THE MASTER'S REASON FOR HIS LIFE

"The indwelling off God in Christ is the only satisfactory answer of His amazing character." -- Philip Schaff.

"The groundwork of His character was the most intimate and uninterrupted union and communion with His Heavenly Father, from whom He derived, to whom He referred, everything. -- Ibid.

"His self-consciousness was at every moment conditioned, animated, and impregnated by the consciousness of God."

"People want to know the truth. The dilemma of many souls is:

"What is there in Christianity which can be laid hold of and made to serve one in the practical difficulties and complexities of modern life?" The answer is, not anything in the system called Christianity itself but there is everything in the Person of Christ who offers us the secret of His own life and life in Himself even as He lived His own life through Another dwelling in Him, doing for Him what He in His voluntary humiliation as man could not do for himself.

Text: John 6:57

"As the living Father sent me, and I live by the Father (R. V. because of the Father): so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." (R. V. because of Me).

If we unduly magnify Christ's Divinity, we obscure His Humanity. If we over-emphasize His humanity, we obstruct the vision of His Divinity. He was both human and divine. He was the Son of Man and the Son of God, at the same time. As Son of Man He was subject to, and entirely dependent on the Father, and apparently limited in His judgment, knowledge, authority, guidance, work, mission, words, doctrines, greatness, and teaching: "I do nothing of myself: but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."

Of His judgment, he said: It is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. Of the limitation of His knowledge in His humanity He said, of His second coming, that no man knew, nor the angels, not even the Son, but of that day and hour His Father only knew.

Concerning the limitations of His authority, when in the flesh he frankly confessed that it was not in His power to grant the request of the ambitious mother for her two sons that they might occupy the most exalted seats by God's throne -- "It shall be given those for whom it is prepared of my Father." Of His guidance by the Father it is said -- "He must needs go through Samaria;"

Concerning His presence at the feast, He said -- "Go ye up to this feast: I go not yet up to this feast; for My time (to go to the cross) is not yet full come." These are intimations that He moved about from place to place as guided by Another. Of His work He said -- "I do the works of my Father;" of His mission -- "He sent me, came not of myself": of the words, "the Father dwelling in me speaks the words;" of the doctrine He taught, "My doctrine is not mine but His that sent Me": "My Father hath taught me these things." His greatness as man was reflected, derived from another so indwelling Him that to see Christ was not to see Him but the One indwelling Him; to believe on Him was not to believe on Him but on Him that sent Him; for "My Father is greater than I." The secret of His victory as Man was the indwelling of His Father and He recommends to us the same secret for the solution of our problems -- His indwelling -- "I live because of the Father indwelling Me, live ye because of Me, because of my indwelling your hearts by faith." Oh, that we would take the lesson from Him! "I do nothing of myself!" "The Son can do nothing of Himself!" "I am not sufficient of myself to think, speak, act, judge, or do; Another, the Father, does all for Me."

As Son of God He was One with the Father, with all power and authority in heaven and on earth; with all wisdom and omniscience. As Son of Man He humbled Himself to partake of our nature and bodily limitations; came the lowly way of all the earth, with humbler nativity than the poorest; He was subject to the laws of growth, infancy, childhood, boyhood, manhood, needing food and drink for sustenance and growth, as we. He hungered and was weary at the well; rested there, fell asleep in the boat from exhaustion. He had His rest periods apart in the desert, away from the multitude. He needed the strength that came from prayer, fellowship and communion with God, as other men, to maintain His life of victory.

As Son of God He had power to heal the sick and raise the dead; cast out devils and to forgive sins on earth; power to lay His life down and power to take it up again. As Son of Man He exhibited all the lowly, dependence on His Father God and humble submission to Him, so becoming to the creature.

As the Captain of our salvation He was made perfect through suffering, and "in that He suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted"-being "touched with the feeling of our infirmities."

As Son of Man He had many of the experiences common to all. He could make the words of David His own: "Come near and hear, all ye that fear God and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." He would not minimize experience; it has its place. Experience is not, however, the reason for His victory.

He was born of the Spirit -- not as you and I must be born of the Spirit in regeneration, the impartation of spiritual life; He always had that; but He was literally conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Spirit, doubtless in painless labor. He testified of the birth of the Spirit for Himself and His disciples in His conversation with Nicodemus: "We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen" concerning the topic of His conversation, the birth of the Spirit. He at first uses the singular number, personal pronoun, "I," and concludes with the plural number, personal pronoun, "We," acting as spokesman for the disciples, they having doubtless come on the scene sometime after he began to talk with Nicodemus.

He had the experience of water baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, who in pious humiliation at first refused to baptize one so pure, confessing His need of Christ's baptism, but ultimately yielding to Christ's will. It is true that Christ does not make so much of this water experience as do so many in our day, never after referring to it. Nevertheless, it is given passing notice.

He also had, in the pathway of obedience, the anointing with the Holy Spirit. He was not anointed of the Spirit the same as we are, but truly anointed with the Spirit. We must receive the Spirit under the symbol, type or figure of fire or water, because of our need of His purifying agencies. But Jesus, having no sin to be dealt with, receives the Spirit under the symbol of a mild, gentle dove. It is significant for us that He did not properly or fully enter on His Father's work until after His anointing. Neither should we enter upon His work without the baptism of power sanctifying us and making us fit for the Master's use.

He had the experience of sinlessness: "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" He never assumed the attitude of a sinner before God; he never asked for forgiveness; He never sought pardon for a thought or word or act. Synonymous with His sinlessness was His consciousness of perfect sanctification: "Say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of God?" This is not sanctification as applied to the creature, the purification from sin; that, He never needed. It is sanctification in the sense of the dedication of Himself to the redemption of others. "For their sakes I sanctify myself." Those claiming sanctification as the destruction of sin, need also to keep this phase of His type of sanctification in mind: the unselfish phase of it -- for the sake of others -- We have made light of those who stop with a definition of sanctification:as mere consecration for service; service is not greater than holiness and cannot be a substitute for it; but we need a greater conception of continuous service equal to the capacity of each as an inseparable concomitant and outflow of real Bible sanctification!

He had the experience of supernaturalism in the highest degree. By the finger of God He cast out devils. With Him it was not paramount but subordinate. He had no theories of power, but the power -- all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth. The way He demonstrated it in healing the sick and exorcism of demons for the possessed, and in quieting stormy seas, walking on waves, turning water into wine and in feeding the multitudes, is known to all. But He did not feed on, and live by His acquaintance with, and exercise of supernaturalism. He drew His life from a higher source -- "I live because of the Father." -- faith in the Father. He taught the disciples that to do the work of God they must believe on Him who sent Him, and He fulfilled

His teaching in His own work, working by faith in Another.

We find also evidences of minute Divine Guidance in the Master's movements. "I go to Jerusalem;" "I go not yet up to the feast, " "Mine hour is not yet full come;" "I must go to other towns for therefore am I sent." Concerning, His trip through Samaria it is said that -- "He must needs go through Samaria." That illustrates how He was guided by His Father so that He was ever at the time and in the very place, meeting the very people His Father willed. His movements show subjection to the will of Another; He was guided not only in His movements, but in His words and works.

Other outstanding experiences reveal perfect unity with His Father: "I and My Father are One." Companionship and fellowship: "The Father hath not left me alone." Knowledge of the Father: "I have known Thee." Sonship: "I am the Son of God." Again, He calls God His Father -- "My Father." Divine approbation: "I do always those things that please Him." This was confirmed further by the Father's own voice: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him." He also had the experience of constantly answered prayer: "Thou hearest Me always."

One final fact in His life was the reproach of men: "The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." For His Father's sake He was willing to be the "sign that should everywhere be spoken against." He was the Stone on whom many, hitherto antagonistic, seeing the futility of throwing themselves against God, fell, and were broken. He testified that the world hated Him for His unflinching testimony to its evil; they called Him Beelzebub, they said He was mad and had a devil -- yea, was the very Prince of devils; all this He suffered for His devotion to His Father. Although He said, "they have persecuted me, " He did not glory in His reproach, but only in His Father.

As He did not live by His experiences, neither did He live by the numerous systems of His day. There were at least twenty different parties, religious, philosophic, dietetic, reform, Pharisaical, Sadduceean, Esseniac, Herodian, etc., from none of whom did the Son of God draw any inspiration. He ignored them all; neither did He live by their endless traditions, one of the parties having as many as six hundred and thirteen; nor yet by their peculiar doctrinal tenets; or by the ritualistic form of worship of the day was His life sustained; although He went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath Day, as His custom was, still He ever drew His life from fellowship with the invisible Father. Is there not here an example for us to look higher than to the selfish parties of our time for our life, and live because of the Son, as He lived because of the Father? And yet we would not suggest the forsaking of the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but caution against substituting Churchianity with its professed means of grace, for grace. "We should neither neglect nor trust the means of grace, " Wesley wrote.

Christ did not live by the ordinances, although He instituted them. He enjoyed fellowship with His disciples in the Eucharist; He perfected the Passover from a mere protection to a love feast; He washed His disciples' feet, and some claim that this is an ordinance and is to be observed equally with the communion of the Lord's Supper: with whom we have no quarrel, our object is to point out that though He instituted and participated in the ordinances, He did not exalt them as we do, often as substitutes for life, through which we often draw externally nigh to God, while internally our hearts are far from Him, as the prophet wrote, they still go out after their covetousness.

Finally, the immediate context says, concerning the Master's method of victory through a Person, "It is a hard saying, who can bear it?" My reader, is it a hard saying to you too, that zeal for systems, doctrines, religious cliques, sects, parties, organizations, movements, works, all are insufficient, inherently, to communicate and perpetuate life; that we must emulate the example of Jesus and look higher; that we must draw our real life from Him who is true bread and true meat; that we must speak His words and do His works and manifest His Name? If not, we shall find that He will share with us the secret to the full, of His life of victory, sending us in His Name as the Father sent Him in His Name, teaching us as the Father taught Him; speaking in us as the Father spake through Him; illuminating our judgment as the Father illuminated His -- "The meek will He guide in judgment": sharing with us Divine Guidance-He shall direct our paths: answering our prayers as the Father answered His always: working with us and confirming our words with signs following, as the Father confirmed His words; working through us works of deliverance, as the Father worked through Him, and though it may test our faith, promising even greater works, if we believe; sustaining us by His companionship as He was cheered by the Father's -- "The Father has not left me alone." -- "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the age:" giving us victory over Satan, as the Father rebuked Satan for Jesus: "The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan." -- Zech. 2:3. Heal by Him as He healed by the Father; be one with Him as He was one with the Father; suffer with Him and for Him as He suffered for the sake of His Father; sustaining us by His friendship as He was sustained by the friendship of His Father, sharing with us the things He hears of the Father; delighting to do His will as His meat was to do the Father's will; glorifying His Person as He glorified the Person of the Father; conscious of our utter inability to do anything apart from Him, as He said -- "The Son can do nothing of Himself," affirming repeatedly His inability to do anything without the Father. In the face of this amazing example of the Son of God, will we ever boast again of our strength to think or do anything of ourselves? -- -that we are determined to go through? -- that the flesh profiteth anything? We can, however, rejoice exceedingly that we can do all things through CHRIST who strengtheneth us.

Christ tried to point out to the man Who called Him "Good," that unless he believed that He was "God manifest in the flesh" and that "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-Head bodily," he had no right to call Him "Good."

When Jesus let the disciples into the secret of His marvelous life many of them on hearing it, said, "This is hard to take in! Who can listen to talk like this?"

After that, many of his disciples drew back and would not associate with him any longer." Moffatt Translation John 6:60-67.

The reason for the Master's unique life is not involved; it need not be arrived at by a process of intricate reasoning; all the logic of the why and wherefore is comprehended in a single word -- a Person, "I live because of the Father!

"But perhaps the most decisive mark of the truly crucified man is, that he is crucified even to holiness itself. That is to say, he desires God only, is satisfied and can be satisfied with God only, in distinction from those truly spiritual gifts or graces, which God by His Holy Spirit imparts to the soul. The truly devout man, for instance, exercises penitence, submission, gratitude, forgiveness, and other Christian graces on their appropriate occasions; and he has great reason to be thankful to God that he is enabled to do it. But if in some moment of forgetfulness, or unguardedness, he turns the thoughts and interests of his heart from God to the graces which God gives, and begins to take complacency in his religious exercises, and to be happy in his holiness and to love his holiness, instead of a fixed and exclusive love for the Author of his holiness, I think we may confidently say, he is no longer a man dead to self, no longer in the proper sense of the term a man inwardly crucified. 'The purer our gifts are,' says Fenelon, 'the more jealous God is of our appropriating or directing them to ourselves. The most eminent graces are the most deadly poisons, if we rest in them and regard them with complacency. It is the sin of the fallen angels. They turned to themselves and kept not their first estate but left their own habitation.' At that instant they fell from heaven and became the enemies of God.'"