THE BORN-AGAIN VASE
A number of years ago I had the opportunity to tour the Villeroy and Boch porcelain factory in Torgau, Germany. Porcelain is one of the most beautiful and enduring things that human beings can make. Even today much of what we know about ancient cultures comes from what they made from clay. I was presented with a beautiful gift of a flower vase that is painted with these letters: V D M I Ae. They stand for the Latin words, "Verbum Dei manet in Aeternum." "The Word of God endures forever." What a beautiful inscription for a flower vase! The flowers are constantly being removed and thrown away. Their beauty only lasts for a while, but the beauty and love of God in His word lasts forever. With this truth, Peter shows us what we need.
Peter says that we are "born again" by the imperishable, living, and abiding word of God. How? What does that really mean? The word of God is the truth. It is the truth about our sins and the truth about God's forgiving love. That word is the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ. When Jesus obeyed as no one had ever done before and when He died innocently as no one had ever done before, He took the love-killing, death-dealing sin of this world away from us to give us a new life. When we repent of our sin and believe in God's word - His love in Jesus Christ, a dramatic transformation begins. It is so dramatic that it can only be called a "rebirth."