Sunlight is essential to life. In the sequence of events at the creation, the creation of light was second only to the creation of the heaven and the earth. According to God’s laws of nature, it was necessary for light to shine before life could exist on the earth. From the Scriptures we learn that light is symbolical of the knowledge of the gospel of Christ. God’s spiritual light has shone from the beginning of creation and it has given life to all who have responded to it. In a natural sense, without light, no life can grow. So also in a spiritual sense, with-cut spiritual light—the knowledge of God’s plan of salvation, mankind cannot gain eternal life.
We see the effect of the light of creation demonstrated for us in miniature each Spring. As the days lengthen, and the sun rises in its zenith, its warmth draws the first green shoots out of the ground. Visible life springs from the dormant seed. Applying this parallel to our spiritual lives, the first step along the road to eternal life is to let God’s knowledge shine in us. This can be done only by absorbing the light of Truth that shines forth from the pages of Scripture.
But I wonder if we are living in a perpetual winter ? Do we read our Bibles so little that only a thin winter light shines ? Or do we use our Bibles regularly so that a bright warm tropical sun awakens us continually to newness of life ? The absorption of spiritual light from cur Bibles is the first step in our spiritual creation.
The second step, after the light has shone brightly, is submission to the ordinance of baptism. Baptism is the public confirmation or acknowledgement of our belief in the gospel message. We formally acknowledge that God’s light has shown in us. It is our first response to the light of the Bible. It is parallel to the first, tender shoot that appears above the ground in the Spring. It is the first public recognition that light has had its effect on the dormant seed.
This leads to the third step of our spiritual creation. The young shoot, the child in the Truth, must be nurtured and protected. In our springtime seeding we place burlap over the grass seed to protect the shoots from excessive sunlight and from washouts. Our infant children are fed strained foods and a bland diet. In a spiritual parallel Peter tells us :
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2).
We all realise how quickly our young plants grow in the bright June sun, how quickly our baby infants become young children. Our Heavenly Father wants us to grow spiritually, too. He teaches that we must leave the simple teachings of the Bible and go on to a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, he admonishes them because they have failed to grow spiritually :
“Ye are dull of hearing. For when the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God ; and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat” (Hebrews 5:11,12). Applying this to our own lives, we must ask ourselves if we are dull of hearing? Have we matured spiritually ? Have we grown in knowledge and grace in the last year? In the last five years ? In the last ten years ? In natural life if someone remains immature or childish we quickly lose our patience. We say, “isn’t she ever going to grow up ?” or, “when is Mary going to act her age ?” Our Heavenly Father wants us to mature, too ! But He is infinitely more patient and long suffering with us than we would be with our own children.
The fourth step of our spiritual creation then is to grow to maturity. In natural life, maturity is reached when life is sufficiently grown to be able to reproduce itself. In fact, the ability to reproduce is one of the attributes by which life is defined. And it is the primary goal of all natural growth. Applying this to our spiritual lives, our goal then is to reproduce or create the character of Christ within ourselves. We must create a new man, a spiritual, Christ-like man within ourselves, Paul says :
“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19).
To reproduce Christ’s character within ourselves, we have to use the same care, take the same precautions that a natural mother would while awaiting the birth of her child. An expectant mother maintains a special diet, she is careful to avoid infections, illnesses or excessive fatigue. Her continual daily concern is that her child will be born safely and in good health.
Like Mary of Nazareth, who lived up to her responsibilities and gave birth to God’s only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so we, too, in a spiritual sense have a responsibility to successfully reproduce Christ within ourselves. The spirit of Christ must be created in us, his character must become our character. The old man of sin must be put away—the new man in Christ Jesus must be created.
Paul describes this lesson for us in Romans 8:10,11: “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Paul carries this thought one step further. If we can change our way, if we can create a new spiritual creature, if we can truly become new men and women in Christ Jesus, then God will grant us eternal life just as He did for Jesus. This is God’s covenant, God’s offer to you and I and to all of His creation.
These, then, are the four stages of our spiritual creation :
- Light—Our Holy Bibles, which can awaken us to the gospel message.
- Baptism—the first public acknowledgement that a fresh, young spiritual shoot has responded to the light, has come forth and accepted Christ.
- Growth to Maturity—We must leave the simplicity of the gospel and grow in knowledge and grace.
- Maturity—We must reproduce a new spiritual creature within us. We must give birth to Christ’s character within our own bodies.
This outline then leads us to this question. At what level of growth are you and I today ? Has the light of the gospel message just begun to shine on us ? Have we been young tender shoots all of our adult lives ? Have we had trouble in growing to spiritual maturity ? Well, let’s not forget that God has a blueprint for each one of us. He knows our hearts, our talents and our innate capabilities. He has set a goal, a growth objective for each one of us. It is up to us to grow spiritually to achieve that goal. How far along the four steps are we at this moment of time ?
The gospel message is not a plaything. We cannot take it lightly. Unless we are led by the spirit of God, we are not the sons of God. If we are not the sons of God, then we will not be heirs of salvation. We must use our talents to grow spiritually, to reach maturity, to fit God’s blueprint. We must reach the top level of cur spiritual creation ; the spirit of Christ must be reproduced in us. If we can grow to this level then Jesus will greet us at the judgement seat with these words : “Well done, good and faithful servant ; enter thou into joy of thy Lord.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One