Friday | 10 July 2020
On stony ground, the Seed of Christ is received into the heart of a hearer and they are born again as a son of God. Jesus said, ‘He who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.’ Mat 13:20‑21. A person who hears the word and receives it with joy has been born again as a son of God. The seed of the word has ‘germinated’ in their heart.
The first action of God the Father is to name us as His son or daughter when we receive Christ into our heart. The name of a son of God is the complete word that defines their identity and works, for eternity. When a person receives their newborn name in the seed of the word that is proclaimed to them, their human identity is redefined by this new name. This is the point of regeneration where their spirit is reborn. This person has received the divine nature as their life. They are now a son of God.
They must now join the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus through baptism or they will ‘die’ again. Rom 6:3-4. The life of Christ is only multiplied to become their life as they maintain a committed participation in the offering and sufferings of Christ. On this point, Jesus was emphatic, saying, ‘He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, an he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.’ Mat 10:38‑39. Although Christ has come into us, we must come into Christ in order to live as a new creation son of God. 2Co 5:17.
Further Study:
JOHN 12
Daily Proverb:
References:
Mat 13:20-21
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Rom 6:3-4
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Mat 10:38-39
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
2Co 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.