Been Launched?
28-Apr-12
The Bible explains that there are 2 kinds of life – physical life & spiritual life. But while everyone has physical life, not everyone has spiritual life. In fact, God tells us that those without spiritual life are spiritually dead. Everyone has a real, actual physical birth that initiates their physical life. And Jesus explains that in order for someone to have spiritual life, there must be a real, actual spiritual birth – He said “You must be born again” (Jn 3.7). To illustrate this, consider a rocket…
A while back, I bought my son a model rocket for his birthday. Like most hobbies, there are many facets to model rocketry (or real rocketry for that matter). It’s certainly possible to simply focus on the external appearance of the rocket – to have a detailed replica of a real space rocket, a snazzy paint job, dazzling decals or for it to be the tallest, biggest or most expensive. And that’s all well & fine, but if you don’t have a rocket motor, it’s simply just a decoration.
It turns out that many model rocket kits do not include the rocket motor for various reasons. If you want more than a decoration to collect dust & would like for your rocket to actually fly, you have to install a rocket motor. And if you want to launch it, you must ignite that motor (after proper preparation, of course). After all, the rocket was designed to have a motor with a mission to fly.
A while back, I bought my son a model rocket for his birthday. Like most hobbies, there are many facets to model rocketry (or real rocketry for that matter). It’s certainly possible to simply focus on the external appearance of the rocket – to have a detailed replica of a real space rocket, a snazzy paint job, dazzling decals or for it to be the tallest, biggest or most expensive. And that’s all well & fine, but if you don’t have a rocket motor, it’s simply just a decoration.
It turns out that many model rocket kits do not include the rocket motor for various reasons. If you want more than a decoration to collect dust & would like for your rocket to actually fly, you have to install a rocket motor. And if you want to launch it, you must ignite that motor (after proper preparation, of course). After all, the rocket was designed to have a motor with a mission to fly.
Think about this: Those who are spiritually dead are like a rocket without a motor. Such people may do many things that are nice or impressive, have seemingly successful lives or appear spiritual or religious. But all that is simply decorative & external if a major internal component is missing – their spiritual motor. The truth is, everyone is meant to have spiritual life. And without spiritual life, no one can fulfill their mission – the flight plan God has for their life. Instead, life will lack meaning & purpose. Your outlook on life will be subject to the whims of daily events.
So how do you install your spiritual motor & be born again? Well, contrary to popular belief, it’s not a matter of “blind faith”. God wants us to install spiritual truth & understand some fundamental facts – we have to know what the object of our faith is before we can put we can put our faith in it. This does not mean we have to understand everything or tons of deep theology – that can come later.
First, God wants us to understand something about Him. He wants us to know that He is an awesome God who is perfect & holy in every way & that He loves us. He also wants us to acknowledge that He is just & can’t simply ignore our sin (violation of His holy character & law – 1 Jn 3.4). Next, He wants us to understand that we have all, in fact, sinned (1 Jn 1.8, Rom 3.23, Eccl 7.20) & because of His justice, there are grave consequences. He must punish our sin to be just & yet He loves us & wants to spare us from the ultimate consequence – eternal separation from Him in the never-ending torment of hell.
Then, God wants us to understand that He’s created the only solution possible to remedy our dreadful situation (Jn 14.6, Ac 4.12). He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the cross to bear the punishment for our sin so we don’t have to go to hell. Furthermore, Jesus also was sinless & in exchange for our sin, He gives us His perfect righteousness to qualify us for heaven (2 Cor 5.21).
But having knowledge of these mission critical truths is not enough, just like putting a motor in a rocket is not enough to make it fly. And just as you must ignite the rocket motor, you must also ignite your spiritual life by actually accepting & trusting in these truths – that Christ died for your sins & that He alone is able to qualify you for heaven. In doing this, He will launch you into spiritual life & you will be born again.
I (Jesus) tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. – Jn 5.24
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – Jn 3.16-18
Attempting to get off the spiritual launch pad without Christ will ultimately result in destruction & catastrophe like some of these rocket launch disasters…
So how do you install your spiritual motor & be born again? Well, contrary to popular belief, it’s not a matter of “blind faith”. God wants us to install spiritual truth & understand some fundamental facts – we have to know what the object of our faith is before we can put we can put our faith in it. This does not mean we have to understand everything or tons of deep theology – that can come later.
First, God wants us to understand something about Him. He wants us to know that He is an awesome God who is perfect & holy in every way & that He loves us. He also wants us to acknowledge that He is just & can’t simply ignore our sin (violation of His holy character & law – 1 Jn 3.4). Next, He wants us to understand that we have all, in fact, sinned (1 Jn 1.8, Rom 3.23, Eccl 7.20) & because of His justice, there are grave consequences. He must punish our sin to be just & yet He loves us & wants to spare us from the ultimate consequence – eternal separation from Him in the never-ending torment of hell.
Then, God wants us to understand that He’s created the only solution possible to remedy our dreadful situation (Jn 14.6, Ac 4.12). He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the cross to bear the punishment for our sin so we don’t have to go to hell. Furthermore, Jesus also was sinless & in exchange for our sin, He gives us His perfect righteousness to qualify us for heaven (2 Cor 5.21).
But having knowledge of these mission critical truths is not enough, just like putting a motor in a rocket is not enough to make it fly. And just as you must ignite the rocket motor, you must also ignite your spiritual life by actually accepting & trusting in these truths – that Christ died for your sins & that He alone is able to qualify you for heaven. In doing this, He will launch you into spiritual life & you will be born again.
I (Jesus) tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. – Jn 5.24
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – Jn 3.16-18
Attempting to get off the spiritual launch pad without Christ will ultimately result in destruction & catastrophe like some of these rocket launch disasters…
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. - Pr 16.25
On our own, we’re powerless to leave the spiritual launch pad (Rom 5.6-8, Pr 11.7). But God demonstrated His power over sin & death when He raised Christ from the dead after His crucifixion (Eph 1.18-20) & it’s this same power that propels our spiritual life. Once you have spiritual life, you can then begin to live the life that God intended for you – your mission. You can live life with power & purpose – His power & His purpose. There’s nothing more freeing than following God’s flight plan for the trajectory of your life.
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. – Ps 119.32
This does not mean that as a born again Christian your life will be trouble-free (Jn 16.33). You will still encounter various hardships, but if you have spiritual life, you have access to God. Just as the Apollo 13 crew experienced problems on their mission, they returned unharmed because they followed instructions from mission control.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. – Rom 5.1-5 |
And one last parallel – for a rocket to reach maximum altitude, it must be lightweight. Because born again Christians are still sinners, any time unconfessed sin is on board, it weighs us down & makes it more difficult to fulfill our mission. While Christians are forever rescued from eternal punishment in hell, sin still hinders our ability to relate to God. Being the loving God that He is, He wants us to be free of this & we can do so simply by confessing our sin to Him & seeking His forgiveness. In this way we can jettison our sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 Jn 1.8-9
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Heb 12.1-2
Have you been spiritually born? Have you been launched into new life with Christ or are you stuck on the launch pad, knowing these truths, but not really trusting in them? Don't get destroyed on the launch pad! Most rockets eventually return to Earth, but if your spiritual life has been launched, your mission will go on forever in heaven after you have escaped Earth’s atmosphere. Get launched! Get life! Get Jesus!
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 Jn 1.8-9
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Heb 12.1-2
Have you been spiritually born? Have you been launched into new life with Christ or are you stuck on the launch pad, knowing these truths, but not really trusting in them? Don't get destroyed on the launch pad! Most rockets eventually return to Earth, but if your spiritual life has been launched, your mission will go on forever in heaven after you have escaped Earth’s atmosphere. Get launched! Get life! Get Jesus!
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Cor 1.18
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Cor 1.18
|
Saturn V
This video shows 7.5 million pounds of thrust launching the Saturn V rocket into outer space. This rocket was used for the Apollo missions & remains the tallest, heaviest & most powerful rocket to ever successfully operate. Still, it doesn't hold a candle to the power of God who even overcomes death.
|
Related Pages
|
Show me, O LORD, my life’s end
and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Selah. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. - Ps 39.4-7 |