I have been reading Romans lately. Paul’s writing can be confusing sometimes, but every time I read any of his letters, I find something new, something I’d missed before. And that’s what I want to tell you about today: something I’ve known for a while but never actually understood the way I’ve been able to understand this last week.
And that’s about the first and second birth and death. Let’s start out with the first birth.
The First Birth
I think most of you know this one. Everyone has been born this first time, and most of us don’t remember it. In fact, I think I can safely say over 99.9999% of us don’t. But it happened, and we know it for certain. This is the birth from a mother’s womb—and even our savior Jesus Christ was born this way! That’s what made Him human after all.
In Psalm 139:13, David writes
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Other versions of the Bible say that he was knit together in the womb. God blessed us all with life from the womb, creating us there from the very first. And when the time was right, we were born! What a miracle. 😀
Now let’s move on to the first death.
The First Death
This is the one where our mortal bodies are all done here on earth. We die. We’re buried—at least, our bodies are. But you must understand, our souls don’t die! They go on either to Heaven or hell, depending on the choice we made on earth.
It’s serious business, y’all. You probably know the saying “Well, you only live once so why not do [fill in the blank].” but that’s just the wrong perspective! Just because we live on earth once doesn’t mean we should waste that time. God gave it to us for a reason.
Okie dokie, what about the second death?
The Second Death
This is where Romans comes in. This is something God was showing me very strongly all week, and I want to share it with you! Romans chapters 5 and 6 do a better job of explaining it than I do, but I’ll give it a shot without copying both chapters. ;P
Let’s start with chapter 6:2–3:
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin,
live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Now, this is an answer to a question Paul asked previously, but even taken out of context, it explains a lot. The second death I’m talking about is the death of our sin in obedience and surrender to Jesus. Baptism is a symbol of us dying, being buried, and then coming back to life with Jesus. God says we’re inside Christ when we get saved, so then His death, burial, and resurrection are enacted in us as well.
One illustration of this that I’ve seen is a little paper person being stuck inside a book. Wherever the book goes, the paper cutout goes as well! Picturing yourself as the paper person and Jesus as the book, you might have a good idea of what happens when you’re saved.
Paul also writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.
God made Jesus, who was perfect and without sin, to be sin for us so that we might be made righteous (perfect) in Him. Basically.
And that brings us to the next point.
The Second Birth
Once we’ve died to our sin (or once our sin has been conquered completely by Jesus!), we are then open to a new life. Our souls are clean, and Jesus steps in and gives us new life in Him! Continuing in Romans to chapter 6:4:
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:
that life as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in the newness of life.
For as we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection.
This is what’s referred to as being “born again.” Now, it’s not the same as entering back into your mother’s womb and being physically born for the second time, like Nicodemus thought in John 3:1–7. It’s a spiritual birth that happens inside of us. When we are born again and adopted into God’s family, we are cleansed from our sin and made righteous in God’s eyes. We are forgiven. We are able to have Jesus in our hearts and be with God in Heaven!
Once this happens, then even when our physical bodies die, our spirits are still alive and able to go to Heaven forever.
I know that’s a quick glimpse at the wonder of God’s design, but I hope it gives you a good idea of it! There’s so so much more to learn, and I’m just scratching the surface in this post. If you’re curious about more, you can read Romans (and the rest of the Bible) to search out what God would have you understand!
And that’s all for today. God bless and have a fabulous day!
~Janet