We bought a used Buick years ago. It drove well, was comfortable, and looked good on the outside, but it had a serious flaw. From the start, there was a faint exhaust smell that seemed to go away while driving, but over time it got worse. Despite multiple trips to mechanics and countless repairs, the issue persisted. Instead of replacing the car, we just kept trying to fix it. Now, I have to drive with the windows cracked just to breathe. But, “the car still drives fine.”
This is the kind of reasoning we repeatedly give ourselves rather than facing the fact that our painful trying to fix the problem will not yield a different result. Like the car, we might look fine outwardly, but inwardly, we know something is not right. Instead of fully turning to the Lord, we keep trying to fix ourselves — our sins, bad choices, or behavior. This endless painful trying dulls us, making us miss the Lord’s timing and distancing us further from Him. Our trying is painful, not just for us but for the church.
But praise the Lord, a believer’s life is not a life of “fixing” or “trying”! Paul speaks along this line: “But you did not so learn Christ, If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus, That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind / And put on the new man…” (Eph. 4:20-24). What we need is not a “fixing” of our old man, but a completely new living. Our old man is corrupted and can never be fixed. Hallelujah for the truth!
The moment we see the reality of the vanity of our minds, we can come out of ourselves and be lifted up. Minding our spirit, by eating and offering up the ascended, resurrected Christ to one another, is the way for us to be resurrected and ascended. When Peter and the other disciples with him on the day of Pentecost stood to speak of the ascended Christ, they were immediately in Him. Their focus was not on sins or trespasses, which have nothing to do with building the vision of Christ and His church, but rather they spoke entirely on the resurrected and ascended Christ. Resurrection and ascension are not theories, but living experiences that express the transcendent Christ.
Brothers and sisters, Christ doesn’t want our pitiful effort to fix our old life. He calls us to die to ourselves, be transformed, and ascend with Him. We let go of all of our painful trying. He has already accomplished and done everything. Through His death and resurrection, our old ways are buried and we spontaneously have this new and living way in Him.
– CO