Christ formed or spiritual forms?
Written by Sam Sullivant
True spiritual formation is Christ in you not curating or cultivating fruits that mimic Jesus. The first is costly and effective, but the second is like playing house. A deception in modern Christianity is that somehow God is enamored by my personality which leads to spiritual house-play. It’s a very strange teaching that’s crept into the church, that God is truly captured by my natural person. The truth of the Gospel is that God deeply loves the world and sent His Son as the remedy to our condition. Jesus gave His life on the Cross in place of my natural man, which is much like Barabbas (Matt 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John18). Personality and temperament is fickle territory to occupy or build from… it’s a natural fact but it is unspiritual as a source. Instead of placing my focus on natural facts, what if I simply refocused my heart and desires upon Jesus, who is eternal?! It’s a simple concept but is not easy on the flesh. Like someone preparing to run a marathon, the preparation needed to run in the race of faith is quite deep and extensive. The Lord is not interested in all the things I can do for Him. He is not captured by my natural desires, propensities and preferences. The Lord is after my heart and in many cases that means an overhaul. Am I up for the Heavenly disruption?!
Some people turn to the personality in a way of trying to reduce shame or know our weaknesses and in that regard, I agree we need to not perform or be brazen, but I do believe the true highway of holiness (Isaiah 40) is available to those who dare to abandon their former, self life and boldly enter into Christ. I would suggest that instead of focusing on shame-breaking, we focus on the shame-Breaker. That’s His work in us. The uncrucified soul will curate a presence of God without the ministry of the Cross, and we only end up with religious experiences, never coming to the Life as God intends. Satan is quite involved in this deception within the church. The point is that, truthfully, my personality is meant to go to the Romans 12 altar, not in expression but to death in regards to spiritual life. Without the Cross, my personality is allowed to run wild, spiritualizing unspiritual things and gratifying the cravings of my flesh. The true worshipper of Jesus is meant to lose security and spirituality from the soul. The Cross is a message of deliverance from the soul’s power and full immersion into Jesus. Ezekiel offer us a great illustration of full immersion into the Life of Christ:
“He led me out by way of the north gate and brought me around the outside of the outer gate that faces toward the east; I noticed that the water was trickling out from the south side. When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured 1,750 feet, and then he led me through water, which was ankle deep. Again he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was now knee deep. Once more he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was waist deep. Again he measured 1,750 feet and it was a river I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.” Ezekiel 47:2-5 (NET)
The true path to spiritual life is the Cross. Perhaps our problem in the church is we have lost a real appreciation for the message of the Cross (see my article on the Foolishness of Preaching). In this imagery, Ezekiel is entering deeper and deeper into a river, and the Lord is leading him there. The river is impassable, and that is the point. If you look at the measurements, there’s hidden meaning… 1750 x 4 = 7000, so the Lord is illustrating His thoughts as to the path to completion which is what the number 7 is representing but in a multiplied form. So the Cross is not just the way for me, but the way for all of us and it’s impassable for the flesh of humanity. Here Ezekiel is not ascending, but descending into the river. This is an image of baptism. He is losing control and becoming fully immersed into the river, which is coming out from the temple of God (Ez. 47:1). This river is symbolic of the Life of Christ, and a key phrase in the passage is that it is “a river that could not be crossed”. We lose our lives in the River, and gain His! There is one life source to the people of God and that was and is to always be Jesus Christ, and He’s not a concept nor is He impotent, but the Person of Light, Life and Glory. Will we follow Him into the depths of God’s plan for us?!
Now what about Psalm 139, Sam?! Well that’s a good question, I believe there is uniqueness in the thought and design of God in verses 13-14 (NASB 95), “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” Clearly God created male and female in His image. However His knowledge is quite lofty in verses 5-6, “You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” So if we’re dividing the Word rightly, we must understand that self focus is a grave danger, not our existence, but self life. The whole of this passage is focused on God’s greatness in the context of His design in and for humanity. There are even some ancient Bible manuscripts* that read verse 14 as “You are fearfully wonderful” in reference to God not people (see verse 14 in the RSV and NET translations). Regardless of translation issues, we are made to live by the Life of another and when separated and disconnected from Him, none of God’s design works functionally. Thus, the Lord introduces the ministry of the Cross to separate soul from spirit (Heb 4). Psalm 139 is as much or more about Christ than us, it’s about His dwelling place. We don’t need to mine the depths of our selves but rather enter into the depths of Christ.
Perhaps our problem now is we ascribe to many sources. We of course ascribe to Jesus in some measure, but are we aware of the ploys of Satan to lead us off of the Lord’s path and into self-made religion? Let’s emphasize self here. The real issue with the personality is its relationship to self. There is no eternal Life in self, only death, thus the human soul is simply a vessel. We don’t need to beat our personality traits to a bloody pulp, we simply need to the run to the Cross and lose our self life and let Jesus into our hearts yet again or perhaps for the first time. Ankle deep is not God’s full thought, full immersion is. When we are immersed in the River of Life, we ought to be losing sight of who we were, even down to our traits. Do not look at your-self in that way, look to Jesus who is so full of Life, Love, Peace, Authority, Justice, Purity, and so much more, that seeing myself is really just a thing of the past. Instead of trying to curate what’s best for our-selves, what if we ran wholeheartedly into the Person who is best for us?! Christ begins to be formed in people who give in response. God has already given. He has given Christ, and we simply need to respond, give up the ghost, and give in to Him. He’s a good shepherd, can we trust Him?!
I’m afraid if we don’t build on the right foundation in the House of God, then we won’t end up where God most desires for us to land in His thought of completion. Satan is very keen on stopping this process. That shouldn’t incite paralyzing fear, but a holy fear of God that I really do need Him more than any-thing or any-one else. God responds to a broken and contrite heart, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17 RSV).
Perhaps you’ve endured quite a bit of hardship in the modern church, perhaps you’ve been under spiritual abuse, sensationalism, lukewarmness, religious bondage or some other dysfunction. Don’t worry you’re not alone, all that stuff dwells in our self nature and many have been on the receiving end of it. I’ve experienced it both ways. However, I do believe there is better news and a better message coming out from the Throne of God, and that is the Gospel of Christ and the ministry of His Cross to deliver us from the bondage of self and lead us into His River of everlasting Life. Remember, God has made a covenant in the Person of Jesus, and God does not break His oaths. Every promise God has made has come true, and every promise He has made concerning the future will also come to be. Let’s ponder in Hebrews 6:13-20 how truly available Jesus is in God’s New Covenant. May we deny our forms of spirituality and finally allow Christ to be formed in us. Praise God!
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13-20 RSV)
*Psalm 139:14 NASB95 footnote