And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians
Are you, my friend, in the first Adam or the second? It is a vital question, and it would well repay you to put aside all else in order to give a considered answer to this question. You ask for the fundamental difference between the first Adam and the second. The Apostle states it clearly in this chapter from which our text is taken. The contrast between the two is the soul-life of the first and the Spirit-life of the second. This is the distinction which Jesus made at the beginning of His ministry, and it pervades the New Testament. The sphere of Christianity is the realm of the spirit. Its object is to lift man from the soul-level to the spirit-level.
The soul is the
center of our personality. It is you, or I, or any other person! From it we
look on two worlds. To the material world we are related by the organs of
touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. To the eternal world we are related by
the organs of the spirit, which are probably identical with the lower. We have
the option of descending by the spiral staircase downward to materialism, or of
ascending upward to fellowship with God. Unfortunately, we too often descend to
the lure of the savory pottage, instead of climbing the ladder which reaches to
Heaven.
It is clear
that we must die to the self-life, to the promptings, suggestions and
solicitations of the ego, which is entrenched in the soul. Self is the root of
our alienation from the life of God. All the evils of fallen angels and man
have their birth in the pride of self. On the other hand, all the blessedness
of the heavenly life is within our reach, when the self-life is nailed to the
cross of Jesus.
How is this
self-life to be brought to death? Only by our identification with the cross on
which Jesus died. We were nailed there in the purpose of God, and we must
accept that position and extract its help by a living faith. It was by the
Eternal Spirit that Jesus offered Himself unto God, and it is by that same
Spirit that we, too, may say: "I have been crucified with Christ;
nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." There must be an
exchange of lives, from the self-life to the life of the crucified and ascended
Savior, communicated by the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER
Father God,
I am Your servant, prepared for all things; for I desire not to live unto
myself, but unto You; that I could do it worthily and perfectly! In Jesus' name
I pray this, AMEN.
God's
Daily Promise
Promise #319:
I will comfort you with My everlasting encouragement.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (WEB)
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and God our Father,
who loved us and gave us
eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
17 comfort your hearts and
establish you in every good work and word.
No comments:
Post a Comment