Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
This is a start of a new series which I would like to share with you all and hope that you inculcate them in your life. Seldom does the Bible give unwanted examples. Throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testament God gives us ample examples on how to live as a true Christian, following the will of God Almighty. Through this series of "Being Broken" I will majorly be depending on the example of Jacob and his sufferings. Hope you all enjoy them.
One of the verses which clearly describes the pathway that leads us out of our self-life nto the full beauty of the Christ-life, is Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live. But it is no longer I that live but Christ Who lives in me." To us, this may be merely a good verse to be memorized or to get good points for a sermon from! But to the Apostle Paul who wrote it, it describes his experience. He had exchanged the ashes of his self-life for the beauty of Christ's own Divine life. And this had become possible for him, because he had accepted death to himself.
It is only when the "I" (the self-life) is curcified that Christ can manifest Himself in His glory within us. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, we read that the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another. This is the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit. Day by day, and year by year, the Spirit of God seeks to conform us increasingly to the likeness of Christ. But the pathway from each step of glory to the next is via the cross. If we through the Spirit, put to death our self-life, we shall know the abundance of Christ's life, not otherwise.
We today, can no longer go freely to the tree of life as Adam could, before He fell. In Genesis 3:24, we read that God placed a flaming sword in front of the tree of life. And so, before we can partake of this tree, the flaming sword has to fall upon and slay our self-life. There is no other way to reach the life of God. The way of the cross is the only way to fullness of life. This truth is taught in plan words as well as through symbols, throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.
The cross breaks us as well as empties us. We will cconsider these two aspects of the cross in the following chapters.
Jacob's two meetings with God
Jacob was a man who learnt experimentally what it meant to be broken. We can learn many truths from his life.
One excellent thing about the Bible is that it is absolutely honest in recording faults and failings of its greatest men. The Scriptures do not portray marble saints. We see in the Word of God, men and women exactly as they were - their shortcomings in their life. This is why the biographies of Biblical characters are a great encouragement to us than many biographies written in our day (which invariably hide the failings of the men they describe, and present them as super-saints).
Jacob was a man of like passions as we are. He was called of God, no doubt, and eternally predestined to be chosen vessel for the working out of the Divine purposes. But he had a corrupt and deceitful heart, just like ours. God calls ordinary people to His service - not supermen. Very ofte, He calls the base and the despised and the weak of the world, to fulfill His purposes. He puts no premium whatever on human cleverness and ability in His service.
Jacob must have met God many times in his life. But in the record given us in Genesis, there are two meetings with God tthat stand out. The first at Bethel, where he dreamt of a ladder reachng up to Heaven, and where he said, "This is the house of God" (Gen. 28:10-22). The second at Peniel, where he wrestled with God and where he said, "I have seen God face to face" (Gen. 32:24-32). Between these two incidents lay twenty years.
At Bethel, we read, he stopped to camp, when the sun had set (Gen.28:11). That of course is only a statement indicating the time of day at which Jacob arrived at Bethel. But as we read the susequent record of Jacob's life (in the next four chapters), we find that the sun had indeed set upon his life. And during the twenty years that followed this incident, the darkness grew deeper and deeper. But that was not the end of the story.
At Peniel, he met with God again. And there, it is recorded, immediately after his meeting with God, that the sun rose, and he journeyed on (Gen.32:31). Again a geographical fact - but true of Jacob's life as well. He was a different man from that day. The darkness passed away and the light of God shone upon his life.
God has given us the record of Jacob's darkness to show us that he was an ordinary man. He experienced the same darkness that we do. But he experienced a sunrise as well. And this encourages us to believe that no matter how great the darkness of our self-life, we can yet see the rising of the sun, if we follow in Jacob's footsteps at Peniel.
Let us then look at Jacob's life - first when the sun had set on him; and secondly when the sun rose.
The above extract has been taken from the book "Beauty from Ashes" by Zac Poonen. Hope you all enjoyed reading it. The series will be continued soon.
Please keep me a sinner in your prayers
Your Brother and Friend in Christ
Jobin
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