The Pull of the Old Nature
The Pull of the Old Nature
We cannot on our own help God, but we may be employed by Him. One of the greatest mistakes men make is in thinking that their energetic fussing will aid God in the accomplishment of His plans.
He is the Eternal; we are creatures of time. Even when we have been born again, and the supernatural, eternal life of the Lord Jesus has been planted within us by that miraculous work of regeneration, the friction of the presence of our old nature still ties us to a framework of time, and tends to give us man's viewpoint instead of that of God.
One may be accustomed to the speed of an automobile moving seventy miles per hour over our superhighways, but the first time one takes off in an airplane and feels the surge of power and the release from frictional drag, a new concept of speed and motion is instantly experienced.
The spiritual parallel will be known when the Lord comes to change these bodies of our humiliation, that they may be made like unto the body of His glory. In the meantime, His desire for us is that we be as free as possible from the pull of the old nature.
To this end we must learn God's methods. We cannot help Him out. He will not allow anything we do in our own strength to come to fruition, lest we be lulled into the false hope that our own strength is sufficient. Building apart from God is worse than building a house of paper. When paper falls it does not wound.
Abraham and Sarah tried to help God out. They had received a promise that they would have a child; God would see to it. Abraham believed God. But there was a lapse of faith, for the fulfillment tarried. The natural thought came first to Sarah's mind. Why not help God out? If God is slow, can we not do something that would be equally as acceptable? The error here lies in the failure to see that God is never slow. A second error is in the thought that anything we are, apart from a fully yielded will, could be useful to God.
Only when we have yielded ourselves to Him can He use us, working through us. Even then it will be "not I, but Christ." We will be channels through which He can flow, but His is the power. We will be employed by Him, and His will will be paramount. The world simply cannot reach through Christ to the yielded heart. The battle may rage about us, but the peace of God that passeth all understanding keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is undoubtedly why those who are the busiest in Christian work can usually be counted upon to do the little extra things when it is necessary, for they have learned to make haste slowly with God.
1. What would happen to our world if the Lord allowed humanity to have more control over their destiny?
2. Is God not gracious then that he has not allowed us to have this type of dominion on earth? Why or why not?
3. If Christ’s work is the hinge of our salvation, can we then say the Christ is the crux of redemptive history?
