“Manifesting The Life Of Jesus”

II Corinthians 4:6-11

6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

8) We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9) Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

10) Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

11) For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Preface

T

he purpose of this series has been that we might understand, once and for all, that all that we need now, or might ever need has been provided for us by virtue of the death of Jesus Christ. This must be reiterated constantly, for as human beings, we operate according to our five senses. No spiritual information can be received this way, therefore, in order for us to know what is spiritual, we, too, must be spiritual!

In salvation, if one will ever be said to have “gotten the point,” he will have finally accepted that this walk is a walk of faith! Jesus' birth was “by faith,” His ministry was operated “by faith,” and His resurrection was received “by faith!” Once we come to accept “the operation of salvation,” we will cease our “begging” of God.

Main Thought

Though this subject involves “action,” that action is not, necessarily, to be on our part. You see, the subject does not refer to what we can do as human beings, because in order to manifest anything concerning Jesus, He must be in us. Why? Because it is He Who must do the work! It is also never necessarythat we know what to do, for all that we must do is to simply accept what He has already done.

Jesus was born in a fleshly body, but we must always remember that He was born of the Spirit! Because of His surrendering His flesh to the control of the Spirit, He never retaliated or spoke in bitterness. Believe it or not, He never manifested any fleshly characteristics. Too often, we feel justified in our retaliation, as if justification can make up for the fact that the retaliation is wrong in the first place! The only thing that matters is the truth and the truth of our situation is that Jesus is to be our Defense!

One of the chief reasons that we are not to fight is that we are already victorious. Most often, we do not recognize our victory because the only victory that matters is our victory over ourselves—and this is ours only as we are put to death with Jesus and then resurrected to “new life in Christ.”

In that we are told that we are “new creatures” and indeed, this is part of our “inheritance,” how is it that we still manage to “fight” .for ourselves? It must be accepted (by us) that nothing comes to us that outside of God's permission. This instills in us, then, the confidence of knowing that we have already been “equipped” for the task and that we have to be victorious. After all, God never sends us more than we can bear and never tempts us to evil.

Too often, our sense of “proportion” is “warped” by having to live in this world. Therefore, we deal with opposition as does everyone else—that it is

going to destroy us. We feel that whatever is contrary to our plan must also be contrary to God's. (This, however, .is not true, for He is concerned with an entire “body,” rather than just one individual. Also, contrary to the popular opinion of “opposition,” that which is allowed by God will have the effect of “exponentially” multiplying us!

One of the greatest lessons to be learned from the life of Jesus is that we are not to attempt to protect ourselves—nor is it possible to do so. Either God is “in control” and has our “best interest” at heart and will protect us—or it won't happen. Often, what we view as something having “gotten by” the Lord is simply His attempt to get our attention. After all, if we were never forced to “face” the fact that we need Him, we would never “grow.” In like manner, those who “lust after” muscles will never develop them if unwilling to exercise and “stress” them.

Farther and farther away from the philosophy of Man, today, is the fact that “happiness” comes from pleasing others. For those who will be saved, it is Jesus Who must be the “central figure” in our lives. These will be pleased by doing what pleases God. If we who claim to be seeking such intend to instill this in others, it will have to be by example. You see, too often, as opposed to following the scriptures' admonition to “train” children (both natural and spiritual), we try simply to tell them. Not only does it not work “now,” it didn't work then!

Man learns by example. Even if it is unpleasant to have to do so, it is the teachers who must set it. Parents often want to “chant the mantra” of being a “failure” because their children will not do as told, but the question is, “What example has been shown them?” Children, today, possess a lack of maturity and depth of character fostered by a society which shows life in an unrealistic manner and requires little, if any, accountability from anyone. No wonder problems cannot be “handled.” Our “progeny” must “inherit” good “problem-solving” skills from us. Therefore, they must “inherit” Jesus.

As our Example, when faced with difficulty, Jesus called upon the Father. He could have called upon Himself, but if He had, then we would feel that we have a right to call upon ourselves. You see, everything in salvation must ultimately point back to Jesus. If someone is professing to teach salvation, but his teaching does not lead one to total dependence upon the Lord, he is not representing salvation.

This is the situation we find in too many churches that teach by “theology” rather than by revelation. You see, if you are going to teach someone about Jesus and give them the help that they need, you must not only know what God says and why He says it, you must also know what He means by what He says—and this is available only through the Spirit!

If we intend to “manifest (sic) the life of Jesus,” our conduct must be as was Jesus'. Therefore, we must walk in that which Jesus walked, meaning that we must conduct ourselves as healed, we must conduct ourselves as blessed, we must conduct ourselves as victorious, we must conduct ourselves as being sound of mind! Being the “Cure of all things,” He was here before any “condition” ever existed! So, why not let Him enjoy us enjoying the benefit of that for which He died?

Even those with the most limited spiritual knowledge recognize the fact that time as we know it is coming to an end. The signs of the end are all around us and it is evident that the Saviour must soon manifest Himself. Particularly now, putting anything off until tomorrow is a mistake—especially, one's acceptance of total surrender to God.