Two Ultimate Statistics

What are the two ultimate statistics?  When I see a beautiful sunset or a picturesque landscape, I think of the vast creativity of God.  All living creatures are a testimony of His creative power.  Yet when I think of His redemptive power, I am even more amazed at what He can do; not only in my life, but in the lives of those around me.  Think about the power working in your life as a true believer.  Then compare this to all of creation and contemplate the power involved.

In reading 1 Corinthians 15:22, we see two ultimate statistics.  In Adam ALL die, but in Christ ALL are made alive.  This is amazing.  How does He do it?  How does He take a life that is destined for destruction and make it alive?  Nicodemus saw this and asked the same question (John 3:4-8).  He wondered how a life can be born again.  Jesus give him an answer using an analogy.  In John 3:6, He says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.  This brought Nicodemus to his spiritual knees.  He could not believe what Jesus was saying.

I would imagine we all wrestle with this saying a little bit.  It is a hard truth but one of the greatest truths of all truths.  The flesh can only produce flesh and that flesh is in Adam and destined for death; a spiritual separation from God for all eternity.  However, the Spirit will produce Spirit or spiritual life and that spiritual life is in Christ and will live for all eternity in the presence of God.

What brought Nicodemus to his spiritual knees is the found in verse 8.  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8 ESV).  What does this mean and why would Nicodemus not be able to believe it?  What Jesus is saying to a  man who has lived his entire life trying to be perfect according to the law so that he may gain entrance into Heaven is that he (Nicodemus) is not in control of it.  Flesh cannot produce spiritual life.  Only the Spirit can and He is like the wind; not knowing where it comes from or where it is  going.  In other words spiritual life is not up to you, it is a full creation of God.

This doesn't make me mad; it makes me praise God for His creative power in my life.  I see what I once was and where I was going and I praise Him that He gave His amazing gift of grace that goes beyond comprehension.