© 2021 Don Pinson | [Download]
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At this time of year we probably hear the Name of Jesus spoken more often than at any other time. We thrill to the story of His miraculous birth and the way He arose out of very humble surroundings to become a Man who helped so many hurting people. But there, most people’s thoughts of Him stop. And we miss the reason for all His background and upbringing. We miss what the great hymn written by Charles Wesley captured so well when he wrote in the 1700s that Jesus was:
“…born to raise the sons of earth; born to give them second birth.” (Hark the Herald Angels Sing)
So how does Jesus raise the sons of earth? Well, He starts by bringing us into what the next phrase of the hymn calls the “second birth.” He has the Holy Spirit convince us that we have rebelled against God and His order for our lives; thus, the Bible reveals to us that we are each sinners. Then the Holy Spirit convinces us that Jesus has paid the penalty for our rebellion by dying on a cross so we could be legally forgiven by God the Father. He then enables us to admit that God is right, and we’ve been wrong in the way we’ve thought about God and ourselves. He then convinces us that Jesus was—and is—alive from the dead! Which means that Jesus is able to step into these lives we’ve called ours, and change them by living through us in this world. This is what the Bible means when it says,
“…as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12)
In other words, to “…be born again…” (See John 3:3).
When we acknowledge the risen Christ has the right to rule these lives which have our name attached to them, and invite Him to step into them, He comes to live inside us and He births His own life in our spirits. This, then, makes possible Him flowing out of our spirit into our soul (in other words our mind, will, and emotions) and through the actions of our body so that He literally begins to live His life through us in this present world! Thus, He starts “raising the sons of earth” to His level of life. Even Jesus’ enemies often admit that His life on this earth was one of the greatest ever lived. If He could get inside us and live through us, He would definitely raise us to a much more noble life.
Thus, Jesus returns us to the order our Creator planned for us. Men become the leaders, providers, and protectors of the family. Women become the helper of their husbands in achieving the vision God has for them. Children become the reason we live. And I don’t mean working to plan your life around the child’s activities and wants—absolutely not! I’m talking about teaching the next generation the ways of God and His plan for them, so they, too, can submit to Christ’s rule in them; and thus become what God created them to be. In this way, the truth is passed from generation to generation; and the will of God for each individual is taught so that each life can become what God created it to be.
This is how God “raises the sons of earth”. He restores us to His order through the truth of who He is, who we are, and what His plan for us is. Wherever this has been done in history individuals and nations have changed for the better. It is why Sam Adams would rise and say on the day the Declaration of Independence was being signed:
“We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting…sun, let His kingdom come.”
(Adams, Samuel. 1776, statement made while the Declaration of Independence was being signed. Charles E. Kistler, This Nation Under God (Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1924), p. 71 | Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1977), p. 309.)
Is your aim this Christmas season that His kingdom would come in you and your family?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.