You're only born twice

Yesterday, I learned that my Aunt Olive had died. Today I’ve heard that a friend of mine has become a grandfather again. My Aunt Olive’s death will be the cause of mourning; the birth of Nathaniel is the cause of rejoicing. This is the world as we experience it: a world in which death has the last word.

The arrival of Jesus, however, ushers in a whole new dimension in which the sting of death is drawn. I guess that you have heard the term "born again Christian". It tends to make some people wary or suspicious. It may come as a surprise to those who don't read the New Testament, but the only Christian is a "born again" one! Jesus tells us clearly that, in order to perceive and enter into a real relationship with God, we must be born again - or born from above.

What does he mean? In the first chapter of his gospel, John states that to be a child of God we must be born of God. Just as we were naturally born of human parents and have natural life as their children, so in order to have spiritual life we must be born of God's Spirit in order to become His children.

These days, there is a general assumption that if there is a God ‘up there’, then we are all his children with, perhaps, a few exceptions like Stalin or Hitler. Yet Jesus taught differently: "…to all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children not born of natural decent... but born of God".

Receiving and believing involves us hearing the claims of Jesus, as to who He is and His right to our allegiance, then relinquishing our grip on the steering wheel of our lives and entrusting it to him. In this way, we receive a new life; we are born again.

My aunt had 80 birthdays and, by the grace of God, Nathaniel will have many too. We all know when our natural birthday is, have we had a spiritual birthday too?

All the time in the world

Louis Armstrong’s song, ‘We Have all the Time in the World’ was heard in the James Bond film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. The song title was taken from the final chapter in Ian Fleming’s book.

The older we get, the faster time goes. If we once felt that we had all the time in the world, do we still?

The late Billy Graham, the well known evangelist, was once asked what in his life did he consider to be the most profound issue? He answered, "The brevity of time."

God implores us in the Bible to seek Him whilst there is still time, "If today you hear His voice do not harden your heart, for today is the day of salvation". Yes, in modern life we know all about timescales, priorities, pressure and urgent tasks. Yet when God speaks to us of urgency we are offended and seem to think that, as far as establishing a relationship with Him is concerned, we have all the time in the world. "I'll think about that sort of thing when I'm older or another day when I'm less pressured". Of course another day never comes.

We are, by nature, blinded to the fact that we don't have all the time in the world. In fact we don't know what even the next hour has in store for us; the cardiac arrest of Danish footballer, Christian Eriksen, brought that home to many TV viewers. We have no control over time, whether we doze, dawdle or dash, time (and therefore life) slips by! Christians refer to something called eternal life. Jesus defines what eternal (or everlasting) life is when he says; ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’

So, eternal life turns out to be our experience of knowing God, and this ‘knowing’ is received by placing our trust in the person of Jesus.

Ian Fleming’s character, James Bond, was wrong to say that we have all the time in the world. Jesus, however, speaks of eternal things in the world to come, which are to be received and grasped whilst it is still called ’today’.

License to live

I enjoy many of the James Bond film songs. One of these didn’t become popular until 25 years after the initial release. I refer to Louis Armstrong’s ‘We Have all the Time in the World’, which was heard in the film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. This 1969 United Artists release didn’t have a theme tune as such, the Louis Armstrong track was played as incidental music part way through the story. ‘We Have all the Time in the World’ was the title of the final chapter in Ian Fleming’s book.

The older we get the faster time goes, it's true isn't it? If we once felt that we had all the time in the world do we still?

In an interview on Radio 4 many years back, the late Billy Graham, the well known evangelist, was asked, what in his life did he consider to be the most profound issue? His answer was "The brevity of time."

God implores us in the Bible to seek Him whilst there is still time, "if today you hear His voice do not harden you heart, for today is the day of salvation". Yes, in modern life we know all about timescales, priorities, pressure and urgent tasks. Yet when God speaks to us of urgency we are offended and seem to think as far as establishing a relationship with Him is concerned we have all the time in the world. "I'll think about that sort of thing when I'm older or another day when I'm less pressured". Of course another day never comes.

We are, by nature, blinded to the fact that we don't have all the time in the world, in fact we don't know what even the next hour has in store for us; the cardiac arrest of Danish footballer, Christian Eriksen, brought that home to many TV viewers.

We have no control over time, whether we doze, dawdle or dash, time (and therefore life) slips by! It is God who is not only the true Time Lord but the Eternal Lord. Jesus defines what eternal (or everlasting) life is when he says; ‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’

So, eternal life turns out to be our experience of knowing God, and this ‘knowing’ is received by placing our trust in the person of Jesus. No wonder Billy Graham often quoted the Gospel of John, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life".

Ian Fleming’s character, James Bond, was wrong to say that we have all the time in the world. Jesus, however, speaks of eternal things in the world to come, which are to be received and grasped.