The Need
Chapter 5
Teaching that Leads to Revelation (continued)
REGENERATION

We have already learned that man is crippled. We have said that his relationships with both God and other people (the relationships for which he was created) are fractured because of his fallen state. Without accepting God's offer of forgiveness which leads to transformation, man is going to continue on in his broken relationships. Those relationships are only going to get worse and deteriorate with the passage of time. Let's review a typical person's life in this state of disrepair:

A baby boy is born. His mom and Dad love him. They do the best they can. They can't do very well, though, because they are broken people as well. But they try. As little Junior grows up--let's say Junior is me, in which case there are four other little Junior boys and a Junior girl. What happens as this family goes through life? They're not making contact with God, because they are cut off from Him--they may go to church, but that's about it.

So they go along, banging into other people like cue balls on a pool table. And what are all those other people doing back to them? Banging back--they're all sinners, and therefore tend to cope with problems by responding sinfully. What results at the end of these years of constantly banging into other people? An adult broken person! That's the way it is to live in a broken world. There's no hope, because we're cut off from God. Some people wind up crippled in one way, others in another, but everyone is crippled.

By the time I was 21 years old I was a hermit; I hated people. I was totally isolated. My parents were divorced when I was 18 years old and moved off to California. My family fragmented into pieces. By then I was already a bitter, spiteful person and this situation did not help. My view of people was that all people did was injure you, and I wanted no part of that. I locked myself into a chemistry lab, working 18 hours a day, sleeping 6 hours a night, and that was it--that was my life. I had been shaped and molded by my experience, and I was practicing what I had learned.

Was I contributing to my problem? Of course! Originally, perhaps not so much, but as I went through life I learned various coping mechanisms. I learned that when people hurt me, I should hurt them back. That was one way to keep people from hurting you, and that's what I did. By the time I was 24 no-one liked me and that was fine; I didn't like them either.

So now I come to Christ. What did I look like the day after I came to Him? Before I was a hermit, now I've accepted Jesus. What do I look like? I look like a hermit! How else am I going to look? I've spent 24 years looking at the world from one point of view. That all has to change now, but it's going to take some time. Every single person was my enemy, they were all out to hurt me. And so I isolated myself. I was a survivor. And most people are by the time they come to Christ.

Each of us have our own experiences that have trained us to be un-Godly. And beyond that, we live in an un-Godly world. That world tells us how to respond to people. One way is to hurt them before they hurt you! Is that a righteous point-of-view? Is that what Jesus taught? No. He taught us to "love your enemies?" Is that "love those who hurt you?" "Bless those who curse you."

Is this what the world says? Of course not! What has happened is that the world's view has encouraged a cycle of progressing brokenness, making our brokenness and emptiness and separation from God worse as we sin against those who sin against us. If you do something different, like love your enemies, you are insane. Thus, all Christians should be locked up. All you have to do is turn on the television and you see that the whole world is programmed into un-Godly responses to problems in this world. Media, books, radio--the habits become reinforced until we react in this manner without even thinking. We reflexively respond in un-Godly ways to the challenges and problems of the world.

The above picture is how we look when we first come to Christ: bent-over, crippled, but with God's Holy Spirit now in our heart. But we are still trapped in our old patterns . I can just see the angels in Heaven the day I was saved: "Who is this Dick Scoggins character? He's a mess! How is he going to get turned around. We need major reconstructive surgery!

When people come into the church, they come in broken and battered! The question is, are they simply broken and crippled, or are they broken and crippled, but with God in their heart? There is a big difference between the two; it's hard to tell, but if you look you'll see. That's why it's usually good to withhold judgment; it's hard to tell if a person's saved or not. I'm not going to presume they're saved or not saved; I'm going to presume that they need to find out, because they are the ones who need to know! Their fruit will display their faith (I John 2:3). They're the ones who have to understand that the day before and the day after does not mean much difference in what they look like!

Where's the difference? Is there any at all? Yes, there is; the difference is deep down in their soul, in their heart. Something fundamental has been changed. God put a spark, a new life in them. Where before they were dead, now they have been made alive in Christ. We call this Regeneration.

One of the major mistakes we make as we try to work with people is that we don't focus on this level of the person. We can think of a person as having three levels: Actions, Attitudes, and Affections. What level do most churches focus on? Usually, the Action. Why? It's what you can see! This is interesting especially since Jesus said, "Judge not by appearance; judge with righteous judgment." In Proverbs it says, "The plans of a man's heart runs deep, but a man of understanding draws them out." We need to find out what is the state of the person's heart. Is this person new in Christ?

In order to do that we need to review a good deal of the preceding chapters with the one who professes faith in Christ. If we are going to progress both in our own lives and in our ability to help others, we must first understand the concept of Grace. We define "Grace" as "something God does on our behalf." "Works" are things we do for God, but Grace is something God does for us. It's not required; He does it simply because He chooses to. He does it graciously.

Last chapter we discussed Justifying Grace; we said that Grace was Jesus dying on a cross in our place, so that we don't have to die. Jesus died so I don't have to. In this chapter we are going to look at Sanctifying Grace or Regenerating Grace--slightly different. This Grace places a new life in us; a life of the Holy Spirit. This new life means God will control more and more of our life as we willing surrender to whatever we see from God. God will give revelation that leads us progressively deeper in our walk with him. He may start with our actions, but He will progress to our attitudes and affections. God wants to change us from the inside out. He may start with the outside, but He will never be finished until He has changed our hearts. Jesus told the Pharisees, "You are whitewashed tombs; clean on the outside, but inside only dead bones." Too many Christians are like that; their actions are perfect, but their thoughts (attitudes and affections) are far from God. In order to help others, we must be working at the right level. We may start working with Actions, but the Holy Spirit will not be content until the attitudes and affections are transformed.

But God begins the work of transformation with a person's heart; God does not begin with his behavior. God ends with his behavior, but God begins with his heart. So God puts in us a new heart (The promise in Jeremiah, repeated in Hebrews 8: "I will take out that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh, so that you may know me."). He puts this new heart in us so that we can commune with Him! Not so that we can "do things" for him, but so that we have something in us that reaches out to God--and makes contact, communion.

Over and over again, Jesus said, "I always do what pleases my Father." That is the picture of communion: a desire to please, a desire to seek out and please our Heavenly Father. The Apostle Paul says, "As children of light, we seek out what is pleasing to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:10). That's a strong word; I am not seeking to behave before God, I'm seeking to please Him; I'm seeking affirmation and affection from God! Every one of us wanted our parents to be pleased with us, for them to pat us on the back and say, "Good job!" That's what we all live for, to please those we have strong affections for! This is a reflection of the fact that God has put inside our hearts a desire to please someone greater than ourselves. Ultimately, we won't be satisfied until we please God. That's why we look forward to the end of time, when on that day God will say to each of us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." (Mt. 25:23). I've finally pleased my Heavenly Creator--I've pleased my Daddy.