Our study has now brought us to the
point where we are able to consider the
true nature of consecration.
We have before us the second half of
Romans 6 from verse 12 to the end.
In Romans 12 and 13, we read, "'Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,
"'that ye should obey the lusts thereof.
"'Neither present your members unto sin "'as instruments
of unrighteousness, "'but present yourselves unto God "'as
alive from the dead, "'and your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God.'" The operative word
here is present, and this occurs five times
in verses 13, 16, and 19.
Many have taken this word present to imply
consecration without looking carefully into its content.
Of course, that is what it does mean,
but not in the sense in which we
so often understand it.
It is not the consecration of our old
man with his instincts and resources, our natural
wisdom, strengths, and other gifts to the Lord
for him to use.
This will be at once clear from verse
13.
Note there the clause, as alive from the
dead.
Paul says, present yourselves unto God as alive
from the dead.
This defines for us the point at which
consecration begins.
For what is here referred to is not
the consecration of anything belonging to the old
creation, but only of that which is passed
through death to resurrection.
The presenting spoken of is the outcome of
my knowing my old man to be crucified,
knowing, reckoning, presenting to God.
That is the divine order.
When I really know I am crucified with
him, then spontaneously I reckon myself dead.
And when I know that I'm raised with
him from the dead, then likewise I reckon
myself alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
For both the death and the resurrection side
of the cross are to be accepted by
faith.
When this point is reached, giving myself to
him follows.
In resurrection, he is the source of my
life.
Indeed, he is my life.
So I cannot but present everything to him,
for all is his, not mine.
But without passing through death, I have nothing
to consecrate.
Nor is there anything God can accept, for
he has condemned all that is of the
old creation to the cross.
Death has cut off all that cannot be
consecrated to him.
And resurrection alone has made consecration possible.
Presenting myself to God means that henceforth, I
consider my whole life as now belonging to
the Lord.
Let us observe that this presenting relates to
the members of my body.
That body which, as we saw earlier, is
now unemployed in respect of sin.
Present yourselves and your members, says Paul.
And again, present your members.
God requires of me that I now regard
all my members, all my faculties, as belonging
wholly to him.
It is a great thing when I discover
I am no longer my own, but his.
If the 10 shillings in my pocket belong
to me, then I have full authority over
them.
But if they belong to another who has
committed them to me in trust, then I
cannot buy what I please with them.
And I dare not lose them.
Real Christian life begins with knowing this.
How many of us know that because Christ
is risen, we are therefore alive unto God,
and not unto ourselves?
How many of us dare not use our
time, or money, or talents as we would,
because we realize they are the Lord's, not
ours?
How many of us have such a strong
sense that we belong to another, that we
dare not squander a shilling of our money,
or an hour of our time, or any
of our mental or physical powers?
On one occasion, a Chinese brother was traveling
by train, and found himself in a carriage
together with three non-Christians who wished to
play cards in order to while away the
time.
Lacking a fourth to complete the game, they
invited this brother to join them.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, he said, but
I cannot join your game, for I've not
brought my hands with me.
Whatever do you mean, they asked in blank
astonishment.
This pair of hands does not belong to
me, he said.
And then there followed the explanation of the
transfer of ownership that had taken place in
his life.
That brother regarded the members of his body
as belonging entirely to the Lord.
That is true holiness.
Paul says, present your members as servants to
righteousness unto sanctification, holiness.
Make it a definite act, present yourselves unto
God.
What is holiness?
Many people think we become holy by the
eradication of something evil within.
No, we become holy by being separated unto
God.
In Old Testament times, it was when a
man was chosen by God to be altogether
his, that he was publicly anointed with oil,
and was then said to be sanctified.
Thereafter, he was regarded as set apart to
God.
In the same manner, even animals or material
things, a lamb or the gold of the
temple could be sanctified, not by the eradication
of anything evil in them, but by being
thus reserved exclusively to the Lord.
Holiness, in the Hebrew sense, meant something thus
set apart.
And all true holiness is holiness to the
Lord.
I give myself over wholly to Christ, that
is holiness.
Presenting myself to God implies a recognition that
I am altogether his.
This giving of myself is a definite thing,
just as definite as reckoning.
There must be a day in my life
when I pass out of my own hands
into his.
And from that day forward, I belong to
him and no longer to myself.
That does not mean that I consecrate myself
to be a preacher or a missionary.
Alas, many people are missionaries, not because they
have truly consecrated themselves to God, but because
in the sense of which we are speaking,
they have not consecrated themselves to him.
They have consecrated, as they would put it,
something altogether different, namely their own uncrucified natural
faculties to the doing of his work.
But that is not true consecration.
Then to what are we to be consecrated?
Not to the Christian work, but to the
will of God to be and do whatever
he wants.
Lord, I give myself to thee with this
desire alone, to know and walk in the
path thou hast ordained.
That is true giving.
If at the close of a life we
can say with Paul, I have finished my
course, then we are blessed indeed.
There is nothing more tragic than to come
to the end of life and know that
we have been on the wrong course.
We have only one life to live down
here and we're free to do as we
please with it.
But if we seek our own pleasure, our
life will never glorify God.
A devoted Christian once said in my hearing,
I want nothing for myself, I want everything
for God.
Do you want anything apart from God?
Or does all your desire center in his
will?
Can you truly say that the will of
God is good and acceptable and perfect to
you?
For it is our wills that are in
question here.
That strong self-assertive will of mine must
go to the cross and I must give
myself over wholly to the Lord.
We cannot expect a tailor to make a
coat if we do not give him any
cloth, nor a builder to build us a
house if we let him have no building
material.
And in just the same way, we cannot
expect the Lord to live out his life
in us if we do not give him
our lives in which to live.
Without reservations, without controversy, we must give ourselves
to him to do as he pleases with
us.
Present yourselves unto God.
If we give ourselves unreservedly to God, many
adjustments may have to be made in family
or business or church relationships or in the
matter of our personal views.
God will not let anything of ourselves remain.
His finger will touch point by point everything
that is not of him and he will
say, this must go.
Are you willing?
It is foolish to resist God and always
wise to submit to him.
We admit that many of us still have
controversies with the Lord.
He wants something while we want something else.
Many things we dare not look into, dare
not pray about, dare not even think about
lest we lose our peace.
We can evade the issue in that way
but to do so will bring us out
of the will of God.
It is always an easy matter to get
out of his will but it is a
blessed thing just to hand ourselves over to
him and let him have his way with
us.
How good it is to have the consciousness
that we belong to the Lord and are
not our own.
There is nothing more precious in the world.
It is that which brings the awareness of
his continual presence and the reason is obvious.
I must first have the sense of God's
possession of me before I can have the
sense of his presence with me.
When once his ownership is established then I
dare do nothing in my own interests for
I am his exclusive property.
Know ye not that to whom you present
yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye
are whom ye obey.
The word here rendered servant really signifies a
bond servant, a slave.
The word is used several times in the
second half of Romans 6.
What is the difference between a servant and
a slave?
A servant may serve another but the ownership
does not pass to that other.
If he likes his master he can serve
him but if he does not like him
he can give him his notice and seek
another master.
Not so is it with the slave.
He is not only the servant of another
but he is the possession of another.
How did I become the slave of the
Lord?
On his part he bought me and on
my part I presented myself to him.
By right of redemption I am God's property
but if I would be his slave I
must willingly give myself to him for he
will never compel me to do so.
The trouble about many Christians today is that
they have an insufficient idea of what God
is asking of them.
How glibly they say, Lord, I am willing
for anything.
Do you know that God is asking of
you your very life?
There are cherished ideals, strong wills, precious relationships,
much loved work that will have to go.
So do not give yourself to God unless
you mean it.
God will take you seriously even if you
did not mean it seriously.
When a Galilean boy brought his bread to
the Lord what did the Lord do with
it?
He broke it.
God will always break what is offered to
him.
He breaks what he takes but after breaking
it he blesses and uses it to meet
the needs of others.
After you give yourself to the Lord he
begins to break what was offered to him.
Everything seems to go wrong and you protest
and find fault with the ways of God
but to stay there is to be no
more than just a broken vessel.
No good for the world because you've gone
too far for the world to use you
and no good for God either because you
have not gone far enough for him to
use you.
You are out of gear with the world
and you have a controversy with God.
This is the tragedy of many a Christian.
My giving of myself to the Lord must
be an initial fundamental act.
Then day by day I must go on
giving to him not finding fault with his
use of me but accepting with praise even
what the flesh revolts against.
I am the Lord's and now no longer
reckon myself to be my own but acknowledge
in everything his ownership and authority.
That is the attitude God requires and to
maintain it is true consecration.
I do not consecrate myself to be a
missionary or a preacher.
I consecrate myself to God to do his
will where I am be it in school,
office or kitchen counting whatever he ordains for
me to be the very best for nothing
but good can come to those who are
wholly his.
May we always be possessed by the consciousness
that we are not our own.
We have spoken of the need of revelation
of faith and of consecration if we are
to live the normal Christian life.
But unless we see the end God has
in view we shall never clearly understand why
these steps are necessary to lead us to
that end.
Before therefore we consider further the question of
inward experience let us first look at the
great divine goal before us.
What is God's purpose in creation?
And what is his purpose in redemption?
It may be summed up in two phrases
one from each of our two sections of
Romans.
It is the glory of God and the
glory of the children of God.
In Romans 3.23 we read All have
sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.
God's purpose for man was glory but sin
thwarted that purpose by causing man to miss
God's glory.
When we think of sin we instinctively think
of the judgment it brings we invariably associate
it with condemnation and hell.
Man's thought is always of the punishment that
will come to him if he sins but
God's thought is always of the glory man
will miss if he sins.
The result of sin is that we forfeit
God's glory.
The result of redemption is that we are
qualified again for glory.
God's purpose in redemption is glory, glory, glory.
This consideration takes us forward into Romans chapter
8 where the topic is developed in verses
16 to 18 and again in verses 29
and 30.
Paul says We are children of God and
if children then heirs heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him
then we may be also glorified with him.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed to
usward.
And again Whom he foreknew he also foreordained
to be conformed to the image of his
Son that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren and whom he foreordained them he
also called and whom he called them he
also justified and whom he justified them he
also glorified.
What was God's objective?
It was that his Son Jesus Christ might
be the firstborn among many brethren all of
whom should be conformed to his image.
How did God realize that objective?
Whom he justified them he also glorified.
God's purpose then in creation and redemption was
to make Christ the firstborn Son among many
glorified sons.
That may perhaps at first convey very little
to many of us but let us look
into it more carefully.
In John 1, 14 we're told that the
Lord Jesus was God's only begotten Son the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld his glory glory as of the
only begotten from the Father.
That he was God's only begotten Son signifies
that God had no other son but this
one.
He was with the Father from all eternity
but we are told God was not satisfied
that Christ should remain the only begotten Son
he wanted also to make him his first
begotten.
How could an only begotten Son become a
first begotten?
The answer is simple by the Father having
more children.
If you have but one son then he
is the only begotten but if thereafter you
have other children then the only begotten becomes
the first begotten.
The divine purpose in creation and redemption was
that God should have many children he wanted
us and could not be satisfied without us.
In reading the story of the prodigal son
most people are impressed with all the troubles
the prodigal meets they're occupied in thinking what
a bad time he's having that is not
the point of the parable my son was
lost and is found there is the heart
of the story it's not a question of
what the son suffers but of what the
father loses he is the sufferer he is
the loser a sheep that is lost whose
is the lost?
the shepherd's a coin is lost whose is
the lost?
the woman's a son is lost whose is
the lost?
the father's that is the lesson of Luke
chapter 15 Lord Jesus was the only begotten
son and as the only begotten he had
no brothers but the father sent the son
in order that the only begotten might also
be the first begotten and the beloved son
have many brethren there you have the whole
story of the incarnation and the cross and
there you have at the last the purpose
of God fulfilled in his bringing many sons
unto glory but how could God's only begotten
son become his first begotten?
the method is explained in John 12 24
verily, verily, I say unto you except a
grain of wheat fall into the earth and
die it abideth by itself alone but if
it die it beareth much fruit who was
that grain?
it was the Lord Jesus in the whole
universe God had only one grain of wheat
he had no second grain God put his
one grain of wheat into the ground and
it died and in resurrection the only begotten
grain became the first begotten grain and from
the one grain there have sprung many grains
in respect of his divinity the Lord Jesus
remains uniquely the only begotten son of God
yet there is a sense in which from
the resurrection onwards through all eternity he is
also the first begotten and his life from
that time is found in many brethren for
we who are born of the Spirit are
made thereby partakers of the divine nature though
not, mark you, as of ourselves but only,
as we shall see in a moment in
dependence upon God and by virtue of our
being in Christ we have received the Spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father the
Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that
we are children of God it was by
way of the incarnation and the cross that
the Lord Jesus made this possible therein was
the Father heart of God satisfied for in
the Son's obedience unto death the Father has
secured his many sons the first and the
twentieth chapters of John are in this respect
most precious in the beginning of his gospel
John tells us that Jesus was the only
begotten from the Father at the end of
his gospel he tells us how after the
Lord Jesus died and rose again he said
to Mary Magdalene go unto my brethren and
say to them I ascend unto my Father
and your Father and my God and your
God hitherto in this gospel the Lord had
spoken often of the Father or of my
Father now in resurrection he adds and your
Father it is the eldest son the first
begotten speaking by his death and resurrection many
brethren have been brought into God's family and
so in the same verse he uses this
very name for them my brethren he is
not ashamed to call them brethren Christ arose
in new form with a body still but
in the spirit no longer in the flesh
the last Adam became a life giving spirit
the Lord Jesus now has a resurrected body
a spiritual body a glorious body and since
he is no longer in the flesh he
can now be received by all he that
eateth me he also shall live because of
me said Jesus now that he is in
the spirit every one of us can receive
him and it is by partaking of his
resurrection life that we are constituted children of
God as many as received him to them
gave he the right to become children of
God which were born of God God is
not out to reform our life it is
not his thought to bring it to a
certain stage of refinement for it is on
a totally wrong plane on that plane he
cannot now bring man to glory he must
have a new man one born anew born
of God regeneration and justification go together what
we today possess in Christ is more than
Adam lost Adam was only a developed man
he remained on that plane and never possessed
the life of God but we who receive
the son of God not only receive the
forgiveness of sins we receive also the divine
life which was represented in the garden by
the tree of life by the new birth
we received something Adam never had we possess
what he missed God wants sons who shall
be joint heirs with Christ in glory that
is his goal but how can he bring
that about turn now to Hebrews chapter 2
verses 10 and 11 it became him for
whom are all things and through whom are
all things in bringing many sons unto glory
to make the author of their salvation perfect
through sufferings for both he that sanctifyeth and
they that are sanctified are all of one
for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren the Lord Jesus as man
derived his life from God and in another
sense but justice truly we derive our new
life from God he was begotten of the
Holy Ghost and we were born of the
Spirit born of God so God says we
are all of one do you realize that
we have the same life today that God
has the life which he has in heaven
is the life which he has imparted to
us here on the earth that is the
precious gift of God it is for that
reason that we can live a life of
holiness for it is not our own life
that has been changed but the life of
God that has been imparted to us do
you notice that in this consideration of the
eternal purpose the whole question of sin ultimately
goes out it no longer has a place
sin came in with Adam and even when
it had been dealt with as it has
to be we are only brought back to
the point where Adam was but in relating
us again to the divine purpose in as
it were restoring to us access to the
tree of life redemption has given us far
more than Adam ever had it has made
us partakers of the very life of God
himself