Just the other day, I was listening to an English sermon by Pastor Mark Ng, who is the pastor of the fastest-growing Hokkien/Mandarin-speaking congregation in Singapore.
He spoke something about life and death, which I thought was very insightful, and would like to share with you folks out there.
He said that believers are born twice but die once.
On the other hand, non-believers are born once but die twice.
What does he mean?
First Birth (for all)
All mankind experience their first birth when they come out from their mother's womb.
Because of what Adam did in the Garden of Eden, we are all born with the fallen nature. The Scripture says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
Hence, even though our hearts are beating and we are physically alive, we are all born spiritually dead, and are separated from God.
Second Birth (for believers)
Along the journey of our life, God is wanting to reconcile us back to Him. Hence, a person will get to hear the gospel. The moment he receives Jesus, he is "born again".
We read in John 3:3-5
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
First Death (for all)
All mankind has a life span. The moment our heart stops beating, that is when we experience physical death. Life has left the body, hence what remains in the coffin is the shell which man used to be housed in, as it were.
As believers however, that is our only death, because our spirit lives on and we are united with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in heaven.
Second Death (for non-believers)
For non-believers however, they will experience a second death, which is eternal separation from God. What makes it more terrifying is that this death goes on and on in a lake of fire together with other non-believers and ultimately with satan and his fallen angels.
Hence it is important for us as believers to continue to play our part to reach out to others in our oikos so that they will likewise experience two births and one death, rather than one birth and two deaths. Amen?
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