Introduction:
Spring is coming. I know it is even though it still looks and feels like winter here in Michigan. With spring I think butterflies. In fact you can watch butterflies at the Michigan State University Gardens Butterfly House in March. You can see their entire life cycle from egg to caterpillar, from caterpillar to chrysalis and finally from chrysalis to butterfly.
It’s an amazing transformation that takes place. A caterpillar and butterfly look nothing alike and yet they are the same creature. They look different and yet are the same, just transformed or even reborn.
In a monarch butterfly life cycle, the butterfly is born twice, once from an egg into a caterpillar and a second time from the chrysalis into a butterfly. There is a mysterious transformation that takes place inside the chrysalis. Which is similar to the transformation we have when we accept Christ.
We are born like a caterpillar and live and grow. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we transform into butterflies.
I don’t know how this happens anymore than I know it a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. The chrysalis stage is mysterious, just as our transformation from a sinner into a saint is mysterious.
Our Own Experience :
Do you see the kingdom of God? Where? How?
Jesus experience: Read John 3:1-22.
Discussion:
What must one do, according to the John 3 passage, to enter the kingdom of God?
From the John 3 passage, list differences between born of spirit or not born of spirit.
Born of spirit:
Not born of spirit:
How is being born of the spirit similar to the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly?
Application:
If you aren’t born of the spirit, can’t see God’s kingdom. V. 11 says we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we’ve seen. So let’s take a look at what you know about God and what you’ve seen, or witnessed, God doing in your life or the lives of others.
List at least 5 things you know about God.
List at least 5 things you’ve seen God at work in your life.
Have you shared these with anyone else? Share them with someone else this week.
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