583. Regeneration Progresses Analogously to the Way We Are Conceived, Carried in the Womb, Born, and Brought Up

For human beings, there is a constant correspondence between the stages a person goes through physically and the stages a person goes through spiritually, or developments in the body and developments in the spirit. The reason is that at the level of our souls we are born spiritual, but we are clothed with earthly material that constitutes our physical body. When our physical body is laid aside, our soul, which has its own spiritual body, enters a world in which all things are spiritual. There we associate with other spiritual beings like ourselves.

Our spiritual body has to be formed within our physical body. The spiritual body is made out of truth and goodness that flow into us from the Lord through the spiritual world. We find a home within ourselves for that goodness and truth in things that parallel them in the physical world, which are called civic and moral forms of goodness and truth. This makes clear, then, the nature of the process that forms our spiritual body.

Since there is a constant correspondence within human beings between the stages we go through physically and the stages we go through spiritually, it follows that we go through something analogous to being conceived, carried in the womb, born, and brought up.

This explains why the statements in the Word that relate to physical birth symbolize aspects of our spiritual birth that have to do with goodness and truth. In fact, every earthly reference in the literal sense of the Word embodies, contains, and symbolizes something spiritual. (In the chapter on Sacred Scripture [189-281] it is fully demonstrated that there is a spiritual meaning within each and every detail of the literal sense of the Word.)

[2] The earthly references to birth in the Word inwardly refer to our spiritual birth, as anyone can see from the following passages:

We have conceived; we have gone into labor. We appeared to give birth, yet we have not accomplished salvation. (Isaiah 26:18)

You are having birth pangs, O earth, in the presence of the Lord. (Psalms 114:7)

Will the earth give birth in a single day? Will I break [waters] but not cause delivery? Will I cause delivery and then close [the womb]? (Isaiah 66:7-9)

Sin is having birth pangs and No will be split open. (Ezekiel 30:16)

Pains like those of a woman in labor will come upon Ephraim. He is an unwise son, because he does not remain long in the womb for children. (Hosea 13:12-13)

Many similar passages occur elsewhere.

Since physical birth in the Word symbolizes spiritual birth, and spiritual birth comes from the Lord, he is called our Maker and the one who delivered us from the womb, as is clear from the following passages.

Jehovah, who made you and formed you in the womb . . . (Isaiah 44:2)

You delivered me from the womb. (Psalms 22:9)

On you I was laid from the womb. You delivered me from my mother's belly. (Psalms 71:6)

Listen to me, you whom I carried from the womb, whom I bore from the womb. (Isaiah 46:3)

There are other such passages as well.

This is why the Lord is called the Father, as in Isaiah 9:6; 63:16; John 10:30; 14:8-9. This is why people who have received things that are good and true from the Lord are called "children of God" and "those who are born of God," and why they are said to be siblings to each other (Matthew 23:8). This is also why the church is referred to as a mother (Hosea 2:2, 5; Ezekiel 16:45).

(This commentary was originally written as a sermon delivered in 1955.)

"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." Revelation 11:15

Additional readings: Isaiah 46, Psalm 138, Psalm 139

These words were written nearly two thousand years ago. When written, they were a prophecy, yet the present tense is used. In the prophecy in Isaiah concerning the coming of the Lord into the world the present tense is also used: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). This is because what the Lord purposes will surely come to pass. "My counsel shall stand…. I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:10-11).

And we should note that according to the Gospel of Luke the angel Gabriel, sent to tell Mary that the Lord would be born of her, says that the Lord will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and that of His Kingdom there will be no end, as Isaiah also prophesied (Luke 1:26-38).

This week our nation celebrates the ninetieth anniversary of the close of the Civil War, which marked one of the steps in the advancement of human freedom. Since that time, although there has been peace within our own borders, the world at large has been afflicted by its two greatest wars.

Yet we should find quiet encouragement in the words of our text: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." In view of the disorders, wrongs, and enmities that are so widespread and so great this may not seem to be true. To some it seems that the world is getting worse instead of better.

Yet we can surely see that the world is better than it was when the Lord came upon the earth. The world seems so evil only because a higher and keener sense of right makes injustice and wrong appear more shocking.

The Lord's kingdom is first of all in the minds and hearts of men, and it is with this that we should be primarily concerned. It is in the heart and mind that war or peace is made. If the love of self rules, the kingdom within us is evil; but if justice and the desire to do right rule, the kingdom within us is the Lord's. Everyone who is trying to do right because it is right is in the Lord's kingdom.

For nearly two centuries spiritual forces have been at work trying to bring about a better world, and they have been contending against mighty adverse forces, individual selfishness, the love of the world and its riches, and the love of preeminence and power.

These evils are brought to light in wars, which lead people to see, to acknowledge, and to seek the means of overcoming them. And this makes the minds of men more receptive to the Word of God. Defects and evils cannot be removed until they are seen. Multitudes have overcome some evils. They would not lie, steal, or cheat. Groups of people, states, and nations are bound by the same laws, and it is clearly seen that the self-centered and self-derived principles in which men and nations have placed their confidence in the spheres of religion and morals, economics, and politics are what brought into being the conditions that led to war.

The last war left large parts of the world to be rebuilt. But, what is more important, in the realm of thought and conduct rebuilding on a vast scale is called for, and there is given an opportunity such as men never had before to rebuild on better, sounder, and saner lines. There are principles on which a new and true human society can be built, but it cannot be built without the Lord. "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Psalm 127:1).

God created man that man might know Him, live according to His laws, and be blessed with happiness and peace. His laws cannot be changed, because they are the laws of infinite wisdom and love. To live in violation of them can bring nothing but disaster. There is but one Prince of peace. Human cooperation is a factor, however, and becomes operative in the measure in which men understand the Divine laws, believe them, and apply them to life.

The victory the North won in the Civil War was the Lord's victory, not the victory of the winning army. So it was in the last war. Our thanksgiving should be to Him. And our rejoicing should show itself in an increased desire to learn of the Lord, to be led by Him, and to do His will.

It is only in this way that there can be any real progress either in individual or in national life. Mere natural learning with its development of the arts and sciences, though it contributes to more comfortable living, does not reach the hidden fountains of human life, nor can it even discover the soul or God.

We are living in a time when new spiritual knowledge has been revealed. In the era preceding the first Coming of the Lord, spiritual knowledge had been all but lost. Because of this men lived in fear, doubt, and enmity. War was a constant and accepted feature of human life. The coming of the Lord wrought a change. He taught that love to Him and to the neighbor were the fundamental Divine laws of life. From these laws follows the principle that true life is found in service to others, not in being served.

The Lord did not seek to establish His kingdom by force. No kingdom founded on force can possibly endure. Of the Lord's kingdom it is written, "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:7). It is because His kingdom is founded on unselfish love, which seeks not to rule but to serve, that it will not come to an end.

The Lord has been called a visionary, and His principles beautiful and idealistic but impracticable. Yet His life was the only thoroughly practical life ever lived. He came into contact with and overcame the internal and elemental forces of evil that cause all the misery and unhappiness in the world. When men forget the Lord and look to themselves for wisdom, they rush headlong into selfishness and evil.

The prophecy, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever," is being fulfilled. He did establish His kingdom on earth and by His life and words He made known to the world the laws under which the peoples of all the world can live together in happiness, prosperity, and peace. Some people today look to the future in fear, and even say that they are glad that they may not live to see the disaster which they think will overtake the world. But we should know that the future holds ever brighter promise. This is the testimony of the Scriptures and of history. We should be able to read some of its lessons. One is that the nation that takes up the sword shall perish by the sword, and another is that nothing is settled until it is settled fairly and justly.

All Christians should know that the teachings of the Word are true; and if Christianity means anything, it means the power of the Lord in the human heart to remove evil and to implant new motives. We should not be afraid of the future, Fear is a liar and a false counselor always. Through faith the Lord's kingdom comes to us as individuals and through individuals to the world. The Lord said:

"Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment...But rather seek ye the kingdom of God: and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:22-32).