The Miracle of Birth

If I speak of "the miracle of birth" you will immediately envision a little baby being born. And I will have to point out that "miracle" would be the wrong term. In today's vernacular a miracle would be any surprising and welcome event, but it's not the actual definition. "Miracle" requires divine intervention. It isn't explained naturally; it is a "God thing." And as wonderful as the birth of a child is, it is not really that kind of a miracle.

No, the miracle of birth to which I'm referring is not the birth of a child, but the new birth. Funny thing, though. Many times we don't see that as such a miracle. Oh, sure, that whole "buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4) thing is surely a miracle, but what about the faith it takes to get there? We're pretty sure that comes by natural means.

We're fairly certain that the right words, the correct defense, the best apologetics, a really good presentation will do the trick. It's like anything, right? How did you come to believe that 2 plus 2 equals 4? Well, you were taught it. You were shown it. You saw how two pencils in one hand and two pencils in the other hand, when joined together, came out to four pencils. Easy, right? A good explanation, a good illustration, clear and consistent evidence and argument and demonstration, and we all know now that 2 + 2 = 4. So, how do you come to believe that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again for your sins? Simple. A good explanation, a good illustration, clear and consistent evidence and argument and demonstration, and we're good to go.

You see, that's not a miracle. That's not divine intervention. And many of us stress over the fact that the process -- explanations, illustrations, presentations, etc. -- may not be good enough to accomplish the task. Because many of us aren't convinced that the faith connected to the new birth is a miracle. Oh, a miracle like that of a newborn baby, but, in the end, explainable by natural means ... which would be us.

If it is true that natural humans are dead in sin (Eph 2:1), if it is actually true that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God (Rom 8:7), if it is a fact that "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor 2:14), then it would seem to me that process, proof, and presentation would by definition be insufficient to bring about faith. If Jesus was right to say, "you do not believe because you are not among My sheep" (John 10:26), it would appear to be a given that an actual, God-given, unexplainable miracle would have to occur for you or I to come to faith and be born again.

That is the miracle of birth to which I refer. That act of God that makes believers out of unbelievers, that makes living humans out of the "dead in sin", that turns hateful hearts to lovers of God, that is the miracle of birth that truly amazes me.