- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
THE NEW LIFE IN ACTION.
By J.C.Metcalfe.
We do not read one of Shakespeare’s plays to learn arithmetic. Nor do we study a book of mathematical problems to learn music, so if we are going to learn how to live as Christians we need to turn to the one Book where we can get the necessary teaching.
In Romans 6 v11, it says, “You must regard yourselves as dead to sin, and alive to God, in union with Jesus Christ”. Before we are born again we are what the Bible calls “in Adam”. We inherit from the first man, and through our parents, a sinful nature. We live and move in the thoughts and ways of this fallen world. The Lord Jesus Christ is called “the second Adam”. He won the fight against evil and Satan which Adam had lost. Then He died as our representative. This word “representative” means that He fought the battle, and then died in our place. When a football team belonging to a school or college plays against another it is acting as the representative of everyone who belongs to that school or college. When the Lord Jesus died for us He put an end, as far as God is concerned, of the old race of Adam. That includes you and me. When He rose from the dead He became the representative of a new race. At our new birth we were in God's eyes “buried with Him, and lay dead, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead in the splendour of the Father, so we also might set our feet upon the new path of life” (Rom. 6 v4). This means that as the old has been put away we are free to live and move in the new paths in which the Holy Spirit will lead us. We inherit from the second Adam that new nature, which is the nature of God Himself. Day by day we need to accept and count upon this fact. We shall never fully understand it, but as we trust Him and are willing to learn, God will make it real to us.
We shall not grasp all we read at once, but if we are willing, He will teach us day by day. In Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians he tells us in the very first chapter that God has given to us “in Christ every spiritual blessing”. He says that “in Christ He chose us”. That means that by the new birth we are by God's loving choice “in Christ”, God’s Chosen One. We are “accepted as His sons through Jesus Christ”, for in Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven through the shedding of His blood.
“In Christ . . . we have been given our share in the heritage”. All an heir has to do is to live on what has been left to him. In Christ we have received the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. God “brought us to life with Christ even when we were dead in our sins; it is by His grace you are saved. And in union with Christ Jesus He raised us up, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms, so that we might display in the ages to come how immense are the resources of His grace, and how great His kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2 v4-7). This means that in Him we have a new life more powerful than anything that can oppose us. Then, ”We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to good deeds for which God has designed us”. We have something to do in our life in this world, which God has planned for us. Nobody else can do it.
We are “brought near” to God in Christ Jesus. He will never leave nor fail us. With our fellow Christians we are being built together into a house in which God can be seen by others. He lives by His Spirit in all of us. “In Christ” we may always have boldness to deal directly with God Himself. “In Christ” we are made strong to face and conquer all enemies.
Hidden in these facts there are great riches. In Tanzania there is a diamond mine. In that mine has been found wealth, which it is impossible to find anywhere else in the country round about. If you wish for diamonds it is there you must go. But you will have to work hard to uncover them. If you lack anything in the Christian life there is one mine only in which you will find it. You will certainly find it “in Christ”. It will not come easily, but “in Him” you can count absolutely on finding all you need in the Christian life at any time.
If you mean business it is not difficult to read the Epistles looking for the little words “in Christ”, ’‘through Christ”, “in Him”, “in Whom”. You can take a piece of paper and write them down for yourself. It does not call for high educational qualifications to do this, but it does need a hungry heart that is seeking after God. I often feel that one of the greatest of Satan’s triumphs is when he can keep Christians from using their Bible. In nature God has placed within our reach the seed necessary to produce corn. This in turn can be made into bread, but if we do not plant, harvest, grind and bake, we will starve. God has placed in His Word all that Christians can possibly need to sustain their new life. We must read, pray and apply the truth we find to our daily lives. If we do not do this we will live in a desert. Our lives will be useless and unfruitful. We will never find joy in our own life, nor will we be able to bring it to others. Preaching is necessary. Testimony on occasion is valuable. Fellowship with other Christians has its place, but nothing can build up the new life in Christ except a personal knowledge of the Word of God and a humble spirit that turns what is found in its pages into daily living.
This truth is repeated in Galatians, 2 verse 20. The verse falls into three parts.
1. “I have been crucified with Christ.” In this way our old life has been brought to an end.
2. “The life I now live is not my life, but the life which Christ lives in me”. Our new life is “in Christ” and is made ours by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Now we come to the practical outworking. This is not something strange or mysterious. It is simple and straightforward. It makes our lives rich and joyous. Because of this it also enriches those in our homes, those with whom we work daily and those we mix with in our Church life.
3. “My present life is lived by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and sacrificed Himself for me”. In other words our daily life becomes a life of trusting Him. We do not live by our own unaided efforts and strength. We draw for every need on the supply that is at our disposal “in Christ”.
Let me try to illustrate by using another Bible verse. We are told in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, “You are in Christ Jesus by God’s act, for God has made Him our wisdom; He is our righteousness, in Him we are consecrated and set free”. Suppose I am put in a position in which I just do not know what to do. What then? First of all I turn my back on any idea that I can deal with things by my own ability. Then I confess to God that in front of me is a problem which is too tough for me. Then I remind Him, and my own heart, that I was crucified with Christ and now am alive in Him. Now I can accept Him as my wisdom. I can face the problem unafraid. As I need it He will give the wisdom as to what to say or do. In times of temptation I may in the same way turn away from my own ability to resist. Then I am ready to trust Him as my deliverer. Make no mistake, He always meets the needs of those, who trust Him.
The Lord Jesus once used the illustration of a man sitting down and trying to think some inches on to his height. This is so impossible as to be almost laughable. And yet this is just what many Christians try to do in the spiritual life. Then He goes on to show the true way of growth. “Consider how the lilies grow in the fields, they do not work, they do not spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendour was not attired like one of these”. The lilies grow because they are given beauty and life by the power of God. In the same way you and I may live day by day growing up into Christ. We may draw on those things given to us in Him. We may “regard ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus”. It is the simplicity of this “regarding”, “counting”, or “reckoning”, which is our chief difficulty. We think these things should be complicated. We forget that the Lord Jesus prayed, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and wise, and revealing them to the simple”. Then almost at once He goes on to give the most wonderful invitation ever given, “Come to Me, all whose work is hard, whose load is heavy, and I will give you relief. Bend your necks to My yoke and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble-hearted, and your souls will find relief. For My yoke is good to bear and My load is light”. Making a habit of accepting this invitation is the one sure way of experiencing the peace of God in our daily lives.
(All New Testament quotations are taken from the New English Bible.)
From: ’To be a Christian’.