(The Growth of the New Nature and the Hope of Final Transformation)
June 29th reminds the believer that the new life does not appear in its full maturity at the moment of regeneration. It begins as a new creation learning to live from its true source. Yet what begins in apparent weakness will one day be completed in glory, when every limitation of the present life gives way to the fullness of God’s purpose.
The New Life Begins in Weakness
Chambers writes:
“When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristics of being maimed.” (My Utmost for His Highest)
Chambers reminds us that regeneration is a beginning, not a completion.
When the Father brings forth a new life through spiritual rebirth, the old patterns of the flesh have not suddenly disappeared. The believer discovers that while a new principle of life now exists, it has yet to be fully expressed.
The new life must learn to walk.
It must learn to discern.
It must learn continual dependence upon God.
This is why the believer often feels weak in the early stages of spiritual growth.
The weakness is not evidence that God has failed.
It is evidence that the new life is learning to live from a new source.
The Father does not abandon that life.
Through the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit, the life of the Son is progressively manifested as the believer remains responsive to his will.
Spiritual maturity is therefore not instantaneous.
It is the gradual formation of the mind and life of Christ within the believer.
The Hope of Complete Transformation
Spurgeon writes:
“Blessed is death, since it, through the divine power, disrobes us of this workday garment to clothe us with the wedding garment of incorruption.” (Morning and Evening)
Spurgeon lifts the believer’s eyes beyond the present life.
The limitations we now experience are temporary.
This present body bears the marks of weakness, mortality, and the effects of the fall.
Yet God’s purpose does not end with the present condition.
The believer lives in hope.
Death is not presented as the believer’s defeat.
It marks the end of what belongs to the old order and the entrance into the fullness of what God has prepared.
The life that has been growing through communion with the Father will one day be free from every hindrance.
What has been developing through faith shall then be enjoyed in fullness.
The Father’s work will reach its completion.
Where the Two Meet: Growth Now, Glory Then
These truths belong together beautifully.
Chambers reminds us that the new life begins with weakness.
Spurgeon reminds us that it ends in glory.
The believer should neither become discouraged by present limitations nor impatient with God’s process.
The Father is accomplishing exactly what he has purposed.
The spirit of sonship is being formed through daily communion.
The life of the Son is being manifested progressively.
And one day the work now carried on in weakness will be brought to completion.
One truth explains the beginning.
The other reveals the end.
Together they encourage patient faithfulness.
The believer learns to accept the Father’s present work while living in joyful expectation of its final completion.
Pastoral Orientation
June 29th calls for patience and hope.
Do not become discouraged because the new life seems weak or incomplete.
The Father is faithfully bringing it to maturity.
Do not lose sight of the hope that lies ahead.
The life now being formed in communion with Christ will one day be revealed without limitation.
As you continue walking “after the spirit,” you will find that each act of obedience strengthens the life God has begun, while your hope remains fixed upon the day when his work will be fully completed.
Walk patiently.
Hope confidently.
And you will discover a life that grows steadily through daily communion with the Father, manifesting the life of the Son in increasing measure, until the day when every limitation is removed, and the spirit of sonship finds its complete expression in the glory God has prepared.