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How Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter 18
New Hearts For Old
Having
considered the nature of God's law, the nature of true
obedience, and the nature of sin, we are now in a good
position to consider God's blueprint for the changing of
hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.
The
transformation that God requires is from an unloving, selfish
heart, to a loving, selfless heart, and here, once again, we
are reminded that in ourselves we are incapable of engineering this
change.
`Love
is of God - the unconsecrated heart cannot originate or
produce it.' (SC59)
Thus
we realise that no amount of persuasion or fear can make us
into loving beings for the simple reason that . . .
`Love
cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority.'
(DA22)
So
just how does God implant the seed of love in our hearts? The
answer is found in three short words.
`Love
begets love.' (DA519)
Just
as life begets life, and seeds beget
trees, . . .
`Only
by love is love awakened.' (DA22)
`God
does not employ compulsory measures; love is the agent which
He uses to expel sin from the heart. By it He changes pride
into humility, and enmity and unbelief into love and faith.'
(MB77).
This
is why Paul prayed that our `love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight.' (Philippians 1:2)
He
surely understood that . . .
`In
the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the principle of
action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses,
controls the passions, subdues enmity, and ennobles the
affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the
life and sheds a refining influence on all around.' (SC59)
This,
therefore, is the simple formula that governs the
transformation of the human heart. This is how God changes our
characters.
`Love
begets love; and thus the love of Christ displayed upon the
cross woos and wins the sinner, and binds him repenting to the
cross, believing and adoring the matchless depths of a
Saviour's love.' (Con 72)
Love
begets love. The practical application of this formula,
however, is found in the words of Jesus.
`Come . . .
and learn of Me.' (Matthew 11:28,29 KJV)
It's just that simple, for it is as we learn of Him and get to
know the One who is the very embodiment of love, and as we
bask under a growing awareness of His infinite kindness and
compassion, that we learn of His love and our characters receive the most powerful
stimulus for change. This is why God invites us to come, just
as we are, and to get to know Him because . . .
`To
know God is to love Him.' (DA22)
If
we do not come to Him, we cannot know Him, and if we do not
know Him, we cannot love Him, and if we do not love Him, we
cannot be changed. Our great need therefore is to come to Him
on a daily basis and to contemplate His love,
for . . .
`The
contemplation of the love of God manifested in His Son will
stir the heart and arouse the powers of the soul as nothing
else can.' (DA478)
The
good news proclaims that we gain the victory over self, not by
fighting against our selfish desires, but by getting to know
God, for it is . . .
`The
perception of God's love [that] works the renunciation of
self.' (MB105)
Hence
the gospel - the good news of God's love for His fallen
children. In the gospel we will find the most beautiful
portrait of God's love. This portrait is bordered by His
willingness to forgive, it is etched with His eagerness to
impute His righteousness unto us, and it is hung upon His
grace, that being His incredible kindness towards an
undeserving people - a people who
have been nothing other than incredibly unkind to Him.
`In
looking to Christ, we shall see that His love is without a
parallel, that He has taken the place of the guilty sinner,
and has imputed unto him His spotless righteousness. When the
sinner sees his Saviour dying upon the cross under the curse
of sin in his stead, beholding His pardoning love, love awakes
in the heart. The sinner loves Christ, because Christ has
first loved Him, and love is the fulfilling of the law.'
(1SM374)
Thus
by beholding the love of God we are filled with love for Him
and for our fellow man, and thus we become commandment-keepers
- for `he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.'
(Romans 13:8)
As
we contemplate His love, love is implanted in our hearts, and
thus we are brought into harmony with the Code of Love. In
fact, this is the very essence of the gospel
for . . .
`It
is the glory of the gospel that it is founded upon the
principle of restoring in the fallen race the divine image by
a constant manifestation of [God's loving]
benevolence . . . With Christ He gave all
the resources of heaven, that nothing might be wanting in the
plan for man's uplifting. Here is love - the contemplation of
which should fill the soul with inexpressible gratitude! Oh,
what love, what matchless love! The contemplation of this love
will cleanse the soul from all selfishness. It will lead the
disciple to deny self, take up the cross, and follow the
Redeemer.' (CH223)
It
is the contemplation of God's love that changes our
characters. This is why He spared nothing, not even His life,
as He sought to give us the ultimate demonstration of His
love. God's hope has always been that His children would view
the cross, not only as an instrument of torture, but as the
everlasting and unparalled emblem of the love that He harbors for His sin-burdened creatures. With unexplainable
longing He waits for us to contemplate the cross, and all that
the cross represents, in the hope that our love will be
awakened by His love. This is the basis of God's good news
plan for the making of obedient children,
for . . .
`To
those who love God it will be the highest delight to keep His
commandments, and to do those things that are pleasing in His
sight.' (1SM217)
This
is why the need of the world today is the gospel, the gospel
of absolute hope, for it is only as we begin to understand the
gospel that we can begin to understand the awesome dimensions
of God's character-changing love.
`It
is the gospel of the grace [loving kindness] of God alone that
can uplift the soul.' (DA478)
`Belief
in the propitiation for sin [the peace made by Jesus between
God and man] enables fallen man to love God with his whole
heart and his neighbour as himself.' (COL378)
This
is why we are encouraged to meditate for a thoughtful hour
each day on the life of Jesus - and especially on the closing
scenes of His life (DA83). God wants us to behold His life, to
behold the love that characterized His life, and especially
the love that was made so abundantly evident in the final
moments of His life, that by beholding we may become changed;
that by beholding His love, love will gain a foothold in our
hearts.
`It
is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it
in, that we are to become partakers of the divine nature. What
food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot
benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our
being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as
a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no
good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so
that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be
assimilated.' (DA389)
God
wants us to marvel at the love of the One
who . . .
¤
suffered the pain, the shame, and the guilt that we deserve,
that we might enjoy the peace that only He deserves;
¤
the One who was condemned for our sins, in which He had no
share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in
which we had no share;
¤
the One who suffered the death which was ours, that we might
receive the life which was His;
¤
the One who was rejected in the person of us, that we might
be accepted in the person of Him;
¤
the One who became poor that we, `through His poverty might
be rich.' (2 Corinthians 8:9)
¤
the One who became one with humanity, that humanity might
become one with divinity.
It
is as we contemplate these precious pearls that the seed of
love will be nurtured in our hearts.
This
is why we are encouraged to study the Scriptures on a daily
basis, that we might discern how much God loves us, and that
we might find therein the motivation that we need to obey.
`His
power, His very life, dwells in His word. As you receive the
word in faith, it will give you power to obey.' (MB150)
It
is to foster within us the assurance of His love that we are
encouraged to pray without ceasing, for . . .
`Unceasing
prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that
life [love] from God flows into our life; and from our life,
purity and holiness flow back to God.' (SC98)
`Prayer
is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual
power. No other means of grace can be substituted, and the
health of the soul be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into
immediate contact with the Wellspring of life [love], and
strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious experience.'
(GW254,255).
It
is to promote an awareness of His love, and to implant in our
beings the principles that govern love, that we are called
upon to minister to the needs of others,
for . . .
`The
spirit of unselfish labour for others gives depth, stability,
and Christlike loveliness to the character, and brings peace
and happiness to its possessor.' (SC80).
In
Bible study, in prayer, in meditation, in ministering to the
less fortunate and heartbroken, we are answering to the call
of John the Baptist . . .
`Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,'
(John 1:29 KJV)
It
is as we behold Him, in His word, in prayer, in meditation, in
the lives of His downtrodden children, that we are
impregnated, so to speak, with the principles of love, and it
is this love, infused into our minds and grafted into our
souls, that drives out sin and changes our hearts of stone
into hearts that can feel.
`By
beholding Christ, by talking of Him, by beholding the
loveliness of His character we become changed. Changed from
glory to glory. And what is glory? Character.' (SD337)
This
is God's simple plan to make the selfish selfless, to make the
stubborn willing, to make the course refined, to make the vile
noble, to give the hopeless hope. This is the only way that
sin can be erased from our souls and, when we make Jesus the
focus of our lives, when we make Him our companion for life,
when we make Him first, best and everything in our life, we
will not only change, but we will find within us an insatiable
longing to be changed.
`By
beholding we are to become changed; and as we meditate upon
the perfection of the divine Model, we shall desire to become
wholly transformed, and renewed in the image of His purity.'
(1SM338)
`By
beholding, man can but admire and become more attracted to
Him, more charmed, and more desirous to be like Jesus until he
assimilates to His image and has the mind of Christ. Like
Enoch he walks with God. His mind is full of thoughts of
Jesus. He is his best Friend.' (3SM170)
Notice
that whatever else `walking with God' might encompass, such a
walk is characterized by a mind that is full of thoughts of
Jesus. We will talk to Him and of Him at every opportunity, we
will say good night to Him as we lay our heads on our pillows,
our first thoughts in each new day will be of Him, we will
call on Him in every situation - and especially in our moments
of greatest weakness. And the more we think of Him, and the
more we converse with Him, the more He will become a part of
us. Thus it is that the garden of love is brought to full
bloom in our hearts.
How
happy we should be, therefore, that God's plan to change our
characters does not demand that we spend long hours before our
mirrors trying to persuade ourselves to be more loving. This
would be a tiresome and a futile exercise
for . . .
`We
can never come into possession of this [loving] spirit by
trying to love others.' (COL384).
`Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.' (Job 14:4
KJV)
Scripture
tells us plainly that . . .
`Obedience
[love] comes from faith' and that `work[s of love are]
produced by faith.' (Romans 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:3)
In
seeking to bring our lives into harmony with God's code of
love, therefore, we do not strive to become better people, we
do not try and whip the fruits of love into our characters.
No! Rather, we will nurture our souls just as we would nurture
a fruit tree. What sunlight, fresh air, water and good soil
will do for a tree, Jesus will do for our souls. There simply
is no other way for . . .
`Character
is formed by studying the life and character of Jesus Christ,
who is our Pattern.' (LYL77)
It
is as simple as that, and this is why . . .
`The
Saviour does not bid the disciples labour to bear fruit. He
tells them to abide in Him.' (DA677)
The
good news demands that we stop trying to be good, and that we
start spending more time with Jesus, that we start getting our
minds full of thoughts of Him, for . . .
`If
we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our
feelings, our actions, our thoughts, our purposes will be in
harmony with the will of God, as expressed in His holy law.'
(SC61)
God
wants us to stop focusing on our own characters and to start
focusing on His character, for only this will answer to the
needs of our souls. Rather than devoting our energies to the
struggle against sin, God wants us to devote our energies to
getting to know Him - for . . .
`It
is fellowship with Christ, personal contact with a living
Saviour, that enables the mind and heart and soul to triumph
over the lower nature.' (COL388)
`Continual
devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His
disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and
character.' (DA251)
`It
is by seeing Him who is invisible that strength and vigor of
soul are gained and the power of earth over mind and character
is broken.' (AA363)
No
matter what our circumstances, no matter what state we find
ourselves in, Jesus must be the center of attraction. We
cannot even afford to spend time contemplating our own
weaknesses, for . . .
`We
shall not gain a particle of strength by dwelling on the
discouragements. By beholding we become changed. As we look in
faith to Jesus, His image is engraven on the heart. We are
transformed in character.' (Letter 134, 1903)
`Let
us, then, take our minds off the perplexities and the
difficulties of this life, and fix them on Him, that by
beholding we may be changed into His likeness.' (7BC970)
Our
part in the battle against sin, therefore, is to behold God,
His part is the removal of sin from our hearts. It is such
good news. It is so encouraging, but it will only remain so
for as long as the Lamb of God remains the nucleus of our
thinking.
Who
can be discouraged when it is all so simple?
God's
way of making obedient children is certainly unlike the
world's way. Imagine if an earthly judge, after having
pronounced the death sentence upon a murderer, took the place
of the accused, declared him to be free, and then stepped into
the gallows in his place. How would the accused feel about
this kindly judge? Would his affections be drawn towards him?
Would he find it easy to commit crime in future?
Love
begets love. We do not have to reject those aspects of our
faith that we feel we will never be able to live up to; we do
not have to reject the more challenging facets of the truth in
order to live with ourselves; we have only to acknowledge our
great need, and confess our inability to begin, and Jesus will
hear our cry with great joy in His heart
for . . .
`Christ's
heart is cheered by the sight of those who are poor in every
sense of the term: cheered by the seemingly unsatisfied
hungering after righteousness, by the inability to begin. He
welcomes as it were the very condition of things that would
discourage many ministers.' (EV49)
When
we grasp the full extent of what Jesus has done for us, when
we understand the absolute hope that His love has procured for
us, when we begin to appreciate the fact that He really does
love us, even if our appreciation is ever so scanty, this is
the mustard seed of faith, this is the tiny seed that has the
potential to grow into the largest of trees.
Our
singular struggle is to come to Jesus on a daily basis, to
find time for prayer, time for Bible study, time for
meditation, time to help others - that His love may water our
souls. Then we can with absolute hope rely on Him to change
our desires, our dreams, our appetites and our passions.
`He
who beholds the Saviour's matchless love will be elevated in
thought, purified in heart, transformed in character. He will
go forth to be a light to the world, to reflect in some degree
this mysterious love.' (DA661)
Let
us not be fooled, however, and let us not get the idea that
sanctification does not involve determined effort - there are
rules and there is a struggle, but as long as we understand
the rules, and as long we do not struggle against the wrong
things, it is all good news - despite the struggle.
`Those
who are waiting to behold a magical change in their characters
without determined effort on their part to overcome sin, will
be disappointed.' (1SM336)
Yes,
we are to make a determined effort to overcome sin, but, as we
have seen, the way to overcome sin is to behold Him. Our
effort or struggle is not a direct struggle against sin, but
against those things that keep us from beholding the Lamb of
God who takes away our sin. The Christian warfare does not
entail a direct attack against sin, for sin is a supernatural
phenomenon and, as such, it can only be overcome by a
supernatural power. The Christian's warfare is against all and
everything that keeps us from spending time with Jesus every
day; it is against those things that keep us from thinking of
Him; those things that prevent us from thinking like Him; it
is against everything that keeps us from entering into a
sincere and continuing love relationship with Him - a love
relationship that demands our time.
Ultimately
the battle between Jesus and the devil is a battle for the
mind of man. Both are vying for our affections and our
attentions; both are vying for our minds - for the mind is the
seat of our characters. Satan wants us to behold evil, so that
we will become more evil, Jesus wants us to behold good, so
that we will become good. On the one hand Satan holds out
lies, deception, false promises, bright lights, pleasure,
entertainment, fun and riches; on the other hand Jesus holds
out His nail-scarred palms, the tokens of His love, and He
pleads with us to set aside the things of the world and to
come and to learn of Him. His open invitation is for whosoever
will to come and to learn about the meek and the lowly One, to
come and to learn about the One who is so unlike the
super-heroes of this earth.
Having
the freedom of choice, we show therefore, by the things that
we behold, which leader we choose. It is no more complicated
than that - for what we behold will finally determine on whose
side we stand. The tenor of our religion, or, if you like,
the make-up of our characters, boils down to what we look at
and to what we listen to, for an unchanging law of life tells
us that . . .
`Our
religious experience is of exactly the same quality as the
food we give our minds.' (UT57)
For
the sake of emphasis, and as a fitting conclusion Part One of this
book, let us repeat this almighty and all-important truth.
`Our
religious experience is of exactly the same quality as the
food we give our minds.' (UT57)
This
concludes Part One of the original manuscript. Part 2, The
Only Pathway To True Happiness, will be found at
this link..
Having
considered Part 1, and in the light of the above concluding
thought, the reader is urged to consider the feature,
A
Brand New You.
THE END OF
PART ONE
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