Motherless Child - 2

Intro:

Even thought I may feel like a motherless child, I really am not.So, here are a couple of Scriptures that show me why I am not a motherless child. I have a mother.

I. Galatians 4:26,27- English Standard Version (ESV)

26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

    than those of the one who has a husband.”

  A. My mother is the heavenly Jerusalem. The human woman, Sarah, is used as a metaphor for our heavenly mother. Remember that Sarah was Abraham's wife. She was barren for most of her life.  Her biological clock had timed out, and had quit functioning for decades before God did a miracle in her. He allowed her to become pregnant at about age 90.

  B. Notice that He did so with Sarah in a very human way, by making it possible for her to have a human child.  God did not give her an alien child, but one that was very human. Remember Star Wars and how Anikan Starwalker - who later became Darth Vadar - was born? He had a human mother, but some kind of alien force entered his mother and she became pregnant with her son, Anikan.

  C. That is not the kind of thing we are talking about with Sarah. She was a real human woman, and her husband a real human man. They made a child, Isaac, in the normal, human way. What was not normal, but rather miraculous, was their advanced age. (see Genesis 18)

  D. So, it pleased God to give Sarah a son. Not only that, it pleased God to use Sarah as a metaphor for how He brings many children into His family. She is the type of the heavenly Jerusalem, the true mother of all who believe Jesus Christ. In this spiritual relationship, there is no physical union to produce children, of course.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

- John 3:6 KJV

I think that we could say that the Heavenly Jerusalem is our motherland, our patria. We belong to her and we belong with her. Of course, this is metaphorically speaking. She is our true home.

II. John 3:1-5

You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

  A. Now, this translation is interesting.

   1. Look at the passage I cut and pasted into this post. There is a [b] that leads to a footnote. Here is the text of that footnote.

John 3:3 - Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse7

     

     2. It is possible to do a free translation of this verse, which gives a person a little more latitude without claiming that it is the official translation. So, a free translation might be something like this:

 "Unless a person is born again from above, he or she cannot  see the kingdom of God."

    

       3. The first birth involved a human mother. Being born made it possible to life on this earth. If we connect John 3 to Galatians 4, then maybe we can say that being born again from above makes it possible for us to live in the Jerusalem that is above.

Conclusions:

I have a mother. I was born from above, where she is. I was born by the Holy Spirit since He has the power to create life. However, I have a motherland, so to speak. She is the Jerusalem that is above, the heavenly Jerusalem.   This should give us great comfort as we pass through this world. This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through, as the old Gospel song says. We have a home, and she is our mother, our patria- the Jerusalem that is above. 

  I'll end with a C.S. Lewis quote, and then a Scripture to consider.

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy the only logical explanation is I was made for another world"

5. Colossians 3 English Standard Version (ESV)

Put On the New Self

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
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I now understand the Heavenly Jerusalem to be synonymous with the Church, my Mother. I don't have to wait until Heaven to be joined with her. She is my true home.