There is an old adage that describes
the foundation to success in business as being not what you
know, but who you know. There is much truth in this adage,
and it is primarily the reason that most people who are involved
in places of political power generally become enriched by
their so-called service. While the veracity of this adage
may not be proven in all cases having to do with monetary success,
it is most certainly true in the realm of becoming rich in
the kingdom of God. There are two men which every
man who is born again must be acquainted with. Without a close
acquaintance of both of these men, no man shall inherit the
kingdom of God. One of these men is described
in the scriptures as the first Adam, who is born of the flesh
and is the purveyor of sin and depravity to his offspring. The
other is called the second Adam, or the Lord from heaven, who
is tabernacled among men in flesh and blood, without sin, and manifesting
the only true and perfect righteousness of men which is accepted in the
heavens. The ministry of the Spirit of God in the earth is
to testify of the glory of Jesus Christ. By His power, He convinces
those whom He is pleased to enlighten of these three things, sin, righteousness,
and judgment. This power is that which causes
a man like Saul of Tarsus, who was intent on destroying those
who were preaching the gospel of Christ, to fall upon his face
and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. A revelation of the
utter holiness and exaltation of Christ is that which reveals
to men their sin and depravity. We see this demonstrated on Mount
Calvary as a sudden revelation of His stature stopped the mocking
of one of the thieves and brought him to repentance. So too is
every one of those elect children of God being called from darkness
to light, made to acknowledge His perfect righteousness, and
in the process to hate His own sinful way. You can tell a man
that he is a sinner all day, and it will have little effect.
In fact, most men would acknowledge their own imperfections quite
readily. Yet when the Lord is pleased to reveal to a man the
absolute majesty and glory which surrounds the King of glory,
that man will be slain before Him, and he will then know not
simply in his head but in his heart that he is a sinner, unworthy
of the least of the Lord's mercies, even as the publican who prayed
in the temple. Thus he will become fully acquainted
with his own corrupt nature and confess, as David did in Psalm
51, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. By nature, men believe that they
have within their own understanding and power to approach God at
any time and on whatever terms they might so choose. Just like
Cain of old, they each assume that they can either worship
God according to their own desire and will or choose not to. All men by nature are exactly
the same, completely estranged from God and abiding under the
condemnation of sin. Unless and until they are awakened
by grace and enabled to see themselves in that dire condition, they
shall not seek the Lord unto salvation. The infidel perishes
in his own willful ignorance without any love for the truth,
while the religious man perishes in his own supposed righteousness,
in which he believes he pleases God and approaches Him by his
own free will. God, who is rich in mercy, is
pleased to reveal the glory of Christ Jesus the Lord to sinners,
otherwise they could never have any knowledge of him or themselves.
They would go merrily upon their way, thinking that they are doing
God a service, as Saul of Tarsus, who all the while was opposed
to the truth of God. It is in and by the revelation
of God that a man is utterly convinced of his own depravity
and inability of approaching unto God by any other means than
through the redeeming blood and complete righteousness of Christ.
A man may be acquainted with his own sin in a measure prior
to that revelation, yet unless a man is acquainted with the
glories which reside in the man Christ Jesus, he cannot truly
know the depravity which resides in his own imperfect flesh. To
know Christ in truth is to be also apprised of what we are
by nature. Blessed is that man who has come
to know himself by having been caused to know He. He is eternal
life.