Christ's Life in You — Erlo Stegen

We once again would pray that Thou wouldst speak to our hearts. Open Thy word to us that we understand. Amen. There's a word that exercises me of late. It is so easy that we get used to the word, reading the word, and listening to the word.

But there's a cry in my heart that that word which we hear may penetrate our innermost being that it will change our lives. It is so important that our lives speak louder than our voices. We know the truth.

We read the Bible every day. But does it change our lives? And that is my cry that my life will speak louder than my preaching. That at home, if I'm with my family, if I'm with visitors, that they'll see the likeness of Christ in me.

That is important to me. We've got enough of hypocrisy amongst us. We all do as if we are good Christians. But we get angry. We get irritable. We get unfriendly. There are so many things in our lives that shouldn't be there, and we get used to it, and we don't do anything about it.

And I look at my life every day and say, Lord, does that conform to that which thou hast in plan and had in plan from the beginning of creation? And it brings me to the first chapter in the Bible. And in chapter 1 in Genesis, we read in verse 20, verse 26.

Humanity Created in God's Image

After he had created the whole earth, the whole universe,. And then he said, on the sixth day, he said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish, the sea, over the birds, and the air, and all over cattle, and the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Because he wanted man to rule over the whole creation. In other words, that we should be the manager of all creation. And he said, let us make man according to our image. According to our likeness. When God created man, he wanted man to be like him.

He wanted to put man on earth that would manage the whole earth. He wanted man to represent God on earth. And he said, let us create man to our likeness and to our image. That was the heart of God the Father when he created man.

That was supposed to be the duty of man here on earth. And when we read the Bible, it was God's aim to have man restored to that what he's supposed to be. That's why he gave Moses the commandments. Because he wanted through the law, create or make man that he should be in the image of God.

The Law, Sin, and Humanity's Failure

That's why he gave Moses the commandments. And he said, I'm going to give them my commandments that if they keep to that, they will be according to my image and my likeness. That was the heart of God.

He wanted to get man back to his rightful place. That's why he gave Moses the laws. But to find that man didn't accept those laws. Or that they didn't keep the laws. Paul writes to the Romans, he said, that what I want to do, I don't do.

And that what I'm supposed to do, I don't do. Because of the evil one who had come in and taught us disobedience. And through the ages, God tried, he sent his prophets, he sent godly men onto this earth to restore, to get man back to that place what he had intended creating him for.

They brought sacrifices when they had sinned. But it didn't work. It didn't bring people closer to God. Because of sin. Sin prevailed. And then our savior Jesus Christ said, I will come and I will bring that sacrifice that will make peace between man and God.

I will bring that sacrifice and through that, shedding my blood, I will be able to deal with sin in mankind. And that is the point I am getting to this morning. Have we experienced that God has come into our lives, that Jesus has come into our lives and has dealt once and for all with sin?

Because it is sin that separates us from God. I had an interesting encounter this week. A person came to me and said, I have been seeking God for years and years. I have gone from place to place trying to find the reason why my life is that what it is.

Encountering the Conviction of Sin

And then I heard of this place. And I boarded an airplane from Europe to come to South Africa. Because I have been to so many places, so many churches, so many groups of Christians trying to find the solution for my life.

And then I came to this place where you are. And I went into the evening services and on Sundays. And during the day, I attended the services. And all the people could talk about in every meeting was sin.

Until I realized, I couldn't understand why do these people always talk about sin. Because in so many places, you go and you hear about the love of God. And that Jesus has died on the cross for us and that suffices, we needn't have anything else.

But when I came here, they always talked of sin and said, you've got to confess your sins. You've got to come to the Lord Jesus with your sins, with your short fallings. That he might be able to forgive you and change your life and come into your life.

And this person said, I'm a believer, I surrendered my life to the Lord. I've got everything I need. But when I came here, people started and preached about sin. And I didn't understand. I thought I've come to the wrong place.

Maybe this is a place that's only here for those dreadful sinners. But one day, as I listened, it was as if the Lord took that veil away. And all of a sudden, I understood what it meant to come to Jesus with your sins.

I was depressed. I had lost all joy. And I thought, well, heaven isn't for me. It's only for those that are holy. But then all of a sudden, I realized that the Lord is busy trying to get me back to that place.

Receiving Christ's Life Through the Holy Spirit

To the place that he created me for. He created me to be the image of Christ. And I said to myself, Lord Jesus, how often have I surrendered my life to you? But all of a sudden, I realized I need more than that.

I need the very nature of Jesus Christ in my life. I need his life in me. That I am governed by God, the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all the truth. And then I said, oh, now I understand. Because he's a holy God, he wants a holy temple.

He wants a holy abode. Because he's holy, he can't stay in a place, in a temple that isn't clean. And that's why he gave me his Holy Spirit to lead me into all the truth. To convict me of my sins. And I said, Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

Lord Holy Spirit, take over. I've tried everything, but it doesn't help. And I want to trust thee, that you come into my life. And you change my very nature. That I may be a new creature. That I may be that which I was supposed to be when you created me, when you created the universe.

And now I understand why Paul wrote to the Romans and he said that what I want to do, I don't do. And that what I'm supposed to do, I don't do. And he said, now you come into my heart and you change that.

And I want to clean the temple of God. And this person started confessing her sins. And this person confessed from her childhood right up to this day whatever she remembered. And while she was doing her countenance, her face changed and she started smiling.

She said, oh this is extraordinary, why do I feel so different already? And that which was so heavy on my heart and on my soul is lifting, it's lifting, she said. And I find peace in my heart. And all of a sudden my joy comes back to me.

And she said, now I understand when that veil, when that law of Moses was lifted. And when I saw that I need Jesus Christ in my heart. All of a sudden I realized if I've got Jesus in my heart, I can keep all the commandments.

I needn't do much about it, it becomes my nature, it becomes my life. The law has been written into my heart. And all I need to do is obey God the Holy Spirit. And if he shows me something in my life which isn't right, I immediately confess it.

And I don't want to disturb that beauty which he is granting me through this what I'm experiencing. And this person said, I'm so thankful that I could come to a place where God could reveal himself to me.

Restored Relationship With God

And say it is only sin that separates me from God. It was sin that separated Adam and Eve from God. And that is what the Lord Jesus has come for, to restore that relationship with our Heavenly Father again.

And that's what I want to do, I want to see to it that that relationship isn't disturbed in any way. Oh it was wonderful, those moments we had together, my heart rejoiced and I said, Lord, that's what it is.

I want to cleanse my life, that you can have free sway in my life. Where there's no more irritability, where there's no anger, where there's no judging, where there's no unfriendliness. Where all that has passed away.

Remaining in Peace Through Trials

That no matter what happens, I will always be in perfect relationship with Thee. And now I understand Job, when he lost everything, he lost his family, he lost his worldly wealth, he lost everything. And he stayed calm, he stayed in perfect relationship with God.

And I looked at my life, if everything goes wrong, no matter what it is, everything goes wrong, can people see Christ in me? No matter what messages I receive, no matter what comes my way, whether it's accidents, whether it's death.

No matter what it is, that I stay in perfect peace with Christ. That I might come back to that place where God created man in His image and His likeness. Whether people understand me or not, whether people like me or not.

When people persecute me, I stay perfectly in peace and harmony, I stay the same. Just listen, you are my epistle written in our hearts, you are read by all men. What do people read in me? 2 Corinthians 3 verse 2.

The Christian Life as a Letter Read by Others

What do people read in my life? You know, that drives me onto my knees. I meet up with so many people in one day. What do they read in me? Do they read irritability? Unkindness? Unfriendliness? I haven't got time for them?

What do they read in me? Do they read Christ in me? And that is important to me, dear friends. What do people see in me? We are a letter written not by pen and ink, but by the Spirit of God. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God.

Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh that is of the heart.

2 Corinthians 3 verse 3.

Christ's Law Written on the Heart

Paul writes to the Romans That when Christ is in me, I keep all the commandments. Those commandments aren't done away with. But Christ, when he comes into my life, his law is written onto my heart. And I keep it because it becomes my life, it becomes part of me.

It's not written on stone or on paper. This is written on my heart, in my heart. It becomes part of me. That is my nature. That is my life. I act and react as Christ reacted. No matter what happens, right into death, he could even pray for his enemies.

And that's what I pray for, Lord Jesus. That's the life I want to live. Where the very life, where the very nature of Jesus is seen in me. And if he is written, his law on my heart, and in my heart, it's easy to keep the law.

Reflecting Christ in Every Circumstance

And my question this morning is, I want to stop because we want to go to Durban. Has that law been written in my heart already? Have I become like Christ? Is that my life? No matter in what circumstances I get, that I may show forth the beauty of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

That I have the same spirit as what the Lord Jesus has. That I have that same spirit, that same feeling as Christ has. That when I meet up with situations. That I may keep quiet and for a moment say, Lord Jesus, what do you say?

And I'll make the right decision because I've got the same spirit as what my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ had. I want to stop there, I don't want to be late for the bus, and I'd like you to have something to eat before you leave.

A Life That Speaks of Christ

And all those that are going, what will people read in your lives? If you take part in that march, those that see you, those that read you, what will they read? Will they see the glory of heaven in you, or will they see something else?

And it is my cry that all those that are going, that we'll be able to show the whole world. That they'll see Christ. Let us pray Lord Jesus, that is our desire, that we'll become more and more like Thee.

That our life will talk so loud that we needn't say much. And that those that are going to Durban, that that march will speak so loud, then all the voices put together. May that be my life at home, with my wife, with my children, with my family, with mankind.

And may we come back to that place and fulfill that for which Thou had created man. Into the likeness of the Triune God God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Be merciful Lord and grant us that Amen.