The Vision of the Tabernacle |
The Three Steps of Reconciliation |
Every kind of life has its own characteristics. In the case of
the human life, these characteristics are recorded and defined in
the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). “DNA is the genetic material of
most organisms, which produces exact copies of itself and
transmits this from the parents to the offspring. DNA directs and
regulates protein synthesis, thereby presenting a pattern for the
development of the complete organism.”
We can say that when
we receive the divine life, we also receive the divine DNA. In
other words, when we receive Christ, we receive all the
characteristics of His life, with the exception, of course, of the
Godhead. All Christians have the DNA of God!
The genetic inheritance a child receives determines its height, the color of the eyes and hair, etc. What is needed for these characteristics to be manifested? The child only needs to be fed. The more he grows, the better he is fed, the more his genetic characteristics will be manifested in a very spontaneous way. The same thing happens in the spiritual realm. We receive the divine life with all of its holy and heavenly characteristics. Then what do we have to do? We only have to feed it, give it spiritual supply so that it may grow and develop normally. We will gradually express God in our living to the degree that the divine life grows in us. Maybe today we do not express God very much, but if we persevere in fellowship with Him and keep up a living contact with His word, surely the divine life in us will grow until we become as He is (1 John 3:2)
This matter is related to organic salvation because it depends on God’s life in us. Its growth is entirely our responsibility. The more we open ourselves for God to work in us, the more quickly we will be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. If this is what we want, God will be able to advance in us quickly. If we do not want this, He will be forced to discipline us for a thousand years in outer darkness. If we receive His word today with simple hearts and eat and drink the Lord, we will grow and become overcomers. Overcomers are not special Christians who never have failures. Rather, they are ordinary Christians who allow the divine life to grow in them.
Therefore, while it is called today, we must not harden our hearts toward God (Heb. 3:15). Isaiah warns us to call on the Lord while He is near and seek Him while He may be found (55:6). This signifies that the time will come when He will not be near and will not be found. Therefore, we have to take advantage of the time that still remains for us to feed the divine life in order for the DNA of God to manifest its characteristics in our life.
Through this we see that organic salvation is fully related to the life of God. In this matter there is no way to pretend, no way to have the appearance of someone who is enjoying Christ and living by His life (cf. 1 John 4:9) if it is not our reality. We may think that being a Christian means to be a good person, always smiling and incapable of arguing with others. If we have this concept, we establish rules of behavior for ourselves which are not an issue of the divine life but of our religious mentality. Then we endeavor to not bring shame to the Lord’s name, but without depending on Him. Such an attitude hinders His life from growing in us.
Only the divine life can transform us into the image of the Son of God in such a way that we express Him (Rom. 8:29). For this we have to enjoy, eat and drink the Lord by means of His word. As life grows, we take on the form of the Son of God. This requires our cooperation. We must deny our soul-life so that the divine life will have the room it needs to grow. The life of God cannot grow in us because our soul is occupied, usurped by our soul-life. We need to have the understanding that John the Baptist had: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He grows in us as we decrease. To summarize: either He grows or we grow. It is impossible for both to grow, for both to control our life. Whom will we choose?
Our soul was created by God to be the organ to contain our spirit. The spirit of man should be his personality, his soul-life. The problem is that when man fell, the soul acquired its own life, the soul-life, and it became a person. Consequently, the soul-life is a usurper taking the throne and directing man’s life. Today we must take it down from the throne so that the Lord can rule us. Do we want this or not? Do we really want the DNA of God to be manifested in us? Do we really want to be conformed to the image of the Son of God before the Lord’s return in order to be raptured with Him as overcomers? If we want this, we will cooperate with the divine life by denying our soul-life.
We may have already heard or read about denying our soul-life many times, but the question is, have we practiced this? As long as this is not our reality, we will continue to express the characteristics of fallen man and not of God. A normal human being is one who lives by the life of God. However, if we live by the old man we become strange people of unstable temperament that no one can understand. Man without God has no meaning. This is especially true for those who have God’s life and do not live by it. Therefore, we need more of God; we need Him to grow in us. This is not obtained by adopting rules of behavior or ethics. That is what religion does. Religion wants to change man from the outside in, but the little that is gained from this is very short-lived. The Lord works in us from the inside out. Beginning from our spirit, His life spreads to our soul until it fully cleanses us of our soul-life and causes us to reach the stature of a full-grown man.
COPYRIGHT © 2006
All rights reserved by
Jasper Life Publications