Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:1-3
We were dead in our sins and had no hope of eternal life. We were heading for destruction into the eternal abyss of no-return. Only sorrow and distress filled our hearts. We were in darkness and our hearts were darkened by our own depravity and sins. We were weak and did not have the strength to rise up from our graves. We were enslaved and corrupted by the sinful and worldly desires of our flesh. We were about to rot in our sinfulness and carnality of hearts. We hated God and did not love him for who He was/is. We opposed him in our hearts and our minds. We loved darkness and hated true light. We chose our own paths instead of his ways. Indeed, we were lost, pitiful and blinded by the god of this world. We love praise and applause of men rather than his approval and we were enemies of this great King and only God. God had every right to annihilate us. He will remain just and righteous if He did so. But no! In his great love and mercy, God has given us another chance to live again.
In what is termed as the ‘new birth,’ God creates a new being within us by the power of His Spirit in our souls. The new birth is a mysterious transformation of a person from death to life, from darkness to life, from sorrow to joy, and from bondage to freedom. How was this achieved? It was achieved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Jesus Christ bought for us this new life by satisfying the wrath of God on the cross. The justice of God was seen in the death of His own beloved Son. Jesus died that we may live again. As Jesus was raised to immortality, so also people who have received the new birth will be transformed by the same resurrection power of God.
