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The Result of Born Again: Discovering Joy
Introduction: Let me call your attention to Jesus’ words in John 3:6 – “That which is born of flesh, is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” If we are reborn and that rebirth is not a fleshly rebirth, but a rebirth of the true man, the spirit, why would we continue to live as if we were in the flesh? This is what I would suggest to you: if we are not living in a state of joy (and often we do not), it is a result of continuing to live in the flesh; living as if we had not been born from above.
- 1 Peter 1:3-9 Joy Inexpressible and Filled with Glory
- By God’s mercy he caused us to born again to a living hope to an imperishable inheritance reserved in heaven and we are guarded through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed – in this you rejoice – though for a little while you are grieved by various trials.
- Peter introduces this letter with the mention of trials. Trials, and living as elect exiles in the midst of trials, is the key theme of the letter. At the end of his letter Peter even speaks of fiery trials. And yet, his introduction minimizes the trials in light of God causing to be born again to a hope that causes us “to rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” You will notice that the rejoicing in verses 6, 8 is present tense with the mention of trials inserted between the two exclamations of joy.
- Note that it is “born again” that is the root of all that takes place after. The rebirth changes the perception of our whole life so that the individual events of life, whether good or bad, are swallowed up in rejoicing now and the imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance to come. [Wait Peter! Didn’t you see the morning news about Nero turning against Christians & starting a persecution!]
- In contrast, the mention of trials are placed in entirely different context.
- Trials are “a little while, if necessary.”
- Rejoicing and joy inexpressible continues in spite of the trials.
- Most importantly, the trials are not spoken of as just some nuisance to be endured until we obtain the inheritance, but purposeful in the obtaining of the inheritance.
- Therefore, we are being taught a critical lesson. We live in stressful times – to say the least. From our earthly, human perspective, the future seems quite dim. There are shortages, prices rising, wars and threats of war. Can we rejoice in times like this? Can we be at peace and know joy every day? Can we put these trials in their proper perspective? We can if we have been born of the Spirit, born from above, born again to a living hope. But if we are still in the flesh, living a “religious” life without rebirth, we are going to suffer and be anxious in times like this.
- That is the challenge! If we are born from above we should live like those born from above.
- Consider: When Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount – the sermon that is called the “manifesto of the King and his Kingdom” – Jesus began with the word “blessed.” He doesn’t say it once. He says it eight times. The word used is like saying, “joyful, full of joy, a person who has arrived at becoming whole, complete, lacking nothing.” Listen to some of the words:
- “Blessed are…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
- “Blessed are…for they shall be comforted.”
- “Blessed are…for they shall inherit the earth.”
- “Blessed are…for they shall be satisfied.”
- “Blessed are…for they shall receive mercy.”
- “Blessed are…for they shall see God.”
- “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
- Please recognize that though most of these speak of a future reward, the beginning words, “Blessed are…” are present tense. It is attained now. Further, everything Jesus said is a paradox. How can those who are poor be owners of the Kingdom of heaven? How can those who mourn be comforted? How can those who are hungry be satisfied? How can the persecuted rejoice and be glad? It is because they are no longer living in the flesh. Their spirit has been reborn.
- Ecclesiastes Describes the Two Paths to Joy and Happiness
- Ecclesiastes is a sermon delivered by a wise Preacher (the meaning of “Ecclesiastes”). Do you remember his opening words? “Vanity of vanity, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” If you were sitting in his audience, what a shocking introduction! All is vanity? Yes, all is a breath. Everything appears and disappears, and then is repeated over and over and over again until it is just maddening! Have you found some pleasure? Ha! Give it a minute and it will be gone. Have you found something exciting that gives you happiness? So what? It will vanish tomorrow. And yet the words, “all is vanity” is quite the opposite of “blessed are.” Why? Because “all is vanity” describes living in the flesh, or as the Preacher describes it, living “under the sun.”
- Therefore, how do we make sense of Jesus’ words, “Blessed are…” in light of “vanity of vanities, all is vanity?”
- How does the flesh answer the Preacher’s opening affirmation? “Oh, no, no, no, there are things we can do that will cause us to live a happy life, a fulfilling life in spite of this world. I just know I can!”
- Don’t think you and I are above that thinking! We’ve done that. We may still being doing that. “I don’t care what Solomon discovered, I think I can do it!”
- Here is the Preacher’s answer:
- 1:13-14 “…seek and search out all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business…I have seen everything that is done…behold all is vanity and striving after wind.”
- But again we say, “No, no, that can’t be. I’m really working on this and I think I may be finding the happiness! You see, I’ve been reading and there are some really good books that really give the key to living the best life. You should check it out.”
- Oh really? So you are smarter than Solomon? Check out his conclusion in 2:9-11. Have you accomplished what he did? In fact, in 2:17, Solomon’s search for the happiness you think you can attain got so miserable that he said, “So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.”
- Further, you will notice that Solomon is not just saying that pursuing pleasure, joy, and happiness is something that is briefly attained and then vanishes, the pursuit itself is striving after the wind. In other words, such a pursuit is something a fool would do. Why? Because “that which is born of flesh, is flesh. Cf. Eccl. 3:18-20 “…that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.”
- Therefore, the Preacher even provides us brief moments in the book in which we can see beyond “under the sun” (2:24-25; 4:5-6; 5:20; 12:9-13) – suddenly we are no longer “chasing the wind.” Suddenly life is not “vanity of vanities.” When we are born of the Spirit, we do not live life the same way, we do not seek joy and peace the same way because the flesh is dead and the spirit is alive. You see, it is pursuing that which is “under the sun” that is killing joy and causing despair and disappointment.
- Do you remember the parable of the Treasure in the Field? “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matt. 13:44). Notice the joy of what we find is so great that “with joy” we sell all else to attain the greater joy. We do not try to serve two masters, thinking that we can attain Christ while still seeking happiness in an earthly sense. The parable shows the impossibility. We only have enough “money” for one or the other. We sell one to obtain the other. We either give up on the greater treasure to keep the treasure we have, or we sell the treasure we have to obtain the greater treasure, the greater joy.
- Finding Joy Now?
- The above parable brings up a misunderstanding of joy. Someone says, “Sure, we can get the joy in heaven, but in the meantime, it is misery! We sacrifice an enjoyable life now in order to have eternity in heaven.” Therefore, we need to address this question of how we live with “joy inexpressible” though often living in and through trials.
- The best place to find the answer is “the wilderness” (Deut. 8:2-3). Was God teaching Israel – “Yep, it’s awful now, but you’ll be in Canaan soon!” Look at the words, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.” God was teaching them how to live in the wilderness. That’s why Jesus answered Satan with this verse. Satan’s argument was that you need the bread, so go get it your way, without trusting God to take care of you. That’s why Jesus refused. With God, he can have the bread and the joy!
- Living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father, is not just knowing your Bible or obeying the commands. It is a matter of trusting every word from the Father. We are not living by faith and we are not trusting God simply because we obey his commands. Abraham was a man of faith because he trusted God’s promises and lived in tents for 100 years to prove it!
- In other words, just because we endure painful periods in our lives does not mean God has removed joy from our lives. For the Christian, suffering is disciplinary which in the long term increases our joy, and in fact, so that the Lord even tells us to rejoice and count it all joy (Romans 5:3; James 1:2; Hebrews 12). If you are old enough, you have already seen this result in your life, knowing how much better and stronger person you have become, including more reliant on God and more appreciative of him in your life. When during a trial you finally fall to your knees and say, “It is yours! My life is completely yours! Do with it what you desire!” That is when you will find the greatest joy.
- Finding Joy and Happiness in God
- It is truly frustrating to think that we can be baptized into Christ, supposedly born from above, and yet continue to live pursuing joy in the same fleshly way we did before. Isaiah addressed this problem with Israel and Peter quotes it to give us as the answer to the flesh (1 Peter 1:23–2:3).
- Notice the contrast between the “flesh,” which withers and fades like the grass, and the word of our God, which will stand forever. Life is only found in the rebirth that takes place through God’s imperishable seed – which is a contrast to the flesh – in order to find life.
- Look at 2:2-3. The older versions said, “Long for the spiritual milk of the word.” However, “of the word” was inserted by the translators because of the connection to 1:23-25. Yes, there is a connection! However, look carefully at what Peter is saying. “Long for the spiritual milk…if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” The result of our rebirth through the word is a life in which we taste the goodness of the Lord.
- We live “rejoicing with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” because every day we are tasting the goodness of the Lord. God is using the worldly trials to shape us for his glory and our glory.
Conclusion: Now, are you living as one who is born of the Spirit?
Berry Kercheville