"What is so completely amazing is that God is prepared to be God in you; not figuratively, but actually! You can share His life and be transformed into His likeness--'For as you know Him better, He will give you, through His great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: He even shares His own glory and His own goodness with us! And by that same mighty power He has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings He promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us His own character' (2 Peter 1:3, 4, Living Letters).
"This is the main thrust of what John has to say in his first epistle:
"Every act of sin has its origin in Satan; it is his character incarnate.
". . . Every act of righteousness has its origin in God; it is His character incarnate.
". . . It is in the author of the act that its true character may be discerned. It is not a question of pattern, but of parentage--'In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil' (1 John 3:10). It was to bring about a change of authorship that the Son of God was manifested, 'That He might destroy the works of the devil.'
"The Lord Jesus Christ came to get the wrong man out and the right man in!
"When the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross He not only paid the price for your redemption, He put the rope around Haman's neck. He then rose again from the dead and ascended to the Father, that He might come, according to His promise, and take up residence within you--to live again on earth, but clothed with your humanity.
"That which is born of God in you is Jesus Christ, and it is He who does not commit sin, nor can He, for God is God! This is what John means when he says, '. . . for his seed remaineth in him.' It is the divine seed. It is the very nature of God Himself, and the nature that He wants to share with you through His Son.
"Share the nature of Christ and you share His victory. You do not achieve it--you receive it; for Christ is made unto us 'wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord'--and 'That no flesh should glory in his presence' (1 Corinthians 1:29-31).
"It was the crucified Lord Jesus who put the noose around Haman's neck; but if in your experience Haman is to be hoisted on his own scaffold, then you need the risen, living Lord Jesus at the other end of the rope. It is He alone who, by His Holy Spirit . . . can put him and keep him where he belongs. You cannot carry out the execution, but to you, and to you alone belongs the moral responsibility of confirming sentence of death.
"Limited in His sovereignty by that law of faith which gives to you the moral capacity to know Him and to love Him for yourself, this is the decision which God is waiting for you to make.
"Consent to die to all that you are which does not derive from all that Christ is, and thank Him for His willingness to make it real in your experience. Then you too will be able to say--'Now I really realize that not only am I in Christ, but that Christ is in me--I also realize that there is no further basic issue to face!'
"You will have come to know God in a new and a thrilling way for yourself. Life will have become the adventure God intended it to be, and though a thousand Haman's may beset you, dead to yourself [actually, the Scripture says "dead to sin."] and alive to God, you will share the life of Jesus Christ and you will share His victory.
"You will also share His compassion for the lost, and become expendable for God in the service of mankind. To know Christ more fully, and to make Him known will become the consuming passion of your soul.
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender.
"We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go."
Yes, "in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go."
"We rest on Thee"--our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise,
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor;
Victors--we rest with Thee, through endless days.
-- Edith Gilling Cherry
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