Biola Broadcaster - 1972-02

On the other side of it, for us who know Christ, we have a great­ er power at work within us (I John 4:4). As an unbeliever man in his independence thinks he is running the show. That is until he comes to Christ and realizes the hidden i power of evil which has been dom­ inating his self-centeredness. The picture given us in the Gar­ den of Eden is of two trees. One is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil while the other is the tree I of life. These represent the two spirits. The one is the Satanic spirit of independence and self-center­ edness, while the other is the Spir­ it of self-giving love which gives eternal life. Effective service for Christ springs out of this recogni­ tion. You do not have to get up in the morning looking for Christ, or asking Him to be present with you. We can have the sure knowledge that our life is His body and mind. This is His day He has given. These skills are all His to be guided as He desires. I am simply the vessel of manifestation. I do not ask God to justify me every morning when I get up. I am both justified in His sight as well as equally indwelt. Skills, sciences, arts, languages, all these things are outside of me. They have to be­ come a part of my life by a certain process which is what we would call faith. Consider someone who is try­ ing to learn a language. There is a book with all sorts of clear words in it. He is supposed to make this all a part of his life. Does he stuff it in when it slips out? Even though he persists, it does not really be­ come a part of him. Then, as he persists, something strange hap­ pens. Almost unconsciously, he awakens to the fact that the lan-

declared, “ The Father who dwel- leth in me, He doeth the works." This is true humanity. The Scrip­ ture states that if we are reconciled by Christ's death, much more shall we be saved by His living in us. So reconciliation with God is by the death of Christ. Actual salvation, in its full implications, is by Anoth­ er living within us. With such a life, the sense of distance is done away with. We are containers of the divine. A vessel has only one function and that is to contain. It remains a container and the insides what they are. The two never mix. This is the primary lesson God would have us to learn in this un­ ion; it comes as a result of the union. A person lives in his body and does not vacate it. In John 15 we have a picture of the vine and the branches. While the branch is part of the vine it does not bring forth its own fruit. It stays put and re­ mains in such a relationship to the vine that fruit can be borne by it. The two are inseparable. We think of them as a complete unit. Have you ever thought of the fact that God has extended incar­ nation by living in humanity? We have this in the illustration of the head and the body. Separation is impossible unless it be with disas­ trous results to both. Why do we regard ourselves as any way sep­ arate from Christ whatsoever. The Scripture says that He fills all things. The rest of creation cannot reveal Christ as a person. We are created for the express purpose of reveal­ ing God as a person. A person who has never received Christ is un­ aware that he is undwelt. We know, however, that there is a spirit work­ ing in the children of disobedience.

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