In a day when so many either ignore apostolic ministry, or others pervert its meaning, it is a joy to read and understand the big picture of what the Lord has purposed for His Church.
There's so much rich wisdom Don conveys in "Creation's Cry", it was hard to decide which excerpt to post here. But I settled on Chapter 11, a subject near and dear to my heart:
Interdependence
While we must have integrity within ourselves, we must also have integrity among ourselves as individual members of the body of Christ who are to walk together. That is, we must allow the Holy Spirit to set us - integrate us - into the body. We are members of one another. Each of us is gifted for the common good.
Interdependence must replace independence.
(We,) speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto him who is the head- Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.
It is the futility of our minds that keeps us from rightly interacting with one another according to the Spirit. Personal ambition, personal insecurities, personal need to be in control or be in charge, have stunted the rightful and righteous growth of the body.
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. it will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.
What is true for our natural bodies is also true for the spiritual body of Christ. "Trust" is a needed virtue for us to be set free from our human limitations. Trusting in the Lord necessarily emcompasses and includes trusting Him in one another. We can do this by faith. We have the God-given grace to do this.
It will be the glory of Christ revealed in us that will produce the unity for which Christ prayed.
"And the glory which you gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one."
The oneness that will convince the world that the Father sent His firstborn Son, and that He loves them as He loves Him, can only be accomplished by our oneness with our God and his Christ. In simplicity, it will be each of us manifestating our sonship by living out the life that He gives us by His Spirit.
You can purchase "Creation's Cry" on Don's website:
http://www.donatkin.com/publications.html
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