The other day while at a social function I was engaged in a conversation which involved my past, in which by my silence I allowed myself to be seen in a light which displayed my earlier life as much more meritorious than it really was. I immediately felt shame, and was aware that I was allowing a lie to become alive in the minds eye of my friends. However my ego was more powerful than my spirit in this instance and even though I realized at the time that I was making myself alive to the world by my silence, my self centered personality prevailed.
Our natural man has great power and will never leave us in this earthly life, I know this only too well. Humility is a virtue and a godly humility is truly a beautiful thing. I can see by my own inner man that I have a long way to go. I do however see even more so by my weakness the all important need to be a spiritual man in a actively sought awareness of my identity as one who stands before The Father seen in The Son by my faith to prevail as my source; something I did not know was a necessary ingredient in the Christian life not too many years ago. In fact I did not know that my very place before The Father was one of perfection; as I was seen in His Son. If that is true I am indeed dead to the world in His thoughts of me. Therefore by this, a reveled biblical truth given to me by God by faith in His Word, it becomes incumbent upon me to learn who I am in my own thoughts of myself, and what it means when God declares me as no longer alive to the flesh or dead to the world. By this knowledge perhaps one day I will live the life that God has willed in His Son for me.
The Christian today finds himself in a interesting dilemma it seem to me. We have two choices in this life. The first is to live our Christian life in a mostly self centered way, such as simply Church members, going along to get along, a part of a institution. This life I think of as Christendom: a moral value system offering a road map to a hoped for happy trail, and a socially rewarding experience which is thought of by its members and seen by the world as a good and fruitful life. They are accomplishing good thing for the community and building up the congregation by programs, functions and a busy works oriented agenda. However if we think deeply on this Christian experience we can come to perhaps a new realization: this type of church life is really mostly for our own pleasure and sense of belonging, and that it is in not a unique life of positional awareness, of a faith which is alive in the person of Jesus Christ as the object of our life. After all this type of good Christian experience composed of service, social activities and works etc. is not exclusive to the Christian, but can be attained by many other moral and socially aware people of the non-believing world. By that measure then we are not much difference from what the world has taught and is. The second Christian life possible has a thought in the for front of all its actions and Church activities which goes like this; we are, "Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ--sharing His inheritance [Death and Resurrection and heavenly position] with Him; only we must share His suffering [dead to the world by the cross] if we are to share His glory" Rom. 8:17, Amp. Can you see the difference? " If we are to share His Glory" should give pause in our self evaluation of the Christian experience, if the second is to be the paramount place we are coming from in the Christian life? Would it not redefine all our actions? So what does it mean and how do we apply this true godly inheritance to ourselves? Becoming the Christian the bible calls for; one dead to the world and alive in Christ.
Don't get me wrong my friends. I am all for many of the good works of the church life. I know many in the pews are sincere in there quest to by all that they can be for Jesus and the planners and functionaries behind the scenes are intent on maintaining the flock as their best Christian effort. But after 30 plus years on both sides of the church activities I found that something was missing. I have since come to know that blank space was in not knowing who I really was in Christ; that in fact by faith in Him, I was truly dead to the world.
"But may it never be mine to boast of anything but the Cross of Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world!" Gal. 6:14. Attempting to define what is worldly or the world and then making rules and goals is not what the Father wants of us. All that is not of The Father is the world. To acquire knowledge of the interpretation of our being as non-worldly creatures therefore must entail a subjective mind set toward the object, Jesus Christ. I think the most vital truth to be seen in our object is our co-crucifixion with Christ and requires a personal private desire to explore The Word on our own to realize it. This is where we will learn to understand the Cross. The Cross has effectually cut off the connection between the believer and the world, the Resurrection has brought us into a new place. The world judged the Lord and found Him deserving death, but in the Resurrection we see the Fathers judgment. C. H. Mackintosh said; "Man gave the very lowest God gave the very highest place; and in as much as the believer is called into full fellowship with the father in his thoughts about the Son he is enabled to turn the tables upon the world, and look upon it as a crucified thing."By this statement and Paul's declaration we see then it is in our thoughts and faith in His Word where the answer dwells. We all know when Jesus died it was unto the very thing that could not be accepted by the Father; the natural self centered man or the flesh. If the believer is on the Cross [Jesus' death is ours] in His thoughts as to relationship with the world he is separated from the world which is on another cross all together and is a dead thing! We prove ourselves false to the Lord Jesus Christ to the same degree we have fellowship, as a mental concept of ourselves, with the world.
My friends its all in the attitude! By the Word of God we are dead to the world. He was rejected and so were we. By His Resurrection He was accepted into heaven and so then also us. He, Jesus Christ, represents us in a spiritual living reality, who and what we are to the only mind that matters,The Fathers! This is the way; we must adjust our mind to a heavenly reality, seeing ourselves as new creatures, radically different than those of the world. The deeper our fellowship with The Father, the more we see our very presence before Him in faith, and then the more we will become aware of what is worldly and just who we are as ones who have overcome it in Christ Jesus. The revelation of who we are is reveled by The Holy Spirit, so the more that we are able to drink in this revelation the more we are made better to judge the world and not be a part of it. We will become new men and women....a gradual process. We will be able to absorb suffering on the path to fellowship with the living God and gain from it.. We will acquire a new sense of ourselves as strangers to this place and step into the true roll we were destined to become, organic members of His Body, living out His very life in ours on earth by the power of His Spirit. By learning from His Word just who we are as heavenly creatures absorbed in Christ as the defining reality of our presence before The Father, we will walk in power and remain aloof from the world and worldliness. Dead to the world.
On a personal note, I just have to say thank you for helping me grow. Writing this blog has meant a great deal to me. I know these concept when first encountered are hard to understand [at least they were for me] but after two and a half years of a nose to the grindstone effort I now see it was always right there before my eye's....not that I've arrived. I just had to get out of God's way! There is no requirement, you need not be a serious academic bible student or even a super faithful bible reader, but read it you must. There are no doctrines you must absorb as absolute to qualify. Really only one book is necessary, The Bible of course. Mostly we need a desire to become what we know we are not.....dead to the world, that's where the Christ life starts....The Father will do the rest. So good people, don't rack your brains, I did that for you, just pray to He who holds the key, and rest in His provision! Oh and please read my blog, and maybe even forward it to others whom you think might gain from learning to consider themselves dead to the world.
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