How Does the Metamorphosis of Eagles Suggest the Rebirth of Christians?

By Xiaofang

All along I kept thinking: Why does the Bible say “mount up with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31) and “your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalms 103:5)? Today I finally understood the meaning of these words …

“Eagles can live more than 70 years. Their lifespan is the longest among the birds in the world. But who has ever thought that they have to experience the rebirth when they are 40, namely the metamorphosis. At that age, their claws aren’t sharp or agile as before and they even can’t catch prey; due to the aging process, their beaks become curly, to the extent that they can almost touch the breast feather; and their feathers become heavy because of calcification, which makes them have difficulty in flying. At this point, if they want to keep on living, they would fly to the summit of a high mountain, nest on a rock and perch there, pecking the rock with their aging beaks until the beaks fall out. And then they would pull their hard nails out of their claws with the new beaks. After regenerating new nails, they would pull out the calcified feathers one by one … While they are experiencing such bloody metamorphosis, their life is revived day by day. Finally, the metamorphosis enables them to live another 30 years.”

After reading this story, I was very shocked, and I also believe everyone will have the same feeling as me. Eagles are valued as the king of birds. But who has ever thought that they actually need to experience the transformation to gain a new life. Only after they have experienced such a test, can they gain a new life, spreading their wings and flying in the sky.

The eagles’ second life gives me an inspiration: The path we Christians walk is the path of being reborn. What we experience is a process from knowing sins to confessing sins, and at last removing sins. The Lord Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The Lord’s words tell us that if our old life doesn’t die, we cannot gain a new life, much less enter into God’s kingdom. If we want to be reborn and changed into new people and enter into God’s kingdom, we can’t be satisfied with standing still, keeping those outmoded rules and laws in our life, or having some outward changes and good behaviors. Instead, we must step forward and attain transformation in our sinful nature. For we, though having been redeemed by the grace of the Lord Jesus and enjoying abundant grace from Him, still live in the situation of sinning each day and confessing each night, and are still caked in grime. The Bible says: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrew 12:14). “But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15–16). From these verses, I came to understand that God is holy and righteous, and thus He absolutely doesn’t allow filthy and corrupt people to enter into His kingdom. So, how can we get reborn as new people and achieve purification? This question had puzzled me for years until one day I read two passages of words from a gospel website. “A sinner such as you, who has just been redeemed, and has not been changed, or been perfected by God, can you be after God’s heart? For you, you who are still of your old self, it is true that you were saved by Jesus, and that you are not counted as a sinner because of the salvation of God, but this does not prove that you are not sinful, and are not impure. How can you be saintly if you have not been changed? Within, you are beset by impurity, selfish and mean, yet you still wish to descend with Jesus—you should be so lucky! You have missed a step in your belief in God: You have merely been redeemed, but you have not been changed. For you to be after God’s heart, God must personally do the work of changing and cleansing you; if you are only redeemed, you will be incapable of attaining sanctity. In this way you will be unqualified to share in the good blessings of God, for you have missed out a step in God’s work of managing man, which is the key step of changing and perfecting. You, a sinner who has just been redeemed, are therefore incapable of directly inheriting God’s inheritance.” “In the past, His means of salvation involved showing the utmost love and compassion, such that He gave His all to Satan in exchange for the whole of mankind. The present is nothing like the past: The salvation bestowed upon you today occurs at the time of the last days, during the classification of each according to kind; the means of your salvation is not love or compassion, but chastisement and judgment, in order that man may be more thoroughly saved. Thus, all that you receive is chastisement, judgment, and merciless smiting, but know this: In this heartless smiting there is not the slightest punishment. Regardless of how harsh My words might be, what befall you are but a few words that might appear utterly heartless to you, and no matter how angry I might be, what rain upon you are still words of teaching, and I do not mean to harm you or put you to death. Is this not all fact? Know that nowadays, whether it be righteous judgment or heartless refinement and chastisement, everything is for the sake of salvation. Regardless of whether today each is classified according to kind or the categories of man are laid bare, the purpose of all of God’s words and work is to save those who truly love God. Righteous judgment is brought to purify man, and heartless refinement is done to cleanse them; harsh words or chastening are both done to purify and are for the sake of salvation. Thus, today’s method of salvation is unlike that of the past. Today, you are brought salvation through righteous judgment, and this is a good tool for classifying you each according to kind. Moreover, ruthless chastisement serves as your utmost salvation—and what have you to say in the face of such chastisement and judgment? Have you not always enjoyed salvation, from start to finish?” These passages tell us that if we want to get reborn and become new people, we must receive God’s judgment and experience chastisement and refinement. 1 Peter 4:17 says: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” We mankind have been corrupted by Satan for several thousand years. Our corrupt dispositions, like arrogance, selfishness, craftiness, and maliciousness, have already been implanted into our blood and bones so deeply that we would produce conceptions about God at any time or place and resist and betray Him. So if we want to be changed into new people who are after God’s heart, we must accept God’s judgment which is like the knife and sword and experience various trials and refinements. Only through the hard process of getting reborn and being resurrected, like experiencing the “eighty-one difficulties,” can we cast off our satanic dispositions, become new people, and enter the kingdom of God. Proverbs 1:32 says: “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.” As true Christians, if we want to get reborn and gain life, we must possess the courage to change our current circumstances and have the determination to get reborn, and accept the work of judgment and purification done by the Lord when He returns. Only in this way can we genuinely be reborn. Of course, the transformation is painful, but it is also necessary. After we gain our new life through the transformation, we can understand the true meaning of life and enter into glory with Christ.