Jesus was here in the world and was the light of the world. He had a human
body and in that body lived a life that glorified God. That was an
exemplary life. Such a life, and such a life only, is to the glory of God.
We must fashion our life after his if we would spend life as we should. To
know how Jesus lived is to know how we should live. Every life that is in
the likeness of Christ's life is accepted of God. No other life can be.
While Christ was here in the body, he was in the express image of the
Father. The true, holy character of God was revealed through Jesus' human
life to a lost and sinning world. God had done all he could to reveal his
true character to man by laws, ceremonies, and ordinances; but these were
only the shadow of the true life that was to be the light of the world.
Christ was both God and man. Having a physical form, which is visible, he
could set the holiness of God in plain view before the world. If you would
know the true life, look to Jesus.
But his life could be perfect only as it was given in sacrifice for man.
His life was holy because it was a life sacrificed to God. No life can be
possessed by God and used to his glory, that is not sacrificed to him.
Jesus gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God for us (Eph. 5:2).
This left him without a body or human life through which to demonstrate
moral principle to the world. But now comes the command to man, "I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service." Rom. 12:1. God would have this human life of ours
offered up in sacrifice, so that we are no more ours but his. When we do
so, there will be a change, a great and wonderful change. That life will
no longer be worldly or in the course of ordinary earthly-minded men. It
will be a transformed life, a life in which God can live and do his will.
Through the sacrifice of Christ, God will take the sacrificed life of man
and possess it by his Spirit and again demonstrate moral principle to the
world. O man, that is your calling in life. You are the vehicle to convey
the perfections of God to an unbelieving world. Only an empty vessel for
God to fill with himself and use to his glory.
O man, consider thyself, and know thyself, the purpose for which thou wert
created, and the place which thou dost occupy in creation. Thou art no
mean creature. Thou art highest of all. God condescends to walk and talk
with thee. He upholds thee in his hand. Angels minister to thee. When thou
passest through the waters, God himself will be with thee so that they
shall not overflow thee, and when thou walkest through the fire, he will
walk with thee so that the flame shall not kindle upon thee; because thou
art precious in his sight and honorable, and he has set his love upon
thee. Thou art so precious to him that he gave his only begotten Son to
die to ransom thee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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