Dear Doves,
I just wanted to share a study that I have been working on:
1st and 2nd Birth Models
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:5-6.
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:11-12.
I believe that the first and second births mentioned by Jesus Christ, are represented by water and fire, respectively. I also believe that we can see models of these two births throughout the Bible.
Heaven and Earth Model: The Earth has a strange connection to humankind. We were literally made from the dust of the ground. See Genesis 2:7. When God was dispensing punishments to Adam, Eve and the Serpent, He also included a punishment for the Earth. "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field." Genesis 3:17-18. After we all receive our immortal bodies, Creation will also be changed. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the Firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Romans 8:19-23. Because of its close connection us, I believe that God has designated the Earth to be a model for us. Like us, it has and will experience a first and second birth.
The first birth involves water. A human baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid. In layman’s language, a woman’s water will break when it is time for her to give birth. Likewise at the time of its creation, the Earth was covered by water. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters …. And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day. And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:2, 6-10.
As Christians, we observe the ceremony of water baptism. The water connects us to the water of our First Birth, from which we received bodies that are subject to death. It also depicts our identification with the death of Jesus Christ and the hope His resurrection gives us for a second birth. "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3-4. The Earth, too, has experienced a sort of baptism thanks to Noah’s Flood. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolized baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." 1 Peter 3:18-22. Therefore, the water of the Flood can be viewed as a model for the water of the First Birth. If we imagine the ark as a type of womb, we can really see the connection.
The Second Birth involves the Holy Spirit. It involves another baptism – one of fire. When John the Baptist spoke of Jesus Christ, he prophesied that Jesus would not baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit and fire. See Matthew 3:11-12. Accordingly, we see that the early Church experienced this very baptism. "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." Acts 2:1-4. Likewise, the Earth will experience its own baptism of fire. "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men …. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." 2 Peter 3:3-7, 12-13. Creation will also experience a Second Birth in the form of a New Heavens and New Earth. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea." Revelation 21:1.
If Noah and the ark can be seen as a pattern for the First Birth, then the Church and the Rapture can be seen as a pattern for the Second Birth. One is earthly or physical, while the other is heavenly or spiritual. The First Birth resulted in a physical body and the Second Birth will result in an immortal body. "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. All human babies are hidden away in their mothers’ wombs before they are actually born and revealed to the world. We too will be hidden away in a heavenly womb before we are born and revealed to the world at the Second Coming. "But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little with until his wrath has passed by." Isaiah 26:19-20.
Moses Model: We can see the 1st and 2nd Births symbolized in the life of Moses. When he was a baby, he was placed into a water-proofed basket and put out onto the water. Like a personal mini-ark. Years later, he had a "born again" experience after the Lord appeared to him in the form of a burning bush – a bush that was not consumed by the flames. (Note that the early Church members were not consumed by the flames at Pentecost.) After this meeting with God, his life was changed and he became dedicated servant to the Lord.
Flood and Tribulation Model: Jesus compared the end times to the days of Noah. "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away." Matthew 24:37-39. The Flood was a form of judgment, but God also preserved Noah and his family through it. They passed through the waters without drowning. The Tribulation will also be a form of judgment, but it will also be a time when God will preserve a Jewish remnant. "How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it." Jeremiah 30:7.
The Day of the Lord is compared to a furnace. "‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. And that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.’" Malachi 4:1-2. The Day of the Lord will also serve as a refining process for Israel – she will pass through it but not be consumed by it. "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10. "In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel …. he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire." Isaiah 4:2 and 4. It is interesting to note that when Jesus came to earth the first time, He entered a human womb and was born with water. When He returns the second time, he will come with fire. "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels." 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7. Jesus will come back as a judge and fire will be a tool of His judgment. Even Christians will be judged, but by the grace of God, we will not be consumed by the flames. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each mans’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.
Israelites: During Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness, the Jews were presented with an interesting phenomenon on a daily basis – a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." Exodus 13:21-22. According to Wikipedia, clouds form when the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals. And the Bible itself states: "He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight." Job 26:8. Therefore, we can see another connection between water and fire. In fact, we are told that the Israelites experienced a baptism of water when they passed safely through the Red Sea. "For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea …. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert." 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, 5. As a nation, the Jews have yet to experience their Second Birth – their baptism of the Holy Spirit. Someday, they will experience a day of Pentecost like the early Church – perhaps even with tongues of flame. "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance as the Lord has said among the survivors whom the Lord calls." Joel 2:28-32.
Maranatha!
-- Lisa Taylor