When God created humanity, he fashioned us to
be a container. That container needed
something for it to function properly; it needed life! Genesis 2:7 says God
breathed life into man’s container and he became a living being.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether,
then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” God’s life in Adam and Eve, expressed in
their moment by moment living, was a display of His glory. Nothing generated from self-effort expresses
the glory of God. This can be confusing
because we want to believe when we do good things it is pleasing to God. However, anything done out of self-effort,
whether good or bad, is flesh. Paul
said in Galatians, “the flesh sets itself against the Spirit and the Spirit
against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17).
If you want to test whether your good deed is
of the Spirit or of the flesh, here is a simple question to ask yourself: Will
I feel better about myself if I do this? If the answer is yes, most likely you are
operating out of the flesh. If the
answer is, “I’m doing this because I want to,” or “The Holy Spirit prompted me,”
then you are operating in the Spirit.
The first answer reveals us attempting to get our need for worth or
value met through a good deed. The
second is focused on Christ’s life expressed through actions. When you are walking in the Spirit (Gal.
5:16), you are doing what you want to do, not out of need, but out of His life. The flesh prohibits us from doing what we
want to do (Gal. 5:17b).
As I began to think about believers being a
container of Christ’s life, the Holy Spirit revealed that my view of
“container” was limited to my earthly way of thinking. Every container I’m familiar with has a limit
to how much it can hold. When I look in the mirror, I see a physical container
that weighs just under 200 lbs., and is almost six feet tall. In other words, with my physical eyes I see
the limits of the space I fill in this world.
However, I cannot see my spirit with my physical eyes. It is my spirit which is designed to contain
Christ’s life. It is my soul and body which
express His Life. Paul indicated in
Ephesians 3:19, we can be filled up with the fullness of God.
Again, we were designed to be a container,
but only a Person can fill our container.
As humans, we try to fill our container with riches, power, relationships,
influence, education, etc. None of these things can begin to take up space in
our container, no matter how much we put in.
If we could attain all the wealth, power, and prestige of this world, it
would only be a drop in our container. We
were given an eternal container designed to be filled solely with an eternal
source. How awesome is that! When you and I are abiding in Christ, we are
expressing His fullness in us.
“But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not
from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7, NASB)
