21st Century Collection of Life Works.
DEEP INSIDE EVERY PERSON there is a private sanctum where dwells the mysterious essence of his being. This far-in reality is that in the individual which is what it is of itself without reference to any other part of the human's complex nature. It is the human's "I Am," a gift from the I AM who created the individual.
The I AM which is God is underived and self-existent; the"I Am" which is human is derived from God and dependent every moment upon His creative fiat for its continued existence. One is the Creator, high over all, ancient of days, dwelling in light unapproachable. The other is a creature and, though privileged beyond all others, is still but a creature, a pensioner on God's bounty and a suppliant before His throne.
The deep-in human entity of which we speak is called in the Scriptures the spirit of human."For what a person knows the things of human, save the spirit of human which is in the person? even so the things of God knows no human, but the Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:11) . As God's self-knowledge lies in the eternal Spirit, so human's selfknowledge is by his own spirit, and this knowledge of God is by the direct impression of the Spirit of God upon the spirit of human.
The importance of all this cannot be overestimated as we think and study and pray. It reveals the essential spirituality of mankind. It denies that each person is a creature having a spirit and declares that one is a spirit having a body. That which makes the person a human being is not the body but the spirit, in which the image of God originally lay.
One of the most liberating declarations in the New Testament is this:"The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship God must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23, 24) . Here the nature of worship is shown to be wholly spiritual. True religion is removed from diet and days, from garments and ceremonies, and placed where it belongs-in the union of the spirit of a human being with the Spirit of God.
From human's standpoint the most tragic loss suffered in the Fall was the vacating of this inner sanctum by the Spirit of God. At the far-in hidden center of human's being is a bush fitted to be the dwelling place of the Triune God. There God planned to rest and glow with moral and spiritual fire. Human by his sin forfeited this indescribably wonderful privilege and must now dwell there alone. For so intimately private is the place that no creature can intrude; no one can enter but Christ; and He will enter only by the invitation of faith.
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any one hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).
By the mysterious operation of the Spirit in the new birth, that which is called by Peter"the divine nature" enters the deep-in core of the believer's heart and establishes residence there. "If any one have not the Spirit of Christ, the person is none of God," for "the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:9, 16). Such a person is a true Christian, and only such. Baptism, confirmation, the receiving of the sacraments, church membership, these mean nothing unless the supreme act of God in regeneration also takes place. Religious externals may have a meaning for the God-inhabited soul; for any others they are not only useless but may actually become snares, deceiving them into a false and perilous sense of security.
"Keep your heart with all diligence" is more than a wise saying; it is a solemn charge laid upon us by the One who cares most about us. To it we should give the most careful heed lest at any time we should let it slip.
From "The Dwelling Place" by Dr. A. W. Tozer. Lightly updated to the language of the 21st century by D. N. Pham. (c) 2012.
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