we know that, when He, Christ, shall appear at His Second Coming to Earth, we shall be like Him!
Now what shall He be like? If you can know that, you can know what born-again Christians shall then be like—for they shall be like Him!
What does the glorified Christ look like? His eyes blaze forth like flames of fire! His feet glow like finely burnished brass. His face shines like the sun, in full strength—so bright, it would blind your eyes if He were visible to you now! (Rev. 1:14-16; 19:12-13; Matt. 17:2).
And that is the way you and I shall look, if and when we are finally born of God! These deceived people who talk about having has a “born-again experience” certainly don’t look like that!
When Born Again?
That tremendous, glorious event of being born of God is to take place at the resurrection of the just—at the time of Christ’s Second Coming to Earth!
We are now flesh—vile corruptible flesh subject to rotting and decay. But at Christ’s coming, when we shall be born of God, this vile body shall be changed, and made exactly like Jesus in His glorified body!
Yes, I know this is probably too wonderful for you to grasp!
But scripture after scripture piles up on us, confirming this tremendous truth!
Look at the very resurrection chapter, i Corinthians 15.
The Bible, which is God’s message and instruction to mankind, nowhere teaches any such thing as the pagan doctrine of an “immortal soul” going to heaven at death. It teaches that the soul is mortal and shall die (Ezek. 18:4, 20).
But it does teach the resurrection of the dead.
Now, when? At Christ’s Second Coming! “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits [that was more than 1,900 years ago]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (i Cor. 15:22-23).
That is when—at Christ’s coming! And notice, Christ is the “firstfruits”—the first of those who have been human to be born of God by a resurrection from the dead! The true resurrection from the dead!
What Kind of Body?
Now how? What kind of body? That question is asked in verse 35. Notice God’s answer: “[T]hat which thou sowest”—bury in the ground—“thou sowest not that body that shall be …” (v. 37). The immortal body that comes up in the resurrection will not be this vile, rotting body of material flesh—but a different body. Continue: “But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him. … So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. … It is sown a natural body”—that is, of nature—material flesh—“it is raised a spiritual body”—composed of spirit! “And as we have borne the image of the earthy”—material flesh—of the earth—earthy—“we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (v. 49)—like God—like Christ in His glorified body!
The remainder of this passage we have covered earlier.
Christ Only The First
I have been the father of two sons. I am human. They, begotten of me, were born human, as I am! When we are born of God, we shall be of His very family. We shall be spirit as He is Spirit—immortal as He is immortal—divine as He is divine!
Why does not organized professed “Christianity” know that? Why should that seem incredible, impossible, or even to some like blasphemy?
Why?
The New Testament of your Bible teaches that truth all the way through! Jesus taught it! Paul taught it! Peter taught it! John taught it! The Holy Spirit inspired it, repeatedly!
You have seen, in Philippians 3:20-21, how, as stated just above in i Corinthians 15, at Christ’s coming our vile bodies shall be changed into spirit, made immortal, fashioned like Christ’s glorified body. That is when we shall be born of God. And that change does not take place in this life! All these sincere people who think they have been “born again” have never experienced that change!
Now we saw in i Corinthians 15:23, that Christ, who was born of God by His resurrection, was the firstfruits of those to be resurrected—those to be born again!
Now believe other scriptures that say the same thing!
Believe Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son [Christ], that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Christ was born a Son of God by a resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). He was only the first to be so born of God, of many brethren. We are to be in His same image—as He is, now! We are to be put on His same plane—as His brethren—to be also born of God—to become God’s sons!
We are already begotten sons—if really converted—but what we shall be, in the resurrected glorified body—does not yet appear—cannot yet be seen (i John 3:1-2).
God is to have many sons born of Him. Of all these, Jesus was the first to be so born. He is the only human so far born of God, though many have already been begotten!
Believe Colossians 1:15, 18: Speaking of Jesus, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature … the firstborn from the dead ….” Yes, just the first of many brethren, in the very image of bright, shining glory of the invisible God. And we are to be conformed to the same image (Rom. 8:29).
Will You Believe?
Now will you believe what God says in the book of Hebrews?
Why should God be concerned about human beings? From a small airplane we look like little ants down here. From a jet 5 to 6 miles high, people on the ground have shrunken so small they can’t be seen. How tiny must we look to God? Why should He have concern for us?
The question is answered in Hebrews 2, beginning verse 6. God made man a little lower than angels, but, in God’s purpose and plan, He has crowned man, as He first has Christ, with glory and honor.
What is the glory with which Christ is now crowned? A crown denotes kingship—rule—authority—power. Jesus Christ said, just before ascending to heaven, that all power in the universe—in heaven and in Earth—had been given to Him.
In Hebrews 1:1-3, it is revealed that Christ now is the brightness of God’s glory!
Yes, His eyes like flashing flames of fire—His face shining bright as the full-strength sun.
Christ’s glory is such that now He sustains, upholds, controls, every force, energy and power that exists everywhere—supreme power over the universe!
Now believe what God says about us!—Hebrews 2:10: “For it became him … in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain [margin: leader, or predecessor, or pioneer] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” And in verse 11, Jesus calls us His brothers.
Oh, what matchless, transcendent glory God purposes for us—when we are born again! Revelation 1:13-17 gives a graphic description of that future glory.
Why Not Now?
But, as we read in Hebrews 2:8, we do not see yet all this glory having been inherited by any but Christ. Why, then, are we not yet born?
Because, when we are, we are to be given such powers to guide, direct and control, that we must first be trained and have the perfect spiritual Character developed in us so that we may safely be entrusted with such vast powers!
God created this universe. He is the real Supreme Ruler! He is not going to turn over that power to rule to any except those who will rule His way, who will obey Him, obey His government, and carry out His government, under Him!
So, it is only those who are led by God’s Holy Spirit in His ways who are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14). And we have to begin overcoming our own self-natures, the wrong ways of this world that have become fixed habit, and the devil. We must “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (ii Pet. 3:18).
Yes, even as the unborn, but begotten, human baby must grow from its beginning size no larger than a pinpoint, fed on physical food, so once we are impregnated by God’s Holy Spirit—His Life—we must Grow spiritually, fed on the spiritual food of God’s Word the Bible, and by prayer, and what fellowship is possible with truly begotten brethren in God’s truth.
And unless we do continue to grow in spiritual character development, more and more like God, we become like the unborn babe that miscarries—or like an abortion! And such shall never be born of God!
Glorious World Tomorrow
What wonderful, almost incomprehensible, Glorious Good News!
And the best news is, that the coming of Christ is now drawing very near! Just a very few more years! And then—the peaceful, happy, glorious World Tomorrow!
All who now are begotten sons of God shall then be born—elevated from mortal to immortal, from decaying flesh to spirit—from human to divine!
And that true born-again experience will be incomparably more glorious than the false, vague, meaningless, so-called “born-again experience” that deceived thousands think they have had now.
Can your mind grasp what an incredible, transcendent glory is the true potential of those who do believe, repent and obey?
But, the scriptures that break before our eyes this glorious good news, also warn us to take heed, and to make our calling and election sure!
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Why did not the Pharisee Nicodemus understand when Jesus said to him: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”? (John 3:3).
Why do people not understand those words today?
How many know, today, that Jesus’s gospel was a sensational, never-before proclaimed news announcement?
Jesus Was a Newscaster
Those in Judea knew—or should have known—Malachi’s prophecy concerning this. It was the gospel of God—and the word gospel means good news!
Jesus was a newscaster. His news was something absolutely new—never before proclaimed to mankind. It was the most wonderful news ever reported. Actually almost too wonderful for humans to believe. It was news of the utterly transcendent potential of man.
A humorous columnist wrote a bit on the news printed in daily newspapers. It is actually not news, he insisted, since it is a reporting of events that already have happened. Therefore it is no longer new, but old when printed. He insisted it really ought to be called olds!
The tremendous message that Jesus brought was news! It was not a report of past events. It was advance news!—news of an almost unbelievable utopian World Tomorrow!
And it is sure!
And it was news that we may be born again! Yet almost nobody understands it!
How many, even today, know that Jesus’s gospel was not in any sense a new or different religion—yet it was actually so breathtaking—so seemingly incredible, so startling, it should have left its hearers in a daze of awe! It didn’t. Why?
Why has it never been recognized by the world as the stupendous news that it actually was?
Simply because the leaders in Judea rejected it—hated it—hated Jesus for announcing the wonderful great news—turned most of the people against it. And it has been so misrepresented, so distorted and maligned, that the whole world has been deceived—and has totally misunderstood it! Your Bible says the whole world—all nations—have been deceived about that gospel!
The time was at hand, then, for this message to be announced! The time is at hand, today, for its true meaning to be made so plain that people may understand it!
It will be, in this booklet! And it is a crucial challenge to you who now read it!
And you have to understand what was that news announcement, or you can never understand what Jesus meant about being “born again.”
What Was the News?
Notice, briefly, first, what that astonishing new message was!
The pre-announcement, in Malachi’s prophecy, says: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek [the Messiah], shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant …” (Mal. 3:1).
Now notice the beginning of the Messenger’s proclamation of that message.
It is recorded in Mark’s Gospel, chapter 1: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets …” (vv. 1-2). Then follows the citation from Malachi, written above. That is followed by the account of John the Baptist, preparing the way before the Messenger.
Then, verses 14-15: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” That is, believe the good news!
What is the Kingdom of God?
What did He mean—the Kingdom of God?
Jesus’s whole message—His gospel—was about the Kingdom of God! Yet few know anything about it, today.
A kingdom is a) a nation composed of people, and b) the government of the nation.
In some cases, the people of a nation are the descendants—the children—of one man. The nation of Turkey is the descendants of the ancient Esau, twin brother of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, father of the nation Israel. Before the twins were born, God said to their mother, Rebekah, “Two nations are in thy womb …” (Gen. 25:23).
Now Jesus the Messiah was to come as “the Messenger of the covenant.” The “Old Covenant” had established the human children of Israel as a nation or kingdom of humans, called the kingdom of Israel. Jesus came as the Messenger—heralding the message of the New Covenant that shall set up the Spirit-composed children of God as the kingdom of God!
As the ancient kingdom of Israel was composed of the human family of the human man Israel, so the Kingdom of God will be composed of the divine family of the divine God!
And what does this have to do with “being born again”? It has everything to do with it!
Daniel foretold it
The Prophet Daniel wrote of this Kingdom of God. In his second chapter, after foretelling of the Chaldean Empire (Babylon), the Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire with its four divisions, and the Roman Empire, stretching even into the now-forming resurrected “Holy Roman Empire” in Europe, we read the following: “And in the days of these kings [the forthcoming United Nations of Europe] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed … but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan. 2:44). To “stand for ever” it will, of necessity, be a Kingdom of immortals, not mortals.
It will be a world-ruling Kingdom!
Daniel’s 7th chapter portrays it again—and shows the connection with being “born again.” The four world empires—Babylon through Rome and its coming resurrection in Europe—are pictured as four beasts—wild animals.
Saints Become Immortal
Verses 17-18: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [kingdoms], which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” To possess it for ever, the saints will have to be immortal!
Then the Babylonian religious power, now Roman, “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days [Christ at Second Coming] came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (vv. 21-22). Read also verse 27.
The Second Coming of Christ is described thus: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).
Yet in spite of these and many more such scriptures, many deceived theologians today mislead the people saying that the church is the Kingdom of God! Or, that “the Kingdom” is some mysterious ethereal nothing “in men’s hearts.”
Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
What did He mean? Why had this message never been proclaimed before? The answer requires a pre-history background.
There Was Once Peace on Earth
It isn’t popular, today, to mention the existence of a devil. But the Bible, again and again, puts great emphasis on the presence of a real, literal devil.
Biblical revelation shows that originally, this Earth was a place of peace, happiness—a real utopia. It was then ruled by the government of God. That government will be once again restored (Acts 3:20-21) by Christ returning to Earth in the supreme power and glory of God!
But what happened? Why don’t we have that government, now? Why is there no peace on Earth?
When the Earth was originally created, the angels shouted for joy! (Job 38:7). It was beautiful. It was peaceful. It was populated by angels—not then by humans. It was governed by the government of God. There was a super arch-angel—a cherub named Lucifer (meaning bringer of light)—one of two cherubim whose wings stretched over the very throne of God in heaven. Lucifer was thoroughly trained in the administration of the government of God (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-17).
God governs by His spiritual law—a law based on the principle of love. Love, first, to God with submission and obedience, and secondly to His creatures—the way of outgoing concern for the good and welfare of others. But Lucifer’s heart was lifted up in vanity, because of his beauty and vast knowledge. He rebelled against God, mutinied, set out to organize his angels into an invading army and to conquer God—in order to rule the entire vast universe. This disqualified him as Earth’s ruler. However, the very principle of God’s government requires that the ruler retain office until a successor qualifies and is inducted into office.
Lucifer’s name was changed to Satan, the devil. His angels became demons. As a result of this universal rebellion on Earth, universal destruction and chaos struck the surface of the Earth. In six days God re-shaped the Earth’s surface (Gen. 1), creating fauna and flora—and man!
When Man Appeared
God formed man, not after any animal kind, but in God’s own likeness—not of spirit composition as is God, but of material flesh and blood. The first man, Adam, father of the human race, allowed Satan’s attitude of rebellion to enter his heart, failing to qualify as Satan’s successor.
When Jesus was baptized by John (Mark 1:9-11), immediately He underwent the most titanic struggle ever, in His temptation by the devil (vv. 12-13).
Jesus had come to qualify to replace Satan—to restore the government of God on Earth, and bring back world peace! But, as the first Adam had undergone and succumbed to Satan’s temptation, Jesus had to face and overcome this disqualified Satan.
Jesus underwent this test under the most trying and difficult conditions possible. He had been almost totally depleted of physical strength by fasting 40 days and nights—no food and no water! Yet even in this physical weakness, He was made the stronger spiritually.
Few have ever realized the stupendous struggle that took place in that crucial temptation. Jesus resisted Satan’s supreme temptations. He did it by quoting Scripture and obeying God. He proved under the maximum possible test that He would obey God’s laws and administer God’s government faithfully. Then, in utter physical weakness but supreme spiritual strength, He proved He was Satan’s Master, by giving Satan a crisp command to leave—and the defeated Satan slunk away!
Then (Mark 1:14), having qualified for the executive administration of the government of God on Earth, Jesus came into Galilee, saying, as quoted above, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand”! (v. 15).
Why the News Was New
How was the time fulfilled?
Why was the Kingdom of God then at hand—and not before?
Simply because the wonderful news of the coming Kingdom of God could not be announced until a successor had qualified to replace Satan as Earth’s ruler!
At last the Kingdom of God—God’s government over the Earth—was at hand! At last, it was assured, and the time was fulfilled! The one who had qualified to rule the Earth was now free to announce His coming government!
Why Kingdom Not Yet Set Up
Yet Jesus was not going to take over the reign immediately. There were a number of reasons:
1) God had set a definite plan, with a definite time-program, for working out His purpose here below! It is a 7,000-year plan of seven millennial “days,” of which the first seven literal days of re-creation were a type. The first six of these millennia were allotted for man, of his own free volition (though swayed by Satan) to go his own way. Also, in effect, they were allotted as the six millennial “days” for Satan’s “labor” of deception over humanity, to be followed by the millennial “Sabbath,” in which Satan will observe enforced rest from his work of deceiving the nations, and God will teach humanity His truth!
2) Jesus, in God’s plan, was first to choose and teach disciples to become apostles, to carry on the proclamation of the good news—and to become the foundation of His Church.
3) Christ is going to set up a world government over all Earth’s nations only with the administration of a thoroughly trained and experienced organization. The first 6,000 years of human experience has proved abundantly that man, under Satan’s sway, is utterly incapable of ruling himself. Human-devised governments always have failed to bring world peace. Yet man, even now, seems unwilling to admit that fact. Men are still trying, in vain, to work and fight for peace. And that is where being “born again” comes in.
And that, also, is where being “born again” has been tragically misunderstood and misrepresented! God’s government will be divine government, by the saints converted into divine spirit persons, born of God! As those born of humans are human beings, so those born of the divine God will be divine beings, having been given immortality! They shall be born into—enter into—inherit the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom Is a Family
A kingdom is a nation composed of people, as well as the government of that nation. The Kingdom of God is composed of the divine family of God. The one Being we habitually think of as God is the Father of that family.
Christ is a Son of God—a member of that divine family, even as we may be! That divine family is the Kingdom of God.
There are five kingdoms—the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom (we are not of the animal kingdom, erroneous education to the contrary notwithstanding!), the angel kingdom—and the God Kingdom!
God (Heb. Elohim—a name, plural in form, meaning more than one person, forming the one God) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” We were made of material flesh, but in the form and shape of God, and with minds on a totally different plane than animal brain. The human family was made so that we might be able to receive God’s Spirit, and become His children. Animals were not so made.
In God’s wonderful plan for working out His purpose here below, God has allotted the time period between Jesus’s first coming in human flesh, and His Second Coming in power and glory, for the calling of some to receive His Spirit and be spiritually educated and trained, through His Word, to become rulers with Christ when He sets up His Kingdom.
The Crux of Salvation
4) In order that man might be reconciled to God, Jesus also came for the express purpose of death, by His shed blood paying for us, in our stead, the death penalty we have incurred as the penalty of sin. In order that we might be given God’s gift of eternal life, Jesus’s resurrection from the dead was necessary before we could receive eternal life.
5) The plan called for Jesus’s ascension to God’s throne in heaven—the throne of the government of God over the universe—to become our High Priest, during these years of training and spiritual development of the heirs of God to be used in the executive administration of the government of God when Christ does set up that government over Earth’s nations.
6) Jesus could not induct Himself into the office while here on Earth in human form. It was necessary for Him, as explained in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19), to go to heaven to there receive the authority of the Kingdom from God (the Father)—and to be crowned! The coronation ceremony will take place in heaven at God’s throne, before Christ’s return in power and glory!
7) Then He must return in all that power and glory and supreme authority to rule!
Those are the reasons why Jesus did not then, immediately, set up, or establish the Kingdom of God!
But even Jesus’s own disciples could never seem to understand that He was not going to set up the Kingdom of God immediately. It is human to want things now!
Why Jewish Rulers Hated Message
The Jewish rulers of Jesus’ day, also, thought He was proclaiming a government to be set up immediately—to overthrow the Roman Empire, then ruling Judea as a vassal state.
One of these rulers of the Jews was a man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were hostile to Jesus, because of this new gospel. Nicodemus, however, wanted to meet this astonishing Messenger and discuss it with Him. To avoid criticism from his colleagues, he came to Jesus by night.
“We know,” he said, “that you are a teacher come from God.”
The “we” implies that the divine identity of the Messenger and the Source of His message was known to the Pharisees. But they were “now” people, concerned with protecting their status as rulers under the Roman government, not with receiving revelations from God.
Judea was a vassal state, under the rule of the Romans. The Romans were shrewd enough to force leaders among the Jews to administer most of the details of government, under higher Roman officials. Of course, the Roman rule was protected by occupying military forces. This system made life for the Jewish sub-rulers very desirable—a status worth maintaining.
At once Jesus perceived the import of Nicodemus’s first words. His message was the good news of the coming world government of God—that is, the Kingdom of God—the government of God.
These Jewish rulers feared that message. Jesus was of their race—a Jew. If they did not oppose Him, they feared being shorn of their power, and perhaps put to death as subversives threatening the overthrow of the Roman government. And the Pharisees thought Jesus proclaimed the immediate takeover of that rule!
Not of This Age
Therefore Jesus did not waste words. He struck straight through to the crux point—the Kingdom of God is not of this world—this time—this age—but of the World Tomorrow—a different and a following age. Not composed of humans, but of immortals—the God family!
So Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Notice carefully, please—being “born again” has a vital connection with the Kingdom of God—with the fact that it is not of this time—this age. And—I repeat—Jesus’s gospel—His message—was the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus’s abrupt opening statement left Nicodemus confused. The religious leaders, and the hundreds of denominations and sects professing Christianity today, are confused and deceived! Today’s religionists put a different twist on it than did Nicodemus, however.
Nicodemus did understand clearly what is meant by being born. He knew it meant being delivered from his mother’s womb. It meant being delivered into the world! Today’s religious leaders read into it a different meaning! What Nicodemus could not understand was how—in what manner—anyone could be born again! And of course, being carnal-minded, he could only conceive of a second physical birth. But he knew what being born meant!
Born Human a Second Time?
Puzzled, he asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (v.‑4). He was not confused about what is meant by being born. What Nicodemus could not understand was a second birth. He thought Jesus was talking about a second human birth.
He was unable to conceive of any but a second physical birth—his mind could not grasp spiritual things.
Now Jesus had made clear that the Kingdom of God is something that can be seen—but not until, or unless, one is “born again.” Not during this physical lifetime! Also, verse 5, the Kingdom of God is something a man may enter into—but not until after he is born again—another and entirely different birth.
Then Jesus came quickly to the point—that the Kingdom of God is not of this present human life in this present world—it is not of this time—this present life-time—or age. It is the succeeding age—and the life to come.
Here is the crux point that explains it all: Jesus said:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6).
Man is now flesh—human. He is material substance. “[D]ust thou art,” said God to Adam, “and unto dust shalt thou return.” Again, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 3:19 and 2:7).
Those Born Again to be Spirit
But, said Jesus plainly, when one is born of the Spirit he will be spirit! Look at it! Read it in your own Bible.
The Kingdom of God will be composed of spirit beings—not of humans!
At birth of human flesh, one is delivered from his mother’s womb into this world. When born of the Spirit, one will be delivered from the Church of God (physical) into the Kingdom of God (a Kingdom of spirit beings!).
Man is now composed of flesh—material substance—matter.
When born again he will be spirit—a spirit being, no longer human. He will be composed of spirit—of spirit composition—with life inherent—with self-containing life—not then existing by the breath of air and the circulation of blood.
Of the next age when the Kingdom of God will rule the world—the next life—Jesus said, “[T]hey neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God …” (Matt. 22:30). Marriage is a physical, fleshly union. In the age of God’s Kingdom—when “born again”—we shall be spirit, not flesh. Born of God as spirit beings, no longer human. Angels are spirits—composed of spirit (Heb. 1:7). Jesus did not say we shall then be angels—but as the angels—sexless and composed of spirit. Angels are spirit beings—created as such—but not begotten and born of God as God’s own born children. We therefore shall be much higher than angels!
Jesus explained this further to Nicodemus: “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 everyone that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
You cannot see wind. Wind is compared to spirit. It is invisible. That’s why mortal flesh, as we now are, cannot see the Kingdom of God. Those who inherit it will be spirit—normally invisible to eyes still human.
Energy of an A-Bomb?
Jesus was comparing also the power of one born of the Spirit to that of wind. A scientist of the U.S. Weather Bureau, Dr. J. Murray Mitchell, Jr., research climatologist, said that the energy of one average hurricane is much greater than an A-bomb such as destroyed Hiroshima. I am quite certain that no human claiming to have been “born again” in this human life is capable of exerting a tiny fraction of that kind of energy. But—as I shall show in this booklet, one when he becomes spirit will have that kind of power!
Not While Flesh and Blood
The Apostle Paul made clear that the Kingdom of God is something a human may inherit, but not in this age—not while he is composed of material flesh. He may, now, become only an heir, not yet an inheritor!
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50).
Leading up to this verse, Paul had made it very clear. “The first man is of the earth, earthy [human]: the second man is the Lord from heaven [a divine God Being]” (v. 47).
This is what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. He was of the earth, earthy—human—he was flesh, not spirit. He was born of the flesh, so that’s what he was—flesh. When one is born of the Spirit, he will be spirit. Paul is here explaining the same truth.
But we cannot be spirit in this present age.
There is a time element concerned with being born again!
Continue, now, in i Corinthians 15: “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy …” (v. 48). That is precisely what Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus. He was born of the flesh—he was flesh. He was born of the earth—he was earthy. And so are we all! And, same verse, “… as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” But for us humans, when? Not in this life!
Next verse: “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall [future—resurrection] also bear the image of the heavenly” (v.‑49). As we are now flesh, we shall be spirit—at the resurrection. That is when we shall be “born again”—when we shall see, enter into, the Kingdom of God—when we are spirit—at the resurrection!
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [be dead], but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the then living] shall be changed” (vv. 50-52). There is the time when we may be born again—when we may see, enter into, inherit the Kingdom—when “born again”—and not before!
How Changed When Born Again
How shall we be changed? The next words answer!
“For this corruptible”—flesh, as we now are—“must put on incorruption”—spirit—that which is born of God is spirit—“and this mortal must put on immortality”—be changed from material flesh to spirit!
Until born again, we cannot see the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:3).
Until born again, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:5).
Until no longer flesh, but changed into spirit, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:6-8).
While still flesh and blood (as Nicodemus was and we are) we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (Paul to the Corinthians, i‑Cor. 15:50).
Until the resurrection, at Christ’s coming, we shall not be changed from corruptible flesh into incorruptible spirit (Paul—i Cor. 15:50-53 and verses 22-23).
Until the resurrection, therefore, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. We cannot be born again until the resurrection!
Now Heirs—Not Yet Inheritors
While in our present status, born of the flesh and composed of flesh, we cannot see, enter into, or inherit the Kingdom of God. Notice, now, the status of the truly converted Christian, in this life—this world:
“… Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). Unless one has received the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit is dwelling in him, he is not a Christian. Joining a church does not make one a Christian. Receiving and following God’s Spirit does!
Holy Spirit Entering Compares to Sperm Entering Ovum
But now see how God’s Spirit entering and dwelling in one compares to the physical sperm impregnating the ovum—the imparting of eternal spirit life, later to produce—to bring forth—a spirit person! A fertilized ovum—an embryo—is not a born human person. Life from the father has been imparted to it—he has begotten it—but neither embryo nor fetus is yet a born person. In the same manner, the Spirit-begotten human is not, yet, a spirit person or being, as Jesus said he shall be when born again!
Continue: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (v. 11).
Understand this! There is a direct comparison between having been born of the flesh, and being born again of God. Jesus said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh—a born human. That which is born of the Spirit (God) is spirit—a born spirit person!
A mortal human life starts when a sperm cell from the body of the father impregnates—imparts physical life to—an ovum (egg cell) in the mother. At this point the father begets, sires. He does not “bring forth”: the mother does that, later. His part in the process leading to final birth is then done. But there is a time element. At the time of begettal, birth (parturition) has not yet occurred.
It is necessary to make this explanation, at this point, because the popular deception of a deceived traditional “Christianity” is to claim that when one “receives Christ”—“accepts Christ”—“professes Christ”—or first receives God’s Holy Spirit to dwell in him, that he is already “born again.”
First, then, notice the physical type and comparison.
The Time Element
In human physical reproduction, there is a time element. From impregnation—begettal on the part of the father—having conceived on the part of the mother—to birth, or parturition, or being delivered from the mother’s womb, is a time element of nine months.
That nine-month period is called gestation. Upon conception, the now fertilized ovum is called an embryo. A few months later, it is called a fetus. But during this nine-month period of gestation, we do not speak of the embryo-fetus as having been born. It is in the process toward birth. It is the child of its parents. But it is then the unborn child of its parents. The father has already begotten it—sired it. But the mother has not yet given birth to it. Yet it is, during the gestation period, the unborn child of its parents.
Now in being “born again,” the process of this birth begins when God’s divine spirit-life is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, from His very person, entering to dwell within us.
Repeat, from Romans 8: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [change to immortal spirit] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (v. 11). This is describing the same thing explained in i Corinthians 15:50-53, the resurrection.
I want to make this crystal clear. Millions of sincere professing Christians believe that when they profess Christ (or receive His Holy Spirit) they are “born again.” What actually happens is this:
The Church Our Mother
When one, after repentance, faith and baptism, receives the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God puts him into—baptizes him into—God’s Church. The Church is called the body of Christ. So we read: “[B]y one Spirit are we all baptized into one body …” (i‑Cor. 12:13).
Again, the Church is called “Jerusalem above,” or “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22-23). Now notice, in Galatians 4:26: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
The analogy is this: When begotten by God the Father by receiving His Holy Spirit, we are put into the Church, which during this gestation period is our mother.
The human mother of the fetus within her womb serves the function of feeding her unborn child with physical food, so that it may develop and grow physically. And also she carries it where she may best protect it from physical injury or harm, until parturition—delivery from her womb.
The spiritual mother—the Church—is commissioned to “feed the flock” (i Pet. 5:2) through the ministry which God has set in the Church “[f]or the perfecting of the saints … for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man …” (Eph. 4:11-13). Just as the human fetus develops and grows physically during the pre-birth gestation period, so we, after begettal by God’s Spirit, develop and grow spiritually in pre-birth state.
But not only is the Church to feed the members on the Word of God—spiritual food—but also to protect these conceived but yet unborn children of God from spiritual harm, as the very next verse shows: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (v. 14).
Then, at the time of the resurrection, we in the Church—the spiritual mother—shall be delivered from her, and born into—brought forth into—the Kingdom—the spirit-composed family of God.
Sons of God Now
Now, further: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). The unborn child in his mother’s womb is the child of his father and mother, though not yet born—delivered from the womb. So are we, if God’s Spirit dwells in us—if we are being led by God’s Spirit—children of God. Yet, at this time, we are in the gestation state, not yet that parturition. And only heirs. Not inheritors!
Continue: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be [future—at resurrection] also glorified together” (v.‑17).
Now see how this passage designates the resurrection into glory—when we shall be spirit—as a birth!
“For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God”—that is the time of Christ’s coming to reign, and of the resurrection to (being born of) spirit composition—“… because the creation [rsv] itself also shall be delivered [a birth] from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (vv. 19-22).
What could be more clear?
Here is another comparison: We shall be delivered from this world (the Church is in, though not of, this world) into the glorious World Tomorrow and the Kingdom which shall rule it.
The creation is waiting for this time of Christ’s coming, the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God. Because the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Not now delivered—shall be—at the resurrection time! Although this is not referring directly to our being born again, it is a direct comparison to the birth of a child being delivered from its mother’s womb.
The resurrection—the time when we are changed to be spirit and to inherit the Kingdom will be a time of delivery from the bondage of corruptible flesh and from this world of sin—a real birth!
Christ Born a Second Time By the Resurrection
Continue in Romans 8: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brethren” (v. 29).
Now compare with Romans 1:3-4: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God … by the resurrection from the dead.”
Jesus was, in the human flesh—His first birth—a descendant of David, and, by the resurrection from the dead (born again)—the Son of God, now no longer human, but composed of spirit—a spirit being. He thus became the first so born of many brethren who shall be born again at the time of the resurrection of those who are Christ’s.
Of course we understand, and so did Paul in writing the above, that Jesus was also the Son of God while in the human flesh. Though born of a human woman, He was sired by God. But this is comparing the two births—the one from the human Mary, as descended from the human David—the other, by His resurrection to glory, as Son of God by His resurrection, in the same manner we may be.
Emphatically this does not imply that Jesus was a sinner needing salvation. He was the pioneer, setting us the example, that we, too, may be born of God.
When Born Again What Shall We Be Like?
When we are born again, what shall we be like?
Here is the answer: “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body [flesh], that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body …” (Phil. 3:20-21). And what is Christ’s glorious body like? His eyes are as flames of fire—His face bright as the sun at full strength (Rev. 1:14-16).
A Time When Begotten but Not Yet Born
Thus, scripture after scripture—analogy after analogy—comparison after comparison—shows that being born of God is a process, in which there is a time element. Just as being born of the human flesh is a process.
At the time when the father begets and the mother conceives—of the union of sperm cell and ovum—the fertilized ovum becomes an embryo. But it is not yet delivered from the womb—not yet born! And will not be for nine months. A pregnancy is in progress. Yet during this period of physical development and growth, it is the unborn child of its parents.
In like manner, at the time when the Spirit Father, God, begets a human with the Spirit (the spiritual counterpart of the physical sperm)—the Holy Spirit—he becomes a son of God! He is then already a son of God.
But he is still human—he is still material flesh and blood. He must now undergo a period (until death, the resurrection) of spiritual development and growth. He is in the gestation state in the process toward being born. He is in the Church of God, but the Church is not the Kingdom of God.
The Church is composed of human, flesh-and-blood children of God. And, flesh and blood cannot see, cannot enter into, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is made up of spirit-composed children of God. The Spirit-begotten human in the Church is in the process of being born of God, but he has not yet entered the Kingdom of God. He has not yet been born of God.
He is in the gestation state toward spirit birth, but not yet born of the Spirit. He yet has a lot of spiritual developing and growing to do—acquiring the spiritual character-image of God.
Power Greater Than Energy of Wind
There is another passage, understood by almost none, that reveals our astonishing, transcendent potential!
It begins in Hebrews 2, verse 6. But first, notice about Christ, in chapter 1: “God … Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things [Moffatt and others, the universe], by whom also he made the worlds; Who, being the brightness of his glory, [Moffatt] stamped with God’s own character and upholding [sustaining] the universe by the word of his power …” (Heb. 1:1-3). All power, in heaven and Earth (Matt. 28:18), has been given to Christ. He is now Chief Executive of God’s government of the universe.
Now begin with Hebrews 2:6; a citation from Psalm 8:4-6: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
Yes, why should the great God be concerned about us mortals? Why did He put us here on Earth? What is the purpose of life—what is our transcendent potential? It is so far above and beyond anything you have thought or imagined, it seems shockingly incredible!
Can you believe it? Are you willing to believe what is now plainly stated? Here comes the astonishing answer, beginning verse 7: “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ….” Some translations have it, “for a little while lower than the angels.” Continue: “[T]hou crownedst him [kingship] with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands”—that is, God’s creation. Continue:
Not Yet the Universe!
“Thou hast put all things [Moffatt: the universe] in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. …” Can you grasp that? The entire vast, endless universe! But that is for born sons of God. Man is not yet born—except Christ only! Continue: Here comes the answer:
“… But now [in this present gestation state] we see not yet all things [the universe] put under him” (v. 8).
But what do we see, now?
“But we see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour …” (v.‑9). Yes, as revealed in chapter 1, Jesus has already been given the executive administration of God’s government—the Kingdom of God—over the entire universe! Only, until our time to inherit and possess the government of Earth, at Christ’s return, He is allowing Satan to continue on this Earth his work of deception. Now continue:
“For it became him [Jesus], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain [margin: leader—or, forerunner, pioneer—the One who has gone on before us, as we are to follow] of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (vv. 10-11).
Christ FirstBorn of Many
We are, as quoted before, heirs of God, and joint-heirs—as brethren—with Christ. He has gone on ahead, through a resurrection, to glory as the pioneer!
He is the firstborn of many brethren! He has inherited “all things”—the universe! We are still heirs—still in the gestation stage of the process of being born of God. Jesus is now our High Priest, supervising our spiritual development—preparing us to be kings and priests, reigning with Him!
The first thousand years we shall reign on the Earth. For He shall have “made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).
The First Thousand Years
For that first thousand years, Jesus is to reign on the throne of His earthly ancestor David in Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7). And, “he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron …” (Rev. 2:26-27). But how and from where shall we rule?
Jesus said, again, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne [at Jerusalem], even as I also overcame, and am [now] set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21).
When born of God, we shall be spirit, no longer human flesh and blood. We shall be given power! As Daniel revealed, the saints then shall take the kingdoms of Earth’s nations and rule them—for the first thousand years.
And … after that? The passage in Hebrews 2 shows that then, under Christ, we shall be given power to rule over the entire vast universe—literally all things. For that is the power that has been given to Christ, and we are joint-heirs, to become joint-inheritors with Him.
All Power—The Universe
Most people have passed right over many vital statements in the Bible, not recognizing their tremendous import!
Let me give you a few. Ask yourself if you have ever recognized the true import of these statements in God’s Word?
Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spake unto them [after His resurrection], saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
Matthew 11:27: Jesus said: “All things [the whole universe] are delivered unto me of my Father .…”
John 3:35: “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
John 13:3: During the last Passover: “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God.”
John 16:15: “All things that the Father hath are mine .…”
I Corinthians 15:27-28: “For he [the Father] hath put all things under his [Christ’s] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he [the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
And—incredible, yet true!—we, in Christ, are made co-heirs with Christ in this ultimate supreme rule.
Incidentally, 1 Corinthians 15:27-28, along with verses 22-26, indicate that our reign over the universe shall follow the thousand years’ reign on the Earth.
Must Grow During Gestation
Human life starts with what the Bible terms “corruptible seed”—physical male sperm. Divine life starts with that which is incorruptible—the Holy Spirit of God entering the human person. But as the human embryo must grow till it becomes a fetus, which must grow to the point of being born into the human family, so the Christian in whom divine life has been started by the gift of God’s incorruptible Spirit must grow toward perfection to be born into the God family. He will then be perfect, unable to sin.
Peter gives an analogy of this: “Being born again …” (i Pet. 1:23). Being—in process of—not having been—not yet an immortal person—but being “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible .…” (Other translations use the term “begotten.”) Greek: annagennao—to beget anew (Young). Peter is here referring to the process having started within us by the incorruptible Spirit of God—not as our human life was begotten by human physical sperm. Peter here shows that the Spirit of God is the incorruptible “seed” that imparted the presence of eternal life within us. Continue: “by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Peter continues, chapter 2: “Wherefore … As newborn babes‑…” (vv. 1-2). Not that we are already-born perfect divine spirit persons having entered into and inherited God’s Kingdom. He is comparing the Christian’s spiritual “gestation” period to the growth of a newborn human physical baby simply because it would be awkward indeed to compare it to a physical embryo or fetus. He is not saying we are already born babes in God’s Kingdom—but as—or like newborn human babes. It is an analogy, which Webster says is a comparison or “likeness between two things … consisting in the resemblance not of the things themselves, but of two or more attributes, circumstances or effects.”
Peter is simply showing that, as a newborn human babe must be nourished and grow physically (even, for that matter, as must the unborn fetus), so Christians must grow spiritually. Continue: “… desire the sincere milk of the word” [rsv has, “long for the pure spiritual milk”], that ye may grow thereby” (v. 2). Paul styled it “unto a perfect man” (Eph. 4:13)—unable to sin. When born again, we shall not be helpless spirit babes, but spirit beings of perfection unable to sin. This Christian spiritual growth is in spiritual character and knowledge in this present human life. As a physical babe must grow physically, so we in the Christian life must grow in spiritual knowledge and character (see ii Pet. 3:18) to become perfect, which we shall never attain until born as spirit beings.
The Comparison
During our converted human Christian life, we are already children of God, as yet unborn. We have within us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the presence of eternal life—Spirit life—divine life—but, only from and through God. We do not, yet, have any eternal life inherent—of ourselves, independent of God! And, we could lose it—be aborted!
This compares to the unborn physical fetus, in the gestation period. It has human life—but only through the umbilical cord and from the mother—not independently of itself. And it can be aborted!
This is so clearly brought out in the Bible, in i John 5:11-12: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” It is not inherent in us. We do not now in this life have born life of our own, independent of Him. Our contact with Him through His Spirit is the umbilical cord through which we are partaking of eternal life from Him. Continue, verse 12: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life.” If one is cut off from Christ, he has no eternal life.
A born human baby has human life on its own—independent of its mother. That defines the difference between the state of begettal and a born state! The only difference is, in the Christian life we are fed and protected by and through the spiritual mother—the Church, while our actual eternal life comes into us through and from God. But when born again, of God, we shall have eternal life inherent—of our own! We are not now in that state!
How Jesus Was the Only Begotten Son
King David of Israel had God’s Holy Spirit. Praying for forgiveness following his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, he implored: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:10-11).
The prophets had received God’s Holy Spirit. Peter wrote: “…‑[H]oly men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (ii Pet. 1:21). They could not be called “holy men” unless God’s Spirit was within them.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are to be seen in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said so. Therefore God’s Spirit was “dwelling in them”—they were begotten of God—but they were not Born of God—for Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren.
But if they were begotten of God by the Holy Spirit—and hundreds of years before Christ was born, how could Jesus be called “the only begotten Son of God”?
Answer: The scriptures calling Jesus the only begotten Son of God all apply to His begettal as the human Son, His first birth—born of the human mother, Mary. Jesus was the only human ever begotten by God prior to human birth. In Revelation 1:5, the Authorized Version speaks of Christ as the first begotten—but other translations render it, properly, firstBORN—referring to His resurrection, not His human birth from His mother Mary.
Jesus was not the first begotten in the sense that Abraham, David and Old Testament prophets were begotten.
Before Jesus was conceived by Mary, He was not the Son of God. God is the divine family. He was one of that family. In John 1:1 He is called the “Logos”—the Word. He, like the Father, had existed eternally. But He is nowhere in God’s Word referred to as a son of God prior to conception by Mary. His human birth was His first birth. He gave up the glory He had with the Father in order to be born into the world to save the world.
Abraham and many others—prophets and writers of the Bible—were begotten of God—they were in the same identical state as human Christians who have God’s Spirit within them today. But they have not, even yet, inherited—entered into—the Kingdom of God. They have not yet been born of God.
Jesus had to be the first to be born of God—the firstborn of many brethren. That was His second birth, as the resurrection will be ours! “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise [were not born into the kingdom]: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40).
This, again, proves that the conversion in this life—receiving the Holy Spirit—is only a begettal—not a birth! For Old Testament fathers and prophets received God’s Spirit—but they were not “born again” because Jesus was the first so born!
How does this process of being born again take place?
What Is the Way?
Peter gave the way, and the conditions. Repent, he said, and be baptized, as an act of faith in Christ, His shed blood in payment of the penalty of our sins, and His resurrection making possible our eternal life and being born again. Then, he said, we shall receive the Holy Spirit.
Those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells are Christ’s (Rom. 8:9); all others are not. But if God’s Spirit dwells in them, God will, by a resurrection as He raised Christ from the dead, bring forth all such in immortal spirit life—composed of spirit as Christ is.
All these scriptures make clearly plain that we are to be born again by, and only by, a resurrection to spirit composition.
We are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ—not yet inheritors, or possessors of the Kingdom.
The Human Birth
What is a birth—what is meant by being born?
The actual final birth is called parturition—a baby being delivered out of its mother’s womb.
But this birth requires a father, as well as a mother! If it were not for the part the father contributes in the process, there would be no fetus to be born. But there is a time element. The father’s part in what shall, later, be the birth is to beget—to gender—to sire. From his body emanates the sperm cell that unites with and starts life in an ovum within the mother. This occurs nine months prior to parturition—or birth.
We never say, in the English language, that immediately when an embryo is conceived in the mother—sired or begotten by the father—that the embryo has already been born! Birth has not occurred! To say it would sound idiotic, ridiculous!
From conception must follow the process called gestation for nine months. The embryo takes on human form and is called a fetus. It must develop and grow physically to be born.
So with being born again, in a spiritual birth.
What comes from the divine Father is the Holy Spirit. Just as the unborn child in the mother’s womb is, even in the fetal state, the child (yet unborn) of its parents, so those in whom God’s Spirit dwells are, already, children of God. But they are still of this first birth—still human—still composed of physical flesh. They are still in their spiritual mother—the Church—which is still in this corruptible present world, though not of it. When born of the Spirit, said Jesus, they shall be spirit.
But if God’s Spirit dwells in them, God then will resurrect them (if they are dead), or change them (if still living) from physical to spirit composition at Christ’s coming. They will then be brought forth—delivered from their mother, the Church, into the Kingdom of God.
Of the first birth we are, and remain, flesh! Human beings!
Of the second birth, which is spiritual, we shall be spirit, no longer flesh—but spirit beings!—divine beings!
The Greek Words
The New Testament of the Holy Bible was originally written in the Greek language. It is inevitable that some difficulties confront translators in the rendering from one language to another.
For example, there are some idiomatic expressions common to one language that have no equivalent in another.
One word may have more than one meaning in a language where the equivalent word in another language would not have the same different meanings. For example, the English word saw may mean did see, or it might mean—as a noun—a carpenter’s instrument to cut through wood, or, as a verb it may mean to cut with a saw.
However, by checking different translations, and by understanding of the context and all other passages of the Bible in relation to the same subject, we may come to the correct meaning as expressed in English.
One such example is the original Greek word for the English born—a word Jesus used in speaking to Nicodemus.
The Greek word used in John 3:3-8 for born is gennao (pronounced ghen-ah-o). Here are the English definitions of the Greek gennao from leading lexicons—Greek-English dictionaries:
Thayer: “gennao: 1. properly: of men begetting children. Matt. 1:1-16; Acts 7:8, 29; foll. by ek with gen. of the mother, Matt. 1:3, 5, 6; more rarely of women giving birth to children. Lk 1:13, 57; 23:29; Jn. 16:21, etc. 2. a. univ. to engender, cause to arise, excite. … d. peculiarly in the Gosp. and 1st Ep. of John, of God conferring upon men the nature and disposition of His sons, imparting to them spiritual life i.e. by His own holy power, prompting and persuading souls to put faith in Christ and live a new life consecrated to Himself.”
Liddell and Scott: “gennao: to beget, of the father; to bear, bring forth, of the mother; ii, to generate, produce.” (Webster defines “generate” “to beget; procreate.”)
Strong: “gennao: to procreate (prop. of the father, but by extens. of the mother); fig. to regenerate:—bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring.”
Young: “gennao: to beget, bring forth.”
George Ricker Berry: “gennao: to beget, give birth to, produce, effect; pass., to be begotten, born (often in John of spiritual renewal)” (That is, receiving or having received the Holy Spirit, being begotten.)
One man, a native Greek from Cyprus, in a private communication, stated it this way: “the verb gennao denotes the production through birth.” And further, “denotes a production through a process that always includes a birth.” He put major emphasis on birth, rather than begetting or conception—but when asked if it does not include an impregnation by male sperm, and conception, as well as gestation period, he agreed that it does.
However, it is to be noted that the scholarly authorities whose definitions are quoted above, all put first and primary emphasis on the begetting by the father. It is, as I have always said, a process, with the time element at different stages of the process.
It might be made more clear, in nontechnical language, to explain that in some languages words may be all-inclusive as to time, without distinction as to past, present or future state of a process. For example, in German there are not the two words designating the two states of being an heir or an inheritor. The one German word would be used in describing a young man who is his father’s heir, having not yet inherited anything, or a man who, after the death of his father, has become an inheritor of his father’s estate.
A Frenchman said, “If I were an author, I would much prefer to write in English, because there are so many more words, expressing various shades of meaning.”
There is a time period between fertilization by a male sperm and parturition—delivery from the womb—which state as to time, in English, is medically termed gestation. We never refer, in English, to that gestation state as a born state. Likewise, in English, we cannot properly refer to the Christian in whom God’s Spirit dwells as having been “born” of God. My commission is to make the truth plain in English.
Definition: “Supernatural Begettal by the Holy Spirit”
“To beget means begetting, the action or process of generating or producing; generation”—from New English Dictionary of Historical Principles, 1888. It is interesting also, in this dictionary to find the following: “Begettal (f. beget v. + al, cf. Commital) Begetting, 1873, C. M. Davies: They believe in his preternatural begettal by the Holy Spirit.”
Thus, the one Greek word, gennao, means production through a process that includes and is generated by the imparting of the fertilizing or lifegiving element by the father. There is a time when the culmination in birth has not yet occurred.
In the Greek, gennao, the word is all-inclusive as a production process. But in English, the word birth is not all-inclusive, and refers only to the final stage of the process—the time of parturition—delivery of child from the womb. One’s birthday in English always means the day—or anniversary of the day—of his delivery from his mother’s womb.
Status of Christian, Now
Now let us notice one of the problems to be expected in rendering the verb gennao into our being born again of God.
When Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, He was referring to the time when we may see, enter into, the Kingdom of God. And that is the time of the final birth. For the Kingdom is literally the family of God. Therefore the translators correctly rendered the Greek gennao in John 3:3-8 in the English word born.
Combining this with i Corinthians 15:45-53, the resurrection chapter, it is made absolutely plain that we do not enter into and inherit the Kingdom of God while still flesh and blood, but only after the resurrection to spirit composition.
Being born again refers to the time—the future state—when we shall be spirit, no longer flesh and blood—born actually by the resurrection.
But in certain passages, the Greek gennao is used, in referring to the present state of those who have received the spiritual life-begetting, impregnating Holy Spirit. They are, upon receiving His Holy Spirit, children of God, in the same sense that the embryo-fetus is the unborn child of its human parents.
We are in the state—the time element—after generation-conception, but prior to birth. In the human instance, the medical term for this state is gestation.
We are now begotten children of God—but still flesh-and-blood humans—still heirs—not yet spirit-composed divine beings—not yet inheritors—not yet having been “brought forth” into, or seen or inherited the Kingdom of God—therefore, not yet born of God.
In other words—shocking though His truth may sound to some to whom this truth is new, that which is born of humans is born into the human family—the human kingdom—and that which is born of God is born into the God family—the God Kingdom—the Kingdom, or family, of God! But while still flesh and blood, we are merely begotten of God—we have not yet been “brought forth” into His family—His Kingdom!
The English Verb “Beget”
Now a word of explanation about this English verb beget—or the adjective form, begotten.
The simple dictionary definition (Webster) is: “1: to procreate, as the father: sire. 2: Cause,” Above, I quoted the definition from the New English Dictionary of Historical Principles: “begetting, the action or process of generating or producing‑.…”
Also this same dictionary in giving an example of the use of begettal in a sentence, quotes, from author C. M. Davies, 1873: “They believe in his preternatural [supernatural] begettal by the Holy Spirit.”
Beget refers to the father. And the father’s action is to cause the start of the process toward birth.
Various Translations
Since the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language, our English language Bibles have been translated from the Greek.
And since the Greek gennao is an all-inclusive term—referring to begetting by the father, but also, secondarily according to the lexicons, including the process culminating in birth, the translators had to decide which English term to use in each case.
It had been the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that its church is the Kingdom of God. When one embraces the Catholic faith, he is regarded by Catholicism as having already entered into the Kingdom of God. Protestants have largely followed this assumption as applying to Protestantism, though some regard the Kingdom of God as some ethereal something “set up in men’s hearts.” Many translators assumed this error. This led to translating gennao into the English term born in many instances where it rightly should be translated begotten. They simply chose the English term that conformed to their erroneous belief. And since the Greek gennao is a term including the whole process of birth even from conception, they in some cases translated gennao by the English word born—where I have proved by many passages flesh and blood humans have not been yet born again, of God.
In every instance where the Greek gennao refers to Spirit-begotten Christians, it should be rendered “begotten.”
Notice a few outstanding examples!
In John 1:13, the Authorized, or King James, Version of the Bible renders it: “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” In the American Revised Version a marginal rendering says: “or, begotten,” as it should be. Other examples appear in John’s first epistle. Notice:
In the American Revised Version, i John 2:29 is correctly translated: “is begotten of Him”; but in the Authorized Version it is, incorrectly, “… every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.”
i John 4:7, the Authorized Version incorrectly has it: “… and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” But the Revised Version corrected this error, rendering it: “…‑is begotten of God.”
i John 5:1, in the Authorized Version, incorrectly has it: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.”
Here, this same Greek word, gennao, was inspired by the Holy Spirit three times in the same verse. The first time, the King James translators erroneously rendered it into the English word “born.” The second time gennao is used in the Greek they could not render it “him that was born” or “him that ‘borned’”—for it refers to God, and not the human believer. Here they were forced to choose the correct translation of gennao, in the past tense, as “begat.” Then, since they already had to use the past tense “begat” in that instance, they also correctly rendered it, in the third place the word occurred, “is begotten.”
The Revised Version also corrected this error, rightly rendering it: “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God, and whosoever loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him.”
One final example: i John 5:4—the Authorized Version erroneously renders it: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world …” but the Revised Version corrected it to read: “For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world .…”
Correctly Translated
Now quickly notice a few instances where the same Greek word was correctly translated “begotten.”
i Corinthians 4:15, the Apostle Paul is talking to those converted under his ministry. “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” There it is correctly translated, showing that Paul’s converts at Corinth, as his “spiritual children,” had been begotten of God, but not yet born.
The experience of conversion, in this life, is a begettal—a “conception”—an “impregnation”—but not yet a birth! This we have made very plain!
One more—Hebrews 1:5—speaking of Christ’s begettal in the virgin Mary. This verse shows that Christ, later born of God by a resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4), was an actual begotten Son of God, in a manner that no angel is, or can be. Angels are merely created beings. They are not actually begotten of God, so in this sense they are not His born sons, as Christ now is—and as we may also be. Notice the verse: “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? …”
Now that ought to be plain. A converted person—one who has repented, accepted Christ as Savior, received God’s Holy Spirit, does have a changed attitude and outlook and purpose—his whole character begins to change, and travel in an opposite direction. But he is not invisible to the human eyes of other people! He is not composed of spirit. He is still composed of material flesh, even though God’s Holy Spirit has entered, and now dwells in, and leads his human mind.
When We Cannot Sin
There is a particular verse that has puzzled millions, discouraged thousands who didn’t understand, and caused some to accuse the Bible of contradicting itself.
Look at this verse! It says: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (i John 3:9).
Now is that a contradiction of verse 8 of the first chapter of the same book, which says we deceive ourselves if we think we have no sin? The answer is easy to understand.
Remember that in New Testament language the pronoun “we” or “us” refers to converted Christians. (The unconverted are referred to as “they” or “them.” An example is i Thessalonians 5:3-4: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them … and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”)
i John 1:8-10 reads: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we [Christians]”—this verse is referring to sins committed, though of course not deliberately and willfully, after being converted—“confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we [we Christians] say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Then, the next verse, i John 2:1: “… And if any man sin, we [Christians] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” It is here speaking of Christ in His present office as our High Priest.
Christians Should Not Sin
Of course the Bible teaches that Christians should not sin. The first part of 1 John 2:1 (not quoted above) teaches that. The emphasis all through the New Testament is on rooting out sin—overcoming sin—growing in God’s righteousness, always toward perfection.
But these and numerous other verses (especially the Apostle Paul’s experience, Romans 7:14-25) say plainly that converted Christians do sin—though not habitually practicing sin deliberately and willfully. Certainly it is not impossible!
Look at Jesus Christ Himself! The Scriptures say He did not sin—yet they teach plainly that at all times it was entirely possible for Him to sin. Jesus, in the human flesh, “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). No scripture says that He could not sin.
So here we have many scriptures showing that it is not impossible for converted Christians to sin—it was not impossible even for Jesus! Yet, in 1 John 3:9, in the Authorized Version, we have the flat statement that, if and when we are actually born of God, we shall not be able to sin—it will then be impossible!
Two Translations
Here, again, the translators had to decide how to render the verb gennao. And it must be decided by the meaning in the context as a whole.
Some more modern translations render it “begotten” supposing the passage is talking about Christians now not continuing in indifferent practicing of sin, as they did before conversion. They know well that it is not impossible for a human Christian, now, to sin. So they render it in the sense of continuing in the habitual practicing of sin, once begotten of God.
On the other hand, it also can be rendered “born” as in the Authorized Version, without any contradiction.
Notice this, in i John 3: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God …. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he [Christ at His Second Coming] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (vv. 1-2).
This is speaking of the time when we shall be spirit—born of God.
What We Shall Be
Now notice that! Understand what we shall be, when we are born of God! Then, next we shall see—still further—when we shall be born of God.
This scripture, in this marvelous third chapter of i John, plainly says that “we”—meaning begotten, converted Christians—are, now, already, the sons of God. Yes, of course, and the tiny embryo, no larger than a pinpoint in its mother’s womb is, already, the son (or daughter) of its human father, even though not yet born.
Next, this scripture reveals that “it doth not yet appear what we shall be.”
Grasp that! Isn’t it plain? We are, later, to be something different. Of course! Although we already are begotten sons of God, we are still flesh—still matter—still visible. But what we shall be has not, yet, appeared. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, we shall be immortal spirit. That is what we shall later be!
But, this scripture continues—read it!—understand this wonderful, Wonderful Truth!—we know that, when He, Christ, shall appear at His Second Coming to Earth, we shall be like Him!
Now what shall He be like? If you can know that, you can know what born-again Christians shall then be like—for they shall be like Him!
What does the glorified Christ look like? His eyes blaze forth like flames of fire! His feet glow like finely burnished brass. His face shines like the sun, in full strength—so bright, it would blind your eyes if He were visible to you now! (Rev. 1:14-16; 19:12-13; Matt. 17:2).
And that is the way you and I shall look, if and when we are finally born of God! These deceived people who talk about having has a “born-again experience” certainly don’t look like that!
When Born Again?
That tremendous, glorious event of being born of God is to take place at the resurrection of the just—at the time of Christ’s Second Coming to Earth!
We are now flesh—vile corruptible flesh subject to rotting and decay. But at Christ’s coming, when we shall be born of God, this vile body shall be changed, and made exactly like Jesus in His glorified body!
Yes, I know this is probably too wonderful for you to grasp!
But scripture after scripture piles up on us, confirming this tremendous truth!
Look at the very resurrection chapter, i Corinthians 15.
The Bible, which is God’s message and instruction to mankind, nowhere teaches any such thing as the pagan doctrine of an “immortal soul” going to heaven at death. It teaches that the soul is mortal and shall die (Ezek. 18:4, 20).
But it does teach the resurrection of the dead.
Now, when? At Christ’s Second Coming! “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits [that was more than 1,900 years ago]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (i Cor. 15:22-23).
That is when—at Christ’s coming! And notice, Christ is the “firstfruits”—the first of those who have been human to be born of God by a resurrection from the dead! The true resurrection from the dead!
What Kind of Body?
Now how? What kind of body? That question is asked in verse 35. Notice God’s answer: “[T]hat which thou sowest”—bury in the ground—“thou sowest not that body that shall be …” (v. 37). The immortal body that comes up in the resurrection will not be this vile, rotting body of material flesh—but a different body. Continue: “But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him. … So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. … It is sown a natural body”—that is, of nature—material flesh—“it is raised a spiritual body”—composed of spirit! “And as we have borne the image of the earthy”—material flesh—of the earth—earthy—“we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (v. 49)—like God—like Christ in His glorified body!
The remainder of this passage we have covered earlier.
Christ Only The First
I have been the father of two sons. I am human. They, begotten of me, were born human, as I am! When we are born of God, we shall be of His very family. We shall be spirit as He is Spirit—immortal as He is immortal—divine as He is divine!
Why does not organized professed “Christianity” know that? Why should that seem incredible, impossible, or even to some like blasphemy?
Why?
The New Testament of your Bible teaches that truth all the way through! Jesus taught it! Paul taught it! Peter taught it! John taught it! The Holy Spirit inspired it, repeatedly!
You have seen, in Philippians 3:20-21, how, as stated just above in i Corinthians 15, at Christ’s coming our vile bodies shall be changed into spirit, made immortal, fashioned like Christ’s glorified body. That is when we shall be born of God. And that change does not take place in this life! All these sincere people who think they have been “born again” have never experienced that change!
Now we saw in i Corinthians 15:23, that Christ, who was born of God by His resurrection, was the firstfruits of those to be resurrected—those to be born again!
Now believe other scriptures that say the same thing!
Believe Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son [Christ], that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Christ was born a Son of God by a resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). He was only the first to be so born of God, of many brethren. We are to be in His same image—as He is, now! We are to be put on His same plane—as His brethren—to be also born of God—to become God’s sons!
We are already begotten sons—if really converted—but what we shall be, in the resurrected glorified body—does not yet appear—cannot yet be seen (i John 3:1-2).
God is to have many sons born of Him. Of all these, Jesus was the first to be so born. He is the only human so far born of God, though many have already been begotten!
Believe Colossians 1:15, 18: Speaking of Jesus, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature … the firstborn from the dead ….” Yes, just the first of many brethren, in the very image of bright, shining glory of the invisible God. And we are to be conformed to the same image (Rom. 8:29).
Will You Believe?
Now will you believe what God says in the book of Hebrews?
Why should God be concerned about human beings? From a small airplane we look like little ants down here. From a jet 5 to 6 miles high, people on the ground have shrunken so small they can’t be seen. How tiny must we look to God? Why should He have concern for us?
The question is answered in Hebrews 2, beginning verse 6. God made man a little lower than angels, but, in God’s purpose and plan, He has crowned man, as He first has Christ, with glory and honor.
What is the glory with which Christ is now crowned? A crown denotes kingship—rule—authority—power. Jesus Christ said, just before ascending to heaven, that all power in the universe—in heaven and in Earth—had been given to Him.
In Hebrews 1:1-3, it is revealed that Christ now is the brightness of God’s glory!
Yes, His eyes like flashing flames of fire—His face shining bright as the full-strength sun.
Christ’s glory is such that now He sustains, upholds, controls, every force, energy and power that exists everywhere—supreme power over the universe!
Now believe what God says about us!—Hebrews 2:10: “For it became him … in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain [margin: leader, or predecessor, or pioneer] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” And in verse 11, Jesus calls us His brothers.
Oh, what matchless, transcendent glory God purposes for us—when we are born again! Revelation 1:13-17 gives a graphic description of that future glory.
Why Not Now?
But, as we read in Hebrews 2:8, we do not see yet all this glory having been inherited by any but Christ. Why, then, are we not yet born?
Because, when we are, we are to be given such powers to guide, direct and control, that we must first be trained and have the perfect spiritual Character developed in us so that we may safely be entrusted with such vast powers!
God created this universe. He is the real Supreme Ruler! He is not going to turn over that power to rule to any except those who will rule His way, who will obey Him, obey His government, and carry out His government, under Him!
So, it is only those who are led by God’s Holy Spirit in His ways who are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14). And we have to begin overcoming our own self-natures, the wrong ways of this world that have become fixed habit, and the devil. We must “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (ii Pet. 3:18).
Yes, even as the unborn, but begotten, human baby must grow from its beginning size no larger than a pinpoint, fed on physical food, so once we are impregnated by God’s Holy Spirit—His Life—we must Grow spiritually, fed on the spiritual food of God’s Word the Bible, and by prayer, and what fellowship is possible with truly begotten brethren in God’s truth.
And unless we do continue to grow in spiritual character development, more and more like God, we become like the unborn babe that miscarries—or like an abortion! And such shall never be born of God!
Glorious World Tomorrow
What wonderful, almost incomprehensible, Glorious Good News!
And the best news is, that the coming of Christ is now drawing very near! Just a very few more years! And then—the peaceful, happy, glorious World Tomorrow!
All who now are begotten sons of God shall then be born—elevated from mortal to immortal, from decaying flesh to spirit—from human to divine!
And that true born-again experience will be incomparably more glorious than the false, vague, meaningless, so-called “born-again experience” that deceived thousands think they have had now.
Can your mind grasp what an incredible, transcendent glory is the true potential of those who do believe, repent and obey?
But, the scriptures that break before our eyes this glorious good news, also warn us to take heed, and to make our calling and election sure!
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