Daily Word
A word of encouragement for your day.
EXPRESSING CHRIST
"My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." "
What is a true human being? What does it mean to be human?
The Bible's answer is: Jesus Christ!
He is "the Son of Man": the true and complete man, the Spirit-person, who radiates the glory of God, the full manifestation of the life for which man was originally created.
He is the "model man": our destiny and without Him we are not "real" people, only a shadow of what we are meant to be.
Only "in Christ" do we become whole and complete and only through the Spirit can our destiny be realized.
The Spirit has one purpose and goal: to manifest Christ in us and the Word of God is the means the Spirit uses to realize God's eternal purpose: the incarnation of the Word, Jesus Christ.
"The fruit of the Spirit" are the beautiful characteristics of the person of Christ, manifested in us as we walk in the Spirit.
Philippians 1:20-21 involves and implies a total reverse of all my ambitions, aspirations, dreams and purposes: I do not exist for myself at all, nor does Christ exist for me, i.e. to fulfil, satisfy and realize me; I exist for Him alone: to realize and manifest Him and to satisfy my heavenly Father by fulfilling His eternal, purposes, dreams and desires!
The Son is the great love-dream of the Father: everything was created for Him; He is the Centre of the
Universe, the Goal and Purpose of everything that exists. The creation was not primarily for man, since man himself was exclusively made for the Son, i.e. to manifest and reflect Him.
Trying to impress others with who we are or what we can do, must be regarded as a criminal offence against Jesus Christ, since everything we are as persons is a reflection and expression of His Divine Person.
Self-expression can end in nothing but death – Christ-expression is eternal life!