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Part 3 - The Fall and the Restoration
Restoration in Christ: Life in Christ
The foundation of a right relationship with God is the person and work of
Jesus Christ. Upon that foundation is built rest. This is the rest of the
believer, who refrains from trying to duplicate Christ's finished work of
redemption. Upon rest is built faith. Faith in Christ and rest in Christ go
hand-in-hand and are interdependent. A third essential element in a right
relationship with God is to abide in the life of Christ by walking and
living in the Holy Spirit. This is shown in Jesus' statement, "I am ... the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
Regeneration
Scripture records, "On the last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let
him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke
concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the
Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John
7:37-39). Accompanying faith in Christ is regeneration. Regeneration is
where one who is spiritually dead and separated from the life of God becomes
a partaker of God's life, becomes spiritually alive, and is indwelt by the
living God, the Holy Spirit. Regeneration comes from being joined to the
risen and living person of Jesus Christ.
John the Apostle said, "He who has the son has life; he who does not have
the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). There is no life with God
apart from Jesus. Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you
are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). Jesus
also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me" (John 14:6). The fall of mankind resulted in
spiritual death, and restoration to life occurs only through Christ.
Self-sufficiency vs. God's sufficiency
In the fall, Adam and Eve sought to enrich their souls, to become
possessors of something that would make them self-sufficient. The
result however was the finding of lack and emptiness. The path they took was
rebellion against the sufficiency and supply of God Himself. The restoration
from the fall that God provides answers this aspect of the rebellion of man.
When Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me," part of that denial of self
is the denial of the soul of man. This is the denial that in and of himself
man is sufficient. It is the denial that man has possessions and abilities,
apart from God, that have lasting value. It is to agree with Jesus view of the soul of man
who stands apart from God, that he is "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked" (Rev. 3:17). God loves each lost sinner and puts such a value on
mankind that He gave His only Son to redeem them. Yet each one is so
bankrupt that he has no fulfillment or satisfaction apart from God. Jesus
said, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit
a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:35-36).
To deny oneself and follow Jesus by way of the cross in part is to
account that one cannot live apart from the living presence of God. It is to
account that one has no possessions to rely on, but rather that it is the
fullness of God in one's life that one must rely on. It is to account that one
cannot do anything of eternal value by oneself, and to rely on the living
God in doing all things. Jesus said, "for without Me you can do nothing,"
and yet Paul the Apostle said, "I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me" (John 15:5 and Phil. 4:13).
Walking in the Spirit
To live this way depends on the presence of the living God. It requires
that God be actively guiding, providing for, and working through the
believer. It requires a communion and fellowship with God. Through Jesus
Christ one finds this in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus made
provision for life in Him by sending the Holy Spirit after His ascension to
the Father. Life in Christ is to be one where God's fullness is as "rivers
of living water" flowing out of the heart.
Walking in the Spirit requires both rest in Christ and faith in Christ.
Without an accounting that one's standing before God is established by the
finished work of Christ, a person will try to earn that standing. But to
earn a standing before God, one must prove that he has attained a righteousness
and has become worthy by his works. This is opposite to walking in the
Spirit where one is accounting that God by His resources is doing the work
in one's life. To earn a standing before God is an attempt to glory to
man's work and resources whereas to walk in the Spirit is to glory in God's
fullness and work.
Likewise, faith in Christ is necessary in order to walk in the Spirit.
This is faith that one is in Christ who is seated at the right
hand of the Father. It is faith that God is present and available to help
though grace. It is faith
that as one goes forward, Jesus is present to lead and fulfill His promises.
God has called the believer to a life of good works and has sanctified the
believer to such. This calling is fulfilled in Christ through the Holy
Spirit. It is fulfilled when one, by faith, allows God to do the work, all
the while trusting that one's standing and righteousness has already been
established by Christ. God's living presence
The second of the Ten Commandments forbid the making of any image
or likeness of the creatures that God created in the heavens, the earth, or
the waters. The creation account is a type of the sanctifying work of Christ
and foreshadows the consecration of the believer to a life in the Spirit. In
the four points of a right relationship with God that the commandments model
for the redeemed, not making a dead copy of God's living works is one of
them. Rather than glory in man's dead works, the redeemed are to glory in
God and allow the fullness of His living presence to manifest itself in love
and good works.
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