Jeremiah 13.23
“Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.”
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The Lord asks Jeremiah this funny question that has this clear answer: “of course not!” He follows up by stating that the same impossibility is true for a sinner to truly change his ways. What’s the connection? The only way for these changes to take place is if that leopard, Ethiopian, or sinner is born again as something else. They need to become a new creature.
So it is with becoming born again. As the old me was crucified with Christ, a new Spirit is put inside of me to make me newly alive. It is not about turning over a new leaf, or trying harder, or sinning less, or reading more; I must be born again by the Spirit of God (John 3.3).
As the Gospel of Jesus goes forth within me, that Word is what causes me to become born again (1 Peter 1.23). God’s Word is breathed out by God Himself, and when that breath enters into me, it has the power and ability to then breathe life into my spiritually lifeless body. When I am born again, I am born now not as a son of disobedience or a child of the devil (Ephesians 2.1-3), but as a child of God. I have become adopted by a God who is now my Father, and my adoption papers were signed with the blood of Jesus and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and being a born again child of God brings about many rewards and gifts.
The perfect Son of God
became a Man,
so that sinful men
could become sons of God.
Being born again means my past is gone; the leopard is no longer a leopard, but has been born again as a totally new creature. When I’m born again, I’m made new, and this time with the incorruptible Spirit of God working inside of me. Because I’m an adopted child, I now have familial rights as one who bears the family Name. I have the riches of my Father available to me, and I have an inheritance to look forward to. My future is good because my Father is good.
The Gospel reminds me that because I have been truly adopted, I share in the fulness of the inheritance as a true child of my Father. I’m an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8.13). I don’t have to live in timid, hesitant fear or worry about standing before God, because He loves me in the same way that He even loves Jesus (John 17.23). This truth is hard to grasp; it’s so unbelievable that it even seems too good to be true! This is why we call it the Good News!
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
Jeremiah 13.23
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The Fight Song
Jobey McGinty
Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
We raise our voice up in unity,
‘cause we’ve got a new identity
Citizens in Christ are we,
so let’s raise a shout on the 1, 2, 3!
We lift our eyes to the heavenlies,
‘cause by His blood we’re family
Seated with Him for eternity,
so let’s raise a shout on the 1, 2, 3!
Once upon a life,
we walked among the dead
We made our home in the grave
But God, in His love,
has made us alive,
By His grace we’re saved!
We lift our hands to the victory,
‘cause by God’s grace
we’ve been set free
Innocence shed for you and for me,
so let’s clap our hands on the 1, 2, 3!
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Pray Aloud:
I pray to You, O Most High,
as the light of the sun comes forth,
May the Name of Christ arise
and be with me, Lord;
You reign forever.
-Antiphonary of Bangor, Ireland, 7th Century
Father, be glorified in __________ ,
let Your Kingdom and will be done,
in and through __________
as it is in Heaven.
Give _________ daily bread,
and thank You for Your forgiveness.
Help me to forgive others,
as I know that You have forgiven me.
Keep __________ eyes fixed
on You and Your Word
so that _______ may not sin against You.
Thank You for Your sovereign love.
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