“Preeminence” literally means having the first, highest, chief, and best place in a position of ascendancy over everything else. It is an ultimacy, a glory, an honor, a distinction, a prestige, an illustriousness, a renown, a notability, and a nobility that surpasses all others. Paul simply says that the aim of God is for JESUS CHRIST to have THAT kind of position in – all things. That explains everything God has done, is doing and will do. But what does he mean by “all things”?

Whenever I teach from a passage that includes the phrase “all things” I usually stop and ask, “Now how many things does ‘all things’ include?” And the people always respond, “Everything!” That word “all” is a very large word, a very encompassing word. There is nothing outside of “all”! How casually and easily we allow our eyes to glance past these words. We have not comprehended them. If we comprehended them we could not read them with a yawn, but we would read them with a shout!

If we intend to make some exception to “all” we might say something like, “everything but” or “everything except” in order to qualify what we mean as something less than “all”. But “all things” is without qualification. “All” is “all”, and “all things” is everything. Nothing is left out, nothing is excluded. It is not necessary for us to list every single thing that “all” includes, because “all” is all-inclusive. But what about this, you ask? It is among the All. And what of this, you say? That, too, is included in the All. And what about this thing, or that thing? Oh yes, they are in the All as well. You cannot come up with a single thing that is not included in All.

So in Romans 11:36 Paul sums up the preeminence of Christ into three expressions: “Of Him… through Him… to Him… are ALL THINGS.” “OF HIM” says that everything which exists – things in heaven, things in earth, everything that was created, everything that has come into being, everything that will come into being – is created by, and because of, CHRIST. “THROUGH HIM” says that everything which lives, moves, breathes, operates, exists, or functions in this universe, whether animate or inanimate, whether biological, chemical, spiritual, natural, or cosmotological – does so THROUGH CHRIST, Who sovereignly upholds all these things, determines their place, and keeps them in order. “TO HIM” says that everything, no matter how far from God’s Thought it may be, no matter how chaotic things may appear, is being directed, summed up, and gathered together INTO CHRIST. As the Alpha, all things flow FROM Him; as the Omega, all things flow TO Him.

That is quite a paragraph. A paragraph like that cannot be grasped in one reading. But that paragraph is, in essence, what Paul means, and what we mean, by Christ having the preeminence in all things. We are talking about Jesus as Lord over us individually, over the Church corporately, and over all creation collectively. We are talking about a preeminent Christ Who is exalted above every principality and power, rule and dominion; things visible, things invisible; things past, things present, things future; things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth: all things are OF Him, all things are THROUGH Him, and all things are TO Him. That is preeminence.

Let us go through the Scriptures and bring out a few gems from the storehouse of tremendous wealth and riches in Christ. Our criteria for selecting these particular Scriptures was very simple. We wanted to look at every reference that mentions Christ in connection with His preeminence over “all things”. We found quite a number. There are dozens more references that support our study, but we have included only the ones which contain the phrase “all things”. Once we gathered the references together, we sorted them according to Romans 11:36 – those that are OF Him, those that are THROUGH Him, and those that are TO Him.

The result of that study is the basis of this writing. I pray these will not be mere verses of Scripture to us, but will be the very means through which the Father gives us greater illumination and revelation into His Son. We ought to meditate on this daily and ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the height, depth, width, length, and breadth of this JESUS Whom we say we serve. May God deliver us from our own idea, concept, perception, and illusion of a small Christ and give us revelation into the preeminence of His Son.

I promise that if you will read through these verses once or twice a day, every day, it will be impossible for you to remain unaffected by the Truth they present! I am affected just in the preparation of this material, and how much more in the application and apprehending of it! When we see Christ as All in All then it will be impossible for us to ever again be reduced to the small, the trivial, the petty things which occupy us and waste so much of our time. Our only hope is seeing a Christ that fills us, a Christ that is greater than us, a Christ that is larger than we can fathom, an indescribable Christ that overshadows, overwhelms, and consumes us through and through!

Of Him Are All Things

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).”

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9).”

“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him (Colossians 1:16).”

“For Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things (Hebrews 2:10ff).”

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him (I Corinthians 8:6).”

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Revelation 4:11).”

The Father declares the preeminence of His Son by involving Him in the process of creating all things. As a result, nothing was created apart from Christ. Of Him are all things – things in heaven, in earth, visible, invisible, spiritual, and physical. Scientists believe there may be as many as twenty-four dimensions in this universe, of which we only know five. However many there may be, He is preeminent over them all. Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha, the Beginning, the First, the Source. This establishes Him as preeminent over all creation.

All things were created by Him, and everything was created for Him. For Him! Why this earth, the moon, the stars, the galaxies? Why the animals, the birds, the fish, the insects? Why men and women, angels, cherubim, and seraphim? For Him! All for Him! God’s original thought is for Christ to fill every created thing with His Life, Love, and Glory. A design implies a Designer, a plan implies a Planner, and a creation implies a Creator. We are not drifting along aimlessly, and we did not come into being by accident. We were created by Him, and we were created for Him. We were created to love Him, and to be loved by Him.

Of the three spheres – of Him, through Him, and to Him – “of Him” is probably the easiest to grasp. It is easier for us to look backwards and see Christ in retrospect than it is for us to perceive the present and to discern the future. But He is All of these at once. It is not that in times past He was the Alpha, and after a lengthy period of time He become the Omega. No, “I AM Alpha AND Omega, the Beginning AND the Ending, says the Lord: which was AND which is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).” And, “They rest not day and night saying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, AND is, AND is to come (Revelation 4:8b).” He always has been AND He always is AND He always will be; hence three “Holies” are necessary. What a mighty God!

So we progress forward and see that…

Through Him Are All Things

First, all things are in His hands:

“All things are delivered unto Me of My Father (Matthew 11:27).”

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand (John 3:35).”

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God (John 13:3).”

“All things that the Father hath are Mine (John 16:15a).”

“[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2a).”

His hands speak of His Ownership, His Authority, His Possessing of all things. The Father gave all things to the Son. Then, because all things are in His hands, all things are under His feet. His feet speak of His Dominion, His Rule, His subjecting of all things to the authority that is in His hands.

“Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; thou has put all things under His feet (Psalms 8:6).”

“And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church (Ephesians 1:22).”

“And He is the Head of the Body, the Church: Who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18).”

“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. (Hebrews 2:8a)

This possession and subjection of all things to Christ is not a passive, disinterested, distant, absentee ownership, like a clock that was once wound and now ticks all by itself long after the watchmaker has left it. Make no mistake: at the core of this spiritual and physical universe is a living, powerful, proactive Personality at work to bring fallen creation back to its original state, back into line with God’s Purpose, Heart, Mind, Desire, and Plan, which is CHRIST FILLING ALL THINGS, CHRIST UPHOLDING ALL THINGS, CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS! Come quickly Lord Jesus! May Your Kingdom be manifest!

“And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist [Greek: find their being, take their place] (Colossians 1:17).”

“Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).”

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).”

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13).”

“For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:10).”

Everything is upheld by His power, and all things are working together according to His Purpose. The Spirit searches all things and reveals them for what they are. Before Him everything is manifest, and there is nothing hidden from Him. There is no darkness that He does not penetrate, no deception that He cannot illuminate, no evil that He will not eradicate.

“He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).” Christ is ever increasing in order to fill all things, conforming them to His image, so that His glory is manifest in every corner of Creation – and He begins with individual disciples. The increasing of Christ and the decreasing of Self in every individual disciple is but a fragment of an ultimate Plan which extends from each disciple, to “two or three gathered together”, to the Church, and finally to all Creation. We should be able to look at each disciple and see a demonstration of Christ filling All in All: “Look, this is what I intend to do with all Creation.” He will continue to increase, and everything outside of Him will continue to decrease, until there will remain nothing outside of Him. He is Lord!

To Him Are All Things

“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself (Philippians 3:21).”

“And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be All in All (I Corinthians 15:28).”

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him (Ephesians 1:10).”

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Colossians 1:20).”

“He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things (Ephesians 4:10).”

Everything is moving back TOWARDS a Christocentric universe, so that as it was in the beginning, so it will be in the ending. Just as all things have their source and beginning in Christ, so all things will have their ending in Christ. He subdues all things, in order to gather together and reconcile all things, that He may fill all things. What a task that is! How can that be? How can all things ever be subdued, gathered together into one, reconciled, and filled by Christ? We cannot say how, but we know that “He is able”. Praise God, how can we doubt Him? How can we question this Man? Do we not yet know that He is the Preeminent One? Let us bow down and thank and praise God that He is able!

When we pray, “May Your Name be hallowed, may Your Kingdom come, may Your Will be done: as in heaven, so in earth”, this is the End we have in mind: “all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in Him.” This reconciliation and marriage of heaven and earth is a tremendous thing. In heaven, His Word is settled forever (Psalms 119:89); but on earth, things are very unsettled. In heaven, we see Jesus seated at the right hand of God, exalted above all principality and power, name and dominion; but on earth, “we see not yet all things put under Him (Hebrews 2:8b).” We see that “the heavens are the Lord’s: but the earth has He given to the children of men (Psalms 115:16).”

One day that discrepancy and unceasing conflict, that great chasm between Heaven and Earth, will be healed.

“And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new (Revelation 21:5a).”

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and He shall be my son (Revelation 21:7).”

“How shall He not, with Him, freely give us all things (Romans 8:32b)?”

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (Romans 8:37).”

“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; Christ is God’s (I Corinthians 3:21-23).”

How glorious! How tremendous! He is doing all of this for us! Everything He has is freely given to us, and through Him we possess all that He possesses. When He has all that we have, then we have all that He has. When we give Him all that we are, He gives us all that He is. Oh, the depth of this love! Oh, the depth of the richness of His grace to us! Who can understand it? Who can know it?

The chorus to a song comes to mind, that says

How could you not love Him back?
How could you hold out your heart
For even another day?
How could you not love Him back
When you’ve learned every loving fact?
How could you not love Him back?

Oh Jesus, may You have the preeminence henceforth and forever!

“Yes, I am the Door. Anyone who goes in and out through Me will be safe, and will find a beautiful pasture. The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy. I have come so that the sheep will live, and will have Life in abundance! I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His Life for the sheep” (John 10:9-11, TIL).

Are we willing to go deeper than the obvious, surface level explanation of what Jesus said here?

The “word of faith” people, the “name it and claim it” people, have always taken the “abundant life” in verse 10 to mean that God is going to give us the “abundant life” of this world – money, and the things that money can buy. To them this is a proof-text for prosperity, for material things. I know it is a stretch. It’s hard to understand how people can lift this verse out of the passage and teach it that way, but carnal people manage to teach it and believe it. That’s why the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.

Well, let’s go deeper. “The Good Shepherd gives His Life for the sheep.” In one sense of course, in the most commonly interpreted sense, Jesus is speaking of his death on the Cross. He lays down His life for the sheep so they can be saved. Well, that is the natural side of it, I suppose. I’m not saying that’s incorrect. But is there a deeper meaning that can apply? Oh yes, I believe so, because you see the word here is present tense: The Good Shepherd GIVES His Life. If He were only referring to His death on the Cross, He might have said – “The Good Shepherd WILL GIVE His Life for the sheep.” And now, since He has already died on the Cross, it would (to us) be past tense.

But He said, “The Good Shepherd GIVES His Life.” It is present tense. It is always present tense. He is always the Good Shepherd. We are always His sheep. And so He always gives His life. In what sense does He give it? Is He constantly crucified? No, that is the natural. What is the spiritual implication? He is giving His Life that we may have that same Life. And because He IS the Life, this Life is an abundant life, and this abundant life leads to spiritual fruitfulness.

Just as the Good Shepherd gives His Life for the sheep, so the True Vine gives His Life for the Branches. Do you see the connection? It’s the same thing. It’s exactly the same thing. The Good Shepherd gives His Life for the sheep; the True Vine gives His Life for the Branches. This Life He gives is not for the purpose of making my life better; it is given so that I can exchange my life altogether, and rely upon the Life of Another.

There are two aspects, two sides to this glorious truth: first, that I AM IN CHRIST; second, that CHRIST IS IN ME. If the first is true, and I am living in Christ, then the second follows naturally – Christ is living in me. He is giving His Life for me on a continual basis. We call this the exchanged life. It is a function of learning how to let Jesus live His life through me.

This is why the denial of Self, as typified by the Cross, is so essential to the spiritual life. “The carnal mind is against God” (Rom. 8:7). The Self-Life interferes with the Christ-Life. Why? Because “No man can serve two masters” (Mt. 6:24).

And so you have those Two Universal Spiritual Principles that we have discussed elsewhere: the Law of Increase and the Law of Decrease, found in John 3:30. “He must increase.” That is the first principle. It is a spiritual law, that Jesus must increase. But there is something that hinders, something that resists this increase of Jesus. That brings us to the second principle, “I must decrease.” Me, Myself, and I – the Self. I must decrease in order for Christ to increase.

This has global implications, universal applications, but let’s bring it right down to everyday life. Let’s make it personal. It means, in a very practical sense, that when I become a disciple of Jesus I am starting out on a Path in which I am learning how to depend upon the Life of Another; and in order to live that way, I have to give up living the way I am accustomed to living – according to my thoughts, my mind, my will, my opinions, my understanding.

All that pertains to “me” is very limited. As a disciple of Jesus, I am learning just how untrustworthy “I” am, and I am becoming more and more cognizant of my need to depend upon the Life of Christ, CHRIST IN ME, THE HOPE OF GLORY (Col. 1:27). There is no hope in me. “I know,” Paul says, “that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). That is the key. There is a man who is beginning to grow spiritually. He has learned something – “I KNOW.” How does he know? Through a lot of trials, and sufferings, and problems, and mistakes, and difficulties, he has learned not to depend upon himself anymore.

In Philippians, Paul says, “We are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” No confidence in the flesh. Why? Because Jesus said the flesh is weak. The flesh is fallible. The flesh is limited. I know that it seems as if the flesh is very powerful, and that you can do anything. It sometimes seems easier to just press on ahead and do what seems right; make something happen. Oh, it takes too much time (we say) to wait on God, to know the mind of the Spirit, to just watch and pray and abide in Christ. But those are the words of the immature, the babes. Spiritually mature people have lost all confidence in the flesh, in their ability to do anything, apart from Jesus.

Now I have just shared with you the secret of abiding. It means to have no confidence in the flesh, to wait instead for the Life of Another to lead. Always take that position. Always allow the Lord to lead, to initiate, to work, and don’t do anything of yourself. Now, that is easier said than done, isn’t it? What a battle it is! The flesh does not want to decrease. But as I am decreased, Christ is increased. Stated differently, the measure of Christ in a person will increase in exact proportion to the measure that their Self-Life is decreased.

Well, how does that happen? It happens quite naturally, as we keep hitting our head against the same impossible situations, the same besetting sins, the same difficulties and disappointments over and over again – and eventually we come to the place of saying, along with Paul, “I know that in me – that is, in my flesh, in my Self – dwells no good thing. I no longer have confidence in my flesh. I have learned that the Branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the Vine. So I cast myself upon the Lord, and I trust in His Life to raise me up, to work a miracle, to do what I cannot do myself.” That is spiritual maturity. Now Jesus can do something, and He takes up right where we leave off.

Jesus is passing through Jericho, surrounded by a massive throng of people.

Here is a little man named Zacchaeus who wants to see Jesus. But he can’t see him.

Why couldn’t he see Jesus? One complication was being “little of stature.” Short. Insignificant. And, because he was a tax collector, not very much liked by anyone. So he had neither the physical nor the social stature to see Jesus.

However, if Jesus were not surrounded by the multitude, his little stature would not have prevented him from seeing Jesus.

What really hindered him?

“He could not for the press.” The “press” is what prevented him from seeing Jesus. The “press” is the crush of people, the multitude of them jostling and jousting for position and advantage.

Jesus is similarly difficult to see today because of the multitude of things that crowd us, distract us, and press us.

We can’t see Jesus because of the religious system.

We can’t see Jesus because of the cares of this world that enter in and choke the Word, so that it becomes unfruitful.

We can’t see Jesus because of the other things we are looking at and paying attention to.

We can’t see Jesus because we let too many things come in to press us.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

In the parable of the marriage supper, the ones who were invited began to make excuses. This one just got married and cannot come. That one just bought a field and cannot come. They are too pressed.

Martha is vexed with “much serving.” Pressed into doing, pressed into being busy, and too pressed to sit at His feet and hear His Word.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

“Press” is the root word of “pressure.” When people feel under pressure they use another word to describe it: “stressed.”

Stress and pressure. Too many things going on. Spiritual things, being invisible and intangible, become less and less thought of, as the things, concerns, and cares of the world press in upon us.

We can’t see Jesus for the press.

Zacchaeus did two things to beat the press and see Jesus.

First, “He ran ahead” (Lk. 19:4). We cannot see Jesus if we follow the crowd. If we do what the crowd does then we will always be in the press, blind as a bat to spiritual truth.

You cannot follow the crowd. You cannot be swept away by the multitude.

You have to run ahead of the press. You have to get in front of it. If the press hits you every day at 8:00 a.m., you need to be with God ahead of the press. Otherwise the press will rule your day, and you won’t see Jesus for the press.

Run ahead of the press. Don’t be one of the sheeple. Get out in front and stay there. Leave the press behind so you can see Jesus.

The second thing Zacchaeus did was, “He climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him” (Lk. 19:4). To beat the press you have to rise above it. Get higher. Get above the press.

Zacchaeus used a tree to get higher. We can use prayer to get higher. We can use worship to get higher. We can read Scripture to get higher. We can go for a prayer walk, or sit quietly before the Lord for a few minutes a day to get higher.

Whatever the methodology you choose, the principle is the same: get higher. Don’t be pedestrian. Don’t be so earth-bound.

Lift up your voice. Lift up your eyes. Lift up your heart. Lift up the hands that hang down.

Go up. Rise up. Climb up. Soar.

That’s what Zacchaeus did. And Zacchaeus saw Jesus. You can too, if you run ahead of the press and rise up above it.

So Jesus went home with Zacchaeus, while the press stood around and criticized.

But Zacchaeus paid them no attention.

Interestingly enough, only those who know the Holy are in danger of becoming too familiar with it. Unbelievers, those who are not yet acquainted with the Holy, cannot profane what they do not understand.

The danger of familiarity is in knowing and taking for granted.

This is illustrated for us here in Luke 7. A Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner. This is not an irreligious man who invites the Lord, but a member of the strictest religious order. Jesus accepts his invitation and they sit down to have a meal.

While they are sitting at the table, a woman enters the room with an alabaster box of ointment. We know she is a sinner, because Luke says, “A woman in the city, which was a sinner…” (Luke 7:37ff). This sinner does a strange and wonderful thing. She washes the feet of Jesus with her tears, wipes them with her hair, kisses His feet, and pours the fragrant ointment out on Him.

The Pharisee, of course, is highly offended that this sinner has come uninvited to his home. He is also a bit embarrassed about this display of affection. And he thinks to himself, “If Jesus were a real prophet, He would know that this woman is a sinner!”

But in the mind of Jesus, the real issue is, “Who really loves Me, and who takes Me for granted?”

No one traveled for pleasure in those days, the way we do now. Travel at that time was universally despised as a hot, dirty ordeal to be avoided if at all possible. Most people, Jesus included, traveled on foot. So the ritual of taking care of guests followed a predictable pattern and centered around the feet. Upon entering someone’s home, the host would greet his guests with a kiss on each cheek and offer water for their tired, dirty feet. If available, some perfumed ointment would also be offered to soothe and freshen them up a bit.

But the Pharisee failed to provide Jesus with even the most basic, usual, and customary courtesies given to guests:

“You gave me no water for My feet… No kiss of greeting… No oil for My head” (Luke 7:44-46ff).

The presence of Jesus was taken for granted! Was it just a case of forgetfulness on the part of His host, or was it something else? Something deeper?

Perhaps the Pharisee was becoming too familiar with Jesus – just a little bit too casual. From a distance Jesus was pretty amazing. Now that he had Jesus sitting there at his own table, in his own house, he saw that Jesus was a man. Maybe he came to believe that Jesus was someone not too unlike himself. It’s only Jesus, so there’s no need to get all excited. Let Him get His own water and wash His own feet.

That is the danger of familiarity.

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. In the beginning we coveted the presence of the Lord, but today perhaps we take it for granted. In the beginning we were awed by Him, but today perhaps we are not so amazed. His visits become more routine, more ordinary, more commonplace. The songs we sing become a habit. The Bible we read becomes dry and old. The testimonies of our brothers and sisters do not move us because we have seen and heard it all before.

The woman, on the other hand, maintained a quiet reverence, a godly sense of awe, a majestic sense of wonder before the Holy. She gave honor to Whom honor was due. She made up for what was lacking. When she arrived she saw that no one was ministering to the Lord, and she made Him the focus of her being there in that moment.

Few people today truly minister to the Lord Himself. They expect that the Lord will minister to them. And indeed, He does. But the nature of the Lord Jesus is such that He will never call attention to Himself. He will never say, “Why do you not minister to Me? Why do you take me for granted? Why have you not washed My feet?” He will remain silent, and wait for someone to notice Him.

Perhaps that is the reason why He is so often overlooked and taken for granted: because He never seeks anything for Himself.

When the Lord first showed me the importance of ministering to the Him, He made no demands upon me to do anything. He simply let me experience how lonely He was in the midst of a lot of religious activity. There, in the middle of our wonderful church service, I understood that we were taking Jesus for granted. We were too familiar with His Presence. When I understood the pain of the Lord, I knew immediately what needed to be done. That is when I understood that to minister to the Lord was the preeminent thing, the most important thing, and our primary purpose and reason for being.

The best waiters and waitresses are the ones who anticipate your needs and move at once to meet them – without you having to ask. They do not say, “Would you like some more tea?” They watch to see what you need, and if they see that your glass is empty, they move to fill it.

A waiter, a servant, a minister: all three have the same meaning. To wait on the Lord; to be a servant of the Lord; to minister to the Lord; all three describe the same purpose and function. The foremost thing is not to preach, or teach, or travel, or build a big ministry. We are to watch for, anticipate, and meet the Lord’s Need so that He is never taken for granted.

The Lord gives all day long. He teaches the crowds. He heals their sick. He meets their needs. At the end of the day He is tired. His feet are dirty. He needs to be refreshed. But as is often the case, the needs of Jesus are completely overlooked at we eagerly stretch out our hands to get OUR blessing.

Certainly, this woman had many needs. Yet she comes to the Lord Jesus, not to receive a blessing, but to be a blessing:

“She has washed My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair… She has not stopped kissing My feet… She has anointed My feet with ointment…” (Luke 7:44-46ff).

When Jesus enters “our house” – whether it is our place of worship, our home, our workplace, or our heart – do we take Him for granted? Is His Need being met? I pray the Lord will convict us of our profanity and deliver us from familiarity. Let us repent, and rediscover the One Who sits at the table with us.

Our desires are very powerful. People are pulled in many different directions and tossed about by many wants, perceived needs, desires, and influences. Initially our desires are sinful.

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).”

God affirms throughout Scripture that the desire of man is evil and wicked from his youth (Genesis 8:21; Job 5:7, 14:1, et. al.) It is natural for us to think that once we become Christians that our spiritual desires are now good and holy, proper and pure, and that we are well pleasing to God (Luke 18:11). Nevertheless we soon discover that something prevents us from performing the good which we intend.

“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do (Romans 7:19).”

And we also learn that our “righteousness” is often misguided.

“And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of (Luke 9:54, 55).”

We may find ourselves in competition with our brothers and sisters, attempting to be the most spiritual, or the most mature, or the most knowledgeable about the things of God. We privately, and sometimes publicly, compare ourselves with one another and estimate ourselves to be most advanced, when the truth of the matter is we are most fleshly.

“And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest (Luke 22:24).”

“They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory (Mark 10:37).”

Thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ! For it is there that my sins are forgiven; it is there that the “old man” died. Yet is is also true that there is something as wicked, if not more wicked, than sin, and that is Self. It is true that every sin is rooted in Self. As we must initially accept His death for sin, so we must daily accept our death to Self. As we are once crucified with Him for the remission of sins, so we must daily take up the cross, deny our Self, and follow Him. We walk in the narrow Way just as we entered the narrow Gate – by way of the cross. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him (Colossians 2:6).”

Many Spiritual Desires Are Selfish

The disciples of the Lord desire many things. Some desire power over the enemy, or power to work miracles in the Name of Jesus. Others desire freedom from sickness or oppression. Many desire blessing upon the work of their hands, their ministry, or their finances. Some desire wisdom and understanding in spiritual matters.

How surprising it is then for the child of God to learn that the Lord does not necessarily approve of these many desires, even though they seem undeniably good and proper at first. Why? Because Self remains enthroned and enshrined in the sanctuary of our heart. Why do we desire power? That we may glory and others may take notice. Why do we desire freedom from sickness and oppression? Because we are ready to reign with Christ, but are not prepared to suffer with Him. Why do we desire the blessing upon our labor? That we may appear successful before men. Why do we desire wisdom in spiritual affairs? That others may count us wise and seek us out for our opinion and counsel. When we do not know what spirit we are of, Self is most definitely the root of all our asking and praying.

“Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:2,3).”

Verse two of James chapter four speaks of how man goes about to secure his sinful desire. Verse three speaks of how man goes about to secure his spiritual desire. In the first case we try to get by taking from others. In the second place we try to get by asking from God. We know it is wrong to lust, kill, and fight for what we want. This is sin. But many of us do not yet know that to ask God for what WE want is sin also – the sin of Self. This is why we do not receive what we ask for, because we desire to please ourselves. We “ask amiss.”

Jesus never pleased Himself.

“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (Luke 22:42).”

“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (John 5:30)”.

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me (John 6:38).”

How much of our praying, interceding, asking, knocking, seeking, searching, and hoping is done with a view towards getting God to do what WE want Him to do? I am afraid that we take this approach with God: we carefully analyze the situation, determine what we want to see come to pass, look up the appropriate Bible verses, go to God and tell Him exactly what we want to happen and by when, and then become anxious if He fails to answer us according to our own thought.

Brothers and sisters, this is not the way we should approach the Lord. Many are the instances in which mere humans tried to instruct the Lord Jesus, rebuked Him, found fault with His way of doing and saying things, questioned His methods, and argued with Him. Let us not fall into the same trap. For the Lord knows His business, and does not need to be instructed by us. Instead, we must follow His instruction and allow Him to become our only Desire. Then our praying and asking amiss will cease.

How do we deny Self and have the appropriate desire? The solution is quite simple, but it is not simplistic. It is profound, but not complicated. God has ordained that our “desire shall be to [our] Husband, and He shall rule over Thee.” God in Christ fills all in all (Ephesians 4:6). Jesus is the only legitimate desire a Christian can have (Psalms 73:25). If He is the center and focus then all other things will take their proper place (Matthew 6:33). If we are satisfied in God, we cannot be dissatisfied. If our need is fully met in Christ, we cannot experience lack.

“Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need! (Psalms 23:1, Living Bible).”

This is a difficult truth to pass along. I find myself inadequate to explain how it works in the life of a believer. So let us look to the Scriptures for light, and may we learn to have Christ as the object of our desire.

The “Sinful Woman” and the Pharisee

Luke 7:36-50 records the story of a “certain woman” who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, wiped them off with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with precious ointment. Please read the entire passage of Scripture and see how broken and honest was her adoration of Christ.

Now observe the thought of the Pharisee who sat at meat with Jesus. As this spirit and truth worship unfolds before his very eyes he has but one thought: if this Man were a prophet, He would know that this woman is a sinner. In other words, Jesus should not allow this sinful woman to touch Him and pour forth so much love upon Him. The Pharisee judged that Jesus was not worthy of such love and was offended at this outpouring of affection.

Mary and Martha

In Luke 10:38-42 we find the story of Mary and her sister Martha. Martha invited Jesus to her home and commenced to make preparations for dinner. But instead of helping her sister, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His Word. Upon seeing this, Martha expresses her irritation at Mary for not helping, and at Jesus for not telling her to help.

She says, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me (verse 40).” Not only is Mary wrong, but Jesus is wrong to permit this situation. Such is Martha’s thinking.

Mary and Judas Iscariot

Mark 14:1-9 as well as John 12:1-9 recalls a crucial episode in the earthly ministry of Christ the week before His death and resurrection. From piecing together both records of the same event we have a complete account of all that happened. Again there is a supper. Again Martha is serving. But her sister Mary does a strange thing: she pours expensive perfume on the feet of Christ and wipes them with her hair, then pours some of it on His Head. The perfume is very costly, at least several month’s worth of wages. Everyone there expressed indignation at this apparent waste of resources – the guests as well as the disciples agreed this was a foolish thing to be done. It wasn’t “good stewardship.” As the one in charge of the money bag, Judas Iscariot rebuked Mary and wondered aloud why she didn’t instead sell the ointment and give the money to the poor.

Three Illustrations, One Lesson

The Spirit has now given us three separate events in the life of Jesus in order to teach us something – may we have ears to hear it. What says the Spirit? Simply this: many are they who will sit at meat with Jesus, commune and dine with Him, discuss spiritual things with Him. But they cannot and will not lower themselves to wash His feet. They will not humble themselves to the ground and listen, they would rather be “much serving”. They will not give up their “ministry to the poor” in order to “waste” themselves on “just ministering” to Jesus. They long to be seen fellowshipping with the Lord, but they are loath to pour out too much of themselves for Christ.

Note well that in all three cases there is food and drink – this speaks of fellowship. In all three cases the action is centered around the feet of Christ – this speaks of submission. Christ deems submission to be greater than fellowship. In all three cases, the one who made Christ their only desire was criticized as being too sinful, too lazy, or too wasteful. In all three cases they not only found fault with the worshipper but found fault with Christ. In all three cases Christ rebuked the rebukers; the Pharisee, for not loving Him enough; Martha, for being too anxious over the details; Judas and the disciples, for not having their priorities straight (and we discover that Judas is a thief and didn’t care about the poor anyway).

Let is also note that at no time was this worship spoiled with a request or a prayer of petition. Self is completely swallowed up in worship. Indeed, no word is spoken, there is only acquiescence to Christ. There is no unmet desire, for the desire has been replaced with Christ. Having Him, they are content. Their humility is not found in despising Self, but in not looking at Self at all. The focus is outward, onto Christ, and thus there is not room left for considering Self. Therefore, there is nothing more to be said, no defense to offer the critics, nothing more to be done. Jesus instead points out that “only one thing is needful”. Out of the “many things” that Martha was busy doing for the Lord, she was not praised for her work. Instead, Mary was deemed to have chosen “that good part.” Was it wrong to be much serving the Lord? No, but the “good part” was to be with Him, not to work for Him, and the “good part” of sitting at His feet was not to be forsaken in favor of the work.

Finally, all three instances involve women as a type of the Bride of Christ, the overcoming Ekklesia, whose desire is for her Husband, who has submitted to His rule.

Forsake The Wrong And Crucify The “Right”

We know we must leave sin because we can appreciate how horrible it is. We do not so quickly leave “our righteousness” because we think somehow it has been “purified”. Mark well however that God does not fix the old man, but destroys it. He does not tell us to clean up our life, but to lay down our life. It is not enough to forsake the wrong: we must allow Him to crucify the right. That is, we must learn to hate our thoughts that we may have His mind. We must give up our “spiritual” desires in order to have Christ as All.

We must allow our Husband to rule, and our desire must only be for Him. Some people want a “Prenuptial Agreement” with their Husband. That is, they are willing to come to Jesus, but they are not willing to bring all they have to Him, to have everything put in His Name, to forsake all others until death do they part. They are foolish virgins. They want the benefits of the bed chamber without the responsibilities of the bride. They say, “I will follow You wherever You go,” but at the last minute they want to “go back and say goodbye” to those in their house.

The Pharisee thought it was enough to have Jesus over for dinner and talk about God. Martha thought it was enough to be much serving and preparing. The disciples thought it was enough to use a little perfume on Jesus but save the rest of it for the poor. On the surface it would seem they are correct, but Jesus shows us a more excellent way. We must deny ourselves, but we must never deny Him. With Him, we can never say, “Enough.” He is worthy of all, nay more than all, more than we have: so He should receive all that we have, all that we are.

May Christ be the object of our desire. Amen.

It was John who revealed to us that great mystery of God’s Purpose in seven simple words: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John’s ministry reached its height when Jesus came down to the river Jordan to be baptized. There John saw the heavens opened, saw the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus like a dove, and heard a Voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” With evidence like this it is difficult to doubt; and so, with great authority and conviction, John said, “I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).

John knew his purpose had been fulfilled, and with great eagerness he handed the reins over to the One he had so faithfully proclaimed. He had prepared the way, and now the One he had been preparing everyone for had arrived.

Shortly thereafter, John was arrested and put into prison. His work was complete, his sun was setting, and just as he had said, Jesus was increasing and John was decreasing. But oh, what a decrease! The ministry was finished, the crowds were gone, and John was left alone in prison with only a few disciples who came to visit him.

When everything is stripped away you are soon left with little but your own thoughts. In prison, John had a lot of time to think. And the essence of his thoughts were along these lines: Did I make a mistake? Is Jesus the Son of God, or not? If He is the Messiah then where is His Kingdom? Why doesn’t Jesus do something? Did I really see the Spirit and hear the Voice, or was that just my imagination? And if He isn’t the One, do we need to start looking for another?

We can all take comfort in the knowledge that even the greatest prophet who ever lived (Luke 7:28) can have troubling thoughts, moments of doubt, and crises of faith. We all experience times when the darkness mocks us and circumstances try to convince us that the best course is to “curse God and die” (as Job’s wife so eloquently put it). We can afford to be philosophical and detached about Jesus increasing and us decreasing while we are still ministering out by the Jordan, but in prison the truth of what we have been proclaiming is put to the test. Sadly, many of us fail the test. Jesus simply does not do what we expect – and this upsets us!

The real crisis of faith is along the lines of this Man. We can all disagree over Bible doctrine and interpretations of Scripture. But what will you do about Jesus? He will not change Who He is to accommodate Who we think He is. He is Who He is. We either have to come to grips with Jesus as He in fact is, or we have to settle for something less or something else. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So the question we all have to answer is this: Is Jesus enough? Is He enough, just as He is? Or do we still need Him to do something else in order to satisfy us? Intellectually we can say, “Yes, Jesus is enough. Amen to that. I believe it.” But I am surprised at the growing number of people who are openly suggesting that Jesus really is not enough for them! We need fellowship, they say. Or we need God’s blessings. Or we need spiritual gifts and more powerful anointings. To believe that Jesus is Enough (they say) is simply too mystical, too simplistic, too out-of-touch with the real world – no matter what Colossians 2:10 says.

I would suggest, brothers and sisters, that if Jesus is not Enough for us then we have not really met Him yet, or at the very least, we do not know Him very well. Corrie Ten Boom said, “You may never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” That is the purpose of all God’s dealings with us in this area of being decreased (or as I like to say, being reduced to Christ). Jesus is not quite all we HAVE, and so we are reluctant to say that Jesus is all we NEED. The problem, dear friends, is not that we have too little, but that we have too much. It is not that we need more of the Lord; I believe we already have all of Him. We just need less of everything else. Like the Laodiceans, we consider ourselves to be rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing (Revelation 3:17). Like Martha, who was vexed over “many things”, we have too many religious things, too many Christian things, too many spiritual things, too many church things, too many of the “many things” that distract us from the One Thing that is needed (Luke 10:42). No one is ever vexed over the One Thing. It is always the “many things” that vex us, all those “things” apart from Jesus that we think we just cannot live without, all those “things” we think we “need” simply because when it gets right down to it, we do not see Jesus as Enough.

Now we all face the same temptation John faced. What is the temptation? There in prison he began to think, and he came up with a question, and if you really look at this question I think you will see where the suggestion comes from, and you can still hear its echo from time to time. The question is this: “Are you the One, or do we look for another?” And notice this is not John’s own personal dilemma. By using the word “we” he included himself and others who were equally puzzled and wondering within themselves as to whether or not Jesus was the One.

The essence of the question is this: everything we are, everything we have, and everything we believe is based upon Jesus being the One; but Jesus has disappointed us, not so much by what He has done, but by what He has failed to do. We expected His Kingdom to be thus and so, we expected Him to be thus and so, and nothing is as we expected it would be. Now we can continue believing in this One Who frustrates us so, this One Who seems to be moving so slowly, or we can look for another, someone who can be depended upon, someone who makes sense, someone who always answers us according to our own thoughts, desires, needs, and schedule. Someone who does not require us to be decreased in order for him to be increased, someone who does not talk about denying ourselves and taking up a cross, but will just love us the way we are and let us be who we are. Are you the One, Jesus? Will you allow us to make You into what we want you to be, or do we look for another?

This “looking for another” is the entire object of our adversary, that spirit of Antichrist that is forever trying to corrupt us “from the simplicity of Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3), always trying to get us to leave “Him that called you” to follow after “another Gospel” (Galatians 1:6), which really is no other, Paul says, only the appearance of Another, Something Else, or Someone Else. At least Peter, for whatever faults he may have had, was smart enough to realize that there was no one else but Him: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). But this does not stop people, even Christians who should know better, from “looking for another.” They look for another pastor, another preacher, another teacher, another prophet, another ministry, another sign or word or prophecy or teaching or manifestation or meeting or miracle. The simplicity of Christ, the reality of Who He is, cannot keep their attention for very long.

In another place Jesus asked, “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4). In other words, who are you looking for? This particular crowd was pressing in to have Him arrested and put to death. The day before the crowds were pressing in to proclaim “Hosanna!”, and before that they were pressing in to make Him their king by force (John 6:15). At other times the people pressed Him to hear the Word of God. Still other times the people pressed Him to be healed of their diseases. Have you ever noticed that everyone wants something, that there are more takers in this world than givers? Pressing Him, pushing Him, forever wanting more and never satisfied. Very few know how to sit at His feet just to hear His Word. Very few are willing to pour out the best ointment on Him, and when they do, they are severely criticized for such a “waste”. Very few are content just “to be with Him” (Mark 3:14). Instead, this one wants a loaf of bread, this one wants a healing, this one wants a teaching, this one wants a sign, this one wants an answer to a question, this one wants proof of His divinity, this one wants something to accuse Him with. Does anyone seek Him for His sake? Does anyone press upon Him, not for what He can give, but for Who He is? Does anyone seek Him out, not to get some need met, but so they “may know Him” (Philippians 3:10)?

Whom seek ye? Have you discovered Him yet, and is He enough, or do you seek another? We do not proclaim the preeminence of Christ because it is a nice doctrine to believe in; for us, it is a matter of life and death, because everything hinges on whether or not Jesus is preeminent. If He is preeminent then He is Enough, and there is nothing else but Him, and there is nothing worth proclaiming except Him. To John in prison, and to us wherever we may happen to be, Jesus says, “No, you did not make a mistake. I am the One, but I am more than you can imagine, more than you dare to dream. Blessed are they who are not offended in Me.”

“My words are spirit and life. The flesh profits nothing” (Jn. 6:63). It is actually not as mysterious or enigmatic as it sounds. Let us say at once that what man needs is more than healing of the body, or restoring of the soul. He needs the impartation of Life into his spirit, his inner man. In order to abide in the Living Christ one must be alive in spirit. This presence of Life in the inner man is absolutely essential. We need more than a touch from God; we must have God Himself. There is an ocean of difference between receiving the blessing and receiving the One Who blesses; between getting a touch and receiving the One Who touches; between healing and the Healer; between redemption and Redeemer; between salvation and Savior. The former deals with what God has or can do, while the latter deals with God Himself.

For too long we have contented ourselves with what God can do for us and what He can give us. We come the Lord with a need in mind, and the next day we approach with another need, and the following day we return with yet another request. This pattern repeats itself continually. We return again and again to withdraw a little more from the heavenly bank. Surely we should let our requests be made known unto God, and we must also ask, that we may receive. But think: if a man owns a field, does he not also possess the buried treasure in the field? Christ even gave us a parable to this effect. Does it not stand to reason then, that if we receive HIM, we possess all He has? How shall He not, with His Son, freely give us all things?

So when we turn to the matter of His Life in us, it is important that we grasp Christ for Christ’s sake, and not look on Eternal Life as a separate thing Christ gives to those who ask. Christ is Our Life. We do not call upon a friend and say, I would like to speak to your emotion for a few minutes, but later I want to address your intellect. Later I hope to commune with your heart for a bit, and maybe then our bodies can go out to eat dinner while our souls remain here and read a book together. How absurd to even consider it, for we do not divide people into parts and relate to them as separate things. We relate to others holistically, and even though we can clearly identify the parts we would never dream of isolating one part of a persons life and trying to separate it from who they are.

In like manner we must begin to see that Christ is Life, the sum total of many parts which equal His Being. The individual parts are what we usually seek – a little life for the dying, some health for the sick, a word of wisdom for the ignorant, a dose of guidance for the confused, a shot of patience for the impatient, a wave of joy for the depressed. We ask for, and receive, a thousand and one little pieces of Christ and think this is Christianity. This is not Christianity.

If we would realize that God only has one Gift, that is, His Son Jesus Christ, it would save us a lot of unnecessary heartache and effort. Would it shock you to learn that God has not given us a thing called eternal life? The Apostle John made this quite clear in his inspired writings, saying first of all, in the oft-quoted John 3:16, that the Son is that which was given, and eternal life is simply the reward for those who receive the Son. It becomes even more apparent in the First Epistle of John, and one of my favorite passages of Scripture: This is the record, that God hath given us Eternal Life, and this Life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath Life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life. Yes we are given Eternal Life, true, but the Life is not floating out in space somewhere waiting to fall on those who ask. Eternal Life has nothing to do with everlasting existence. Eternal Life is a Person; the Life is the Son; hence, we need only ask if we have received Jesus and we shall know whether we have Eternal Life. The Life is bound up in the Son, as is every one of Gods precious gifts. Having the Son, we therefore have all the Son has. Eternal Life is simply an alias for Christ.

Now the Scripture concerning eating His flesh and drinking His blood becomes clear. Jesus had just multiplied the bread and the crowd was thrilled. Give us to eat of this bread evermore, they said. Please hear what I am saying. It is good to be fed, to have the bread and fish multiplied before your eyes, and to take up the basketfuls that remain. This was indeed a miracle. But the things Christ gives you and does for you will never satisfy you. Only He alone can satisfy. They ate of the loaves, and were filled, yes. For a time. After a little while the hunger came back again, the stomachs began to growl, and they had to seek Christ for bread all over again. This pattern would fain repeat itself for ages. So Christ offered them more than another meal; He offered Himself as the final solution and fulfillment of all they hungered for.

The simple, beautiful truth of this passage is that we must receive Christ into ourselves, digesting Him so to speak, and thus uniting with Him. For he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Obviously the physical Christ could not be received, as the crowd pointed out. How then do we receive Christ? May I say it reverently? The Holy Spirit is Christ in a receivable form. The physical Christ can multiply the loaves and fill our stomachs; but the Spiritual Christ can satisfy us with His Presence. This is why He said, It is expedient for you that I go away… but I will come again. We look forward to His Second Coming, and the Rapture of the Church, but there is an immediate sense to which He refers to as well: that is, His coming to us in the form of the Holy Spirit. As a Man we could only behold Him, as Holy Spirit we may receive Him; as a Man He could give us to eat; as Spirit He becomes our food and drink, our life and sustenance.

If you are a born-again, child of God then you have done this at least once in your life. The moment you said, “God, I cannot save myself. I trust in the finished work of Christ to save me, Jesus be My Savior and Lord,” that is when you stopped trying to earn your salvation through works. You entered into rest. You “retired” from being your own savior. And most people have learned that it is settled from that moment on. You would not dream of going back to the days of trying to work for your salvation. You’re saved and you know it.

That is how you begin the Christian life. But there is more to the Christian life than just getting saved. That is the first step into a larger world. Jesus is continually calling out to you, saying, “Come to Me, and I will give you rest.” That is a progressive thing. It is a daily thing. Every day we come to Jesus, everyday we hand over something else, every day we learn to rest in Him, and trust in His life.

What does it look like? Well, so many Christians struggle with sin. They struggle with their feelings, their emotions, their memories. They worry, they fret. They are in bondage to fear. They are in bondage to bad habits. They are in bondage to their past hurts. They experience many defeats and very few victories.

Can we not trust Jesus to give us rest from these things as well? If we can trust Him and believe Him for salvation, can we not trust Him and believe Him for victory? That is what He means when He says, “Come to Me, and I will give you rest.” This rest that we enter into is intended for every area, not just salvation. How very pitiful if we can only rest in salvation but we have no peace, no rest, no freedom from the constant stresses and disappointments and fears of this present time.

The principle of the Sabbath rest is applicable to every area of your life, not just salvation. Are you ever troubled with anxious thoughts? Of course, from time to time we all worry about something. But when we have entered into His rest we no longer worry about it. Outside of Him there is plenty to worry about; but when we come to Him, and stay in Him, He gives us rest, and it is impossible to rest and worry at the same time. A worried person cannot sleep, and certainly cannot rest. A person who is resting in the Lord does not worry.

Mark 3:14 is a special Scripture for me, and it illustrates this very important point. It says that Jesus called twelve disciples, that they should BE with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach. We are anxious to go out, to be used, to go to work; but Jesus is more interested in the relationship, in being with Him, in learning to rest in Him. Remember the Sabbath day, get that principle deep down in your spirit, before you launch out into the doing.

Of course I come into contact with a great number of people who are coming out of the religious system, and they are usually full of a lot of anxiety and excitement. When they ask me for advice, I counsel them to take a year off and “do nothing” for awhile. What I mean is, religion has kept you doing, doing, doing for God. There needs to be a season of rest. You need to experience a Sabbath day and just “be” with Jesus in terms of spiritual activity. Oh yes, that sounds so nice, but I have seldom met anyone who could do it. They come out of church, and before you know it they start a home church, or they go looking for fellowship with others, or they get restless and end up going back to church where things are more familiar. The idea of just being with Jesus and resting for awhile is completely foreign to their understanding.

Regardless of where you are in your journey – a new Christian, someone who is just coming out of religion, or someone who has been in the wilderness for a long time now – you cannot get away from this principle of the Sabbath day. It is about relationship. Being with Jesus. Coming to Him and resting in Him.

Are you content to just be with Jesus? Is Jesus enough? When Jesus is enough then you are resting. We you feel something more is needed, and you start looking outside of Him, then you become rest-LESS.

What if we took a position with the Lord that says, “I am content to just be with You. If you see I am lacking something, I trust you to bring it. But I am not seeking anything outside of You. That includes fellowship with others, ministry, spiritual experiences, or anything else. You are enough for Me.” God can do something with that. Now you are getting aligned to the Sabbath principle. I’m not seeking, or striving, or trying to make anything happen. I am content, I am resting in the Lord. And that is the life of faith, the life of trust, the life of rest.

This dimension of the Lord Jesus was something quite new to John. Because Jesus did not come to judge the world right away, but to save it, we tend to think of Jesus only in terms of the “Lamb” – meek, silent, longsuffering, and turning the other cheek. He certainly is all that. Yet here we get a glimpse of Jesus as the “Lion”. He said He was indeed a King, but that His Kingdom was not of this world. Up until now the kingly aspect of Christ and the majestic glory of His Kingdom had remained hidden.

When this other side of Christ was revealed to John, he “fell at His feet as though dead.” At the Last Supper, John had leaned on the Lord’s breast and eaten dinner with Him. In this context, however, he can do nothing but collapse at His feet. There at His feet we discover there is a difference between the Holy and the Human; the One Who comes from Above, and the ones who come from Below; the One Who is Spirit and Truth, and those of us who are merely flesh and blood. His feet are burning brass. This is His majesty, and His righteousness. It immediately identifies Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Righteous Judge, the Living Word Who discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Jesus is both God and Man. He is the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. When we are before the Son of God in His glory we can do nothing but fall to the ground and worship. But with the Son of Man, we can eat with Him, talk with Him, and wash His feet. We can also curse Him, persecute Him, crucify Him, and kill Him. As the Son of Man, He is approachable, even vulnerable. However, as the Son of God, we see Him transfigured into something so bright that men are blinded by the sight of Him, and fall to the ground in fear, wonder, or worship. There, at His feet, the Kingdom of God has arrived, for He has the preeminence.

We note this and call attention to it, for this is what makes revelation so significant, so vital: Christ can, at will, either reveal Himself to us, or hide Himself from us. If He chooses to hide Himself then He appears to be nothing more than the carpenter’s son from Nazareth, and there is nothing about Him which arouses our admiration or commands our attention. But if He chooses to reveal Himself to us then we will see Him as more than a Man. We will perceive in Him something which is other-worldly. We will fall down at His feet.

When we are before Him in this Kingly capacity we dare not lift ourselves up beyond the level of His feet, for He is Lord and Christ of all. To sit at His feet is to die to myself and agree with God’s estimation of Christ as Head. It is to acknowledge Him and His Kingdom as preeminent. Now would not be the time to speak of the Lord as our friend and pal and someone we walk around with hand in hand. Oh, that is included in Him, and I certainly enjoy this relationship with Jesus. It is very intimate and personal, even fun. And of course there is much to say concerning the Bridegroom and the Bride, emphasizing how Christ loves the Church, and how we may have intimacy and communion with Him. We need to hear it and thank God for it.

But there is another side to this Lion of the Tribe of Judah which the Church, by and large, has yet to discover. We talk about coming up to the throne and boldly making our requests, but we have only a dim idea what it means to come before the very throne of God and fall down at the feet of Jesus. We casually sing songs and have our praise and worship services without really knowing what we are doing. We have lost a sense of the MAJESTY of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When they came to arrest the Lord Jesus in the garden, He asked, “Who are you looking for?” And they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He simply said, “I AM.” When they heard this they fell over backwards to the ground. No one can stand before I AM and retain any of their strength. To the ground we will all go, for that ground is holy. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This revealing of Christ is sufficient to bring saint and sinner alike into absolute surrender and submission. Friends and foes alike find themselves at His feet, quite unable to stand before Him. He does not have to raise His voice or call down fire from Heaven or do anything other than simply reveal Himself for Who He is. Every doubting Thomas eventually cries out, “My Lord and My God!” when they finally behold Him.

We can talk about His presence and His glory and His majesty – yes, we can even sing songs of worship which incorporate these words into the lyrics – but we do not really conceptualize or comprehend what it means. If we really did see something of the majesty and the glory of the Christ of God we would not be so casual. We would be reverent. We would not take the Presence for granted. If we can take Him for granted then we have failed to apprehend Him. We have not yet seen Him. We do not yet know Him. We need to spend some time sitting at His feet.

John gives us a new title for Jesus: “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” (Revelation 1:5). When the Kingdom has come and God’s Will has been done on Earth, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says:

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations” (Psalms 22:27,28, NIV).

There beneath His feet of brass we touch His glory. Come quickly Lord Jesus, that you may have the manifest preeminence in all things – beginning with us individually as Your disciples, with the Church as Your Body, and ultimately with all Creation, that Your Kingdom may come and Your Will may be done: as in Heaven, so in Earth. Amen.

“As the fullness of God – all that He is and all that He has – dwells in Christ, so the fullness of Christ – all that He is and all that He has – dwells in you” (Colossians 2:9,10a).

I am afraid that we do not truly appreciate the fact that God has never given us things, but has summed up everything into Christ, having poured Himself into His Son. Having the Son, possessing the Son, being one with the Son, we have and possess everything God is. It never has been a question of seeking ten, one hundred, or one thousand different things from God. If we do not know from our experience, we should at least know from the Scriptures, that Christ is the Gift of God. Then our experience will come into line with God’s Thought. If you are used to seeking spiritual “things” (love, joy, peace, anointing, power, blessing, etc.) then this message is particularly for you, but we all stand to benefit from being reminded constantly that Christ is God’s One Gift.

It is the fullness of Christ that we are after, the revelation of Christ as He in fact is. For too many Christians the Lord Jesus is “merely” their Savior. Thank God He is our Savior, but there is a depth and a richness bound up into the personage of Christ that goes far, far beyond “mere” salvation. Salvation is the narrow gate – coming into the fullness of Christ is the narrow path. The gate is only the entrance to something larger.

The principle we have in mind here is All Things In Christ. If we see this then we will be delivered from “things”, from lack, from dissatisfaction, from inferiority, from defeat. The Lord has much to gain by us entering into His fullness now, as opposed to waiting for some future appointment with Him in heaven. It is here on the earth that we need to pray for His Kingdom and His Will to be accomplished. May the Lord illuminate our hearts as we explore these depths.

Christ is the Blessing Of God

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).”

All we have and all that we are as Christians is based upon our union with Christ. Apart from Him, we have nothing, and we are nothing. But in Him we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. Think upon the ramifications of that. If this is true then we have very little to ask God for, and very much to praise God about.

For most of my life as a Christian I sought God for things. When depressed, I would seek joy. When worried, I would seek peace. When weak, I would seek strength. When angry, I would seek self-control. When defeated, I would seek victory. Most Christians are taught to approach God and seek these things when they are conscious of some lack. For a time it seems they are given what they ask for, but soon they are back asking for more of the same thing. Today we ask for patience, and tomorrow we ask again, and the day after that we have to ask yet again. So it is with peace, joy, victory, and everything else.

Eventually we must learn that we have everything in Christ already. That thing called “patience” that we are so diligently seeking is not a thing at all, it is Christ. “Victory” is no longer a “thing”, it is a Man. And so it is with everything else we need. It is certainly possible to seek spiritual blessings from God apart from Christ, or in addition to Christ. What a difference it makes to realize that He HAS (past tense) blessed us already – not with three or five or twenty blessings – but with every spiritual blessing. However many there may be, we have them all. Where and how has He done this? Thank God, it was done the moment we received Christ and entered into Him as our All in All. God would have us seek Him first, and not His things. To Him there is no “thing”, for they are all summed up into Christ.

Again, it is the preciousness and extreme worth and value of the Lord Jesus that we have in mind here. May we see before God that God’s Gift is Christ – not a lot of spiritual blessings that we must diligently seek after, one by one, until we accumulate them like a collection of virtues or special graces. That is not to say there are not many spiritual blessings we can obtain from God, only that they are all found in Christ. Having the Son we have all that pertains to the Son.

“If God did not spare His own Son, but freely delivered Him over to death on our behalf, how will He not also, with Him, freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)?”

Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like a man who found treasure buried in a field. With great joy he went out, sold all his possessions, and purchased that field. The point of the parable is this: the one who owns the field possesses all that lies buried within the field. It is not a matter of getting the individual pieces of treasure, but of gaining the field. Once we have the field, we have the treasure.

The Scriptures tell us that hidden in Christ are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3)”, “every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)”, and “all the fullness of God (Colossians 1:19).” Since this is the truth, we maintain before God that His Gift to us is Christ, and to the extent that we appreciate the value and preciousness of the Lord Jesus, to that same extent will we be satisfied spiritually. We will find fullness in the Son, and will not find it necessary to be continually pumped up or propped up as we go about our daily walk as Christians. Imagine the foolishness of asking God for a “few coins” to get you through until Sunday while wealth is buried just below your feet. Or, imagine the vanity of thinking we have to go “here” or “there” to get something from God (such as a “blessing”, a “word”, an “anointing”, etc) when we already have everything He has. I will go so far as to say that when we know the preciousness and costliness of the Lord Jesus we will not ask God for anything else. The one who must ask God for “things” has not yet fully appreciated the treasure he has in Christ already.

Perhaps an illustration would be helpful at this point. When God wished to test Abraham, He did not ask him to sacrifice a sheep, a ram, or a cow. He did not ask for Abraham’s gold or silver or tents or possessions. He went right to the heart of the matter and asked for Isaac, the son of promise. How gladly Abraham would have given anything and everything but his own beloved son. But in the willingness to give up his son, he was, in essence, laying everything down on the altar. When God owns what the man loves most, He owns everything the man has.

In the same way, the Father, wishing to demonstrate His great love for us, has not given us parts and pieces of things, but has sacrificed His only Son. By giving us His Son, He has, in essence and in fact, freely given us everything. When man possesses what God loves most, he owns everything God has. This is why I say we have little else to ASK God for, but much to PRAISE Him about: for IN CHRIST, God has freely given us all things.

God Gives Us Nothing Outside of Christ

“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life (John 3:16).”

To the casual observer this verse appears to be giving us a thing called “eternal life”. But that is not what this verse says at all. God has not given us salvation; He has given us His Son as Salvation. This Scripture tells us that God loved the world, and this love prompted Him to remedy the situation by giving us His Only Son. What is the gift? It does not say, “For God so loved the world that He gave eternal life.” If I may say it bluntly, it was not eternal life that we needed to begin with; we needed His Only Son. What good is eternal life without the Son? See before God that there is only One Son, One Gift. Now all who believe IN CHRIST have eternal life. At the moment of New Birth we did not receive salvation, we received the Son. Hence, we are saved. Salvation is not giving me eternal life, but giving me Christ as my Life. Hallelujah! Do you see this?

There is a difference between salvation and a Savior; between deliverance and a Deliverer; between healing and a Healer; between redemption and a Redeemer. The first is a “thing”, the second is a Person. This may sound self-evident and elementary, but before God the difference is vast, and in actual experience the difference is incalculable. If we are not clear on the matter of His Son we will find the Christian life very difficult, if not impossible, to live. I have the “thing” because I have Him; having Him, I do not need to search for the “thing” anymore. What do you have? An experience? A word? A doctrine? A belief? Or a Man? This is the difference between a living Christianity and a dead religion.

We have to come to know the height, length, breadth, and width of HIM, and may I say that we will never come to the end of Him. But we do not search for anything as if we do not have it, nor do we hope to gain some new thing, for what we call “new” is simply that which has been seen for the first time. Thus, revelation is critical, for it unveils what we already have. Having the Son, we have all.

“It is of God that you are in Christ Jesus, Whom God has made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30).”

This is a very rich verse. We have already seen how the Lord Jesus is given to be our Life. Upon that basis we can lay claim to everything else. Here we see that to those of us who are in Christ, He is made to be our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It does not say that He gives these things to us, but that He is these things in us.

Again, this is the difference between a living Christianity and a dead religion. Most of us are still trying to attain something and have not yet realized that we have already obtained it. We wear ourselves out in order to be Christ-like. We are hoping that through much effort we will one day reach some standard to which we can finally say we are living like Jesus. But this is not God’s way. It is not a changed life that God seeks from you, but an exchanged life – that is, your life is to be given up in exchange for His life. “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me (Galatians 2:20ff).” That is the exchanged Life: my life for His Life.

We should have learned by now that we cannot change ourselves. Jesus says we cannot increase our stature by a single inch through worry and self-effort (Matthew 6:27). If we cannot make ourselves grow physically, how can we ever hope to make ourselves grow spiritually? Have you ever seen a brother or a sister try to act sanctified? They wear themselves and everyone else out. It is a burden to be around such a person. That is not Christianity. Christianity is this: not that I am trying to be wise, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Wisdom; not that I am trying to be righteous, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Righteousness; not that I am trying to be sanctified, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Sanctification; not that I am trying to be redeemed, but that I accept the Lord Jesus as my Redemption. Henceforth I cease trying to be anything, and I allow Him to be Who He is through me.

We must be clear: these things are not the “reward” for years of faithful service, or the fruit of walking with Jesus after a long period of time. If I have Him now, then I have all that pertains to Him now. My Wisdom, my Righteousness, my Sanctification, and my Redemption has a personality, for He is all those things in me. It is not a question of my behavior, or my conduct, or my feelings one way or the other – those things will come into line soon enough – but it is all based upon this accomplished fact. Christ is God’s Gift. I repeat, we have much to praise God about!

Christ Is Infinite Supply

“The Father gives you the True Bread from Heaven… I am the Bread of Life (John 6:32b, 35a).”

The people were asking for Jesus to give them bread, but failed to recognize that He Himself is the Bread of Life. They worked and toiled for something which would perish, but were not willing to receive the True Bread that would not perish. Again, the significance of the Lord Jesus is not that He can give us bread, but that He is the Bread.

Why are we following the Lord? Is it for what He can do for us? Is it so we can enjoy His blessing? Is it because He supplies our needs? Do we want the gifts or the Gift? If our motivation is for blessings then we will soon be disappointed. Indeed, from this time forward, many of His disciples turned back and stopped following Him. How many of us will continue to follow when the Lord fails to respond to us in the way we have grown accustomed? The Lord may provide you with bread for a season, but there is a difference between looking to the Lord for bread and looking to the Lord as bread. May God show us the difference. The Gift of God is not what Christ can do for you, but Who He Himself is.

The ones who seek bread from the Lord will be temporarily filled, but all who seek the Lord as Bread will be constantly satisfied. What is more, they will have resources from which to feed others. It is a shame that many Christians only seek to be filled, and still they are never satisfied. They are content with a meager pittance, for a few crumbs from the table. They are constantly obsessed with being filled. To such ones we can only say that it is time to seek the Lord, not for what He can give you, but for Himself.

“Things”, even spiritual things, cannot satisfy. Only Jesus can satisfy, and since all fullness dwells in Him, we need nothing else. Eventually we will learn that Christ is the Gift, and when we do, we will be enlarged. We will be able to minister Life to the Body. What are we giving people: bread, or Christ? If we are ministering bread then they will become dependant upon us to feed them all the time. If we point them to Christ, they will find in Him an infinite supply.

“If you knew the gift of God, and Who I am, you would have asked Me for a drink, and I would have given you Living Water… Jesus stood and shouted ‘If anyone is thirsty, come to Me and have your thirst quenched! Anyone who believes in Me, as the Scriptures have said, will have rivers of Living Water flowing from within’ (John 4:10; 7:37b, 38).”

As some pursue “rivers” and “watering holes” how refreshing it is to know that Christ is the Living Water. How can we know the difference between Christ and what is proclaimed as the manifest power or presence of God? It is quite simple: the one who drinks from a “meeting” must continually drink to stay full, but the one who knows Christ as Living Water has their thirst quenched altogether.

We are empty because we do not know the Gift of God. “If you knew the Gift of God, if you knew Who I am, you would have asked Me, and I would have given you.” Those who hunger and thirst after Righteousness (Christ) are filled continually. Those who hunger and thirst after anything else must be constantly looking for their next fill-up. We repeat a thousand times, the question of abundance or lack in spiritual Life relates to how we see the Son. If we clearly see the Son then we see all that God has, and all that God is. In Him is fullness. To leave where we are and seek out some man or woman or ministry at the ends of the earth in order to be filled or blessed is a serious tragedy. How much time I have wasted in that pursuit, before knowing Christ as All in All! Broken cisterns cannot hold water for long.

We must know the Gift of God. The one who knows will not only be satisfied, but will have abundance of Life springing up from within. If we are mainly interested in being filled for ourselves then we will have little to offer anyone else. Yet when we know the Gift of God the Life will overflow. “You anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows (Psalms 23:5b).” Are you an overflowing Christian, with all of God you can hold, and much leftover? Sadly, this does not describe many of us. To drink is a beginning, but God’s goal is an overflow. How we need clear revelation into the Son! How we need to see just how precious and worthy He is!

Here is the glory of our union with Christ: when we come to Him to drink, we become what we are drinking. Jesus clearly says the streams of Living Water overflow from within the innermost being of the person who knows the Gift of God and has come to Him to be filled. To begin with it flows from Him to me, but eventually it flows from me outward. What can anyone possibly give me that, in Christ, I do not already possess? So the question is not are you “in the River”, but is the River in you? In all things God directs us continually to His Son as All in All. May He give us grace to see Him.

Abide In Him

“Of His fullness have we all received, blessing upon blessing (John 1:16).”

Just how full is “full”? How many people does “all” include? We have to believe that full means complete, and all includes each one of us. “Of His fullness we have all received.” No one, no matter how “anointed” they may appear, has more fullness than anyone else. And if we have received it already then there is nothing for us to do to get it. If I have already entered into a room and sat down in a chair then there is no need for me to try to get into the room anymore. I am there already. We entered into Christ when He entered into us: we do not have to enter into Him over and over again, we are merely abiding in Him.

I am frequently asked how do we partake of this fullness? How do we walk in it? What practical application exists for living according to this Truth? We see what God says, but we also see our situation. We see Jesus, but we also see ourselves. God says we are complete in Him, but we say we are incomplete. God says we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, but we say we still need this or that. What is the problem here? Is it not a glaring discrepancy between what God says and what we say? Whose word is more reliable?

The solution is not to look at one’s self at all, but to look away to Christ. Then we will not have to worry about the practical side, it will develop of its own accord. Let us get a foundation first: then the Life will find a way to manifest. I am convinced that we have plenty of faith, we just have faith in the wrong things. Many Christians have more faith in the Law of Sin and Death than they do in the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. We are more conscious of what (we think) the devil is doing and how weak we are than we are cognizant of God’s Son. But when we look away to Christ, He is increased. As He is increased, we are decreased. We must become lesser, He must become greater. When Christ looms larger in our vision than anything else, we will experience the fullness which is already ours in Him. Remember, the one who possesses the field possesses everything buried in the field. Meditate on that, breath it, live it.

We must ask God for revelation into His Son. Lord Jesus, reveal Yourself to us as All in All. Illuminate our hearts to see you. Bring us into the full-knowledge of Yourself. No matter our feelings or experiences to the contrary, we acknowledge that we are complete in You. You do all things well! Teach us to look away from all that pertains to man and to see You as You really are. Thank you Father for the Gift of Christ! Amen.