Creation and Re-Creation

THE BUTTERFLY Such a beautiful creature, the butterfly! The life of the butterfly is so like the born again experience we have when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

The butterfly starts out as a lowly little caterpillar. The caterpillar is confined to the earth or at best to a twig of a tree. He crawls around at a slow pace, searching for food and trying not to be eaten by the birds or other predators. Some caterpillars are cute and fuzzy, while others are smooth- skinned and not much to look at.

The caterpillar reminds me of those who have not been born again. We all start out in life as a caterpillar . . . searching, trying to make it through this life here on earth. We are always aware of the predators who want to devour us in some way. Some of us are nice looking and some not so nice looking on the outside. We don’t know what we are searching for, but we know that somewhere out there is that something that will fill that empty void inside. Something miraculous happens to the caterpillar, however. Once he has grown to his full potential, he finds a good solid twig and begins to spin a cocoon around himself. Then he dies to his old caterpillar body. In fact, his body completely liquefies.

But his death is only the beginning of a wonderful new life. By some miraculous act of God, his body begins to form into a new shape and he is born again. He takes on the form of a beautiful butterfly. Once he is fully formed into the butterfly, he emerges from the cocoon (not without a struggle) into the world again.

The person who accepts Jesus into his or her life has somewhat the same experience Once we have come to a certain place in life (usually one where we can no longer go on as we are) we call upon God and ask Jesus to come into our heart. We die to our old ways and become new creations in Christ Jesus. We usually struggle along the way to understand what this new life is all about, but we begin to see things through the eyes of our Creator now. It is a whole new world to us.

The butterfly no longer has to crawl on the ground or a twig. It can now fly above it all. It is free to flitter from flower to flower and to enjoy its new life from above the things on the ground.

That is the way it is when we become born again into the kingdom of God. We can now understand His word to us in the Bible. We can see things from above the circumstances. That is why this book was written. As you read it, you will see things from God’s perspective according to what His word means. You can go from a caterpillar to a butterfly, from creation to re-creation in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Welcome to the world of the butterfly!