Father, we thank you that the eyes of our understanding are being unveiled to your purpose and to your plan. Lord, we are so grateful, beyond human expression, that we can stand in your presence because of your work at Calvary. We are so thankful, because it does not depend upon what we can or cannot do. We stand with a longing in our hearts to know you, knowing that there is nothing within ourselves that we could ever do to earn an entrance or gain entrance into your presence, but that the way is provided so freely that we can, as Hebrews says, come boldly before the throne of your grace to find help in the time of need. The veil of the Temple was rent at the Cross and now we, as your people, can simply enter into your presence and experience your peace and your touch and experience the impartation of your life, which changes us into that which you desire. How grateful we are, Lord, that this is something that is done simply by your Spirit and through grace, because you love us, more than we probably ever have realized. We do know that that love is shed abroad in our hearts and is becoming greater and greater. The more we come into that love and understanding of your Father-heart, the more we can minister the gospel of salvation through the Spirit. Amen

You probably have heard at least something about the Gospel of Grace that some of us are carrying in these days. It is a message of God's love for humanity, a love that knows no bounds and no limitations. It's a love that, when you can comprehend it and understand it, will totally change every fiber of your being. I struggled for many years trying to be a good "Christian" and trying to perform according to what I thought a "Christian" should be. I was a miserable failure in trying to be a good "Christian" because I was not, in my natural human condition, a really holy person. I wonder if any of us really are. Yet we try so hard, because we have that hunger and that cry within our hearts to be godlike. It is such a confusing thing because it seemed, at least in my experience, that the more I tried to be like God and the more I tried to do what I thought that I should do, I found it impossible within my natural makeup to be what I knew a good "Christian" should be. I knew I loved God with all my heart, yet I could not measure up to what I thought was the Christian standard. I lived for about 29 years before I really experienced God in a real way. I had developed a lot of habit patterns in my life that were just not godly. I struggled for years trying to overcome them. The reason I appreciate so much today the unlimited, unsurpassing love of God is that when I experienced it--when I understood the love of God, and I really understood the work of Calvary, and I understood the blood of Jesus Christ--it absolutely set me free from trying to take this flesh, this carnal nature, and making it something it could never be. Two Men, Two Lives, and Two Laws I have written in the past on the two lives and two laws. To understand the Gospel of Grace,

We need to see more about these two lives. Adam represents Christ represents Corruptible Seed, Incorruptible Seed, A Natural birth, A Spiritual Birth The Soul of Man, The Spirit of Man, The Human Consciousness, The Christ Consciousness, The Carnal Nature, and A New Spiritual Nature: A Man Living by the Flesh A Man Living in Spirit The Law of Sin and Death The Law of Life You can see by this chart that there are two lives from two different sources. The problem is that in the past we have tried to live out of our carnal Adamic life to produce Christ in us. There are many examples of this in the Scriptures. In Genesis 15:3-4, God promised Abraham a son. "And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." Abraham got tired of waiting on God and produced a son after the flesh. "And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived"Gen.16:2-4. This is only one of many examples in the Word of the flesh and spirit.

After Ishmael was born and Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord came to him again. "And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year" Gen.17:15-21.

Isaac as the child of promise is a type of Christ. Abraham, instead of waiting on God, produced a son of his own doing and then asked God to bless Ishmael, the son he produced by the flesh. God did say he would bless Ishmael, but the promise is to Isaac. Most of us have spent many years trying to produce Christ by the works of the flesh. However, the promise is to the seed in us that is Christ. The promise is not to the natural seed that is our carnal human nature, the promise is to the new creation man in our spirit. Paul said in Galatians 3:16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ," and in verse 29, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." All the religions of the world, including Christianity, have been caught in the trap of working according to the flesh. We have not truly realized that the old man is dead. He was crucified with Christ. We do not realize this because we do not trust in the new life within us. We are dead men trying to take a dead life and make it live unto God. It cannot be done.

Christ Must Be Formed In Us Once we have been born again and quickened by the Spirit of God and washed in the Blood of the Lamb, we have a totally new life born in us. The promise is to the new life that is the seed of Christ in us. We have within us another person born in our spirit. This new person must be properly fed and nourished and He will grow to be the overcoming one in us. This is God once again being birthed in humanity. The life in us is not the old carnal life made over. Jesus said, "That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is Spirit ." Most have never realized that in their spirit is another person. He is Holy, undefiled, and high above the law of sin and death. This one in you is the child of promise, born of the incorruptible seed of the living God. I believe that even as you read these words something is stirring within you, trying to burst forth within your consciousness and bring deliverance from the Adamic nature. You see, if Christ has not been formed in you, you cannot live the overcoming life. Once Christ begins even in a small way to be formed in you, you cannot help but be an over comer. You must learn to look within and discover the truth of what it means to be born again. You are a totally different person in your spirit. As you discover this and begin to pray and meditate daily on this new life, the seed of Christ in you will begin to grow and fill your soul with His life. (To be continued...)

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