Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. (2 Timothy 1:14 CENT)
As a young Christian I was woefully ignorant of the Bible. I had no concept of the enormity of God's radical gifts and his promises to believers. The Bible is filled with what seems to be over-the-top blessings that God offers to his people. One of those gifts is the gift of Holy Spirit living inside of each believer.
When I first heard someone teach that God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, lives inside of me I was astounded and, to be honest, I didn't believe it. My first thought was, "That's just not possible. How could a holy, perfect God, the mighty Creator of the universe live inside of sinful me?"
As I said, I was ignorant of God's promises of the Bible. This truth that God lived inside of every born-again believer was not something I had ever heard in church so the idea that God was inside of me was a real "world-rocker! How could that be? How could that possibly be true?
At that time I at least understood that the Bible was the reference manual for the Christian life. I had come to the realization that the Bible was truth. Jesus taught that the Bible was God's inerrant Word so I was convinced of its reliability for everything. So, I looked this up and much to my surprise, it was true! Somehow, in some inexplicable way, God lived inside of me!
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
This truth still amazes me! In a way that no one can explain, God joined his Spirit, the Spirit of Life, with my dead spirit and brought me new (eternal) life.
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 ESV)
When we dig into the meaning behind the Greek words in this verse we find some amazing insights! In Greek the word translated as born is "gennao" and means "to be procreated again." The Greek word for again is "anothen" and means "from above by the first presence," or "the preceding presence". Therefore "born again" literally means "to be procreated by the one who has always been."
...but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. (Hebrews 3:6)
When we were born again we were given life from above. We were procreated from above. The enormity of this statement is amplified when we take a deeper look into what we have received from God. The following is a great explanation I gleaned from a website.
"No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God" (1 John 3:9, AMPC, bold emphasis mine).
Other Bible versions use the term "seed" instead of "sperm" in this verse. That probably sounds a little less edgy, more polite. However, the actual Greek word in the Apostle John's original writing is transliterated sperma. This word, sperma, is translated "seed" in other New Testament passages, referring to what a farmer sows in the ground. In still others, sperma is rendered "descendants" or "offspring." However, in this verse, the wording "divine sperm" is clearly an accurate translation of the concept John was bringing to us when he penned the word sperma.
We can see this by the context: being born of God. Sperm and birthing are closely related ideas. Just as I was engendered by my physical father's seed, so I was born a second time, in spirit, by my heavenly Father's seed (his sperm). Just as my dad's DNA is reflected in every cell of my body, so God's sperma remains in the makeup of my spirit and defines who I am. Here is another Scripture that utilizes the same illustration:
"You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23, AMPC, bold emphasis mine).
This is amazing! When we were born again we were given this new life by the infusion of God's sperm within our dead spirit.
Yes, at first I was a bit uneasy about using the phrase "God's sperm" because somehow it seemed unfitting for God, but that is what the Greek literally says.
So if we have been procreated with the new life, the very sperm of God, what does that mean to our day to day life? It's great to have revelation and understanding from God, but revelation without application is, well, just that. Unless the truth we know affects our thoughts and behavior it's worth is negligible.
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. (John 14:23)
So I'll conclude with a few questions for your meditation.
How does the truth that God lives within us affect our prayers? Do we pray from victory or from defeat?
How does this truth affects our words? Are we cognisant that our words carry the creative or destructive power of the Holy Spirit?
....in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
How does this truth affect our relationship with God?
What about our perception of God?
....so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (Ephesians 3:17)
...to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
God loves us so much that when we were born again he, personally, came to join with us and live inside of us!!! He is amazing!
Shalom!
Jim