New Family

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 

1 Peter 1:3-4

We might see someone born into a royal family or an extremely wealthy family and catch ourselves wondering what it would be like to be born into such wealth and power. Yet, those of us who are in Christ have experienced exactly that reality even if we don’t realize it.

When we surrendered our life to Jesus and received the Holy Spirit in us as a deposit, a guarantee of the coming inheritance of the Kingdom of God, we were born again or born from above. We experienced a second birth. And in this birth, we were born into the Royal Family of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are now sons and daughters of the King. We are princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus told Nicodemus:

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (from above – literally in the Greek).” …

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:3, 5-8

When we are physically born into this world, we start with our body. Our bodies are a part of the family that we are born into. Then, in time, our soul (mind, will, emotions) and spirit become a part of the family as we learn to communicate and build relationships with our family members.

When we are born again, when we are born from above–from the kingdom of heaven–we start in the reverse order of our physical birth. We begin with our spirit. Our spirit is united with the Holy Spirit. Then, in time, our soul (mind, will, emotions) becomes more and more saturated with the Kingdom. Then in the day of the resurrection we will get a resurrected body, a glorified body fit for the Kingdom of God.

We don’t have to wish we were born into a different family, one with less dysfunction or more money. This is the beauty of the gospel. No one is locked into the inheritance of their earthly family. When we accept Jesus as Savior and King, when we surrender to Him and receive the Holy Spirit, we get a new family and a new inheritance.

We are born into a living hope that never dies. Our inheritance from God is one that will never perish, spoil or fade. It is an eternal inheritance that will last forever and that we have access to now through obedience and faith.