GOD BRINGS LIFE OUR OF DEATH (SARAH?S WOMB)
And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. Genesis 21:1 (NKJV)
How would you like to be described in those terms? Worse yet, how would you like the Bible to describe you in those terms?
It sounds like something that would happen in a really bad dream or a cruel joke, and yet that's exactly how the book of Hebrews describes the elderly Abraham:
Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude . . . (Hebrews 11:12 NKJV)
Actually, Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 when God miraculously enabled them to conceive their first child. Appropriately, they named their newborn son Isaac (meaning laughter) because it was a total joke for a couple who couldn't conceive for decades to suddenly have a little one on their hands. It was nothing short of a miracle-even the Bible says that it was a "dead" situation. But God paid them a visit, and there was life.
God has the power to give life, even under the deadest of circumstances. Even when we've known nothing but fruitlessness for years on end, even when the world has written us off, even if we start to believe that we're as good as dead, there's a God in heaven who has the power to miraculously bring life to a lifeless situation and to turn our mourning into laughter.
If we're wise, we'll keep this truth close to our hearts, because it's only a matter of time before we or someone we know will need to know the miraculous truth that God has the power to give life.
Discuss, Dig, Decide
Discuss and share with your group the story of your birth. Where were you born? How did the delivery go? Do you consider it a miracle?
Dig into Ephesians 2:1–5. How have you been delivered from death to life? How is this an amazing miracle in your life? What does this passage teach you about God’s love for you? What did you do to deserve this miracle?
Decide to celebrate the miracle of “spiritual birth.” Have a few folks in your group share their stories of how they each experienced a spiritual birth through faith in Jesus Christ. If there is someone in the group who has not been “born again” (John 3:3–17), take time to pray with that person if they desire to put their faith in Jesus.
