ZDK Revival Chapel Literature
INDIVIDUAL REGENERATION
Your Own Personal Return to God
In talking with many of my friends and associates, I am frequently
told that they don't need to be CONVERTED. Instead, they feel fine
as they are. (And, some even claim to be religious, anyway!) But,
God is a Spiritual Being and dwells in a Spiritual World. So, if
we are going to get to HIM, doesn't it make sense that we have to
become a Spiritual Being, too? For we are material creatures, in a
material world. Isn't it only logical that we need some process to
transfer us from one world to the other: to convert us from material
creatures to spiritual beings?
And, in fact, this is what Jesus told the learned religious scholar,
Nicodemus: that you have to be born again, you have to be reborn into
the Spiritual World just as you were born into this physical world
(John 3:1-7). This process of REGENERATION, or becoming an
angel-like creature is very important. For, you are not going
to be able to RETURN to God without it. So, we are talking here
about a Spiritual Process (not about joining someone's denomination).
And, since the issue of CONVERSION into a Spirit Being seems so
clouded (for some insist that Conversion is a Cultural, not a Spiritual
process--to strip Jews and Arabs of their Hebrew Heritage and Middle
Eastern Culture and make them Gentiles), let me try to set it forth,
simply and clearly for you, herein.
GOD's ORGINAL DESIGN
In the beginning, when God created Man, God designed Man to
be like (or similiar) to Himself. The Words of God declare to
us:
-
And God said (to Himself): Let US make Man in OUR Image,
after OUR Likeness (or similitude)...So, God created Man in His OWN
Image: In the Image of God created HE Man--male and female created He
them. (Genesis 1:25-27).
Therefore, as we see, God originally
designed Man to be like HIM, to be god-like (as an Angelic or
Supernatural Creature). This we refer to as being glorified (or
illuminated), though the Scriptures tend to call them Sons-of-God (or
Angels). Thus, it was God's original intention for Man to be in
intimate contact, communion, and close fellowship with HIM, even
sharing in HIS powers and priviliges as god-like beings! We were to
be HIS Sons or children!
WOW! What happened! I mean Man is so mortal, physical, or
carnal today. Whatever become of his god-likeness? Was there some
dreadful disaster?
MAN's POWER OF CHOICE
In order to be like God, God did NOT create Man to be a mere
robot. Instead, God gave Man Free Will or the ability to choose
to serve God or Not. The Scriptures plainly put this choice always
before us, for it is written:
-
...CHOOSE ye (you) this day whom ye shall serve... (Joshua 24:15).
Man is not locked in to a
pre-programmed course of action. Rather, Man has some real
decisions to make on his own! So, for better or worse, we can choose
our own path in life (though we may have to face the results of those
choices). We are allowed by God to make up our own mind.
Unfortunately, Adam (the first Man) did not make a good choice.
As the Scriptures relate that dim and early history to us, Eve (the
first woman) chose NOT to obey God and she ate of the fruit that God
had forbidden them to eat of. Worse yet, she even got Adam to
disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit with her! Because of
their rebellion against God's Law (the Command not to eat of the
forbidden fruit), they were punished by being exiled or cast out of
Heaven (away from God), and lost their communion and fellowship
with Him. Worse yet, they then became mere mortals and lost their
god-likeness (and its associated supernatural powers). What a tragedy!
This early event is refered to as The Fall of Man and it is greatly
detailed in the Holy Scriptures (Genesis 3:1-24).
Thus, while Man was designed to be god-like or angelic, by a bad
choice (disobeying God) he lost his immortality (as a Son-of-God) and
became a mere mortal human being! WHAT A CRASH AND BURN!
OUR PROBLEM NOW
But, the biggest tragedy of all this is that since all of
Mankind is descended from this first Man, Adam, we all have
inherited Adam's Sin. We are under the influence of the ill effects
of Man's first disobedience to God (as a massive kind of drug flash
back caused by the forbidden fruit). It is in our genes! We inherit
it! And this is what is refered to as Orginal Sin for it is the bad
effects of Man's first or orginal Sin. And whether we like to admit
it or not, we all, as humans, are afflicted by it. Listen to what
God's Word says about it:
-
...For ALL have Sinned and fallen short
of the glory God had intended for us! (Romans 3:23)
It is like
some kind of tragic genetic defect that we inherit from our parents,
fore-fathers, and from Adam, himself. We ALL have the nasty, natural
tendancy to do evil or wrong!
This is terrible!
Oh, yes! But the worst is yet to come! For the Scriptures warn
us that:
-
...the wages (or earned result) of Sin is DEATH! (Romans 6:23)
Thus the results of our own Sin (the harvest of the
evil that we have sown in life) is DEATH. And this is not just
physical death (like we now experience as mortal beings because of our
humanness). Rather, it is also a Spiritual Death--the death of the
remnants of our supernatural selves, or SOUL (inner man), that are left
over from our god-like design. Thus, we will all come to our mortal
end and die. And our soul will suffer a Spiritual Death, too, because
of our Sin (it will be cast into Hell or the place of supernatural
torment and torture). Thus, the unregenerated face an eternity of
agony in their after-life (when their soul or spirit man will be forced
out of its egg, our dead bodies). Consider well the Warning of God:
-
Marvel not
at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves
shall hear HIS Voice: And they shall come forth; They that have done
good, to a Resurrection (or After-life) of eternal (god-like)
Paradise. But they that have done evil (Sin), to a Resurrection of
DAMNATION (eternal torment in Hell)! (John 5:27-28).
Thus, the Sin you inherited (not to mention the evil things that
it may have caused you to do in your life) will cause you to die a
supernatural death in the torments of Hell!
This is awful! Is there no escape? Isn't there anything that
we can do?
FUTILE ATTEMPTS OF SOME
Down through the eons, Man has come up with all kinds of
ways to deal with Sin. But, almost all of these have turned
out to be scams: duping people into false hopes in order to exploit
them (or get something out of them). This is how many of the World's
great cults or false religions got started. And, unfortunately, they
all seem to rely on the same mistaken method (only applied in different
ways) and that is to just do these few good things (or avoid these few
bad things) and you will be all right in your After-life. However, the
Words of God sternly warn us:
-
There is a Way (Religion) which seems right
unto a Man, BUT THE END (or result) IS STILL SPIRITUAL DEATH!
(Proverbs 14:12).
Do not be deceived! Sin will not just go away. It cannot just be
ignored or explained away. God will remember it!
And, while most of the World's religions claim to show you a way
to God or a short-cut to Paradise in Heaven (for a good After-life),
you had better consider what God says about the matter. Give ear to
what is written:
-
But your iniquities (evil deeds) have separated
you from God; And your Sins have caused Him to hide His Face from you
so that He will not hear you (nor regard you)! (Isaiah 59:2)
So, don't try to RETURN to Him by just being good or moral! He will
not take you as long as you are tainted by Sin. And, if you die
with Sin in your life, He will not take your soul to Heaven!
For, while many try to hide their Sin or cover up their evil deeds
by a few moral displays (or even deny that they do anything wrong), the
Bible plainly declares:
...all our own righteousness (or
morality) is as as filthy rags in His sight... (Isaiah 64:6)
So, we can't just cover it up, for He knows that we have done great
evil! And, just punishment will be meted out. The wicked will pay for
their Sins by their punishment in Hell!
Oh come on now! There must be a way out! Didn't anyone find
anything that ever worked against Sin?
THE OLD TESTAMENT TREATMENT
Luckily, God so loved Man that he
took pity on him. And, in due time, He called Moses to regather the
Tribes of Israel in Egypt and institute (or start) an new method for
the TEMPORARY Treatment of Sin. This method was atonement or blood
sacrifice, where a special animal was to die as our proxy (or instead
of us) in order to make annual payments on our debt of Sin. For the
Word of God declares:
-
...without the shedding of blood, there is
no remission (payment or temporary cure for Sin). (Hebrews 9:22)
Thus, every year the High Priest (descendants of Moses) was to
make a blood sacrifice of a special animal (The Lamb of God) to make
payment for the Sins of the People of Israel that year. But, it soon
became apparent that this was too temporary of a treatment: that Man
was so Sinful (and under its evil influence so much) that he could not
even keep up or maintain the sacrifices needed to make the payments on
his debt of Sin. And, if he couldn't make the payments, then God had
to foreclose! And for their Sins (or disobedience to God), Israel was
divorced, like a wicked woman, by God and given over to conquest (and
ravishment) by her enemies--and dispersed among the Gentile Nations.
A sad ending to a hopeful start!
Oh, come on! There must be a way! Isn't there anything that can
work more permenantly against the effects of Sin?
THE NEW TESTAMENT CURE
Luckily, God had a Plan, for it is written in the Holy Scriptures:
-
For God so loved the World, that He gave (sacrificed) His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish (in
Hell), but have everlasting (or eternal) life (with God in Paradise)
(John 3:15).
This is the Gospel or GOOD NEWS, but what does
it mean? Its message is really simple. Just listen, carefully.
God sent His Son (or a part of Him), refered to as Y'ShuWaH or
Yeshua (Hebrew), Isse or Isa (Arabic), and Jesus (English): to be
the promised Messiah or Christ, by a miraculous birth through a virgin.
(See Matthew 1:18-25 for the details.)
Now wait a minute! Why a virgin? Why couldn't He have been born
like all other men?
Because, if He had been born naturally, from a mortal father, then
He would have inherited Adam's Orginal Sin, too (just like all the rest
of us). But, by being born miraculously through a virgin, He didn't
inherit any Sin and thus was Sinless (and worthy of being sacrificed).
Okay. But why a Christ? What is that?
A Christ is a King or Chief of all High-Priests (one who is in
charge of all the High Priests, down through time) especially in making
atonements, or sacrifices for Sins.
Well, then, what kind of atonement did HE make?
Consider the Words of the Scriptures:
-
The next day John
(the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him and said: Behold, the LAMB OF
GOD which takes away the Sins of the World! (John 1:29).
In
other words, Jesus played the role of the sacrificial lamb, and shed
His own blood on the Cross, to pay for our Sins (permenantly)! For
this is what the Bible teaches:
-
...God commends (shows) His love for
for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died (on the Cross)
for us! (Romans 5:8).
He was our proxy: He died in our place, paying for our Sins!
For that was His job as Christ, to offer up a worthy sacrifice to
God to atone for ALL of our Sins! Consider the Words of God:
-
For Christ has
suffered ONCE (permenantly) for our Sins, the just (Sinless) for the
umjust (Sinfull), that He might RETURN us back to GOD, being put to
death in the flesh (for us, as our proxy, on the Cross)...
(I Peter 3:18).
>
Now, isn't that GOOD NEWS?
Wow! No wonder some people get so excited about it!
Yes! And it is exciting! As the Christ, Jesus is our mediator to
reconcile (or bring back together) God and Man, so that we can be in
spiritual communion and fellowship, again, as God had orginally
intended (See I Timothy 2:5). Thus, Christ's miraculous work on the
Cross allows us to RETURN to God and begin transforming or CONVERTING
into god-like or angelic beings, as He had orginally designed us to be.
Jesus can help us RETURN to God, when nothing else will! Through Him,
we can REGENERATE or be CONVERTED back into supernatural creatures!
TIME TO RESPOND
Now, what are you going to do with this Gospel (or GOOD
NEWS)? Consider the directions of the Scriptures (for you have a
a choice):
-
But as
many as RECEIVED Him (Jesus), to them He gave power to become the
Sons-of-God (angels), even to those who believe on His Name.
(John 1:12).
Okay, but how do I receive Him? And what does that mean?
To receive Jesus means to accept His Salvation or forgivness of
your Sins (which He obtained on the Cross). And the way of doing it is
described in the Scriptures:
-
...if you shall confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised
Him from the dead, you shall be Saved (delivered from your Sins). For
with the heart Man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto Salvation. (Romans 10:9-10).
Okay, but how do I do that? What does that mean I should do?
The easiest way is to simply repeat the following prayer. It
forms a kind of Mediavel contract or covenant between you and God,
concerning the work of His Son, so that the Cross will pay for your
Sins. And, you need to say it out loud, so that God will know that
you really do agree to it:
- FIRST, Heavenly Father, I admit and confess to YOU that
I have Sinned, and done evil in YOUR sight, so that I am worthy of
death (and punishment in Hell).
- SECOND, I humbly plead with you to be merciful to me, and
to forgive me of my Sins, because of your Son (Jesus), who died on
the cross, shedding His own precious Blood to pay for my Sins (as
my death by proxy).
- THIRD, I now renounce the Devil (the false gods) and all
of their wicked ways; And in the name of Jesus I command all the
forces of evil to be gone from my life, now and forever!
- FOURTH, instead, Heavenly Father, I ask you to send YOUR
Holy Ghost into my heart and life: leading me, teaching me, and
protecting me (and Manifesting YOUR Power and Presence in my
life).
CONGRATULATIONS!
If you have agreed with that prayer and have said it aloud, then you
are now SAVED (Spiritually conceived as a new child of God, hence
regenerating or undergoing CONVERSION on your own personal RETURN),
for the Bible tells us:
-
...whosoever shall call upon the Name
Lord Jesus shall be Saved (have their Sins paid for by the Cross)
(Romans 10:13).
So your Sins (even Adam's Orginal Sin) are paid for
by the Blood Jesus shed on the Cross as the LAMB OF GOD (or worthy
sacrifice), if you have called on God (as we did in that prayer).
Now this is an important occassion! Getting Saved or giving
your heart to Christ is no small decision. Not only is it very
important to your own future (and After-life), but it is also very
important to other Believers. It is not the sort of thing that you
should hide or keep concealed. Rather, you need to tell someone else
about it, especially other Believers. For they can help you grow
even more, Spiritually (for we are to help one another). So, if you
really did pray that prayer to become Saved, then let us know. Don't
delay! Share this very exciting news with us!
Contact us and let us know
E-Mail us at: zdkf@gorge.net
Or, contact us by the usual methods, below:
- SHADDOX REGENERATIONS
- P.O. Box 44
- Underwood, WA 98651 U.S.A.
Phone: (509) 493-1674
Moreover, if you do contact us (as you should), we have lots of
other things that can help you in the Faith (just as this teaching was
of great help to you, here). So be sure to get in touch with us!
However, whatever you do, don't stop here. There is more to learn,
and to grow into in the Spirit World!
To get the next article in this series on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost,
which are given to Believers to restore some of their spiritual powers,
use the link, below:
- To get HOLY GHOST ENGIFTMENT (Click Here):
TOO HARD! WANT SOMETHING EASIER?
Well, Our Revival Course is just for you! It gives you the
plain and simple facts, in a brief, easy form. To get Our shorter,
easier REBIRTH Page, use the link below:
- To get Our REBIRTH!!! (Click Here):
SEEKING MORE INFO ON REGENERATION?
Our Web Site has a variety of Articles on Regeneration. Some are
presented in a format for one group, others for different groups.
If you have trouble grasping this one, then, perhaps a different one
would be just right for you? Or, perhaps you have a theological bent
and would like to know as many of the details of Regeneration that you
can? In either case, the Revival Chapel Directories is what you need.
You can look them up there, or use the handy link, below:
- To get Our REGENERATION DIRECTORY (Click Here):
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Filed: Jan '97 . . . Updated 7-27-99