Our flesh-and-blood striving cannot create that which God has ordained we will become. As we receive Christ each day, He enters us. He, in us, overcomes the power of sin and death. Little by little, life replaces the death that is in us.

We are being judged now (I Peter 4:17) if we are going through the process of life replacing death. It is entirely possible to be set completely free from sin and death by the filling of our personality with the Life of Christ. This is the spiritual dimension of the first resurrection from the dead—Paul's "mark."

The Christian who is willing to follow Christ all the way through the process of judgment and life can attain a hundredfold experience. If he does he will receive the crown of life in the Day of the Lord. Christ has come to him and has enabled him to go through judgment and preparation for reward (and sometimes to gain some of the reward itself) in this life. Thus, Paul was seeking to arrive at the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).

To "know Christ" is to share His righteousness, His resurrection power, and His sufferings.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25)

Christ calls to our spirit, and if we "hear" Him we will live.

This takes place when first we are "saved."

But it takes place also every day of our pilgrimage. We struggle so hard with stubborn areas of death in our personality! Christ beholds our determination to please Him, and also the confusion, rebellion, and pain we are experiencing concerning some part of our body, soul, or spirit He has not touched as yet.

Then He speaks! The voice of the Lord calls to the deep of our personality just as it called to Lazarus after four days in the tomb. We respond to the voice of Christ. The troublesome area is healed. We now possess more "life" in our personality. Has that ever happened to you? Has Christ ever "touched" you like that?

Each of us Christians is dragging around a "body of death." Christ notices our determination to walk in white with Him in spite of the claims of our body, which is dead because of its sinful tendencies.

When Christ returns, our dead body will hear the voice of the Son of God. Our whole body will awaken. Then, if Christ so decrees, our spirit, soul, and body will be filled completely with eternal life. Our whole personality will have the greatest desire to perform the will of God.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; (John 5:26)

Christ is filled with the Life of God. He issues a portion of Divine Life to whomever He will. When eternal Life enters us we are able to overcome sin, the world, the lusts of our flesh, sickness, Satan, and our own pride and self-will. Eternal Life is more powerful than all.

To be continued.