We know from Scripture that man was created in the image and likeness of God. It was God Himself who breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, thus giving him a spirit that elevated him above the beasts of the earth. The spirit in man enabled him to interact with his Creator and to have fellowship with Him. The fall has spoiled all this, and sin has degraded man morally to the point where Scripture tells us that “man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (Psa. 49:2020Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:20)). His character, morals, and behavior eventually become little better than that of the lower creation, who do not have a God-conscious aspect to their being.
Appreciation for
Moral Uprightness
However, even in his fallen state, man appreciates moral uprightness in others, even if he does not display it himself. His conscience is still there, and his soul and spirit are exercised by contact with moral dignity. When a world leader recently acted in a manner beneath the dignity of his position, a TV host remarked, “When you are actually powerful, you don’t need to be petty.” The French phrase “noblesse oblige” (nobility obligates) conveys a similar thought, for the world holds to a higher standard those who are in positions of respect and honor. This is where Christian testimony comes in, for it is our walk before the world that has the greatest effect upon it. Man may deny the believer’s message, but he cannot deny a walk that is on a morally high plane. It was so with our blessed Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His walk down here. The world hated Him because He testified to it that its works were evil (John 7:77The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7)), yet was compelled to admit that “never man spake like this man” (John 7:4646The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. (John 7:46)). Their anger at His preaching might provoke them to try to throw him headlong from the brow of a hill (Luke 4:2929And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. (Luke 4:29)), but they also “wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Luke 4:2222And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? (Luke 4:22)). The believer today is called to walk in that same moral elevation that characterized the Lord Jesus.
Life and Walk
We may well ask how this is possible, in a world full of sin and pollution of every kind. First of all, it is important to see that repentance before God and a new life in Christ are absolutely necessary if there is to be any moral change in man. Such things as philosophy, culture, education and government may curb man’s natural tendencies for a time, but they can never rise higher than their source, which is fallen man. Mixed with all these will be the same degradation as before, although perhaps with a veneer of respectability. Man must turn away from his sin and have a new life in order to be morally elevated.
Second, now that he is a believer in Christ, there must be a walk with God. God desired this fellowship with man from the beginning, but all was spoiled by sin, so that man hid himself from God. Fellowship with Him is now restored, and on an even higher level, through the work of Christ. The hymn expresses it well:
“Though our nature’s fall in Adam
Seemed to shut us out from God,
Thus it was His counsel brought us
Nearer still, through Jesus’ blood.”
Now the believer, having new life in Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, can walk with God and display all the character of that new life — the same life as Christ Himself.
Privilege and Responsibility
This is at once a wonderful privilege and also a great responsibility for each one of us. Every believer possesses a new life, and “he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:66And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. (John 2:6)). In the walk of our blessed Lord, there were two things that were kept in perfect balance. On the one hand, he always walked in the consciousness of who He was — the One in whom dwells “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:99For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)). He could openly challenge His adversaries as to that walk, asking them, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” (John 8:4646Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? (John 8:46)). Truly “in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:55Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)). This perfection was manifested in all the varying circumstances of life, for Christ was the same, whether in the street, in the temple, in a private home, or with His disciples. There was divine perfection in His every act.
On the other hand, the Lord Jesus did not insist on the place that was rightfully His. He submitted to all the insults and hatred of man, while speaking to man’s conscience all the while. More than this, He endured even the ignorance and lack of courtesy to which He was so often subjected, saying nothing unless the glory of God demanded it. He did not complain when the Pharisee failed to show Him the common courtesies of the day, such as washing His feet and anointing His head (Luke 7:36-5036And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 37And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 40And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 49And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (Luke 7:36‑50)). But when that same Pharisee dared in his heart to condemn the poor woman who anointed Him, our Lord made reference to this lack of courtesy in order to teach a lesson.
Humility and Dignity
In every situation in our Lord’s life, we see this perfect balance. He displayed a moral glory in His submission to the Father’s will and to all that man could do, while at the same time walking in perfect moral dignity and showing out the character of God. The believer is called to walk in this same path and to show forth this moral glory in a world of sin. There is a beauty in this to which nothing can compare. We get something of the thought in John 17:2222And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22): “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them.” While this surely does allude to the display of glory that will be seen in us in a coming day, there is the sense in which that glory is displayed now in the saints of God in this world, who walk in humility and lowliness, yet in a moral dignity that is fitting to children of God. Surely “it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:22The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (John 3:2)), but one of the strongest testimonies to an increasingly corrupt and violent world is the exhibition of God’s character by the believer.
Another has expressed it well, and with examples from the Word of God:
“There is nothing in morals or in human character finer than this combination of willing degradation in the midst of men and the consciousness of intrinsic glory before God. We see it in some of the saints beautifully. Abraham was a willing stranger in the midst of the Canaanites all his days, not having a foot of land nor seeking to have it, but when occasion served, he would take headship even of kings, conscious of his dignity in God’s sight, according to God’s own counsel. Jacob would speak of his pilgrimage, of his few and evil days, making himself nothing in the reckoning of the world, but he would at the same moment bless him who at that time was the greatest man on the earth, conscious that, under God and before him, he was ‘the better,’ the greater man of the two” (J. G. Bellett).
As believers, we should seek to exhibit this same combination of virtues today. As we have already mentioned, the world is getting worse and worse, while things like moral uprightness and common courtesy are simply not common anymore. More and more, we need to walk in the company of our blessed Master and in the power of the Spirit of God, in order to show that we belong to Him.
W. J. Prost