Being Born.....dead

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  We It's January 14, my birthday.  53 years ago, in a snowy hospital in northern Michigan, I was born. I'm learning, now that I've passed the half-century mark, that birthdays have a different feeling than when I was a child. We have a lot to look back on, and the presents aren't all that exciting. We learn that wishing upon those candles doesn't always work, and the "one to grow on" candle is not a promise we can count on.  We never know when our earthly time is up.

According to the Michigan State Health records, I was born in 1970.  But according to the Lamb's Book of Life, I was born from on high in November of 1975 as I knelt at my bed.  Both births are important: one marks our existence in this sinful world, the other marks our birth into God's spiritual family where eternal life is granted.  All at Christ's expense on the cross.

I've included the quote "Born once, die twice.  Born twice, die once."   Billy Graham once said, "You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole!" 

The Apostle Paul said it in this way:  "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. - 1 Corinthians 15:21.

  A loophole to life!!  Where can we find this?

Who are those two men Paul speaks of?  The first man, Adam, brought us death through his DNA which all share. We are hopeless to save ourselves as we are literally born dead.  These two opposites are true: We breathe air and have heart beats, but spiritually we are dead to God and His holiness. We are walking zombies, trudging to an eternity spent apart from him. We need a savior, someone to be the go-between us and God.  We are alive, but two deaths await us: physical and spiritual. 

The man who brought life was Jesus Christ, who dying on the cross, became our substitute for God's wrath. Two men:  two different outcomes.  

I'm so glad I've been born twice according to the riches in Christ Jesus.  Death, whenever it may come, has lost its awful sting.  The coffin becomes a hope chest. Eternity becomes something to be desired and not feared. Now the tables are turned:  I'm dead to the world and alive in Christ.  A miraculous flip-flop on our behalf from the Ancient of Days. 
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As I blow out the candles tonight, no wishes, just a thankful humble heart for all that Jesus has done for me.