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There is nothing more
mysterious to man than the mystery of the realm of grace. Man has not
only consistently struggled to abdicate his throne to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ, but he also continually struggles to understand how that
Lordship of Jesus works out in his life. Sooner or later, man always
seems to flounder in every aspect of his life.
Although man puts forth tremendous effort to live, he consistently fails
to experience continual life. He often becomes confused in his search to
experience the good life. The realm of living the abundant life, the
realm of grace, invariably eludes him.
Mysteriously, the more man turns to himself to enhance his life the more
lacking his life becomes. The more he attempts to live, the more he
dies. The more he dies, the more he knows that life is more than what he
is experiencing.
Moreover, man, without Christ, no longer has the capability even to
perceive the realm where that good life is experienced. He simply cannot
understand the mystery of the realm of grace that led Paul to declare
". . . all the body by joints and bands [attachments] having
nourishment ministered [fully supplied], and knit together [united
together], increaseth [to grow] with the increase [growth] of
God" (Col. 2:19). Man cannot comprehend the mystery of his needs
being fulfilled only in others--the mystery of the connecting
links of life.
It is not that most men do not perceive the need for others. They do.
However, most men see others only as a means to their end. Without the
revelation of Jesus Christ, man will always use others to meet
his perceived needs.
Man, at his best, will endeavor to acquire some admirable social skills
to enhance his interaction with others. However, he will develop those
skills only to have a more stable existence with the least amount of
personal trouble for himself. He is willing to give up the fulfillment
of some of his short term desires in order that his personal enhancement
might reap greater dividends in the future. Although he may not openly
abuse others, he simply does not understand that the life he desires to
experience can only be found in, not by, others.
On the other hand, man, at his worst, constantly finds himself in
abusive relationships. Paul described this abuse to the Philippians:
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you
even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in
their shame, who mind earthly things" (3:18,19). Sadly, the very
thing in which man attempts to find glory, his enhancement, is, in
reality, his shame.
With his "belly" (inner selfish desires) as his God, man
unknowingly plunges into his death. He does not perceive that the end of
his abusiveness is hell. Minding earthly things, he misses the life of
the heavenly realm--the life of experiencing Jesus in the connections.
The foundation of relationships, the foundation of life, is understood
in "even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you [not singular, but plural], the
hope of glory" (Col. 1:26,27). It is to understand that the
ultimate definition of what it means to be a human being can only be
defined, mysteriously, in the light of another person. |
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