A NEW WAY TO LIVE 1
The Bible is full of wisdom on these matters. That is why we call major books of the Old Testament "wisdom literature." Jesus sums it all up in his teachings. He is the power and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). For example, he tells us, "Seek first the kingdom and God's righteousness, and all else shall be provided to you" (Matthew 6:33, PAR). Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house upon rock. The rain fell and the streams rose and the winds blew and beat upon the house. But it did not collapse, for it was built on rock" (Matthew 7:24-25, VAR). Accordingly, the greatest need you and I have, the greatest need of collective humanity is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed. It is even now true, as angelic seraphim proclaimed to Isaiah in his vision, that "the whole earth is full of His glory" the glory of the holy Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:3). But the day is yet to come when "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14, emphasis added).
The revolution of Jesus is in the first place and continuously a revolution of the human heart or spirit. It did not and does not proceed by means of the transformation of social institutions and laws, the outer forms of our existence, intending that these would then impose a good order of life upon people who come under their power. Rather, his is a revolution of character which proceeds from under their power. Rather, this is a revolution of character which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship to God in Christ and to one another. It is one that changes their ideas, beliefs, feelings, and habits of choice, as well as their bodily tendencies and social relations. It penetrates to the deepest layers of their soul. External, social arrangements may be useful to its end, but they are not the end, nor are they a fundamental part of the means. On the other hand, from those divinely renovated depths of the person, social structures will naturally be transformed so that "justice runs down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24). Such streams cannot flow through corrupted souls. Conversely, a renovated "within" will not cooperate with public streams of unrighteousness. It will block them or die trying. It is the only thing that can do so.
T.S. Eliot once described the current human endeavor as that of finding a system of order so perfect that we will not have to be good. The Way of Jesus tells us, by contrast, that any number of systems not all, to be sure will work well if we are genuinely good. And we are then free to seek the better and the best. This impotence of "systems" is a main reason why Jesus did not send his students out to start governments or even churches as we know them today, which always strongly convey some elements of a human system. They were, instead, to establish beachheads of his person, word, and poorer in the midst of a failing and futile humanity. They were to bring the presence of the kingdom and its King into every corner of human life simply by fully living in the kingdom with him. Those who received him as their living Lord and constant instructor would be God chosen ones, holy and beloved" (Colossians 3:12, NRSV) and would learn how to "be blameless and harmless, children of God, faultless in the midst of a twisted and misguided generation, from within which they shine as lights in the world, lifting up a word of life" (Philippians 2:15-16, PAR).
Churches thinking now of local assemblies of such people would naturally be the result. Churches are not the kingdom of God, but are primarily and inevitable expressions, outposts, and instrumentalities of the presence of the kingdom among us. They are “societies" of Jesus, springing up in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the farthest points on earth (Acts 1:89) as the reality of Christ is brought to bear on ordinary human life. This is an ongoing process, not yet completed today: “and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come" (Matt 24:14).
A NEW WAY TO LIVE 2
More is available to us in Jesus Christ than we dare imagine. There's another way to live. The Bible calls it the new way of the Spirit. Those who take this route through life find themselves flowing toward the Father in rhythm with the Spirit as He opens their eyes to see the beauty of Christ. This new way leads through a life that anchors us in storms of doubt, into moments of ecstasy that keep bigger hopes alive when good dreams die. It leads us to death of self that allows our true selves to walk out of the tomb into the light of day. Jesus said, I’ve come show you the New Way. We desperately need to discover a new way. Many are looking for another version of the Old Way. You're looking for a method to make life work. That’s the Old Way. The method you choose becomes your master. In the Old Ways the Better Life becomes your goal. It must be abandoned. Your goal must be God and your method obedience.
THE LAW OF LINEARITY
This is hard to understand for we live by the Law of Linearity. The idea is that B follows A. So if I want B, I must discover the A that will bring it about. This is even when we pray. Why do you pray? I'm certain you know the teaching: Cling to God and don't let go until He blesses you. Get every blessing He has reserved for you. That’s the Old Way. How can that be? Prayer is not the Old Way. Our inferior prayer is. Our desires are too weak. Small affections create idols, unworthy gods to whom you sacrifice your life. Our prayers become idol worship. We become bound to our desire for the Better Life, which is reflected even in our prayers. The New Way reveals a prayer life convinced that you are in Him who is the guarantee of your audience with the Father who knows what you need in every dimension of your life.
THERE IS A NEW WAY THAT LEADS TO THE BETTER HOPE
We want to know what is effective. Rather we need to know what leads to life. Your search for an effective way to the Better Life will lead you to follow the basic principles of this world and not the paths of life in Christ. Following those principles can sometimes make your life more pleasant, but it can never fill your soul. It will never bring you into the Better Hope. Moreover our determination to do what is effective is futile because we are sovereign over nothing. We control nothing. The illusion of control brings requirement, requirement creates pressure, and pressure leads to slavery, the slavery of having to figure out life to make it work. Those who hold on to the illusion of control lose the enjoyment of freedom. God is sovereign over all. Those who make that mistake think that by doing right: they obligate the Master to bless them according to their understanding of the Better Life. This is bondage to the Law of Linearity. It obligates you to do what’s right to win the blessings you desire. That law is no longer the guiding rule for God's children. It has served its purpose. By right doing, no one can earn the Perfect Life later, nor the Better Life now.
THE MYSTERY OF TRUST
By the Master’s grace, that Law has been replaced by the Law of Liberty. Under the Law of Liberty, you’re free to live in the mystery of trust. To accept the authority of this new law it requires you to give up the illusion of control. You've cheapened the requirements of holiness by assuming you can do enough right things to bring about the Better Life. You maneuver; you do not trust. You negotiate; you do not worship. You analyze and interpret to gain control over what happens; you do not depend. You seek the Better Life of God blessings over the Better Hope of God's presence.
Seek only the blessing of His presence, and you'll know what to do. It will fill your soul with joy. We think only God’s blessings bring us true joy. You need only God. But I thought I needed God because only He could make my life better. When the Master walked this earth, He withdrew from people who wanted to use His power to arrange for the Better Life. He will not be used in the service of weak affections. There is a Better Hope than what you believe is the Better Life. The New Way will take you there. The Old Way involves an arrangement with God or, if not with God, then with the order in the universe, with the rules that make life work. If you do what you should, then you get what want, either from a moral God who rewards good behavior or from an orderly world that you effectively use. It leaves you in control of how things turn out in your life. The Old Way promises a better life filled with good things that make you happy. But it never delivers. The Old doesn't work for one reason: You never keep your end of the bargain. No one does. The second path is the New Way. In this arrangement, God first plants a desire in your heart, a longing that actually values His presence over His blessings; then He invites you to live out that desire, to abandon yourself to what you most want. It takes you out of control but it sets you free. The New Way promises a better hope than the good things of life. It promises nearness to God, and it delivers, though not right away and often through suffering.
THE OLD WAY IMPLIES CONTROL
Most people live the Old Way all of their lives; most people who go to church live a religious version of the Old Way. It goes something like this: If you want good kids, raise them according to Christian principles. If you want a good marriage understand a biblical model for marriage and live up to it as closely as you can. If you want God to bless your ministry, follow godly principles of leadership. If you want to be emotionally healthy, practice spiritual disciplines and trust Jesus for your needs. If you want close friends, learn to accept yourself and to be vulnerable, authentic, and forgiving. People who live the Old Way believe the Law of Linearity, a law that states there is an A that leads to the B you want. Figure out what A wants, you'll have the life you most desire. The pressure’s on.
THE NEW WAY IMPLIES TRUST
People who live the New Way believe the Law of Liberty that makes them acceptable in Christ as they are. They do not bathe before they approach God. They come to God the bath. And they are eager to do whatever will create the opportunity for change. They live for the truest desire of their hearts: to know God and to enjoy Him. They do not live for a better life in this world. And when their life here is hard, when things fall apart, they rest in the knowledge that God is with them. They’re citizens of another world who most want what this world can never provide. So they wisely indulge their deepest desire and trust God to reveal Himself to them. That's the Law of Liberty. Most of us are living the Old Way. Some of us can feel the emptiness it never fills. We're working hard to make life work so we can feel good. The pressure’s on. There is a new way to live that takes the pressure off.
OLD WAY OF MOSESFocus: The better life of blessings from God / NEW WAY OF CHRIST
Focus: The better hope of intimacy with God
Upholding of principles and laws / Insight in the mysteries of God
My efforts are rewarded / Identification with Christ
I am the guarantee / Christ is the guarantee
3 IMPORTANT VERSES
- Deut 29:9
- Heb 7:18-19
- Gal 4:3,9
BEHOLDING HIM 1
Heb12:2 “Looking away unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.”
That is how we get rid of every weight, every sin which seeks to cling so closely. The Greek word says looking away from the one thing, namely contradiction, to the other thing, namely Christ.
I Cor 9:24—27 speaks of the athlete that wants to run, but every time there is a sin, an interruption, something that holds him down, and he feels condemned again, he feels weak and in need again. The Word says that we can encourage and strengthen the weak knees and make firm the feeble hands, looking away into Jesus.
Is 35:3-4 “strengthen the weak hands, make firm the feeble knees, say unto them; behold your God.”
Stop looking at your problem, stop looking at your need. Stop studying the history of your specific unique need and begin to study and look intently into the perfect law of liberty. The Lordship of Jesus Christ established a perfect law of liberty, a law God has set into motion. A law is something that cannot be effectively contradicted. There is enough truth in the Word to guarantee your vindication. There is enough truth in God’s vindication to secure a walk of blameless innocence before Him.
Rom 6:l7 “Thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to that standard of teaching (form of doctrine) to which you were delivered.”
OBEDIENCE FROM THE HEART
Not obedience from the head that is the law. “From the heart to the standard of teaching.” What is the standard of teaching? Christ revealed in the flesh. My beholding Him as in a mirror, my seeing His death as my own, my seeing His resurrection as mine. The question is now, what is the key that release spontaneous obedience from the heart?
Rom 1:4 is helping us to solve this question - “Christ through whom we have received grace and apostleship unto obedience of faith among all nations for his name.” The Greek says literally obedience inspired by faith. That means that when we heard what happened with us in the law of faith (the work of Christ), the obedience was stirred by it. The word obedience as well as faith has the same root word in Greek, namely “persuasion”. We see thus that the preaching of God’s faith (persuasion) in the work of Christ, will stir the same faith, persuasion or obedience in me. All that I then need to do is to release the persuasion that was stirred in my life.
With the information of Rom 1:4 we can now better understand the meaning of Rom. 6:17. One translation translate it as that “we obeyed from the heart that mould of doctrine inwhich we were moulded.” At the cross we were moulded into the image and likeness of Jesus. When we now preach the right mould or gospel to man, namely Christ as our mirror reflection, we, as the product of that mould, will fit spontaneously into it! Jesus is the mould and we are the product that was moulded in Him.We were brought forth through the Word of truth. In what sense were we moulded In Christ Jesus? The old man, that was part of the human race, died with Christ, we were forgiven in Christ Jesus (II Cor.5:19), we were made alive with Him and we were cleansed and sanctified in Him (Heb. 10:10). In general we can say that man’s spirit were cleansed, made alive and reprogrammed to understand, hear, experience things in the spiritual realm and to enjoy .only God. We see thus that if we preach the right form, mould or standard of doctrine to man, in whom he was moulded, the two will fit easily into each other, and there will be a spontaneous reaction or outflow in the person’s life. The gospel or mould of condemnation does not correspond with what the spirit of man knows, and thus will only result in condemnation in your life. Man’s spirit was present at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and will not correspond or react spontaneously to something that is not the truth. The truth Is Jesus Christ and the truth about our lives is the identity of Jesus Christ. Man’s spirit can accurately discern truth and will only react on the preaching of Jesus Christ as man’s mirror reflection.
Heb.2:1 “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip (drift away).”
BEHOLDING HIM WE ARE BEING CHANGED INTO HIS LIKENESS
God has finally spoken to us in His Son. God could not speak with greater definition in greater clarity, more accurately, what He had to say to man and what He was able to reveal in His Son. Now remember, beholding Him as in a mirror, we will be changed into His likeness. In God’s eternal intention He has drawn you to Himself.Jesus says “I go to prepare a place for you so that you may be where I am.” Where is Jesus? What is the address? What is His location? He says: “I am in the bosom of my Father.” (John 1:l8) In that day (the day that the gospel will be declared) you will know that I am in my Father and you in Me and I in you.” (John 14:20) You need to see your place of being totally included in Him. Therefore we must pay the closer attention. To enter into the perfect law of liberty, it is going to cost me the diligence of my seeing, uninterrupted seeing.