This is a continuation of the thought of verse 17, that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." Here, it is the good gift of the new birth. This new life is the greatest boon of all to men. In verse 17, the Lord is the Father of lights; here He is Father of the Christian.

"Of His own will ..." If the Lord had not willed to save us, we would never be saved. There was nothing that made it imperative that He save us, apart from His will and His love. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, that the Lord is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Apart from His will to save us, Christ would never have gone to the cross to die for our sins.

His I will and ours: Man, by nature, has no desire to be saved. The Spirit woos and wins to Christ. It is like a young man observing and desiring a young maiden for his wife. He says, "I will marry that girl, if she will marry me." Then he works on her persistently to get her to say, "I will." When she does, then the marriage takes place. It is much like this in salvation. The Lord has long ago said, "I will." The Spirit strives to get the individual to say, "I will." When he succeeds, the union to Christ is performed. It is then that the soul is born from above. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12,13).

"... begat He us ..." "Begat he us" speaks of the new birth. The Revised Version has, "brought us forth." It is the same as "bringing forth" in verse 15. The thought there is that lust gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is finished, gives birth to death. In our verse, it is the Lord, by the Word, giving us a divine birth from above. Note, He begat us; He did the work, not we ourselves. James is writing to Christians who had experienced the new birth, so he puts this in the past tense. This new birth, like a natural birth, is a work done once for all.

Necessity of the new birth: John 3:3-7 tells us of the necessity of the new birth. Good men, as the world sees men, need this new life as well as the bad. Nicodemus was a good man, and a teacher in Israel, but the Lord said to him, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Without this new birth, a man would not be fit for heaven; he would not feel at home there; he would be like a fish out of water.

A new creature: The new birth is not, as some may think, an improvement of the old life. It is an entirely new one. One who becomes a true Christian, does not become merely a better man, but he becomes a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). The new birth is not a difference in degree, but in kind.

One who is born anew has an entirely new outlook on life. He has new aims, new ambitions, new desires, new likes, in fact, a whole new character, because he has a new life.

He lifts us: Vegetable life has no way of lifting itself into a higher form of life. However, if an animal stoops down and plucks off some grass and eats it, some of this grass becomes a part of the animal. It has been lifted by the animal into a higher life. In the same manner, man, in consuming plant or animal life, lifts it, and gives it a higher form of life. Neither plants nor animals have power to lift themselves into a higher form of life. In the same way, man has no power to lift himself above his human life. The Lord must take him, lift him, and give him this new life from above. This life makes man a partaker of the divine nature. Have you been born from above?

"... with the word of truth ..." It is evident that James had a high regard for the Scriptures. He here calls them the "word of truth." He tells us that this Word of truth is the medium by which the Father of lights gives birth to His earthly children. In this, James agrees with Peter. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Pet. 1:23).

A man of the Word: Altogether, James mentions the Word four times in this chapter (vs. 18, 21, 22, and 23). In other places, he refers to the Word with other terms. He calls it "The law of liberty" in verse 25 and 2:12; and the "scripture" in 2:8 and 4:5. Besides this, he makes many references to and quotations from the Hebrew Bible. He truly was a Bible man. Of course, his letter is also a necessary part of the Word.

The Word gives life: The Word tells us of our sin, and the need of a Savior. Then, it also tells us of the Savior whom we need. Apart from this Word, we would know none of these things. Besides imparting knowledge, it gives life. It is God's mighty instrument in salvation. None are saved apart from it. As you listen to various testimonies, you will usually find, sooner or later, that some definite portion of Scripture brought light to the darkened soul. God speaks to the soul through this living Word, and thereby imparts life to it.

Life produces life: Only living things can reproduce living things. Because the Bible is a living book, it can produce life in the soul. We cannot fully explain this any more than we can explain any life. We cannot explain the life in a flower or in a little bird. While we cannot fully understand this working of the Word in the soul, we can experience it. And what a wonderful experience it is. "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please" (Is. 55:11).

Preach the Word: Seeing there is life in this Word, how important it is to heed the exhortation of 2 Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season." Unless the Word is preached, souls will not be saved, nor will saints be helped. Remember, therein lies the power of the Mighty God. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

No book like the Bible: Because the Bible is living, there is no book that can compare with it. It is the only book that one can read and reread, and never tire of reading. All other books grow stale, but this one is ever fresh. It never grows old, never decays, and never dies. Some have read it from youth to old age, and found new things in it all the time. Golden nuggets keep cropping up through its surface. A patient digger is rewarded with rubies and diamonds of priceless value. It is a constant companion. It rests the weary, comforts the bereaved, cheers the faint. It throbs with power. It turned the world upside down in the days of Paul, and it still is able to revolutionize lives if put to work. It makes truthful ones out of liars, givers out of thieves, saints out of sinners.

"... truth ..." The Bible is the "Word of Truth." Every part of it is truth from Genesis to Revelation. Because it is truth, let us believe every part of it: even about Jonah and the great fish; also Joshua and the sun standing still. Such things are not impossible to God, and He would not tell us lies. "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4). Because it is the Word of Truth, let us rely upon it; let us venture our all upon it.

"... kind of firstfruits of His creatures." In Old Testament times, the firstfruits of the harvest were to be presented to the Lord. The ceremony of presenting the sheaf of firstfruits was a day celebrated as one of the feasts of the Lord (Lev. 23:10-14). None of the harvest was to be used until after the waving of this sheaf in the temple before the Lord. This was to show that it all came from the Lord, and that it all belonged to Him.

Christ the firstfruits: It is interesting to note that the sheaf was to be waved before the Lord "on the morrow after the Sabbath" (Lev. 23:11). This now would be Sunday, or the Lord's Day. We know that this first day of the week is also the day that the Lord Jesus arose from the dead. It is in connection with resurrection that Christ is spoken of as the firstfruits. "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" (1 Cor. 15:23) – as the first sheaf is a guarantee of the resurrection of all those that are His at His coming.

The firstfruits and the first born: Not only the firstfruits, but also the first born of man and domestic animal, were to be presented to the Lord. This first born of animal and also of man could be redeemed with a lamb. Later, the Levites were taken to serve in the tabernacle and temple in place of the first born sons. This presenting of the firstfruits and the first born was an admission that the whole harvest, all the animals and the whole of mankind, belonged to the Lord. This presenting also typifies consecration to the Lord.

Christ the consecrated One: The Lord Jesus says, "The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29). This is an example of true consecration. Are we even a poor imitation of this? Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if when someone said: “The world has yet to see what the Lord can do with a person who is fully consecrated to Him;” we could respond with, “By the grace of God, I will be that person." With consecrated lives can we can do great things for the Lord.

Christ the Center: To be consecrated means to be yielded to the Lord, like clay in the hands of the potter. Man, by nature, is selfish, and tends to think only of that which is of profit to him. With a Christian, Christ should be the center, and His desires should be our delight. All our: talents, labors, and possessions should be for Him. He desires that we present our bodies a living sacrifice unto Him (Rom. 12:1). To be so consecrated will bring real joy to our hearts, as well as to His.

Examples of the whole harvest: The sheaf waved before the Lord was an example of the whole harvest which was to follow. Those early men of God were an example of the whole Gospel harvest which was to follow. Each Christian should be a good sample of what the whole harvest is. Paul, writing to Timothy, said, "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation [behavior], in charity [love], in spirit [fervor], in faith, in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12). Is my life such that the unsaved can see that I have something they need? Am I a good example of what the Lord is able to do for a poor, lost, guilty world? The world needs to be told about Christ, but it will never listen unless it can see, in a practical way, what Christ is able to do for those who trust and obey Him. Do we show Christ as well as preach Him?

Seed for a future harvest: In that sheaf, waved before the Lord, was seed for a future harvest. In those early men of God was the seed for a new harvest of men of God. We who are living today, who have the life of Christ within us, are to be the parents of a future harvest, should the Lord not come. With the help of the Lord, we are responsible for the advancement of true Christianity. In the measure that we propagate the truth, it will advance or decline. We might well ask ourselves the question, "Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown?" Some may say, "Well, it is just not in me; I cannot talk to anyone about Christ." Strange that some can talk about almost anything else, but Christ.

We are debtors: You will be thankful through all eternity that someone told you of Christ. An old preacher often asked, "Do you remember who told you of Jesus? Will anyone be thankful through all eternity because you talked to them of Him?" The Apostle Paul said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and the unwise" (Rom. 1:14). When we have Christ, we have the best in life. We owe it to others to tell them of Him. If we do not tell them, we are guilty of gross neglect. It is well to be exercised about the lost in foreign lands, but remember, those right here near our door need Christ, too.

"... firstfruits of His creatures." Christians will be exalted above all of God's creatures. They are especially the portion and treasure of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah 2:3 we read, "Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase." They had a very high place in the esteem of the Lord. Yet, many things said of the church were never said of Israel. We are the "bride of Christ" (Rev. 21:9). We will be exalted above angels. They came from His creative hand, but we are born sons. "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30). None other of His creatures are so closely linked to Him.

---

    

Copyright © StudyJesus.com