THE UNVEILING

THE UNVEILING

                “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed IN US. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:18, 19.

                When we ask Jesus to come into our hearts, do we really understand what it means that He actually does come in by His Holy Spirit and that He actually takes up residence in us and that at His coming, that which is in us will be revealed to the world?

                We walk about the earth in humble clothing, human skin and bones and flesh. We scarcely comprehend it ourselves… in fact we generally live far below our spiritual potential because we do not comprehend what God has placed in us. We often take His Word too lightly.

                “He who believes in the Son HAS eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

                Picture if you will the earth as a great dark river flowing into oblivion. We are born lost and we remain lost unless we take hold of the one Hand that can pull us out of this dark river. If we believe in Jesus Christ, then we are rescued from the river’s dark flow and seated with Him in heavenly places. We become lights in an otherwise dark world. How can we become complacent about such a thing? We have been redeemed… yanked out of a river of damnation, of purposeless meaninglessness. We have been chosen to reflect the image of our Creator and to rule and reign with Him for eternity! What?

                Yet it is not our greatness that makes the difference. “For God, who said, ‘Light shine out of darkness', is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. BUT WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS, THAT THE SURPASSING GREATNESS OF THE POWER MAY BE OF GOD AND NOT FROM OURSELVES…always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” 2 Cor. 4:6, 7, 10.

                If only Christians fully understood who and what we are in Christ we would never live mundane lives. Mankind was originally created in the image of God. God is Spirit. Therefore man was created as a spirit dwelling in a body and possessing a soul. When Adam sinned, his spirit became inert and so every human born after him was born with an inert spirit… dead because of trespasses and sins.  

                The very purpose of the New Birth then is for the Holy Spirit of Christ to come in (upon our invitation) and to quicken our inert spirit, thus making in us new creatures. This new spirit, this new man that is created in us is eternal and can never die. This is the treasure we have in earthen vessels that the power may be of God and not of ourselves. This is why it can be said that He who has the Son has life.

                This is also why Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:16: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

                Paul also made it very clear in Phil. 1:21-24 that the real him was not the outer body which men can see, but the inner spirit man created in Christ Jesus and when this “earthly tent, which is our house  is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5:1 and He re-affirms this truth in Phil. 1:21-24 saying: For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”

                Paul’s teaching on the true nature of man is totally consistent with the design of the tabernacle of Moses and with 2 Thess. 5:23 where we are described as triune beings being made up of spirit, soul and body, all of which God intends to preserve whole in the resurrection.

                According to God’s design, when we are born again, our once dormant spirit is quickened and made alive by the Holy Spirit who then dwells in our spirit. Then our life from that point on involves training our soul to live by the spirit rather than by the flesh for if we serve the flesh we will die, but if we serve our born again spirit in which Christ dwells, then we will live.

                One could adequately describe the Christian life then as this: At our new birth our spirit is saved, our soul is in the process of being saved (as we serve the spirit rather than the flesh) and our body will be saved at the resurrection of the body when we receive our glorified bodies.

                But that is just the technical part of it. The fact that Christians largely do not realize what we truly are is why so many people live mundane and directionless lives. We forget that the Holy Spirit dwells consciously in us, constantly speaking into our spirit, constantly breathing new life into us, and ever renewing our inner man even as the outer man wastes away. We spend so much time feeding the outer man, and so very little time feeding the inner man.

                The question is why do we spend so much time worrying about the outer man that is dying when we have an inner man that is being renewed day by day? Why do we judge life so much by what we can see, rather than that which we cannot see? Are we investing in that which is temporary or that which is eternal? It is by faith in God’s Word that we come to know what we are in Christ Jesus and with that knowledge our life ceases to be mundane. We have an eternal purpose for which this life is but a training ground.

                We are new creatures, created in Christ Jesus. The outer man is getting old and wasting away, but the inner man is being renewed day by day and since the Spirit of God dwells in our spirit inside these mortal bodies, we can, without effort, be bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The power is of God and not of ourselves. Fruit trees don’t sweat. They don’t worry. They don’t fight for position… they simply stand their ground with their roots deeply buried in the soil of the Word and their branches lifted toward the sun of righteousness, while the sap of the Holy Spirit flows through them producing fruit in due season. The rain of the Holy Spirit bathes them in power to witness to and to provide shade, shelter and food for all the creatures that come near to them.

                It is only in the last few years that I have taken seriously walking and talking with God. Knowing that He has equipped us to do just that; I now listen for His voice.

                Jesus came into the world at a time when the great faith of patriarchs like Enoch, and Noah and Abraham had been reduced to a religion of just keeping the rules. Enoch and Noah and Abraham didn’t need all of those rules because they walked and talked with God. So Jesus came to restore to us a relationship with God in which we would not need the rules either. We too can walk and talk with God and when we do, His Spirit bears His fruit in us and against such fruit there is no law. Notice if you will that in Christ we become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. We don’t become Moses’ seed, we become Abraham’s seed.

                This is what Paul was trying to teach us in the book of Galatians. Jesus didn’t come to earth and die and rise again simply to restore us to the Law. No… He came to bring to us His Spirit and new life in the inner man so that we could walk by the Spirit and not by the letter of the Law. He wants it to come from inside our innermost being… not from external rules, but by hearts that love and follow after Him.

                Paul said: “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if the law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came we were kept in custody under law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:21-26.

                Do you see what this is telling us about who we are? We are sons and daughters of God. His Spirit dwells in us and we now live by His Spirit on the inside rather than by a set of external laws on the outside. This does not do away with the Law per se. It only changes the way in which the Law is now fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. We now walk and talk with God even as Enoch and Noah and Abraham did… even more so now because His Spirit actually lives inside of us. John 14:17

                We spend a lot of time worrying in this life simply because we don’t know who we are and what we are. We don’t understand how closely God dwells with us and in us. We often feel that we are slugging it out here on earth alone as God watches from a distance. Not so if we have been born again.

                Listen my friends; it is high time we started learning how to walk and talk with God. You have been equipped for this if you have been born again. His Spirit dwells inside of you. He is not far off. Start talking to Him about everything. Believe it when the Word says that He hears and answers us. Listen for His answers. Sometimes they come as a revelation to our inner man. Sometimes it is by the still small voice. Sometimes we simply see Him guiding our circumstances, opening and closing doors as we walk by faith.

                One thing is certain, as the Bible bears it out: Once you begin hearing God’s voice, your life will never again be mundane. Open your eyes of faith and prepare for the unveiling.