I said in a previous blog post that two of the fundamental things that I misunderstood and misrepresented in my early teachings were 1) the nature of the finished work of Christ, and how it applies to the believer, and 2) the reality and necessity of the daily cross. I have already attempted to describe some of the great and common misunderstandings concerning the finished work of Christ, and my own confusion on that point in this post: <a href="https://hender.blog/posts/the-nature-of-the-finished-work-of-christ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Nature of the Finished Work</a>. Now I would like to share a few thoughts about the reality and necessity of the daily cross of Christ.&nbsp;Probably every Christian is aware of the historical and outward cross of Christ, the wooden cross upon which He was crucified between two thieves. But even before Jesus surrendered his life on the outward wooden cross, and before any outward crosses were in the picture, it&rsquo;s interesting to notice that Christ was already talking to His disciples about another cross, a daily cross, that they must take up every day in order to truly follow Him. &ldquo;If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me,&rdquo; (Luke 9:23). This must have sounded strange to the ears of his hearers, who certainly at that point (we are told) did not understand or accept that Christ would die outwardly, nor could they have understood clearly what He meant by taking up a daily cross in order to follow Him where He was going.&nbsp;But it&rsquo;s very important that we understand that the cross was not something that Christ only experienced for the last few hours of his life. The cross&mdash;the daily cross&mdash;was something that He knew, spoke of, embraced, took up, and carried every single minute of every day of his life as a man. The outward&nbsp;wooden&nbsp;cross was only the final stroke, the&nbsp;killing&nbsp;of the outward life of the nature of man. But the inward cross was&nbsp;a&nbsp;daily experience, a continual denial and death to all independent will&nbsp;and self-life&nbsp;as a man,&nbsp;in perfect submission to the will and power of the Father.While it is absolutely true that Christ, in his incarnation, never sinned, and was therefore the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, it is also important to understand that He entered into man&rsquo;s condition in the fall. &nbsp;I mean, he did not enter into the condition that Adam was in in paradise BEFORE he fell, but rather into man&rsquo;s condition after he had fallen. For this reason Christ was subject to weakness (&ldquo;He was crucified in weakness&rdquo; 2 Cor. 13:4), He had a mortal body, was subject to the elements, to heat and cold, tiredness, hunger, painful emotions (&ldquo;a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief&rdquo;). He was also subject to every sort of temptation and assault of the enemy (&ldquo;tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin,&rdquo; Heb. 4:15) and also to the evil, anger, and violence of wicked men. He entered into our fallen condition, not to be immune to it, but to overcome it by the Spirit, and (as I have said elsewhere) to then share His overcoming life with all who would receive it. For this reason He said, &ldquo;When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself.&rdquo;But the WAY that Christ overcame all enemies, all temptations, all weakness, all independent human will, (always saying &ldquo;not My will but Yours be done&rdquo;) and even death, was not solely by means of the wooden cross that he hung upon for the last few hours of His life, but also by means of the daily cross that He carried, and told His disciples that they must also pick up and carry every day.&nbsp;So what is this daily cross?&nbsp;I believe it is of great importance that every Christian knows and experiences the answer to this question. It is&nbsp;something described and required by nearly every page of the New Testament&nbsp;in one way or another, and yet&nbsp;it remains a mystery&nbsp;or an offense&nbsp;to a surprising number of Christians.In a few words, the daily cross is&nbsp;a continual denial of all self-will, and&nbsp;an inward subjection to the righteous power of God&nbsp;that dethrones and crucifies the&nbsp;fallen&nbsp;will and nature of flesh in man.&nbsp;Like the wooden cross, the daily cross is an instrument of death, and is the way to experience resurrection life. But the daily cross is not an outward instrument of death that just kills the outward body, but rather an inward and ongoing death, that starves, weakens, crucifies, circumcises, and frees from all that has grown up in the soul of man apart from the pure nature and will of God.Taking up the cross every day means living in such a way that you are careful and watchful to stay UNDER its weight; I mean under its influence, under its judgment, in its light, carrying the yoke of truth everywhere you go, and experiencing it as that which continually exposes the source, nature and spring of all your actions, words, thoughts, and desires. The daily cross of Christ is the power of God made manifest in you to expose, to judge and to remove all that is fallen from His glory. It is not just self-denial, or ceasing to do evil. It is denial of self AND a complete subjection and resignation to the creating power, or the resurrecting power of Christ. And it is the lack of living in this way inwardly at all times before God, that keeps men and women from truly experiencing the benefit of all that Christ did outwardly for them.Many people believe in the outward cross, who yet themselves (as Paul said, &ldquo;even weeping&rdquo;) are &ldquo;enemies to the cross of Christ.&rdquo; And what makes them enemies to the cross? Is it that they don&rsquo;t have good theology? Is it because they don&rsquo;t believe in the outward or historical cross of Christ? No. Paul says it is because &ldquo;their god is the belly, their glory is in their shame, and they set their mind on earthly things.&rdquo; How do you live as an enemy to the cross of Christ? You simply live according to the natural desires, will, and appetites of the fallen fleshly man, who is enmity with God, and does all things for the glory and gain of self. You are an enemy to the cross when you hide from its light, when you dodge its judgment, when you seek to keep alive the nature that it would kill, and thereby resist and crucify the life of Christ that it would rise up in you.In this way, and for this reason, man is always either submitting to the power of God that &ldquo;crucifies&nbsp;the flesh with its passions and desires&rdquo; (Gal 5:24)&nbsp;and &ldquo;puts to death the deeds of the body&rdquo;&nbsp;(Rom 8:13), or he is&nbsp;resisting this work of the Spirit by remaining in the flesh, &ldquo;setting his mind on earthly things,&rdquo; and so&nbsp;&ldquo;crucifying again to himself the&nbsp;Son of God,&nbsp;putting Him to open shame.&rdquo; (Heb 6:6)The truth is,&nbsp;that many&nbsp;people are not saved, or do not grow in grace, because they are unwilling to be entirely subject to the power that saves them, and are rather subject (in various ways and measures) to&nbsp;a contrary&nbsp;power which slowly&nbsp;distorts and&nbsp;destroys them.&nbsp;It is really that simple.&nbsp;In other words, people&nbsp;do not grow&nbsp;spiritually, or continue their spiritual&nbsp;journey simply because they will not stay under the dominion, the weight, and the light of God&rsquo;s judgment that would&nbsp;continually subdue their enemies, and make room in their heart for the kingdom of God.<blockquote>I am the LORD your God,&nbsp;who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice,&nbsp;and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,&nbsp;to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me,that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies,&nbsp;and turn My hand against their adversaries.&nbsp;(Psa. 81:10-14)</blockquote>This may sound simplistic, and as a concept it is indeed simple. It is certainly not complicated. But even so, a great number of Christian men and women refuse to live this way, simply because they don&rsquo;t want to. Or you could say, because they want something else. Self-will&nbsp;always&nbsp;refuses the cross. And the cross&nbsp;always seeks to&nbsp;crucify self-will.&nbsp;Carrying the daily cross is the same as walking in the light of Christ, a light that exposes and condemns all things that are contrary to the nature of God. It is called carrying the cross because His judgment, His truth, needs to remain as a yoke upon our shoulders, and we need to make sure we are always keeping ourselves under its weight. Christ doesn&rsquo;t tell us to just visit the cross once a week, or even once a day. He says to carry it always, stay under it always, &quot;take&nbsp;My yoke upon your shoulders and learn from Me,&quot; and by submission to its power, you will become like Me, &ldquo;gentle and lowly in heart, and find rest for your souls.&rdquo;Now this daily cross, this inward cross, is what is missing in all man-made religion, even man-made Christianity. Christians across the world praise the historical cross, and bow down before images of the outward cross of Christ, even while their hearts adamantly refuse subjection to the daily power of God that works both death and new life in the soul. But this was not so with the early apostles and followers of Christ. Paul said, &ldquo;I die daily&rdquo; (1 Cor 15:31). He said, we are &ldquo;always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus&rsquo; sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh&rdquo; (2 Cor. 4:10-11). He said, Oh &ldquo;that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead&rdquo; (Phil. 3:10-11). Peter said,<blockquote>&ldquo;Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God&hellip; For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.&rdquo;&nbsp;1 Pet. 4:1-2,&nbsp;6</blockquote>Jesus said over and over again things like: &ldquo;He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life,&rdquo; John 12:25. Or, &ldquo;If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.&rdquo; (Luke 14:26-27)Not one of these verses is talking about an outward cross, or an outward death. Nor are they talking about a one time experience, or a mere belief in a historical event. They are talking about living in such a way, at all times, where the power of God, the judgment of God, the light of God, is continually in our view, and where our heart remains in a condition that is soft, humble, and submitted to it.&nbsp;Every day of his life as a Man, Jesus Christ bore this daily cross. He bore a physical cross for a few hours, but He carried the inward cross for thirty-three years without fail. Every temptation of the enemy was an enticement to step out from under it as Man. Every insult and act of violence from men, even the misunderstandings of His disciples, were seen by Him as attempts to bring Him out from a perfect denial of His will as a Man, and a perfect submission to the will of His Father. He said to Peter, &ldquo;Get behind my Satan, you are a stumbling block to me!&rdquo;, when it was suggested to Him that the cross was not necessary. Every form of pain and sorrow He endured as a Man, even when He said, &ldquo;My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death&rdquo; (Mat 26:38), was an opportunity to step out from under His yoke, to walk (perhaps for just a few minutes!) in His own human will, to ease His burden, to avoid His cup, but He would not do it. He carried the cross to His will as a Man every day of His life, He kept under the yoke, He submitted to His Father, even when His sweat fell like large drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.This is the daily cross. It involves taking THIS yoke upon ourselves and staying under it. It has to do with crossing (or going against) the will of the creature, in order to embrace and experience the will of the Creator. It is a voluntary surrender of all that is of self, and a perfect&nbsp;and ongoing&nbsp;subjection to the power of the Spirit.&nbsp;It is the way that faithful followers of Christ experience &ldquo;the fellowship of His sufferings&rdquo;, and &ldquo;fill up in their flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.&rdquo; (Col 1:24) It is not a mere belief in the outward, historical cross, but a daily turning, a daily seeking, and a daily surrendering to the power of God that bruises the serpent&rsquo;s head and redeems man out from the fall.&nbsp;In the beginning,&nbsp;Adam&rsquo;s death was&nbsp;a&nbsp;turning from, and then&nbsp;a&nbsp;loss of the inward life of God in the soul, leaving&nbsp;him&nbsp;dead to God but alive to the outward world and the influences of the kingdom of darkness.&nbsp;And now, our fellowship in Christ&rsquo;s death, or our daily cross, is a continual submission to the light and power of God that exposes, weakens and crucifies in us everything that has grown up in our fallen condition; that is, all sin, self-will, pride, and carnal desire. Taking up our cross and following Christ every day means denying and forsaking the will and nature that are contrary to Him, and learning to live in complete subjection and surrender to the overcoming Spirit of our Savior.

The daily cross of Christ is the power of God made manifest in you to expose, to judge and to remove all that is fallen from His glory. It is not just self-denial, or ceasing to do evil. It is denial of self AND a complete subjection and resignation to the creating power, or the resurrecting power of Christ. And it is the lack of living in this way inwardly at all times before God, that keeps men and women from truly experiencing the benefit of all that Christ did outwardly for them.

The Daily Cross

En una&nbsp;publicaci&oacute;n&nbsp;anterior del blog, dije que hab&iacute;a dos cosas principales que hab&iacute;a malinterpretado y tergiversado en mis primeras ense&ntilde;anzas y escritos (de hace a&ntilde;os), las cuales fueron: 1) La naturaleza de la obra consumada de Cristo, y c&oacute;mo se aplica al creyente. 2) La realidad y necesidad de la cruz diaria. Ya he intentado describir algunos de los grandes y comunes malentendidos concernientes a la obra consumada de Cristo, y mi propia confusi&oacute;n sobre ese punto en esta publicaci&oacute;n:&nbsp;<a href="https://hender.blog/publicaciones/la-naturaleza-de-la-obra-consumada-de-cristo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">La Naturaleza de la Obra Consumada</a>. Ahora me gustar&iacute;a compartir algunos pensamientos sobre la realidad y necesidad de la cruz diaria de Cristo.Casi todos&nbsp;los cristianos est&aacute;n muy conscientes de la cruz hist&oacute;rica y externa de Cristo, la cruz de madera en la que fue crucificado entre dos ladrones. Pero incluso antes de que Jes&uacute;s entregara su vida en la cruz externa de madera, y cuando nadie estaba pensando en una cruz externa, es interesante observar que Cristo ya les estaba hablando a sus disc&iacute;pulos de otra cruz, una cruz diaria, la que deb&iacute;an tomar cada d&iacute;a para seguirle de verdad. &ldquo;Si alguno quiere venir en pos de m&iacute;, ni&eacute;guese a s&iacute; mismo, tome su cruz cada d&iacute;a, y s&iacute;game&rdquo; (Lucas 9:23). Esto debi&oacute; de sonar extra&ntilde;o a los o&iacute;dos de sus oyentes, quienes en aquel momento (se nos dice) ciertamente no comprend&iacute;an ni aceptaban que Cristo muriera externamente, ni pod&iacute;an haber entendido claramente, lo que quer&iacute;a decir con tomar la cruz de cada d&iacute;a para seguirle adonde &Eacute;l iba.&nbsp;Pero es muy importante que entendamos que la cruz no fue algo que Cristo &uacute;nicamente experiment&oacute; durante las &uacute;ltimas horas de su vida. La cruz&mdash;la cruz diaria&mdash;era algo que &Eacute;l conoc&iacute;a, de lo que hablaba, que abrazaba, que tomaba y cargaba, cada minuto de cada d&iacute;a de su vida como hombre.&nbsp;La cruz externa de madera s&oacute;lo fue el golpe final, la muerte de la vida externa de la naturaleza del hombre. Pero la cruz interna era una experiencia diaria, una continua negaci&oacute;n y muerte a toda voluntad independiente y vida propia como hombre, en perfecta sumisi&oacute;n a la voluntad y poder del Padre.Si bien es absolutamente cierto que Cristo, en su encarnaci&oacute;n, nunca pec&oacute;, y que era el Cordero de Dios perfecto y sin mancha, tambi&eacute;n es importante entender que entr&oacute; en la condici&oacute;n del hombre&nbsp;en la ca&iacute;da. Es decir, no entr&oacute; en la condici&oacute;n en la que estaba Ad&aacute;n en el para&iacute;so ANTES de caer, sino en la condici&oacute;n del hombre despu&eacute;s de haber ca&iacute;do. Por eso Cristo estuvo sujeto a debilidad (&ldquo;fue crucificado en debilidad&rdquo;, 2 Corintios 13:4), tuvo un cuerpo mortal, estuvo sujeto a los elementos, al calor y al fr&iacute;o, al cansancio, al hambre, a las emociones dolorosas (&ldquo;var&oacute;n de dolores, experimentado en quebranto&rdquo;). Tambi&eacute;n estuvo sujeto a toda clase de tentaciones y asaltos del enemigo (&ldquo;fue tentado en todo seg&uacute;n nuestra semejanza, pero sin pecado&rdquo;, Hebreos 4:15), y a la maldad, a la ira y a la violencia de los hombres perversos. &Eacute;l entr&oacute; en nuestra condici&oacute;n ca&iacute;da, no para ser inmune a ella, sino para vencerla por el Esp&iacute;ritu, y (como he dicho en otra parte) para&nbsp;luego&nbsp;compartir Su vida vencedora con todos los que la recibieran.&nbsp;Por eso, dijo,&nbsp;&ldquo;Cuando sea levantado de la tierra, a todos atraer&eacute; a m&iacute; mismo&rdquo;.Pero el MODO en que Cristo venci&oacute; a todos los enemigos, todas las tentaciones, toda debilidad, toda voluntad humana independiente, (diciendo siempre &ldquo;no se haga&nbsp;Mi voluntad, sino la&nbsp;Tuya&rdquo;) e incluso la muerte, no fue &uacute;nicamente por medio de la cruz de madera de la que colg&oacute; durante las &uacute;ltimas horas de Su vida, sino tambi&eacute;n por medio de la cruz diaria que carg&oacute;, y les dijo a sus disc&iacute;pulos que ellos tambi&eacute;n deb&iacute;an tomarla y cargarla cada d&iacute;a.Entonces, &iquest;qu&eacute; es esta cruz diaria? Creo que es de gran importancia que cada Cristiano conozca y experimente la respuesta a esta pregunta. Es algo descrito y exigido por casi todas las p&aacute;ginas del Nuevo Testamento de una manera u otra, y sin embargo, sigue siendo un misterio o una ofensa para un sorprendente n&uacute;mero de Cristianos.En pocas palabras,&nbsp;la cruz diaria es una continua negaci&oacute;n a toda voluntad del yo, y una sujeci&oacute;n interna al poder justo de Dios que destrona y crucifica la voluntad ca&iacute;da y la naturaleza de la carne en el hombre. Al igual que la cruz de madera, la cruz diaria es un instrumento de muerte, y es el camino para experimentar la vida de resurrecci&oacute;n. Pero la cruz diaria no es un instrumento externo de muerte que s&oacute;lo mata el cuerpo externo, sino m&aacute;s bien una continua muerte interna, que mata de hambre,&nbsp;reduce,&nbsp;circuncida,&nbsp;crucifica y libera de todo lo que ha crecido en el alma del hombre, aparte de la naturaleza y&nbsp;voluntad puras de Dios. &nbsp;Tomar la cruz cada d&iacute;a significa vivir de manera tal, que eres cuidadoso y vigilante para permanecer BAJO su peso; quiero decir, bajo su influencia, bajo su juicio, en su luz, llevando el yugo de la verdad dondequiera que vayas, y experiment&aacute;ndola como aquello que continuamente expone la fuente, naturaleza y manantial de todas tus acciones, palabras, pensamientos y deseos. La cruz diaria de Cristo es el poder de Dios manifestado en ti para exponer, juzgar y quitar todo lo que est&aacute; ca&iacute;do de Su gloria. No es s&oacute;lo negaci&oacute;n al yo, o dejar de hacer el mal; es negaci&oacute;n al yo Y una completa sujeci&oacute;n y rendici&oacute;n al poder creador, o al poder&nbsp;vivificador&nbsp;de Cristo. La falta de vivir de esta manera, interior y continuamente ante Dios, es lo que les impide a los hombres y a las mujeres verdaderamente experimentar el beneficio de todo lo que Cristo hizo externamente por ellos.Muchas personas creen en la cruz externa, aunque ellos mismos (como dijo Pablo &ldquo;incluso llorando&rdquo;) son &ldquo;enemigos de la cruz de Cristo.&rdquo; &iquest;Y qu&eacute; los hace enemigos de la cruz? &iquest;Es que no tienen buena teolog&iacute;a? &iquest;Es porque no creen en la cruz externa o hist&oacute;rica de Cristo? No. Pablo dice que es, porque &lsquo;su dios es el vientre, y su gloria es su verg&uuml;enza, y s&oacute;lo piensan en lo terrenal&rsquo;. &iquest;C&oacute;mo vives como enemigo de la cruz de Cristo? Simplemente viviendo de acuerdo con los deseos naturales, la voluntad y los apetitos del hombre carnal ca&iacute;do, que es enemistad contra Dios, y&nbsp;hace&nbsp;todas las cosas para la gloria y ganancia del yo. Eres enemigo de la cruz cuando te escondes de&nbsp;su luz, cuando esquivas su juicio, cuando tratas de mantener viva la naturaleza que ella quiere matar, y de ese modo, resistes y crucificas&nbsp;de nuevo&nbsp;la vida de Cristo que debe levantarse en ti.De este modo y por esta raz&oacute;n, el hombre siempre est&aacute;, o someti&eacute;ndose al poder de Dios que &ldquo;crucifica la carne con sus pasiones y deseos&rdquo; (G&aacute;latas 5:24) y &ldquo;hace morir las obras de la carne&rdquo; (Romanos 8:13), o resistiendo esta obra del Esp&iacute;ritu al permanecer en la carne, &lsquo;s&oacute;lo pensando en lo terrenal&rsquo;, y as&iacute; &ldquo;crucificando de nuevo para s&iacute; mismos al Hijo de Dios y exponi&eacute;ndole a vituperio&rdquo;. (Hebreos 6:6)La verdad es, que las personas no se salvan, o no crecen en la gracia, porque no est&aacute;n dispuestas a someterse por completo al poder que las salva, y m&aacute;s bien se someten (en diversas formas y medidas) a un poder contrario que lentamente las deforma y destruye.&nbsp;As&iacute; de sencillo. En otras palabras, las personas no crecen espiritualmente, o no contin&uacute;an su viaje espiritual, simplemente porque no permanecen bajo el dominio, el peso, y la luz del juicio de Dios que continuamente someter&iacute;a a sus enemigos, y har&iacute;a lugar en sus corazones para el reino de Dios.<blockquote>&ldquo;Yo soy Jehov&aacute; tu Dios, que te hice subir de la tierra de Egipto; abre tu boca, y yo la llenar&eacute;.&nbsp;Pero mi pueblo no oy&oacute; mi voz, e Israel no me quiso a m&iacute;.&nbsp;Los dej&eacute;, por tanto, a la dureza de su coraz&oacute;n; caminaron en sus propios consejos. &iexcl;Oh, si me hubiera o&iacute;do mi pueblo, si en mis caminos hubiera andado Israel! En un momento habr&iacute;a yo derribado a sus enemigos, y vuelto mi mano contra sus adversarios&rdquo;.&nbsp;Salmos 81:10-14</blockquote>Esto puede sonar simplista, y como concepto es realmente sencillo. De hecho, no es complicado. Pero aun as&iacute;, un gran n&uacute;mero de hombres y mujeres Cristianos se niegan a vivir de esta manera, simplemente porque no quieren. O se podr&iacute;a decir, porque&nbsp;quieren otra cosa.&nbsp;La voluntad del yo siempre rechaza la cruz. Y la cruz siempre busca crucificar la voluntad del yo.&nbsp;Llevar la cruz diaria es lo mismo que caminar en la luz de Cristo, una luz que expone y condena todas las cosas que son contrarias a la naturaleza de Dios. Hablamos de &lsquo;llevar la cruz&rsquo; porque Su juicio, Su verdad, tiene que permanecer como un yugo sobre nuestros hombros, y tenemos que asegurarnos de mantenernos siempre bajo su peso. Cristo no nos dice que visitemos la cruz una vez a la semana, ni siquiera una vez al d&iacute;a. Dice que la&nbsp;llevemos siempre, que permanezcamos siempre bajo ella, que tomemos Su yugo sobre nuestros hombros y aprendamos de &Eacute;l, y que al someternos a su poder, llegaremos a ser como &Eacute;l, mansos y humildes de coraz&oacute;n, y hallaremos descanso para nuestras almas.Ahora bien, esta cruz diaria, esta cruz interior, es lo que falta en toda religi&oacute;n hecha por el hombre, incluso en el Cristianismo hecho por el hombre. Los Cristianos de todo el mundo alaban la cruz hist&oacute;rica, y se inclinan ante las im&aacute;genes de la cruz externa de Cristo, incluso, mientras sus corazones se niegan rotundamente a someterse al poder diario de Dios que obra tanto la muerte como la vida nueva en el alma. Pero no fue as&iacute; con los primeros ap&oacute;stoles y seguidores de Cristo. Pablo dijo: &ldquo;Cada d&iacute;a muero&rdquo; (1 Corintios 15:31). &nbsp;Dijo: &ldquo;llevando en el cuerpo siempre por todas partes la muerte de Jes&uacute;s, para que tambi&eacute;n la vida de Jes&uacute;s se manifieste en nuestros cuerpos. Porque nosotros que vivimos, siempre estamos entregados a muerte por causa de Jes&uacute;s, para que tambi&eacute;n la vida de Jes&uacute;s se manifieste en nuestra carne mortal&rdquo; (2 Corintios 4:10-11). Dijo: &ldquo;A fin de conocerle, y el poder de su resurrecci&oacute;n, y la participaci&oacute;n de sus padecimientos, llegando a ser semejante a &eacute;l en su muerte, si en alguna manera llegase a la resurrecci&oacute;n de entre los muertos&rdquo; (Filipenses 3:10-11). Pedro dijo,<blockquote lang="es-CR">&ldquo;Puesto que Cristo ha padecido por nosotros en la carne, vosotros tambi&eacute;n armaos del mismo pensamiento; pues quien ha padecido en la carne, termin&oacute; con el pecado, para no vivir el tiempo que resta en la carne, conforme a las concupiscencias de los hombres, sino conforme a la voluntad de Dios&hellip; Porque por esto tambi&eacute;n ha sido predicado el evangelio a los muertos, para que sean juzgados en carne seg&uacute;n los hombres, pero vivan en esp&iacute;ritu seg&uacute;n Dios&rdquo; 1 Pedro 4:1-2 y 6.</blockquote>Jes&uacute;s dijo una y otra vez, cosas como: &ldquo;El que ama su vida, la perder&aacute;; y el que aborrece su vida en este mundo, para vida eterna la guardar&aacute;&rdquo; Juan 12:25. O: &ldquo;Si alguno viene a m&iacute;, y no aborrece a su padre, y madre, y mujer, e hijos, y hermanos, y hermanas, y aun tambi&eacute;n su propia vida, no puede ser mi disc&iacute;pulo. Y el que no lleva su cruz y viene en pos de m&iacute;, no puede ser mi disc&iacute;pulo&rdquo; (Lucas 14:26-27).Ninguno de estos vers&iacute;culos habla de una cruz externa, o de una muerte externa. Tampoco hablan de una &uacute;nica experiencia, o de una mera creencia en un acontecimiento hist&oacute;rico. Est&aacute;n hablando de vivir en todo momento de manera tal, que el poder de Dios, el juicio de Dios, la luz de Dios, est&aacute;n continuamente a nuestra vista, y en la que nuestro coraz&oacute;n permanece en una condici&oacute;n suave, humilde y sometido a ella.&nbsp;Todos los d&iacute;as de su vida como Hombre, Jesucristo llev&oacute; esta cruz diaria. Llev&oacute; una cruz f&iacute;sica durante&nbsp;unas&nbsp;horas, pero llev&oacute; la cruz interna durante treinta y tres a&ntilde;os sin falta. Cada tentaci&oacute;n del enemigo era una incitaci&oacute;n para salirse de debajo de ella como Hombre. Cada insulto y acto de violencia de los hombres, incluso los malentendidos de Sus disc&iacute;pulos, fueron vistos por &Eacute;l como intentos de sacarlo de una perfecta negaci&oacute;n de Su voluntad como hombre, y de una perfecta sumisi&oacute;n a la voluntad de Su Padre. A Pedro le dijo: &ldquo;&iexcl;Qu&iacute;tate de delante de m&iacute;, Satan&aacute;s, que me eres tropiezo!&rdquo;, cuando le sugiri&oacute; que la cruz no era necesaria. Toda forma de dolor y pena que soport&oacute; como Hombre, incluso cuando dijo: &ldquo;Mi alma est&aacute; muy triste, hasta la muerte&rdquo; (Mateo 26:38), fue una oportunidad para salirse de Su yugo, para caminar (&iexcl;quiz&aacute;s s&oacute;lo por unos minutos!) en Su propia voluntad humana, para aliviar Su carga, para evitar Su copa, pero &Eacute;l no lo hizo. Nunca lo hizo. Llev&oacute; la cruz&nbsp;y neg&oacute;&nbsp;Su voluntad&nbsp;como Hombre todos los d&iacute;as de Su vida, se mantuvo bajo el yugo, se someti&oacute; a Su Padre, incluso cuando Su sudor ca&iacute;a como grandes gotas de sangre en el Huerto de Getseman&iacute;.Esta es la cruz diaria. Implica tomar ESTE yugo sobre nosotros y permanecer bajo &eacute;l. Tiene que ver con&nbsp;vivir en contra de&nbsp;la&nbsp;voluntad de la criatura, para abrazar y experimentar la voluntad del Creador.&nbsp;Es una entrega voluntaria de todo lo que es del yo, y una sujeci&oacute;n perfecta y continua al poder del Esp&iacute;ritu. Es el modo en que los fieles seguidores de Cristo experimentan &ldquo;la participaci&oacute;n de sus padecimientos&rdquo;, y &ldquo;cumplen en su carne lo que falta a las aflicciones de Cristo&rdquo; (Colosenses 1:24). No es una mera creencia en la cruz externa e hist&oacute;rica,&nbsp;sino un volverse diario, una b&uacute;squeda diaria, y una entrega diaria al poder de Dios que hiere la cabeza de la serpiente&nbsp;en nosotros&nbsp;y redime al hombre de la ca&iacute;da.Al principio, la muerte de Ad&aacute;n fue un volverse, y luego la p&eacute;rdida de la vida interna de Dios en el alma, que lo dej&oacute; muerto para Dios, pero vivo para el mundo externo y para las influencias del reino de las tinieblas.Y ahora, nuestra participaci&oacute;n de la muerte de Cristo, o nuestra cruz diaria, es una sumisi&oacute;n continua a la luz y al poder de Dios que expone, debilita y crucifica en nosotros todo lo que ha crecido en nuestra condici&oacute;n ca&iacute;da; es decir, todo pecado, voluntad propia, orgullo y deseo carnal. Tomar nuestra cruz y seguir a Cristo cada d&iacute;a, significa negar y abandonar la voluntad y la naturaleza que son contrarias a &Eacute;l, y aprender a vivir en completa sujeci&oacute;n y rendici&oacute;n al Esp&iacute;ritu vencedor de nuestro Salvador.

La cruz diaria de Cristo es el poder de Dios manifestado en ti para exponer, juzgar y quitar todo lo que está caído de Su gloria. No es sólo negación al yo, o dejar de hacer el mal; es negación al yo Y una completa sujeción y rendición al poder creador, o al poder vivificador de Cristo. La falta de vivir de esta manera, interior y continuamente ante Dios, es lo que les impide a los hombres y a las mujeres verdaderamente experimentar el beneficio de todo lo que Cristo hizo externamente por ellos.

La Cruz de Cada Día

There&rsquo;s a common idea in the church that no Christian should ever experience feelings of condemnation for sin. But this is entirely false. The Spirit of God is specifically sent to &ldquo;convict the world of sin, and righteousness, and of judgment,&rdquo; (John 16:8). Christ said that His light comes to those who are walking in darkness in order to &ldquo;expose&rdquo; their evil practices (John 3:19-21), and Paul tells us that &ldquo;all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.&rdquo; (Eph 5:13 KJV). The Spirit of God does not lie, flatter, or commend what is contrary to His own pure nature and life just because we have correct beliefs about Jesus. Rather, He &ldquo;brings to light the hidden things of darkness, making manifest the counsels of the heart,&rdquo; (1 Cor 4:5) because &ldquo;all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him to whom we have to give account&rdquo; (Heb 4:13).The Spirit of God shows man (especially those who are sincere Christians!) what is really working and living in them, what is moving and motivating the heart. His light uncovers everything that has a source, nature, and purpose contrary to the life and goodness of God. And the reason the Spirit does this is NOT so that we then continue to live in these wrong things and therefore abide continually under feelings of condemnation, but rather that we see our true condition, and turn to the power that can free us. The Spirit does&nbsp;not&nbsp;condemn sin so that man&nbsp;lives in&nbsp;condemnation, but so that man comes OUT of condemnation, by&nbsp;coming out of the&nbsp;nature or birth that is condemned.&nbsp;Now often when people hear this, they immediately dismiss it by quoting the first part of Romans 8:1, which says &ldquo;There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.&rdquo; But this statement is made to those &ldquo;who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit&rdquo; (vs 1b, and 4). There is indeed condemnation felt in those who claim to follow the light of Christ and yet continue to walk in darkness. John says that such Christians are lying to themselves, and not practicing the truth (1 John 1:6). There IS condemnation, and there will ALWAYS BE condemnation for the nature of flesh, in whatever measure we remain in it, love it, live in it, act by it, and speak from it. In other words, of course there is condemnation felt wherever Christ is not reigning in us; that is, wherever flesh is still the predominant power, the source of life, and purpose, thought, desire, and action, and this sense of condemnation is truly a gift of God. It is a manifestation of His love, because it shows us our problem, diagnoses our disease, manifesting the enmity between us and our Creator wherever it is found.&nbsp;If we claim to be Christians and yet are still living in the flesh, thinking according to the flesh, desiring the things of the flesh, then OF COURSE there will be a sense of the Lord&rsquo;s disapprobation or condemnation for such things, because the nature of flesh is &ldquo;enmity with God&rdquo; (Rom 8:7), contrary to Him in every way. Flesh always lives for itself, always clings to its own life and will and way. Paul says that those who walk in the flesh cannot please God (Rom 8:8), and if you continue to &ldquo;live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.&rdquo; (vs. 13)It is a great deception in the church today to suggest that we should not feel condemnation or correction for living in and for things that are condemned by God. A pastor once called me, and after talking for a few minutes, began to tell me about his thirty year addiction to pornography, how he was totally enslaved to it, unable to stop himself, and that it had in many ways corrupted his life, defiled his heart, and ruined his marriage. This is sadly very common. But it is also very common for people in this condition to try to comfort themselves saying, &ldquo;but I know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ,&rdquo; or &ldquo;I know that God looks at me through the lens of Christ, and doesn&rsquo;t see or doesn&rsquo;t condemn my sin.&rdquo;But the wonderful work of Christ accomplished by His incarnation, sinless submission to the Father, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, does&nbsp;not&nbsp;make God blind&nbsp;to sin. This is a very common idea, but it is simply not true. God sees all things as they really are. He sees through all covers, sees behind our words and doctrines, right into our hearts, and knows what lives and reigns in the heart of man. Christ did not come as a man and die so that God would no longer care about sin. No! He came, died and rose again so that He could give to man a measure of His overcoming Spirit; that He could become our High Priest, empowering us to walk in the narrow path that leads to life.&nbsp;Christ came&nbsp;TO&nbsp;us, and died FOR us, but He did&nbsp;not die&nbsp;INSTEAD of us. He did not die on the cross so that we didn&rsquo;t have to die; but rather so that we&nbsp;also&nbsp;(by partaking of His Spirit, grace,&nbsp;and power) COULD die to everything that was contrary to Him. He came, obeyed the Father, suffered, died, rose, and ascended&nbsp;into heaven&nbsp;so that we could follow Him in the exact same way, in the exact same process, having received a&nbsp;gift&nbsp;of His overcoming Spirit&nbsp;as our light, life, and leader.Now this is important, because many Christians speak as though Christ suffered so that we don&rsquo;t have to suffer, or that He died in the flesh so that we don&rsquo;t have to die to the flesh. I know of no greater lie in the church. I repeat, Christ died FOR US, but not INSTEAD OF US. Everything that Christ did was FOR man, on behalf of man, for man&rsquo;s benefit, and out of His love for man. But the way we experience this benefit, this incredible gift, is not by simply claiming that Christ did everything so that we don&rsquo;t have to do anything. The reason Christ came, the reason He joined Himself to man, the reason He suffered, died, and rose, was so that after having conquered all obstacles, overcome all evil, weakness, temptation, and even death, He could share with us a measure or seed of His overcoming Spirit, empowering us to follow the Captain of our salvation in the new and living way, through the door that He opened for us.This is what it means that Christ is our great High Priest, that He was made in all things like His brethren (Heb. 2:17), that He became &ldquo;the captain of our salvation through sufferings,&rdquo; (Heb 2:10) that &ldquo;through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.&rdquo; (Heb 2:14). By giving us a measure of His Spirit, He thereby gives all who receive Him &ldquo;power to BECOME the sons of God.&rdquo; (John 1:12) That is, He empowers us to follow Him in the same process, in the same obedience, in the same exodus, in the fellowship of His sufferings, experiencing His life working in us to be the only way, truth, and life. Christ&rsquo;s death did not purchase magic glasses for the Father that could no longer see sin. Christ&rsquo;s death purchased a gift of His overcoming Spirit that could be shared with all His brethren, with &ldquo;all who labor and are heavy laden,&rdquo; who desire to leave their own inward Egypt and follow Him through the way that He opened, in the highway that He cast up. Isaiah speaks of Christ&rsquo;s work in these words, &ldquo;Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.&rdquo; Isa 62:10. And notice what Peter says, &ldquo;For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps&rdquo; (1 Pet 2:21).&nbsp;Now pay attention to what Peter is saying here, because it is extremely common today to hear a version of the gospel that doesn&rsquo;t involve &ldquo;following in His steps,&rdquo; &ldquo;drinking His cup,&rdquo; or &ldquo;being baptised with the baptism with which He was baptised&rdquo; (Mat 20:23), that is, a gospel that doesn&rsquo;t involve &ldquo;denying self, taking up your cross daily, and following Christ&rdquo; in His steps. Men often teach as though, through Christ&rsquo;s death and resurrection, God reconciled Himself with sin. But this is a great lie. God did not give His Son so that man could believe good doctrines and yet continue in sin without fear of consequences. He gave His Son so that, by following Him, by abiding in His overcoming Spirit, being empowered by His grace, we too could die to sin, lose our lives in the flesh, and walk in the newness of His resurrected life.And of course, if we follow Him in this way, learning to walk and live in His Spirit (and thereby put to death the deeds of the flesh), we will experience more and more of His life and nature, and less and less of the condemnation that always (and rightly) condemns sin in the flesh. But wherever the nature of flesh still reigns in a member of Christ&rsquo;s body, then OF COURSE we are going to feel that these fleshly actions, thoughts, and desires are condemned by that righteous Spirit who seeks to save us from them.Let me say again: through Christ&rsquo;s work on the cross, God did not reconcile Himself with sin. No. He reconciled Himself with man by offering Himself as a sacrifice &quot;for the remission of sins that are past,&quot; (Rom 3:25) and by creating and giving a way or means whereby sin, corruption, and death could be destroyed, removed, and purged from our hearts. John says, &ldquo;For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil;&rdquo; (1 John 3:8), NOT so that He could keep the Father from seeing the works of the devil, or somehow reconcile God to the works of the devil. Christ came to &ldquo;condemn sin in the flesh&rdquo; (Rom 8:3), not to accept or wink at sin in the flesh; and His Spirit does precisely the same thing in us.What does the Spirit of God desire to do in the church, which is Christ&rsquo;s body? He seeks to do the same thing in the members that He did in the Head, namely, to overcome all evil by the power of God. All who will be led by the Spirit, and learn to walk in the Spirit, will find the Spirit teaching them to submit to and obey the Father, to walk in paths of truth and righteousness. They will find the Spirit striving within them against all evil, exposing and condemning all that is contrary to truth, bringing them into the fellowship of Christ&rsquo;s suffering, making them conformable to His death, that they may also partake of His resurrection. The Spirit of God has the exact same nature in the body as it has in the Head. And it is therefore an incredibly great error to suggest that God now doesn&rsquo;t see or doesn&rsquo;t condemn the law of sin and death that works in flesh, because this is a nature that always lusts against the Spirit, always seeks and glorifies self, and is a perpetual enemy to the cross of Christ. This is like saying that God accepts and unites with what is completely contrary and opposed to Himself. It&rsquo;s like saying that God commanded Israel to share their land with the uncircumcised idol-worshippers of Canaan.&nbsp;Show me one verse in the old testament where God told His people that it was acceptable to intermarry and make treaties and covenants with uncircumcised flesh in the land. Show me one verse in the book of Judges or Kings, when the Spirit of God came upon a man or woman, and did not manifest His desire to free Israel from every uncircumcised enemy. Show me one verse in the entire Bible where God made a treaty or a mixture with the nature of sin, or said that He would stop condemning it, or wink at it, be reconciled to it, or allow it to remain in the land of our heart. To say this, is to say that either God cannot, or that He does not want to, overcome His enemy and establish His kingdom in man. How many verses are there in the New Testament that plainly declare God&rsquo;s desire to cleanse, transform and free man from all sin? Are we not told to &ldquo;be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect&rdquo;? Are we not told that &ldquo;this is the will of God, your sanctification&rdquo; (1 Thes 4:3). That He desires us to be &ldquo;sanctified in body, soul and spirit,&rdquo; that we &ldquo;perfect holiness in the fear of God,&rdquo; that we be &ldquo;transformed into the same image from glory to glory,&rdquo; that we become &ldquo;conformed to the image of His Son,&rdquo; and become &ldquo;participants of the divine nature,&rdquo; and that Christ &ldquo;gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.&rdquo; Can you possibly believe or affirm that all of this takes place without God showing you and condemning in you what is contrary to Himself? Will you contradict hundreds of Scriptures and insist that all of this takes place outside of you, like some sort of outward transaction, or a new legal position because Christ took your place? Will you say that Christ suffered so that you don&rsquo;t have to? That He died so that you don&rsquo;t have to?No. I say again, Christ did not die INSTEAD OF us. He died FOR us. He died on our behalf, so that we&nbsp;too, by His Spirit,&nbsp;could die to sin, die to the world, die to the flesh,&nbsp;and live in and by His eternal and heavenly life. Christ made a way. He opened a door. He was the firstborn of many brethren, the captain of our salvation. But He didn&rsquo;t give himself as a &ldquo;substitution.&rdquo; No, the whole idea of &ldquo;substitution&rdquo; (at least how it is generally understood and taught) has done great damage in the body of Christ. People talk of Christ dying in their place, so that they don&rsquo;t have to die. They talk of Christ cancelling their debt, so that they are free to live their &lsquo;best life now&rsquo; in the flesh. But there couldn&rsquo;t be a more contrary idea to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostles never taught this sort of doctrine of substitution. Very much to the contrary, they spoke of &ldquo;dying daily,&rdquo; that they were &ldquo;always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.&rdquo; They spoke of being &ldquo;crucified with Christ,&rdquo; being &ldquo;conformed to His death,&rdquo; of &ldquo;filling up in their flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.&rdquo; They said that we are &ldquo;heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.&rdquo; (Rom 8:17)Now, I am in no way suggesting that Christ did half of the work, and now we have to finish it ourselves. No. I am very far from believing such an idea. What I am saying, and what I believe all of the Apostles and Christ Himself affirmed so strongly and plainly, is that Christ overcame the flesh, the world, and the devil when he was a&nbsp;Man, and that He now desires to do the exact same thing in us by sharing His Spirit with&nbsp;the members of&nbsp;His body. &ldquo;To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne,&rdquo; (Rev 3:21). Our role is not to DO the second half of the work, or to finish what Christ started. Our role is to receive with meekness the implanted Word of Christ, and then to surrender ourselves fully to it, to cling to it, obey it, allow it to expose and put to death in us all that is contrary to it, and bring to life in us all that is born of it. Our role now is to submit entirely to the Spirit, to walk in this gift of the Spirit, to live in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, governed by the Spirit, to obey the Spirit of Christ and to deny the will and desires of the flesh. Because if we live by this overcoming Spirit, we will thereby &ldquo;put to death the deeds of the body.&rdquo; (Rom 8:13) If we walk with Him, in Him, with our heart and mind set upon Him, then we will thereby find that His Spirit &ldquo;puts to death our members which are on the earth.&rdquo; (Col 3:5) But if we continue to walk in the flesh, resisting the Spirit, we have no business applying Christ&rsquo;s victory to ourselves.

Christ came TO us, and died FOR us, but He did not die INSTEAD of us. He did not die on the cross so that we didn’t have to die; but rather so that we also (by partaking of His Spirit, grace, and power) COULD die to everything that was contrary to Him. He came, obeyed the Father, suffered, died, rose, and ascended into heaven so that we could follow Him in the exact same way, in the exact same process, having received a gift of His overcoming Spirit as our light, life, and leader.

Christ died FOR us, not INSTEAD of us

Cristo vino A nosotros, y murió POR nosotros, pero no murió EN LUGAR de nosotros. Él no murió en la cruz para que nosotros no tengamos que morir; sino para que nosotros (al participar de Su Espíritu, gracia y poder) también PODAMOS morir a todo lo que es contrario a Él. Él vino, obedeció al Padre, sufrió la cruz, resucitó y ascendió al cielo, para que nosotros lo sigamos en exactamente el mismo camino, en exactamente el mismo proceso, habiendo recibido el don de Su Espíritu vencedor como nuestra luz, vida y líder.

Cristo murió POR nosotros, no EN LUGAR DE nosotros

There was a time when I began to see in the light the difference between Christ and Adam, between the old man and the new man, between flesh and Spirit. I mean I really saw it clearly, in the light of the Lord, and it shocked me and changed everything I understood about the gospel. I loved to talk about it, to preach and write about it. I saw the difference between Adam, the first birth, who cannot please God, and Christ, with His new birth in the soul, that always produces fruits pleasing to His Father. I saw and felt something of the enormous division or gulf between these two natures, or kinds. The Lord allowed me to see it in His great mercy to me, because I was desperate and hungry and longing to see something real. He had pity on me and opened my eyes.&nbsp;Nevertheless, I must tell you that I preached and spoke and wrote about this for years, WITHOUT truly allowing the Lord to work this division in my own heart; or you could say, without my obeying all that was implied and required by it. I saw it, I knew it was real, but I didn&rsquo;t then see or understand the need for Him to strike my own heart with this great sword, to judge everything in me by it, every thought, word, and deed. I preached and wrote much about how Adam cannot please God, how His worship is the worship of Cain, how he is the wrong nature, the wrong birth, how he walks in a false light, and is by nature enmity with God, unable to know the things of God, etc. I preached and wrote about how only the nature and life of Christ can please the Father, and how Christ&rsquo;s light must shine in our hearts, and His life be formed in us. But for several years as I was teaching these things, I (unknowingly) did not allow the Lord to show me the measure to which this first birth, this adamic nature, was still working and reigning in me. I often said that Adam was spiritually dead, but he wasn&rsquo;t yet dead to me. I loved and embraced the light when it came to teach me true things, deep things, but I neither loved nor embraced it when it secretly manifested that the mind, desires, pride, and selfishness of Adam were still quite alive in me, still prevailing and reigning in my own heart.I knew how to make many helpful diagrams that illustrated the difference between the natural man and spiritual man. I drew these things on the white board almost every time I taught, showing and declaring that the cross was like a great division between the first and the second birth, between the fallen nature of man and a new life that is gained in Christ, and that these two lives or natures are typified by Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau. I always said that the first birth is rejected and the second birth is accepted, and that there is no treaty or peace or mixture between these two seeds. I spoke continually about these things, because, in the mercy of God, I had seen them to be true in that light that never lies.&nbsp;But then there was another day, several years after this initial spiritual awakening, when the Lord began to take my diagrams off the whiteboard (so to speak), and to draw them on my heart. I mean, it was like the Lord took my own diagrams, and compared them with the reality that was actually living, and moving, and motivating all of my thoughts, words, desires, and actions. And this, my friend, is when I discovered (with painful clarity) that I had seen much more than I had actually lived. That I had confused vision with possession. That I had climbed mount Pisgah with Moses, and looked out over the Promised Land from afar, and rejoiced at the view. But I had not&nbsp;yet&nbsp;crossed the Jordan River, I had not walked in, lived in, and possessed&nbsp;what&nbsp;I had seen.&nbsp;And then, suddenly, I began to find and feel in myself the presence of that fallen nature that I had preached against for years. For years I had boldly declared the wicked nature of fallen man, and had attempted to prove from Scriptures, from diagrams, and from types and shadows in the Old Testament, that he was fallen from God, rejected by God, unable to please Him, enmity with Him, and that the cross was his only appointed end. And I very easily could have continued talking and writing about these things for the rest of my life. Many people do that. Many Christian leaders catch real glimpses of spiritual things, and never cease to speak of them, share them, and rejoice at the sight of them. Twenty, thirty, fifty years of ministry, repeating and re-describing a few glimpses that they have (in mercy) received of something that is indeed true, but that is still far from being their experience. I mean they preach what they have seen to be true of Christ, even while a contrary nature remains predominant in their hearts.Now there are many severe warnings about this very thing in Scripture, which (of course) I assumed applied to other people, and not to myself. There are warnings about doing great things in Christ&rsquo;s name, even miraculous things, and not ever truly knowing Him. &ldquo;Many will say to Me in that day, &lsquo;Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?&rsquo; And then I will declare to them, &lsquo;I never knew you; depart from Me,&rsquo;&rdquo; (Mat. 7:21-23). There are strong warnings from Paul about understanding all mysteries, having faith to move mountains, even giving your body to be burned, but still not POSSESSING love, which is the nature of God, and therefore truly possessing &ldquo;nothing.&rdquo; (1 Cor. 13:2) These are strong warnings, serious warnings, and we all assume they don&rsquo;t apply to our particular case. But the Lord made me understand that seeing love and having love, are not the same thing. Believing in Christ, and knowing Christ are not the same thing.&nbsp;What does it mean to truly know God? What does it mean to really possess what we profess to be true? It means experiencing the life, nature, and government of God to reign in the heart of man. Knowing the Lord is a sharing of His life, feeling His life reign in us, being moved and motivated, taught, changed, and constrained by His resurrected life, light, and love. Knowing the Lord means we live in His Spirit of love, and are driven by it in the same way that a sailboat is driven by the wind.Now this of course begins in man like a tiny grain of mustard seed, or like a new and living law that we find in our inward man that is contrary to the law of sin and death in our members. It begins small, but it is pure, good, and alive, and it is meant to grow. But too often (and this was my case), though we continue to believe in those first glimpses of truth, in those first convictions, discoveries, and manifestations of the Spirit of Truth, we do not stay low and small enough in our own eyes for the Lord to continue the work that He began. We don&rsquo;t truly allow the talent to increase. We don&rsquo;t truly allow the heavenly leaven to fill all three loaves. We don&rsquo;t bow low, and stay low in humility and resignation, while the light works in judgment against every hidden thing of Esau&rsquo;s mountain. And for this reason, we never truly know the first birth slain,&nbsp;nor&nbsp;the new birth raised&nbsp;to reign&nbsp;in us.&nbsp;Again I say, the true knowledge of God is the sharing and experiencing of His life in the soul. It is the kingdom of God reigning in the heart of man. It is a participation in His life as it lives and moves in us. It is the eye of God becoming our light, the love of God becoming the reason behind everything we do, the truth of God becoming a line that we would not cross to save our life. Paul says, &ldquo;For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth&rdquo; (2 Cor 13:8) Knowing God is living as a branch on His vine, or as a member of His body that only moves in and by the will of the Head.&nbsp;And if this has not become our true experience, we must be very honest with ourselves.
There is nothing more important than being honest and humble about the true state of our hearts. But I know very well that this is difficult, especially for those who consider themselves leaders or teachers in the church. I mean people who have already created a ministry, without knowing the kingdom of God reigning in their hearts. People who have planted a new church, without experiencing a new nature. People who have gained great knowledge of the Scriptures, but are without that life and power that wrote them. Yes this is hard, this is exceptionally difficult, and I can tell you that it was very hard for me. It&rsquo;s painful to see that something we gave birth to is not the right seed. That something we made has grown big and strong apart from the strength of the Lord. And after perhaps many years of creating, and building, and investing in our creation, the Lord appears to expose our Ishmael, and aims his axe at the root of our tree.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s like Abraham, who for thirteen years thought he had seen the promise of the Lord fulfilled in his son Ishmael. The Lord had promised him a son, a seed of blessing to all nations; and Abraham, in his own strength, and from his own resources, ways, and wisdom, had at last brought a son into this world. For thirteen years this son grew up in his house, and Abraham loved him, and assumed that he was the son of the promise. But then the Lord appeared to Abraham again and said, &ldquo;Abraham, you will have a son, and you shall name Him Isaac, and in his seed all the nations will be blessed.&rdquo; And Abraham cried out, &ldquo;Oh that Ishmael might live before You!&rdquo; (Gen 17:18) In other words, &ldquo;I already have a son! Why can&rsquo;t Ishmael be the birth that you accept?&rdquo;This is what we do. We give birth to our own ideas, our own dreams, our own ministries, plans, and desires. We use our own resources, our own natural gifts, and our own comprehension of Scripture to birth something that we call Christianity, or ministry, or God&rsquo;s work in the world. And then we love what we have created, cherish it, raise it as our own, and want to call it the work of God, the blessing of the Lord, the fulfillment of His promise. But then the Lord appears and says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for another Son, a different Son, and I don&rsquo;t see Him in anything you&rsquo;ve built. Nothing you have built has His nature, His fragrance, His life, power, truth, and righteousness.&rdquo; And this is when our heart cries out with Abraham, &ldquo;Oh that Ishmael might live before you!&rdquo; And the Lord&rsquo;s answer is always the same, if we can bear to listen: &ldquo;Who is Ishmael? The son of promise is named Isaac. Ishmael is something that YOU have made, with your abilities, and your mind, and your resources, by uniting yourself with an Egyptian.&rdquo;When the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He said to him, &ldquo;Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.&rdquo; Wait, what about Ishmael? He was certainly still alive on the earth. &ldquo;I said, take Isaac, your only son, to the land of Moriah.&rdquo;Do you see what I&rsquo;m saying? It is so easy to create Ishmaels, and to call them the work of God, the miracle of God, the son of God, the blessing of God, the ministry of God, the promise of God. But if what we build is not built by God, if it is not the increase of His chosen Seed in us and through us, then we will sooner or later have to face the fact that we have labored in vain. If what we have created and loved and dedicated ourselves to did not spring up from the very life of the promised Son, then we have taken a true promise and applied it to the wrong birth.&nbsp;We have mistaken vision for possession, we have run ahead of the light, we have perhaps seen something from a distance, but have not yet known its life and growth and reign in us.God is always looking for the presence and life of the one promised Son. And we as Christians, and especially those who are ministers and leaders, can certainly learn a lot, build a lot, preach a lot, and even see a lot in the light that comes from God; but there is still only one Seed, one life, one Son, that fulfills the Father&rsquo;s expectation. And it often happens that, when the Lord appears, we proudly hold up our Ishmael before Him, and then are shocked to find that he is not the right birth.&nbsp;God isn&rsquo;t looking for what man can do for God, but what God can do in man. He looks in us to find His Son, &ldquo;Christ in you, the hope of glory.&rdquo; I don&rsquo;t mean a mere belief in His Son, but to find the very life, nature, light, power, love, meekness, and righteousness of Christ formed and governing the heart of man. Not just spiritual knowledge and spiritual sight. Not big ministries that came out of the wrong womb. No, God is looking in you for a very particular birth, a very specific kingdom, a very distinct nature to be the source and life of all that works in you. And until He finds Isaac, He has no choice but to show you that everything else is Ishmael.&nbsp;&nbsp;

It is so easy to create Ishmaels, and to call them the work of God, the miracle of God, the son of God, the blessing of God, the ministry of God, the promise of God. But if what we build is not built by God, if it is not the increase of His chosen Seed in us and through us, then we will sooner or later have to face the fact that we have labored in vain. If what we have created and loved and dedicated ourselves to did not spring up from the very life of the promised Son, then we have taken a true promise and applied it to the wrong birth.

Creating Ishmaels

Hubo un tiempo en que empec&eacute; a ver en la luz la diferencia entre Cristo y Ad&aacute;n, entre el viejo hombre y el nuevo hombre, entre la carne y el Esp&iacute;ritu. Quiero decir, que realmente lo vi con claridad, en la luz del Se&ntilde;or, y me impact&oacute; y cambi&oacute; todo lo que entend&iacute;a sobre el evangelio. Me encantaba hablar de ello, predicar y escribir&nbsp;de ello. Vi la diferencia entre Ad&aacute;n, el primer nacimiento, quien no puede agradar a Dios, y Cristo, con Su nuevo nacimiento en el alma, que siempre produce frutos agradables a Su Padre. Vi y sent&iacute; algo de la enorme divisi&oacute;n o abismo entre estas dos naturalezas, o g&eacute;neros. El Se&ntilde;or me permiti&oacute; verlo en Su gran misericordia para conmigo, porque estaba desesperado y hambriento, y anhelaba ver algo real. &Eacute;l se apiad&oacute; de m&iacute; y me abri&oacute; los ojos.Sin embargo, debo decirte que prediqu&eacute;, habl&eacute; y escrib&iacute; sobre esto durante a&ntilde;os, SIN permitir realmente que el Se&ntilde;or obrara esta divisi&oacute;n en mi propio coraz&oacute;n; o se podr&iacute;a decir, sin que yo obedeciera todo lo que implicaba y requer&iacute;a. Lo vi, supe que era real, pero no vi ni entend&iacute; entonces la necesidad de que &Eacute;l golpeara mi propio coraz&oacute;n con esta gran espada, que juzgara todo en m&iacute; por medio de ella, cada pensamiento, palabra y obra. Prediqu&eacute; y escrib&iacute; mucho sobre c&oacute;mo Ad&aacute;n no puede agradar a Dios, que su adoraci&oacute;n es la adoraci&oacute;n de Ca&iacute;n, que &eacute;l es la naturaleza equivocada, el nacimiento equivocado, que &eacute;l camina en una luz falsa y es por naturaleza enemistad contra Dios, incapaz de conocer las cosas de Dios, etc. Prediqu&eacute; y escrib&iacute; sobre c&oacute;mo s&oacute;lo la naturaleza y la vida de Cristo pueden agradar al Padre, y que la luz de Cristo debe brillar en nuestros corazones, y Su vida ser formada en nosotros. Pero por varios a&ntilde;os mientras ense&ntilde;aba estas cosas, yo (sin saberlo) no le estaba permitiendo al Se&ntilde;or que me mostrara la medida en que este primer nacimiento, esta naturaleza ad&aacute;mica, todav&iacute;a obraba y reinaba en m&iacute;. A menudo dec&iacute;a que Ad&aacute;n estaba muerto espiritualmente, pero a&uacute;n no lo estaba para m&iacute;. Amaba y abrazaba la luz cuando ven&iacute;a a ense&ntilde;arme cosas verdaderas, cosas profundas, pero ni la amaba ni la abrazaba cuando secretamente manifestaba que la mente, los deseos, el orgullo y el ego&iacute;smo de Ad&aacute;n segu&iacute;an muy vivos en m&iacute;, que segu&iacute;an prevaleciendo y reinando en mi propio coraz&oacute;n.Sab&iacute;a hacer muchos diagramas &uacute;tiles que ilustraban la diferencia entre el hombre natural y el hombre espiritual. Dibujaba estas cosas en la pizarra casi siempre que ense&ntilde;aba, mostrando y declarando que la cruz era como una gran divisi&oacute;n entre el primer y el segundo nacimiento, entre la naturaleza ca&iacute;da del hombre y una nueva vida que se obtiene en Cristo, y que estas dos vidas o naturalezas est&aacute;n tipificadas por Ca&iacute;n y Abel, Isaac e Ismael, Jacob y Esa&uacute;. Siempre dije que el primer nacimiento es rechazado y el segundo es aceptado, y que no hay tratado, paz o mezcla entre estas dos semillas. Hablaba continuamente de estas cosas, porque en la misericordia de Dios, hab&iacute;a visto que eran verdaderas en esa luz que nunca miente.Pero luego hubo otro d&iacute;a, varios a&ntilde;os despu&eacute;s de este despertar espiritual inicial, cuando el Se&ntilde;or comenz&oacute; a sacar mis diagramas de la pizarra (por as&iacute; decirlo), y a dibujarlos en mi coraz&oacute;n. Es decir, fue como si el Se&ntilde;or tomara mis propios diagramas, y los comparara con la realidad que estaba viviendo, movi&eacute;ndose y motivando realmente todos mis pensamientos, palabras, deseos y acciones. Y aqu&iacute;, mi amigo, fue cuando descubr&iacute; (con dolorosa claridad)&nbsp;que hab&iacute;a visto mucho m&aacute;s de lo que realmente hab&iacute;a vivido. Que hab&iacute;a confundido visi&oacute;n con posesi&oacute;n. Que hab&iacute;a subido al monte Pisga con Mois&eacute;s y contemplado la Tierra Prometida desde lejos, y me hab&iacute;a regocijado con la vista. Pero a&uacute;n no hab&iacute;a cruzado el Jord&aacute;n, no hab&iacute;a caminado, vivido ni pose&iacute;do lo que hab&iacute;a visto.Y entonces, de repente, empec&eacute; a encontrar y a sentir en m&iacute; mismo la presencia de esa naturaleza ca&iacute;da contra la que hab&iacute;a predicado durante a&ntilde;os. Por a&ntilde;os hab&iacute;a declarado con valent&iacute;a la naturaleza malvada del hombre ca&iacute;do, y hab&iacute;a intentado demostrar a partir de las Escrituras, de los diagramas y de los tipos y sombras del Antiguo Testamento, que &eacute;l hab&iacute;a ca&iacute;do de Dios, que era rechazado por Dios, que era incapaz de agradarle, que era enemistad contra &Eacute;l, y que la cruz era su &uacute;nico fin determinado. Yo habr&iacute;a podido seguir hablando y escribiendo muy f&aacute;cilmente sobre estas cosas por el resto de mi vida. Mucha gente lo hace. Muchos l&iacute;deres cristianos vislumbran cosas espirituales y nunca dejan de hablar de ellas, compartirlas y regocijarse al verlas. Veinte, treinta, cincuenta a&ntilde;os de ministerio, repitiendo y volviendo a describir unos pocos vislumbres que han recibido (en misericordia) de algo que en verdad es verdad, pero que a&uacute;n est&aacute; lejos de ser su experiencia. Quiero decir que predican lo que han visto que es verdad de Cristo, aunque en sus corazones sigue&nbsp;predominando la naturaleza contraria.&nbsp;Ahora, hay muchas advertencias severas acerca de esto en las Escrituras, las cuales (por supuesto) asum&iacute; que se aplicaban a otras personas, y no a m&iacute; mismo. Hay advertencias acerca de hacer grandes cosas en el nombre de Cristo, incluso cosas milagrosas, y no conocerlo a &Eacute;l verdaderamente. &ldquo;Muchos me dir&aacute;n en aquel d&iacute;a: Se&ntilde;or, Se&ntilde;or, &iquest;no profetizamos en tu nombre, y en tu nombre echamos fuera demonios, y en tu nombre hicimos muchos milagros? Y entonces les declarar&eacute;: Nunca os conoc&iacute;; apartaos de m&iacute;, hacedores de maldad&rdquo; (Mateo 7:21-23). Hay fuertes advertencias de Pablo sobre entender todos los misterios, tener fe para mover monta&ntilde;as, incluso dar tu cuerpo para ser quemado, pero aun as&iacute; no POSEER el amor, que es la naturaleza de Dios, y por lo tanto, verdaderamente no poseer nada. (1 Corintios 13:2) Estas son advertencias fuertes, advertencias serias, y todos asumimos que no se aplican a nuestro caso particular. Pero el Se&ntilde;or me hizo entender que ver el amor en la luz y tener amor no son la misma cosa. Creer en Cristo y conocer el reino de Cristo no son la misma cosa.&iquest;Qu&eacute; significa conocer verdaderamente a Dios? &iquest;Qu&eacute; significa&nbsp;poseer&nbsp;realmente lo que profesamos como verdadero?&nbsp;Yo dir&iacute;a que significa experimentar la vida, naturaleza y gobierno de Dios reinando en el coraz&oacute;n del hombre. Conocer al Se&ntilde;or es participar de Su vida, sentir Su vida reinando en nosotros, siendo movidos y motivados, ense&ntilde;ados, cambiados y constre&ntilde;idos por Su vida&nbsp;resucitada,&nbsp;por Su&nbsp;luz y amor. Conocer al Se&ntilde;or significa que vivimos en Su Esp&iacute;ritu de amor, y que somos impulsados por &eacute;l de la misma forma que un velero es impulsado por el viento.Esto, por supuesto, comienza en el hombre como un peque&ntilde;o grano de mostaza, o como una ley nueva y viva que encontramos en el hombre interior, que es contraria a la ley del pecado y muerte en nuestros miembros. Comienza peque&ntilde;a, pero es pura, buena y viva, y est&aacute; destinada a crecer. Pero muy a menudo (y este fue mi caso), aunque continuamos creyendo en esos primeros vislumbres de la verdad, en esas primeras convicciones, descubrimientos y manifestaciones del Esp&iacute;ritu de Verdad, no permanecemos suficientemente bajos y peque&ntilde;os a nuestros propios ojos, para que el Se&ntilde;or contin&uacute;e la obra que comenz&oacute;. No permitimos verdaderamente, que el talento se incremente. No permitimos verdaderamente, que la levadura celestial llene los tres panes. No nos bajamos y permanecemos bajos en humildad y rendici&oacute;n, mientras la luz obra en juicio contra cada cosa oculta en el monte de Esa&uacute;.&nbsp;Y por esta raz&oacute;n, no experimentamos verdaderamente el primer nacimiento muerto, ni el nuevo nacimiento resucitado para reinar en nosotros.Repito, el verdadero conocimiento de Dios es compartir y experimentar Su vida y naturaleza en el alma. Es el reino de Dios reinando en el coraz&oacute;n del hombre. Es la participaci&oacute;n en Su vida, en la medida que vive y se mueve en nosotros. Es el ojo de Dios convirti&eacute;ndose en nuestra luz, el amor de Dios convirti&eacute;ndose en la raz&oacute;n detr&aacute;s de todo lo que hacemos, la verdad de Dios convirti&eacute;ndose en una l&iacute;nea que&nbsp;jam&aacute;s&nbsp;cruzar&iacute;amos, ni&nbsp;para salvar nuestra vida. Pablo dice: &ldquo;Porque nada podemos contra la verdad, sino por la verdad&rdquo; (2 Corintios 13:8). Conocer a Dios es vivir como una rama en Su vid, o como un miembro de Su cuerpo que s&oacute;lo se mueve en y por la voluntad de la Cabeza.Y si esto no ha llegado a ser nuestra verdadera experiencia, debemos ser honesto con nosotros mismos. No hay nada m&aacute;s importante que ser honestos y humildes acerca del verdadero estado de nuestros corazones.&nbsp;Pero s&eacute; muy bien que esto es dif&iacute;cil, especialmente para los que se consideran a s&iacute; mismos l&iacute;deres o maestros en la iglesia. Es decir, para las personas que ya han creado un ministerio sin experimentar el reino de Dios reinando en sus corazones. Para las personas que han plantado una nueva iglesia, sin experimentar una nueva naturaleza. Para las personas que han adquirido un gran conocimiento de las Escrituras, pero est&aacute;n sin esa vida y ese poder que las escribi&oacute;. S&iacute;, esto es duro, esto es excepcionalmente dif&iacute;cil, y puedo decirte que fue muy duro para m&iacute;. Es doloroso ver que algo que dimos a luz no es la semilla correcta. Que algo que hicimos ha crecido grande y fuerte separado de la fuerza del Se&ntilde;or. Y tal vez, despu&eacute;s de muchos a&ntilde;os de crear, edificar e invertir en nuestra creaci&oacute;n, aparece el Se&ntilde;or para exponer nuestro Ismael y poner Su hacha a la ra&iacute;z de nuestro &aacute;rbol.Es como Abraham, quien durante trece a&ntilde;os pens&oacute; que hab&iacute;a visto la promesa del Se&ntilde;or cumplida en su hijo Ismael. El Se&ntilde;or le hab&iacute;a prometido un hijo, una simiente de bendici&oacute;n para todas las naciones; y Abraham en su propia fuerza, y a partir de sus propios recursos, maneras y sabidur&iacute;a, hab&iacute;a finalmente tra&iacute;do un hijo a este mundo. Por trece a&ntilde;os este hijo creci&oacute; en su casa, y Abraham lo am&oacute;, y supuso que era el hijo de la promesa. Pero entonces, el Se&ntilde;or le apareci&oacute; a Abraham otra vez y le dijo: &ldquo;Abraham, tendr&aacute;s un hijo y le pondr&aacute;s por nombre Isaac, y en su simiente todas las naciones ser&aacute;n bendecidas&rdquo;. Y Abraham exclam&oacute;: &ldquo;&iexcl;Ojal&aacute; Ismael viva delante de ti!&rdquo; (G&eacute;nesis 17:18). En otras palabras: &ldquo;&iexcl;Ya tengo un hijo! &iquest;Por qu&eacute; no puede ser Ismael el nacimiento que t&uacute; aceptes?&rdquo;Esto es lo que nosotros hacemos. Damos a luz nuestras propias ideas, nuestros propios sue&ntilde;os, nuestros propios ministerios, planes y deseos. Usamos nuestros propios recursos, nuestros propios dones naturales, y nuestra propia comprensi&oacute;n de las Escrituras para dar a luz algo que llamamos Cristianismo, o ministerio, o la obra de Dios en el mundo. Y luego, amamos lo que hemos creado, lo apreciamos, lo criamos como a nuestro propio hijo, y queremos llamarlo la obra de Dios, la bendici&oacute;n del Se&ntilde;or, el cumplimiento de Su promesa. Pero entonces aparece el Se&ntilde;or y dice: &ldquo;Busco a otro Hijo, un Hijo diferente, y no lo veo en nada de lo que has edificado. Nada de lo que has edificado tiene Su naturaleza, Su fragancia, Su vida, poder,&nbsp;mansedumbre,&nbsp;verdad y justicia&rdquo;. Y es entonces cuando nuestro coraz&oacute;n grita con Abraham: &ldquo;&iexcl;Ojal&aacute; Ismael viva delante de ti!&rdquo; Y la respuesta del Se&ntilde;or siempre es la misma, si soportamos escuchar: &ldquo;&iquest;Qui&eacute;n es Ismael? El hijo de la promesa se llama Isaac. Ismael es algo que T&Uacute; has hecho, con tus habilidades, y tu mente, y tus recursos, uni&eacute;ndote con una egipcia&rdquo;.Cuando el Se&ntilde;or le dijo a Abraham que sacrificara a Isaac, le dijo: &ldquo;Toma ahora tu hijo,&nbsp;tu &uacute;nico, Isaac, a quien amas, y vete a tierra de Moriah&rdquo;. Espera, &iquest;y qu&eacute; hay de Ismael? Definitivamente a&uacute;n estaba vivo en la tierra. &ldquo;Dije, toma a Isaac,&nbsp;tu &uacute;nico, y vete a tierra de Moriah&rdquo;.&nbsp;&iquest;Ves lo que estoy diciendo? Es muy f&aacute;cil crear Ismaeles y llamarlos la obra de Dios, el milagro de Dios, el hijo de Dios, la bendici&oacute;n de Dios, el ministerio de Dios, la promesa de Dios. Pero si lo que edificamos no es edificado por Dios, si no es el incremento de Su Semilla escogida en nosotros y a trav&eacute;s de nosotros, entonces tarde o temprano tendremos que encarar el hecho de que hemos trabajado en vano. Si lo que hemos creado y amado, y a lo que nos hemos dedicado no brot&oacute; de la vida misma del Hijo prometido, entonces&nbsp;hemos tomado una promesa verdadera y la hemos aplicado al nacimiento equivocado.&nbsp;Hemos confundido visi&oacute;n con posesi&oacute;n, hemos corrido delante de la luz, tal vez hemos visto algo desde lejos, pero no hemos conocido a&uacute;n su vida, crecimiento y reinado en nosotros.Dios siempre est&aacute; buscando la presencia y la vida del &uacute;nico Hijo prometido. Y nosotros como Cristianos, y especialmente los que son ministros y l&iacute;deres, pueden ciertamente aprender mucho, edificar mucho, predicar mucho, incluso ver mucho en la luz que viene de Dios; pero todav&iacute;a hay una sola Semilla, una sola vida, un solo Hijo que cumple las expectativas del Padre. A menudo sucede, que cuando el Se&ntilde;or aparece, orgullosamente levantamos nuestro Ismael delante de &Eacute;l, y luego, nos&nbsp;sorprendemos&nbsp;al descubrir que no es el nacimiento correcto.Dios no est&aacute; buscando lo que el hombre puede hacer para Dios, sino lo que Dios puede hacer en el hombre. &Eacute;l mira en nosotros en busca de Su Hijo, &ldquo;Cristo en vosotros, la esperanza de gloria&rdquo;. No me refiero a una mera creencia en Su Hijo, sino a la misma vida, naturaleza, luz, poder, amor y justicia de Cristo formado y gobernando el coraz&oacute;n del hombre. No s&oacute;lo conocimiento espiritual&nbsp;o&nbsp;vista espiritual. Ni grandes ministerios que salgan del vientre equivocado. No, Dios est&aacute; buscando en ti un nacimiento muy espec&iacute;fico, un reino muy espec&iacute;fico, una naturaleza muy distinta que sea la fuente y vida de todo&nbsp;lo que act&uacute;a&nbsp;en ti. Y hasta que encuentre a Isaac, &Eacute;l no tiene m&aacute;s&nbsp;opci&oacute;n&nbsp;que mostrarte que todo lo dem&aacute;s es Ismael.

Es muy fácil crear Ismaeles y llamarlos la obra de Dios, el milagro de Dios, el hijo de Dios, la bendición de Dios, el ministerio de Dios, la promesa de Dios. Pero si lo que edificamos no es edificado por Dios, si no es el incremento de Su Semilla escogida en nosotros y a través de nosotros, entonces tarde o temprano tendremos que encarar el hecho de que hemos trabajado en vano. Si lo que hemos creado y amado, y a lo que nos hemos dedicado no brotó de la vida misma del Hijo prometido, entonces hemos tomado una promesa verdadera y la hemos aplicado al nacimiento equivocado.

The Ancient Path

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