It is necessary, if we are to attain the mark God has set before us, that we assign our adamic nature to the cross of Calvary, take up our personal cross, and follow the Lord Jesus into newness of life.

We know of Paul's testimony that he has been crucified with Christ and now Christ lives in him.

We understand this principle and we accept it. We have come to realize that the most troublesome creature in the universe is a believer who will not surrender his self-will, his or her first personality, to the cross.

Hideous occurrences proceed from the self-willed religious person. Think of Korah! Absalom! the chief priests and elders who crucified their own Messiah!

As we pondered the emphasis of God on our giving over to death our first personality we began to wonder why God did not make us the way He wanted us to be in the first place. Why this interim step in the creation of man in God's image?

These musings brought us to the very significant question, "What is man?"

To the doctor man is a patient. To the composer man is a listener. To the politician man is a voter. To the businessman man is a consumer. To the evangelist man is a lost person who must "make a decision for Christ."

We know from the Scriptures that man is destined to govern all the works of God's hands and judge all God's creatures. But this is what man does, not what man is.

We know there are a firstfruits of mankind who will serve as members of the Body of Christ, as part of the Wife of the Lamb, as the sons of God, as the brothers of Christ. All of these roles and responsibilities are of awesome importance.

But there is something beyond all of this, a common denominator concerning what man is. Because of man's supreme role, as well as his other responsibilities and relationships, God is making man in two stages: first, as an adamic creature—an intelligent animal; second, as a life-giving spirit. The life-giving spirit must be abiding in untroubled rest in the Father through Christ and also in the moral image of Christ.

Man is the chariot of God.The supreme role of man is to be the eternal dwelling place of God, the chariot of God.

To be the chariot of God, man must be in the image of Christ, having the face of a man, of an ox, of a lion, and of an eagle.

The face of a man is the ability to make moral judgments, to walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, and especially to be in union with God.

The face of an ox is the capacity and willingness of man to bear burdens in a sacrificial manner just as man's heavenly Father does.

The face of a lion is the majesty and fierceness that each son of God must have if he is to conquer the forces that would resist God's will.

The face of an eagle is that which soars with God in the heavenlies, living in prayer, always remaining above the striving of God's creatures.

God is all these things and so His chariot must have the same characteristics.

In order to build the character God desires in His chariots we had to start out imprisoned in a sinful, animal nature. It is as we overcome our handicaps through Christ that a proven new humanity is formed, a life-giving spirit in the moral image of Christ and totally obedient to the Father.

Have patience with God. He is making you in His image so you may be His chariot. Your few tribulations are not to be compared with such incomprehensible glory! (from The Chariots of God)