Where the tongue is lacking, life, through action, reveals the reality. As St Paul says: "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6, NIV)
Almost everyone has an inner capacity - some more, some less - to sense spiritual truths without knowing how they have attuned them. As someone has said: "They know without knowing how."
The will to live, which is present in every person, is an impulse urging us to carry life to its perfection, that is, to that state in which the purpose of God for each life will be fulfilled, so that we will be eternally happy in Him. On the other hand, to those who are without the experience of the joyful inner life in God, life is a burden.
The inner life cannot be freed by changing the place or by killing the body, but only by putting off the "old person" and putting on the new person, thus passing from death to life.
A scientist had a bird in his hand. He saw that it had life, and, wanting to find out what part of the bird's body the life was, he began dissecting the bird. The result was that the very life of which he was in search disappeared mysteriously. Those who try to understand the inner life merely intellectually will meet with a similar failure. The life for which they are looking will vanish in the analysis.
In comparison with this big world, the human heart is only a small thing. Though the world is so large, it is unable to satisfy this tiny heart. Our ever growing soul and its capacities can only be satisfied in the infinite God.
After fulfilling its purpose for some time as the instrument of the soul for its work in the world, the body begins to refuse, through weakness and old age, to go along with the spirit any further. This is because the body cannot keep pace with the eternally growing soul. . . . To die in the Lord does not mean death, for the Lord is "the Lord of the living and not the dead," but to die in the Lord means oneself in his work.
The same breath is blown into the flute, cornet, and bagpipe, but different music is produced according to the different instruments. In the same way the one Spirit works in us, God's children, but different results are produced, and God is glorified through them according to each one's temperament and personality. (pp. 288-291)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)One of the remarkable things about the gospel is that it speaks to my whole life. It does not dominate my life like an oppressive religion would. It does not control my life like cult would. It does not remain in some strange little category like "my faith" or "my religious practice" would. It influences and overflows into all parts of my life and changes them all by its truth and power.
Because of this all-encompassing nature, this good news defies complete explanation. It is not irrational, but is so expansive that it cannot be contained by explanation. In this way, the "tongue is lacking" and only life as a whole "reveals the reality." In Christian terms, this is Incarnation, the Word made flesh. Jesus himself is the only true Incarnation, but now has passed that on to his Body, the Church, in this present age. Although imperfect in so many ways, the present Incarnation still reveals the reality through the life within it.
About this gospel, people "know without knowing" about its truth, so that it causes the reaction for or against Jesus as Lord. Just as a baby has the reflex to grab what is placed in its hand, people start with the desire to survive. Just as the reflex leaves the baby's hand as it grows and is replaced by conscious control, so the will to live grows in the light of the gospel as my purpose is realized and consciously sought after. That purpose is Christ being all and in all, not as an undifferentiated pool of life, but as a family of kindred spirits seeking the goodness of God and his life together in manifold ways.
This life that the gospel gives is not located somewhere physically where it can be measured or identified. Nor is it a life that can be explained fully by what is seen and experienced in this world, but transcends it as surely as my soul will outlast everything I see and only be satisfied with the infinite glory of God. The life that the gospel creates will outlast and tire out this temporary body and only be contained in a glorified body made for the glorified spirit, which is one that is dead to everything but God's work and God's ways. This life from the gospel can sound and look so different in the lives of so many people, but it is has the same breath and vitality that is unmistakably of the Spirit.
Such a message can only be communicated and retained by God himself as Father above, as the Son who teaches and mediates, and as the Spirit who guides and encourages. Such a message brings about a life fully given to love, wanting what is good in God and for God and for other people. Without a God who is with us and our lives fully engaged, the message remains lacking as just of the tongue or "merely intellectual."
Lord, Singh expresses a wholeness of the gospel that speaks to life as a whole. I am encouraged and reminded of that message and how deeply each person needs to hear it and respond to it. Let me put to death that "old person" so I can find life eternal and joyful with you. Amen.
So easily does the gospel become a series of words or a list of deeds. These are so limited and so deadening. The gospel does not come from me, but surrounds and immerses me. It is the invitation into the life and influence of God, his kingdom. It is a new world and the age to come. I need only talk about life and the gospel comes out since it touches everything. Even in my disobedience, I show its rightness and necessity. Only the death of denial can hide its light from myself and others.
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