Beget again (313) anagennao by Greek Word Studies

Caused...to be born again (313) (anagennao from aná = renewal, again or from above + gennáo = beget) means to be physically born again (but not used this way in the NT), to beget again, to father anew, to bring to birth again, to regenerate, cause to be born again. Anagennao is used only 2 times in the NT, here and in... 1Pe 1:23 (note) for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. In the NT anagennao means to cause to be changed as a form of spiritual rebirth (aorist tense here points to a past completed act). The Enhanced Strong's has an interesting definition noting that the metaphorical or figurative meaning is to have one’s mind changed so that he lives a new life and one conformed to the will of God. In secular Greek literature anagennao is used in a botanical sense, as when the trees, plants, and flowers come to life in the spring. Note that the aorist tense speaks of regeneration as a definite historical act accomplished once for all. God "caused" it! Hallelujah! Peter pictures the heart of man as dry, shriveled, and dead in sin until God implants the principles of the new life. When this happens, we sprout into life, leaf out, and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is intriguing to note (and no accident of course) that at the time of Peter's letter, the idea of a new beginning through a new birth by virtue of infusion of divine life was a widespread idea in the ancient world, being well known not only in Judaism but also present in the "Mystery" religions. Furthermore, a proselyte to Judaism was regarded as a "new born baby". Note that to describe someone as a "born-again Christian" is redundant as there is no such thing as a "non-born-again Christian". An unregenerate (non-born-again) Christian is a contradiction in terms. By the power of God we have been give new life, making us partakers of His divine nature (2Pe 1:4-note) and thus children of God (Jn 1:12, Ro 8:16-note Ro 8:21-note) & so now we are waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Ro 8:23-note) Pastor Steven Cole makes a good point writing that... We live in a culture which has taken some biblical words and used them in a way that redefines and cheapens them so that they no longer mean what the Bible means. But then they seep back into the vocabulary of Christians with their devalued meaning. Take the term “born again.” The media uses it to describe anyone who makes a comeback or gets a fresh start in life. A baseball team that has been in the cellar and suddenly starts winning is called “the born again” Dodgers. Chrysler under Lee Iacocca was a “born again” corporation. And so it’s not surprising when over 50 percent of Americans say that they’re “born again Christians.” They mean that they had some sort of religious or emotional experience that resulted in a fresh start in life. It may have involved praying to Jesus or “inviting Him into their hearts.” But in most cases, they have no idea what the Bible means by being born again. (Sermon) (Bolding added) ><>><>><> What’s Missing? READ: 1Pe 1:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - Christ . . . has begotten us again to a living hope. —1 Peter 1:3 Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed. . . . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.” Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels as The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.” What’s missing? When a person has so much and is still bitterly dissatisfied—even suicidal—what’s not there? A relationship with God. The Creator made us with a need for meaning and purpose and hope that only He can satisfy. He meets this need when we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Trusting Jesus as Savior is the only way for anyone, successful or not, to find what’s missing.— David C. Egner (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) We search for peace, although aware That worldly roads lead to despair; But if by faith to Christ we turn, God’s grace and truth we’ll soon discern. —DJD Only God can fill the emptiness of the human heart. TO A LIVING HOPE: eis elpida zosan (PAPFSA): (Ro 5:4,5; 8:24; 12:12; 15:13; 1Cor 13:13; Col 1:23,27; 1Th 1:3; Titus 2:13; Heb 3:6; 6:18,19; 1Jn 3:3) (Note: For more detailed discussion of the vital & not frequently taught truth of hope click Blessed Hope) Peter has been called “the apostle of hope” (the noun is used 3x 1 Peter & the verb 2x 1 Peter) Living (2198) (zao) means to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead), to enjoy real life, to have true life and worthy of the Name, active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul, in full vigor, fresh, strong, efficient, active, powerful, efficacious. Now go back and "insert" some of these definitions of "living" into the phrase living hope. (e.g., a "breathing hope", an "active hope", etc). This should help you begin to understand some of the encouraging thoughts Peter means to convey. Zao - 140x in 125.24" class="scriptRef">24v in NAS - Matt. 4:4; 9.18" class="scriptRef">9:18; 16.16" class="scriptRef">16:16; 22.32" class="scriptRef">22:32; 26:63; 27:63; 23" class="scriptRef">23" class="scriptRef">Mk. 5:23; 12:27; 11" class="scriptRef">16:11; Lk. 2:36; 4:4; 10:28; 13" class="scriptRef">15:13, 32; 38" class="scriptRef">20:38; 24:5, 23; Jn. 4:10f, 50f, 53; 5:25; 6:51, 57f; 7:38; 11:25f; 14:19; Acts 1:3; 7:38; 9:41; 10:42; 14:15; 17" class="scriptRef">17.28" class="scriptRef">17:28; 20:12; 22:22; 25:19, 24; 26:5; 28:4; Rom. 1:17; 6:2, 10f, 13; 7:1ff, 9; 8:12f; 9:26; 10:5; 12:1; 14:7ff, 11; 1 Co. 7:39; 9:14; 15:45; 2 Co. 1:8; 3:3; 4:11; 5:15; 6:9, 16; 13:4; Gal. 2:14, 19f; 3:11f; 5:25; Phil. 1:21f; Col. 2:20; 3:7; 1 Thess. 1:9; 3:8; 4:15, 17; 5:10; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:10; 5:6; 2 Tim. 3:12; 4:1; Tit. 2:12; Heb. 2:15; 3:12; 4:12; 7:8, 25; 9:14, 17; 10:20, 31, 38; 12:9, 22; Jas. 4:15; 1Pet. 1:3, 23; 2:4, 5, 24; 4:5, 6; 1Jn. 4:9; Rev. 1:18; 2:8; 3:1; 4:9f; 7:2; 10:6; 13:14; 15:7; 19:20; 20:4f and is rendered in the NAS as alive(15), get a living(1), life(6), live(53), lived(3), lives(19), living(44). Life is a quality or characteristic of the hope believers now possess in Christ. "Living" is in the present tense which indicates an abiding quality. A living hope is never extinguished by untoward circumstances, even in the same way as living waters never cease to flow fresh from a perennial spring. MacDonald says This is our living hope—the expectation of being taken home to heaven to be with Christ and to be like Him forever. F. B. Meyer calls the living hope the link between our present and future. Time destroys most hopes; they fade and then die. But the passing of time only makes a Christian’s living hope that much more imminent and glorious. A living hope then is not static and dead but is active and vigorous in expressing itself in the hearts, minds and lives of Christians, if we keep our minds set on the things above. Spurgeon writes... A third blessing strictly connected with this new life, is a Lively Hope. “He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.” Could a man live without hope? Men manage to survive the worst condition of distress when they are encouraged by a hope, but is not suicide the natural result of the death of hope? Yes, we must have a hope, and the Christian is not left without one. He has “a lively hope,” that is to say, first, he has a hope within him, real, true, and operative. Some men’s hopes of heaven are not living hopes,” for they never stir them to action. They live as if they were going to hell, and yet they coolly talk about hoping that all will be well with them at last! A Christian’s hope purifies him, excites him to diligence, makes him seek after that which he expects to obtain. A student at the University hoping to gain a prize uses his best endeavors, burns the midnight oil, strains all his faculties that he may reach the mark which will ensure his passing the examiners. Even thus the Christian with a lively hope devotes himself to obtaining the blessings which God has promised in his word. The Lord hath begotten us to a “lively hope,” that is to say, to a vigorous, active, operating hope. It is a “lively hope” in another sense, namely, that it cheers and enlivens. The swimmer who is ready to sink, if he sees a boat nearing him, plucks up courage and swims with all his strength, because now he expects that his swimming will be of effectual service to him. The Christian amid the waves and billows of adversity retains his hope, a glorious hope of future bliss, and therefore he strikes out like a man towards the heavenly shore. Our hope buoys up the soul, keeps the head above water, inspires confidence, and sustains courage. It is also called a “living hope,” because it is imperishable. Other hopes fade like withering flowers. The hopes of the rich, the boasts of the proud, all these will die out as a candle when it flickers in the socket. The hope of the greatest monarch has been crushed before our eyes; he set up the standard of victory too soon, and has seen it trailed in the mire. There is no unwaning hope beneath the changeful moon: the only imperishable hope is that which climbs above the stars, and fixes itself upon the throne of God and the person of Jesus Christ. The hope which God has given to his truly quickened people is a lively hope, however, mainly because it deals with life. Brethren, it may be Christ will come while yet we live, and then we shall not die but shall be fitted for heaven by a change. However, it is probable that we may have to depart out of this world unto the Father by the usual course of nature, and in expecting to do so let us not look at death as a gloomy matter, as though it could at all jeopardise our welfare or ultimately injure us. No, my brethren, we have a living hope, a lively hope. Charles Borromeo, the famous bishop of Milan, ordered a painter who was about to draw a skeleton with a scythe over a sepulcher, to substitute for it the golden key of Paradise. Truly this is a most fitting emblem for a believer’s tomb, for what is death but the key of heaven to the Christian. We notice frequently over cemetery gates, as an emblematic device, a torch turned over ready to be quenched. Ah, my brethren, it is not so, the torch of our life burns the better, and blazes the brighter for the change of death. The breaking of the pitcher which now surrounds the lamp and conceals the glory, will permit our inner life to reveal its lofty nature, and ere long even the pitcher shall be so remodelled as to become an aid to that light; its present breaking is but preparatory to its future refashioning. It is a blessed thought that the part of us which must most sadly feel the mortal stroke is secured beyond all fear from permanent destruction. We know that this very body, though it moulders into dust, shall live again; these weeping eyes shall have all tears wiped from them; these hands which grasp to-day the sword of a conflict shall wave the palm branch of triumph. My brethren, it were not just that one body should fight and another body should be crowned, that one body should labor and another body have the reward. The same identical body shall rise from the dead at the Lord’s coming, marvellously changed, strangely developed as the seed develops into the full-blown flower, but still the same, in very deed the selfsame; this very body shall be resplendent with glory, even the same which now beareth sickness and pain. This is our lively hope, that death hath no dominion over any part of our manhood. There is awhile a separation between the soul and the body, it is but for awhile; there is for the flesh a temporary slumbering in the tomb, it is but a slumber, and the waking shall be in the likeness of Christ. As for the soul, it shall be for ever with the Lord, waiting for the latter day and the coming of Christ, when the body itself shall be raised from corruption into the likeness of the glory of him who is the first begotten from the dead. Thus, then, I have brought you up from the abundant mercy to the new life, and onward, to the lively hope. (1 Peter 1:3-5: A String of Pearls) CHRISTIAN HOPE IS A LIVING HOPE

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Beget again (313) anagennao

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