The Glory of the Cross
As one grows in his knowledge of God, one is immediately aware that within the Godhead is an order. The Father is the source, the Son is the manifestation, and the Holy Spirit is the affirmation. All three Persons are co-eternal, consubstantial, and co-equal. They are all equally God for they all possess the same substance without diminution. There never was a time when the Son was not, or a time when Father was without a Son. The Father and Son existed from all eternity with the Holy Spirit - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing in perfect love, unity, and communion. However, this does not preclude the fact that the Scripture tells us there is an order within the Godhead of first the Father, then the Son, and then the Holy Spirit. All things proceed from the Father, to the Son and by the Holy Spirit. The Son could do nothing from Himself, but only from the Father. (Jn 5:19) It would be wrong to say the Son ever told the Father what to do. There is a definite order within the Godhead. There is subordination of order, but not of substance. As such, the Son takes a subordinate position of order and defers to the Father in all things. This leads to the perfect harmony and unity within the Godhead. The same should be so in Man who was created in the image and likeness of God.
Man was created a human being subsisting as spirit, body, and soul. As the Father is invisible and the source of Life within the Divine Being (Jn. 5:26; I Cor. 8:6) so, in an analogous manner, the spirit is invisible and the source of life within the human being (Jam.2:26) As the Son is the visible image or manifestation of the invisible Father (Col. 1:15; Jn. 14:9), so the body is the visible manifestation of man’s invisible spirit. Moreover, as the Holy Spirit is the unseen Person, who affirms all that which the Father and Son are in their own Persons (I Cor. 2:9; Jn. 16:14), so the soul is the unseen evidence of man’s personality and human thinking. Man was created as an individual with an order of being. Everything that man was to do was to proceed from his spirit or his heart. Out of the heart proceed the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). In the fall, however, all order was destroyed.
Rather than following the lead of the human spirit, man now followed the leading of human flesh. Rather than following the life of the spirit, man now followed the rationality of his soul. He walked by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, rather than by the tree of life. Man continued in his degraded state until such a time that his heart was filled with nothing but evil thoughts and as such even when he did something from the proper order of his heart first - he still was led in the way of sin.
The order of Man was completely destroyed. Some men would let their bodies rule and, as such, would participate in gross immorality. Others, being more stoical, let their souls rule, and as such created the manifold philosophies of human wisdom and conduct; while yet others being more religious, indeed, let their spirits rule, but it was too late, their spirits were defiled, filled with sin, and dead to God, and so theirs was not a true religion of holiness, but a man-made religion and worship devoid of all truth and life. This is the consequence of the fall, but God be praised, He left us not in our fallen state, but provided a salvation - a salvation that would restore the proper order of life within Man.
Through the propitious sacrifice of Christ upon the tree, God provided a cleansing and justification through the blood of Christ. Through faith in Christ, man could be born again. Old things passed away, and all things became new. Through the new birth man’s spirit was cleansed and created anew. The Holy Spirit could now indwell man’s heart. Through the new birth, the soul could now be renewed and be transformed from the subtle deceptions of human thought and philosophy and be filled with the ever-abiding Word of God. And through the new birth that old body of sin was crucified with Christ upon the cross; one day to be glorified and raised an incorruptible body of purity and holiness. Oh, the wonders of salvation! God has provided for the proper order of life in man to be restored.
If we walk in the order of the blessed Trinity with our spirits, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, directing our steps (in the same way that the Father, who is the source of all things in the Godhead, directs the Son and the Holy Spirit), the body will then be able to manifest the purity and holiness of a renewed spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God, and the soul, transformed by the Word of God will be able to affirm to others the truth and reality of that regenerated spirit and show forth the purified body as a temple of God.
This is the goal of all believers - to live a spiritual life - a life that is characterized by the rule of the Holy Spirit through the agency of the human spirit in accordance with God’s Word. Carnal living, where the lusts of the body with its passions and desires hold sway, must be consigned to the cross where it was crucified with Christ. Natural or soulical Christianity, which is so prevalent today, where man’s soul with its intellect, emotion and will is continually cajoled and nurtured, must also be nailed to the cross. Man’s rationality and logic manifested in such things today as Christian Psychology must be denied and relegated to the cross. The modern Christians emotional addiction to an entertainment-oriented worship, where worship is judged by how good we feel rather than by how it makes our Saviour feel, must be denied. And finally, the misguided, though well intentioned, will of the “purpose driven” Christian must be denied and substituted with the will of God as revealed in His Holy Word.
O the blessedness of the cross! Through the cross all that we inherited from Adam came to an end! Through the cross “the world was crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). The world with all its culture and glamour was crucified on the cross. The world with all its wisdom and philosophy was crucified on the cross. The world with all its goodness and religiosity was crucified on the cross! The world is not the answer for the Christian.
What is the world, but all that proceeded from Adam, both literally and symbolically. All men and women descended physically from Adam. Every art and science, or religion proceeded from the fallen flesh inherited from our first parents. And what is God’s estimation of it? It must be counted crucified. It must die! There is no salvation in the world, because all that is in the world is “in Adam” (I Cor. 15:22) and in Adam all die!
When Christ hung on the cross, He took all the sins of the world and bore them in His own body. (I Pet. 2: 24; Isa. 53: 5-6). And what does Scripture mean by sins? Missing the mark. No one in the world could measure up to God. We all missed the mark of righteousness (Rom. 3:23).
Man did not measure up in his body. He could not keep his body as a temple of God - holy and pure. He missed the mark! Man did not measure up in his soul. His logic and wisdom failed him as he sought to please His Maker and Creator. His wisdom was foolishness to God. (I Cor. 1: 20). Man missed the mark again! And finally, Mankind did not measure up in his spirit. His religious desire to worship and please God was done in ignorance and contradiction to all revelation. Man became vain in his imaginations and “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom. 1:25). He missed the mark in every way! The world is not the answer for the Christian, and the world is none other than all that we inherited from Adam.
We must understand that spirituality is not returning to the first Adam, but following the last Adam - the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not returning to the old creation but beginning anew in the new creation. Salvation does not restore us to walk as the first Man, but restores us to walk as the Second Man (I Cor. 15:45).
Yes, we see the correct order of being (as God intended) in Adam on the day he was created. He was constituted spirit, body, and soul, but Adam failed, and it is a mistake for the Christian once saved to think now that I am saved all I need to do is roll up my sleeves and get to work for God using all the natural talents and abilities that I inherited from Adam. After all, as some think, all that God created was good and so it cannot be wrong to use such power and abilities. But, to do so puts one in great risk and peril because it causes one to make the same mistake that Adam made - that God can be pleased by walking by the tree of knowledge of good and evil, rather than the tree of life.
God does not desire us to serve Him with our own natural strength and wisdom. It is wrong to think if it’s “good” it must be all right and acceptable to God, or if my “motives” are right, God must accept it! Consider Cain, whose “motive” was right - to give to God, and who did a “good” thing - worship. Yet God was not pleased with him. Or consider Uzzah, (II Sam. 6: 1-7) who God judged with death after he grabbed hold of the Ark of the Covenant to keep it from falling to the ground and perhaps breaking in pieces. Was not it a good thing out of love for God to protect the Ark of God from danger? Was not his motive pure? Yet, what was God’s estimation of his action? Presumption and death. Why? Because he sought to follow and serve God according to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, rather than by the tree of life. If he was following God not by his own logic or creativity, he would have known that God forbid Him to touch the Ark (Num. 1: 51; 4: 15). As God tells us in His Word, the things we do we should do not by our might or strength, or own ideas but by His Spirit (Zech. 4: 6.).
God saved us to follow the last Adam, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ walked as Adam should have walked. Our Saviour had a strong spirit (Lu. 2:40 KJV). His soul was in complete submission to His Father. (Jn. 5: 30; Matt. 26:39) And, as we know, our Lord’s body was pure and undefiled - a perfect Temple of God (Jn. 2: 19-21; Heb. 7:26; II Cor. 5: 21).
As the last Adam, there was no defect in Him. He had the perfect personality. He had perfect abilities. He had all the natural talent one could desire. He was a perfect Man in every way. If any one could roll up his sleeves and get to work for God using all His natural talent, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything He decided to do would have been good, for He was sinless, yet Christ did not walk that way. He refused to walk by the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but instead walked every moment of the day in complete obedience and dependence upon God. He went forth in the power of the Spirit, not by His own strength (Luke 4:14; Jn. 14:10; Acts 10:38). The things He did were not the result of His own wisdom and understanding, but instead a perfect response and obedience to the leading of the Father through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the "Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing." (Jn 5:19). And in Jn. 8:28 "I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” Even the very words He spoke proceeded from the Father not from His own desires (Jn. 12: 49).
Now if the Eternal Son of God walked in this way, how much more should we walk in this manner - not trusting in our own natural abilities and creativity to do God’s Work, but ever relegating to the cross self in all its manifestations, whether it be a good religious self or a bad worldly self. Self is self in any of its manifestations and it must not be nurtured and loved, but rather denied. The Lord tells us if we love Him then we must keep His commandments. (Jn. 14: 15). And one of the earliest and foremost commandments the Lord gave to His disciples was, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Lu. 9:23). Yet this is the commandment most often ignored by many Christians today.
Self is loved and esteemed rather than denied. The natural abilities of self are daily utilized in service to God, rather than being consigned to the cross. The business acumen of self is so often employed in Christian ministry today that one no longer needs faith to maintain a ministry but just a good marketing plan. Perhaps we should take to heart the warning of the Apostle John, “He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. “ (I Jn. 2:4) - not that such a person is not saved, but that such a person is denying Him in their living. How ironic! When we do not deny ourselves, we end up denying our Saviour. May we all learn to take up our cross daily as our Lord commanded us and not trust in the strengths and activities of self, but rather trust in the strength and activity of the Lord who lives in us. May we abound in the work of the Lord, living and walking by His Holy Spirit, denying self and obeying His Word. May we all glory in the cross of Christ with Paul and confess with him, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself form me.” (Gal. 2: 20)
B.P.H. |
