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Sunday, January 5, 2014

We Beheld His Glory # 40

Christ - The Answer to Every Problem (continued)

Then the further question arises. Having apprehended Christ as the answer to the How? we are still up against the problem of the imperfection of our lives. We are not already perfect, neither have we already attained. By what means shall we attain and be made perfect? Christ is the answer.  "...Christ in you, the hope of Glory." Christ in you, apprehended by faith, is the basis of your conformity to His image.  "... until Christ be formed in you." How are we conformed to the image of His Son? The answer is Christ as a living reality within by His Spirit.

And so we could go on and on seeing what Christ is, and what enlightenment concerning Christ brings by way of answering all questions. This is what I mean by the content of spiritual sight, spiritual enlightenment and understanding. It is no small thing to have your eyes opened, and there is a progressiveness about this which has no end. We shall go on seeing more and more in Christ, not only to the end of this short span, but yonder where vision is perfect, we shall be exploring the meaning of Christ throughout the eternal ages, ever coming upon some fresh meaning of Christ. That is my hope in my present despair. I come to a fragment of the whole Scriptures such as "John"; I do not know how many times I have read it, sought to explain it; I begin again and I find I know nothing about it. Coming into a realm like this you say: Oh, that someone would give us some light about this! I know I shall have to start "John" all over again, and every time there will be a fuller unveiling of the Lord Jesus, and I know, if I have my three score years and ten here, it will still seem so at the end. Our hope is we shall understand the Scriptures up there. We shall see Him as He is; but now, through a glass darkly. There are many things I want to know, but it is a great thing to have the beginning. It is a precious thing to have our eyes opened. To be here in this very small way, with a little measure of spiritual sight, looking into the Lord Jesus, is a great thing to our hearts. It is a blessed thing for the enrichment of our lives. You know how much stronger you feel, when the Lord has given a little bit of light you did not possess before. Spiritual is a very real thing, enlightenment and understanding. It is a blessed gift of God in the Lord Jesus, and it comes by this vital touch of His upon the inner faculty.

The Law of Spiritual Enlightenment

Now I must hasten on to touch the law of spiritual enlightenment and understanding. I do see that there are the deep things here, which might not yield a great deal of profit, even were we to stay with them. Such matters as this clay which the Lord made, and with which He anointed the yes of this man. There seems to me to be a suggestion in that in keeping with the meaning of the body of Christ. The Father prepared Him a body in which to do His work, and all Christ's Calvary work was done in a physical body; and our taking by faith, in the Spirit, of the body of Christ symbolized in the loaf, is meant to be to us a spiritual ministration of what that body represents as a humanity triumphant; bringing us into fellowship with His triumphant humanity, making a link between us, in spirit, and His humanity which has gone through in victory. The apprehension of the absolute triumphant humanity of the Lord Jesus by faith is something for our hearts. And this clay seems to carry that same significance; that it is the touch, as it were, of the humanity of the Lord Jesus upon us. It is a vital link between Him, and what He is as the Meal Offering, the fine flour giving virtue to our spiritual man.

You will remember the Meal Offering of Leviticus represented the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. This had to be presented to God as an offering. It represents the spiritual apprehension of the human perfections of the Lord Jesus in His body while here on earth, and a link with God is formed by that means, and spiritual values results to the offerer. Do you follow that? Well now, there is something in a spiritual touch of the perfect humanity of Christ in truth, in spirit, upon our lives; a living touch with Him in what He is as Man triumphant over death. I said that there were deeper matters that needed a good deal more exploring, but I suggest that to you, as something that may perhaps be enlarged with your enlarging spiritual understanding. I see something very precious. I am thrown back upon the initial question: Why eat the flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man? Why? "This is my body which is given for you." Why? This is not the body now with sin resting upon it, as when He was made sin, and bore our sins in His Own body on the tree. It is the body which has triumphed over sin through death. He gives us that, and says: "Take, eat"; "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves." Why? Why, if it is not to bring us in spirit in our human life into fellowship with Him in the triumph of His humanity; to make possible a human life here triumphant; to make His triumphant humanity a living principle for us in our human lives? Is not that the  principle? And so the virtues of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus are made vital factors for our spiritual growth, development, and a touch of that upon our hearts carries with it the value of life and light. Now if I have got you out of your depth forgive me, but ask the Lord that, if there is anything there for you, He will show you

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 41 - "The Living Christ or Dead Tradition")

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