12/10/2023
We are creatures of both natural and spiritual construction. It is God’s desire that our natural selves be disciplined, and come under the authority of the spiritual, but that wild and unschooled nature is not a passive student in this transition. Have you gained control over your natural self? Are you waiting for God to make this choice for you? Well, He has His desire, but the choice remains yours.
“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.”
Galatians 4:22-23 ESV
We are like Siamese twins and are born conjoined, the spiritual and the natural, yet these two halves of us must, by necessity, now learn to coexist... which part will dominate and which will lose itself in subjugation? A decision must be made, and the nature of one must die in order for the whole to survive. Without this death of personality then a constant state of war will exist within us; the peace of God will not reach fruition, and sin, in constant rebellion, will thwart righteousness and prevent it’s surfacing victorious, just as the spiritual side will torment the worldly. Are you at war within yourself today?
The natural part of ourselves desires those things that are of the world, but in this way it can never be a Son or daughter of God. For this to occur, it has to surrender itself to adoption and become spiritual like its brother. On the one hand, if the spiritual wins out it gains eternal life, but on the other, if the physical wins then there is imminent death. Perhaps a different analogy would make this clear...
There were two eaglets born into the same nest, but it is a lean year and the parents are unable to bring enough food for the both of them. Eventually one becomes a bit stronger than the other, and it pushes its weaker sibling out of the nest, and it falls to its death. The parents don’t make this distinction, it is the nature of the eaglets, and the choice becomes a struggle, until finally a victor arises. This is true of our two natures, one will become stronger than the other, and eventually push the weaker to its death. God doesn’t make this decision, but allows the eaglets within us to determine who will survive. Which nature is becoming stronger within you? Who will win the struggle for your soul?
When we subject our physical nature to the spiritual, we become one in Jesus Christ. We allow our physical self to become the adopted child of God, and the war within us subsided as harmony reigns supreme. Paul speaks of this when he writes:
“In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"”
Galatians 4:3-6 ESV
So we, like the conjoined twins, like the eaglets, and like Ishmael, and Isaac, have been born to the same father, one of us worldly, and the other spiritual by promise... who will win the struggle for the birthright? Who will win our soul? Which will subject himself? This is our decision, and this is the great struggle that each of us faces. On the one hand we can choose God, purity, and eternal life, and on the other we can choose the world, sin, and our years are numbered.
Choose!
“But what does the Scripture say? ”Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman."”
Galatians 4:30 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for allowing me the choice between my natural and spiritual self, and I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who has made it possible for me to be adopted by you as your spiritual child. Receive me now Father, and help me in my struggle to subject the world’s nature that resides within me. I have made my choice Lord, but I need your strong hand to overcome the continuing struggle of my physical self. Let your Holy Spirit reside in me as an ally against the darkness that has allied itself with the world against me. Go before me Father, and I will follow you into your kingdom victorious. Jesus, you are my Lord, my brother, and my joint heir in eternity. You have made provision for me in heavenly places with your intercessory prayer, and have prepared a table for me in our Father’s house. Come quickly Lord Jesus and celebrate my victory over the world within me, even as you have defeated it for us all. Praised be your name Jesus, and praised be the name of God, our Father.
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 ESV
Rich Forbes