By Derek Prince
There are two essential roles that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives as God’s children. The first is that it is through Him that we become children of God. It’s through the Holy Spirit that we are born again, born from above and become members of God’s family. Jesus speaks about this in John 3:5–8:
“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” (NKJV)
Notice that phrase, “born of the Spirit.” It’s by that experience that you become a child of God. There is no other way to become a child of God. The Holy Spirit comes in through your faith in Jesus and in the Word of God and He imparts to you a totally new life, a spiritual life, a life which is the life of God projected through the Holy Spirit into you.
Jesus says there are two kinds of birth. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and can never be otherwise. Through our natural birth we become children of our natural parents, descendants of Adam. But that does not make us children of God. In order to become children of God we have to have a spiritual rebirth which comes from the Holy Spirit, who, imparts to us a totally new divine life from above, the life of God himself. Through the new birth, by the Holy Spirit, we become children of God, we become members of God’s family.
Reflect: There is only one way to become a child of God: by being born again. Why is it important to be born again?
Heavenly Father, thank you for wanting me to be your child. Thank you for the new life that you have started in me, through Your Holy Spirit. I am no longer a child of Adam, but my new identity is given by You, my Father.