How dependent on God
are human beings?
Completely. Totally. Altogether. Fully. Utterly.
“It is He that hath
made us, and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3)
“In Him, we live
and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
“He giveth to
all life and breath and all things” (Acts 17:25).
“Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights”
(James 1:17).
The “low view” of
ourselves begins with the most basic fact of our existence, namely, God is God and we are not. The Lord Jesus Christ and John the
Baptist unite to reveal this most basic of all truths.
“Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
“And John confessed and
denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ” (John 1:20).
While we might think this to
be the most obvious of truths, the fact of the matter is that from Eden onward,
the flesh of humanity bears the devilish deception, “Ye shall be as gods”
(Genesis 3:5). Left to ourselves,
we believe ourselves worthy and capable of navigating the course of our own
lives. Evidence to the contrary is
overwhelming, but the deception remains until salvation in the Lord Jesus begins
deliverance from the delusion of our divinity.
From the most wicked to the
most godly, the next breath comes as the gift of God, as do “all things,” and
“every good gift and every perfect gift.”
The believer’s low view begins here, at the altar of, “Thou art God
alone” (Psalm 86:10). We know this
in principle and doctrine, but we will be tempted throughout our lifetime to
live as if self autonomy and self sufficiency are possible for beings who did
not originate themselves, and who do not sustain themselves. Thus, we do well to often bow at the
simple, but vital altar whereupon we yet again view the ashes of the most basic
of sacrifices: “Thou art… I am
not.”
“It is good for me to draw
near to God: I have put my trust in the
Lord GOD, that I may declare all Thy works.”
(Psalm 73:28)
“He that trusteth in his own
heart is a fool.”
(Proverbs 28:26)
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