I use to think that all babies came into this world the same way Jesus
did. God put
the baby inside the mother's stomach (womb), the baby grew inside
the woman and finally
entered into the world. I will never forget my fellow
freshman in the college dorm telling me
that was not how babies were made.
I'm
kidding! That's a joke.
Actually,
I learned at age 7 that my view of bringing babies into this world was
incorrect–thanks to some older boys that I hung around with.
It
took a while to fully appreciate this, but in time I realized that while God
was involved in the birth of every baby, so were human beings–the father and
mother. Through the years I have continued to marvel that God would work
through people to bring babies into this world. That is how he has chosen to
empower the fulfillment of his commandment for the human race to be fruitful
and multiply (see Gen. 1-2.)
God
has another commandment for people in his Kingdom. It is to be spiritually
fruitful and multiply.
As
with physical births, God chooses to deliver spiritual babies in a process that
involves people. God chooses to bring spiritual
babies into his Kingdom through a process using people. Just like a physical
birth requires a human father and mother (except for Jesus), so too a spiritual
birth requires human participation in the process.
Many
Christians act as if they belief God alone will bring people into His Kingdom.
He could, of course, but he chooses not too. There was only one virgin birth—and
it is over and done with.
Jesus
calls for us to go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This can be a burden, or it can be an
enjoyable process. We love, we serve, and we teach people about Jesus. What a
blessing to participate in God’s mission of helping people to be born… again.
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