"Born again" makes one think of the first birth. That is logical but is it the intent? I submit not! To merely return to the condition of little children - innocence - is not the best standard! Little children are liars, manipulators, cheaters, self-absorbed and basically little gods and goddesses.
On the other hand, Jesus said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 18:3). Conversion is born again. Which comes first in Jesus's words: conversion or becoming as little children? Conversion! We don't come to God in innocence but after conversion, we are to become eager to learn. To be "as little children" in behavior would not be desirable! Why so?
King David repented of his sins when he wrote Psalm 51. His very words were, "I was shapen in iniquity," right after recounting all his sins. David was referring to original sin - the sin inherited from Adam. That lying, manipulating, cheating, and self-absorption of little children is due to original sin. When sinners are born again - converted or regenerated - does God merely want us to stay the way we were born? No! Conversion and regeneration both imply change:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. (Ephes 1:3-5).
"We should be holy" was God's will for mankind in the beginning. The "mystery of God" was that salvation was not for a few but everyone. (Ephes 3:9). From the foundation of the world God has all of us in mind! That's profound. The "foundation of the world" (above) is, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). Genesis is the book of the foundations of the world. "Genesis" means origin or creation, preference is for the former.
Guess what? "Generated" means origin as well! Genesis is the Book of Origins. Regenerated means back to the original. What was the original condition?
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." (Gen 1:26-27)We were created "in our likeness". Who is "our"? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are to be like God in Mind, Flesh, and Spirit. Scripture calls that love:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Mat 22:37).It should be obvious that we are to be like Jesus who Is God! Scripture calls that Christlike. That was the original or generated condition of humankind. When sinners are regenerated, that is not merely a return to infant behavior but a return to generated condition. Sinners who become Christians have a re-genesis.
In Genesis, Adam was truly innocent and totally without connivance. That's what Christians should be. Our reasonable sacrifice is returning our hearts to God as the Designer intended them. God's will is reversal of original sin. That is purity. Will we ever be pure? No! God knew that Adam would not maintain his purity. There was a gate out of Paradise by design for a reason: God knew that although Adam was innocent, he would still fail. He loved him anyway!
Just as Adam had a gate out of the hedge around the Garden (Job 1:10), we too have can leave the safety of the hedge. Once Adam was out, sacred literature tells of his conflicts with Satan. Job was a type of Adam. Christians are types of Jobs!
Adam's original condition was the same as God's. The Law of God is God's will. The will of Adam (and Job and us) can either be the law of sin or the Law of God - our own will or God's will. God asks that "His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". I believe that to mean that the will of Christians are to be the same as it was in God's original Paradise. (Note: I contend that the Garden Paradise and the heavenly Paradise are the same environment.)
Adam left Paradise. It was his choice. Of course, God sent him forth from Paradise to experience tribulation (Gen 3:23), but he made his choice to leave when he ate the forbidden fruit. Adam exercised his God-given free will which was the freedom God granted to his creatures.
Adam and Eve were given a second chance (Gen 3:21). By the death of the first living animal, Adam and Eve were regenerated back to original Design intent. They were sent out of the Garden to test their regenerated condition. Like Job and us, Adam and Eve were tempted and deceived after leaving the Garden. Why so? To test their regeneration. Was it like they once had been? Adam could have returned to the law of sin and lived in iniquity. We don't know for sure, but sacred literature indicates that Adam remained faithful even when tested. God's Word indicates there was an Adamic Covenant:
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."This is a preview of what would happen on Calvary when Jesus stepped on the Serpent's head. (See my book, The Skull of Adam for a full explanation of that passage.) Regeneration, then, is to be like Adam since we will fall short of being "as God". Adam was made perfect (re-originated) by the killing of an innocent animal. When sinners accept Jesus's propitiation of his own blood, we too become re-originated or regenerated.
Adam, although regenerated, still made human mistakes because he was like God, not God. He was willing to be like God after he was forgiven, though. We too will make mistakes (sin) because we are not God. That's where grace comes in. We are saved by grace because God knows that we deserve death as we are not really gods and we do err against Him.
Humans exist to exist with Existence - our purpose is to love God. Satan's role is to disrupt that communion. Satan goes to and fro in the world to test, even Adam. Although Adam was re-originated, his free will remained intact. He could still choose the Serpent and God would not stop Him. Likewise, when we are in the world, we too are tested, and we can fall! Our regeneration can move to degeneration. That's why Satan exists.
As my commentary said earlier "our minds must be stayed on God". That is called keeping the faith. Satan's role is raising doubt. One of the most flagrant doubts is that God did not Originate (Generate or Create in Genesis), so how could He re-originate (Regenerate)?
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