Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Born to Reproduce: Day 2


DAY 2

Today we we continue our study on Born to Reproduce, a classic booklet on discipleship, based on a message given by Dawson Trotman in 1955. You can order the booklet from Nav Press  NavPress.  I buy them in bulk HERE , or view it online.  

Please read the section  titled “Hindrances”.  If you have the book, that can be found on pages 11-13, if you are using the online document, it is the last part of the first column and most of the second on page 1 ( here:  Born to Reproduce ).

Here, Trotman makes a comparison between physical and spiritual reproduction.  For a couple to have a child, there must be union, there must be a certain level of health, and there must be a certain level of maturity.  Bereft of any of these and there can be no reproduction.  Likewise in the spiritual realm, in order to make a new disciple, in order to spiritually reproduce, there must be union, health, and maturity.

Today we will look at the union.  Dawson says:  “Only a few things will ever keep human beings from multiplying themselves in the physical realm. If a couple is not united, they will not reproduce. This is a truth which Christians need to grasp with reference to spiritual reproduction.  When a person becomes a child of God, he should realize that he is to live in union with Jesus Christ if he is going to win others to the Savior.” *

God designed the physical to teach us about the spiritual.  We completely understand that a man and woman must join together in order to reproduce, to bring another human being into the world which is part of both of them. 

Men, being a father, being a daddy, is more than a moment of union producing a pregnancy.  Being a father, a daddy, being a man, means that the union continues.  It is not simply the sex act; it is forging the unity – the ongoing – unity with your mate.  This ongoing union does not just produce a child, but, as Scripture says, raises that child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6).  It is love that stays; it is love that perseveres.

We ought to as easily understand Dawson’s point here; that there must be a joining with Christ first, then we (Jesus and each of us), together, can bring into being a new creature.  

So what does that union look like?  It is not just being saved, it is an ongoing, increasing unity with Him. To start:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8:34

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

This is love for God: to obey his commands. 1 John 5:3

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

There’s more…but these four verses, in a nutshell, say “To be united with Jesus, follow Him, die and rise spiritually with Him, love and obey Him, live like Him.”

Questions:

God designed you to reproduce “spiritual children”; do you want them? 

Do you feel as if you are one with Christ? 


Have you taken any steps in order to be?
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All Scripture is taken from the NIV, 1984 edition, unless otherwise noted.
Quotes marked with an asterisk (*) are taken from :
Trotman, Dawson. Born to Reproduce. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2008. Print.Trotman, Dawson. Born to Reproduce. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2008. Print.

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