The twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation reveals that God's will for the Church is that it travail in birth until the male child, the Son, the Ruler of the nations, is born. It is Christ, the Son, who will put down all rebellion against the Father.

Our task each day is to not love our life until we are brought down into the death of the cross. As we are willing to die, Christ is able to live. If we choose to live, Christ cannot be brought forth.

To die is to yield to God in total obedience. It is total obedience to the point of death that enables us to overcome the accuser, the devil.

But how do we die?

The young person turns over to Christ all decisions concerning love and marriage. This is death to him or her. It is the determination to be totally obedient to God. It is the end of rebellion.

The talented person turns over to Christ all decisions concerning the use of his talent. He does not say, "I will use my talent for Christ," as is taught commonly. Rather he says, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" The Lord Jesus very well may instruct him to leave his talents and follow the Lord into a different way of life. This is death. It is the end of rebellion.

The ambitious man must turn over to Christ all decisions concerning employment and career. It is not enough that he "make money and give some to the church." Christ is not asking for his money, He is asking for his heart. This is death to the ambitious man.

The man or woman who "cannot stand what I am doing for one more day" may be required to put up with these grievous conditions for several more years. We must remain in the Lord's prison until we "die." This is death to our first personality. This is the manner in which Christ overcomes rebellion in us.

The victorious saints are those who love not their own lives to the death. Christ comes forth in them. They are crucified with Christ every day. Day by day the very Life of Christ is being formed in them. This does not mean that through hard work they are teaching their old nature to be more like Jesus. It means, rather, that through their death the Lord is able to infuse them with eternal resurrection Life. They are in travail of death so God's Christ, His Messiah, may be formed in them.

In order to enter the Kingdom of God, the rule of God, we must be born again. Christ must be born in us—not Christ-likeness, but Christ. Christ does not rebel against God, He comes to do the will of God. Our first personality is hopelessly rebellious, devious, conniving, deceitful, always seeking its own security, pleasure, and aggrandizement.

To be continued.