Daily Bread – August 18, 2022 (The Fifth Day – Genesis 1:20-23) John 3:6 – What is begotten of the flesh is flesh and what is begotten of the Spirit is Spirit New Nature When the eternal Word was incarnated into flesh and became Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, He was begotten of the Spirit: “For that which was begotten in Mary was of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). When a man is begotten of the Spirit, a “new man” created in Christ Jesus is brought forth. This new creation does not co-exist with the corrupt nature of the unredeemed man, for Paul revealed that the “old man” was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed (Romans 6:6; Colossians 2:11). When we are born of the Spirit, a new creation is raised up with Christ Jesus that is purely spiritual (Romans 6:4; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 4:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Paul further takes up the contrast between the “flesh” and the “Spirit” – or the “unredeemed man” and “those born of the Spirit” in Romans 8. He makes it perfectly clear that when a person is redeemed, they are no longer classified as being “in the flesh”, but in Christ Jesus – which he equates to being born of the Spirit (Romans 8:1-9). Jesus is not presenting a “Spirit Nature” that would co-exist with an “Unredeemed Nature,” but rather an opportunity for a total regeneration of the nature of man (Titus 3:5-6) Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 8/18/2022
