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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Conduit Versus a Tree of Life, continued
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, (Galatians 4:19—NIV)
We said we must be born again to enter the Kingdom. This is true, but after we have been born again, Christ must be formed in us.
It is obvious from the text of the Book of Galatians that the people Paul was addressing already had been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore having Christ formed in us is a protracted experience that occurs after we have been saved and filled with the Spirit of God.
Also, see the following:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19—NIV)
Again, the recipients of the Epistle to the Ephesians had been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. It is obvious Paul is speaking of definite spiritual growth that is to occur after we have been authorized by the blood and empowered by the Spirit of God to enter the Kingdom and become a life-giving spirit.
No such growth is necessary to be merely a conduit of the Divine Glory, such as were Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah. As marvelous were the experiences of the Hebrew Prophets, he who has had Christ formed in him is on an infinitely higher level than was true of the greatest of the Prophets.
No such growth is necessary for us to receive the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. These are given to our adamic nature with the intent that we and those who hear us might enter the Kingdom of God. But being a life-giving spirit requires that our adamic nature go to the cross and the eternal Life of Jesus Christ take its place.
Let us turn now to Paul's blow by blow description of becoming a life-giving spirit.
For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (II Corinthians 4:6—NIV)
The "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" is itself the Kingdom of God. This Divine Glory shines in our heart when we are willing to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (II Corinthians 4:7—NIV)
The conduits of God's Glory and the trees of life have this in common: the "all surpassing power is from God and not from us."
How hungry and thirsty mankind is to experience the Presence of God! People would see Jesus! Our human efforts to promote the Gospel cannot possibly satisfy the hunger the nations have for the living God.
To be continued.