A Human Vehicle of the Divine Life
Trusting Christ for life empowers dependence on His life within, enabling a supernatural life of freedom and victory.
Major W. Ian Thomas emphasizes the divine partnership between believers and God, where God calls us to live a righteous life and preach the Gospel, and through our consent, He works in and through us to accomplish His will. By trusting in Christ not only for redemption but also for the empowerment to live a supernatural life, we can experience freedom from self-effort and dependence on His strength in all circumstances, leading to victory over internal struggles and a restored humanity as vessels of God's life.
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"Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it." (I Thessalonians 5:24).
The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you! The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!
This is the divine genius that saves a man from the futility of self-effort. It relieves the Christian of the burden of tying to pull himself up by his own bootstraps! If it were not for this divine provision, the call to Christ would be a source of utter frustration, presenting the sorry spectacle of a sincere idealist, constantly thwarted by his own inadequacy.
If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death He died in order to redeem you, but also for the life that He lives and waits to live through you, the very next step you take will be a step taken in the very energy and power of God Himself. You will have begun to live a life which is essentially supernatural, yet still clothed with the common humanity of your physical body, and still worked out both in the big and the little things that inevitable make up the lot of a man who, though his heart may be with Christ in heaven, still has his two feet firmly planted on the earth.
You will have become totally dependent upon the life of Christ within you, and never before will you have been so independent, so emancipated from the pressure of your circumstances, so released at last from that self-distrust which has made you at one moment an arrogant, loud-mouth braggart, and the next moment the victim of your own self-pity and, either way, always in bondage to the fear of other men's opinions.
You will be free from the tyranny of a defeated enemy within. You will be more than conqueror, for even death itself is conquered by His life. Christ through death destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). This indeed is victory!
You will be restored to your true humanity to be the human vehicle of the divine life.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Divine Genius of Salvation
- A. Relieves the Christian of self-effort
- B. Provides the power to live a supernatural life
- C. Empowers dependence on Christ's life within
- II. Trusting Christ for Life
- A. Not just for redemption, but for life through you
- B. The next step taken will be in God's power
- III. Living a Supernatural Life
- A. Clothed in humanity, yet empowered by God
- B. Freedom from self-distrust and fear of others
- C. Conquering death and the devil
- IV. Restored Humanity
- A. Becoming a human vehicle of the divine life
Key Quotes
“The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you!” — Major W. Ian Thomas
“You will have begun to live a life which is essentially supernatural, yet still clothed with the common humanity of your physical body” — Major W. Ian Thomas
“You will be free from the tyranny of a defeated enemy within. You will be more than conqueror, for even death itself is conquered by His life.” — Major W. Ian Thomas
Application Points
- Trust Christ for life, not just for redemption, to experience the power of God in your life.
- Recognize that living a supernatural life is possible through dependence on Christ's life within.
- Be free from self-distrust and fear of others by surrendering to Christ's life and power.