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Unlocking the Secret of Life
by Tom Stewart
January 2, 2001
On June 26th 2000, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome
Project at the National Institutes of Health, and Craig Venter, CEO of the private
company Celera Genomics, made a joint announcement that they have completed a draft
of the master blueprint of a human being. A genome is all the DNA in an organism,
including its genes, which determine the heritable characteristics of an organism.
This database of the tens of thousands of genes in the human body was enthusiastically
compared to "putting a man on the moon", by Dr. Michael Dexter, the director of the Wellcome Trust, which funded
the British part of the Human Genome Project. "I
am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth
right well" (Psalm 139:14).
The significance of the sequencing of the human genome was hailed by Dr. Steve Kay,
a geneticist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California as "comparable to Darwin's theory of evolution." President Bill Clinton announced jointly with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair that the "basic information on the
human genome is public property" (as reported by Carol
Clark of CNN Interactive, in her article, "On the threshold of a brave new world").
Armed with this new genetic information, scientists may combat disorders such as
diabetes, as well as develop "designer" babies. But, the potential of genetic
discrimination may rear its ugly head against the genetically disadvantaged, i.e.,
for employment screening or insurance purposes-- predicting who may become an excessive
burden and, therefore, an unacceptable employment liability, insurance risk, etc.
And, of course, a Hitler-like megalomaniac could engineer his super race. "And this they begin to do: and now nothing will be
restrained from them, which they have imagined to do"
(Genesis 11:6).
Indeed, as monumental a scientific breakthrough as this is, the human understanding
of the Almighty is still infinitely more valuable.
"23 Thus saith the
LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness, in the Earth: for in these things I delight, saith the
LORD" (Jeremiah 9:23-24). The Saints
have already been privileged to discover that the True Secret of Life is that the
Creator's "Divine Power hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and Godliness, through the knowledge of [Christ Jesus] that hath called us
to glory and virtue" (2Peter 1:3).
Man's insufficiency is God's supply. "Not
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency
is of God" (2Corinthians 3:5). When
we were as Lost Sheep, apart from Christ's Saving Grace, the Good Shepherd sought
us out and found us, ransoming us with His own life. "I
am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Our overwhelming sense of sin could
not be met by anyone but Christ, Who became "sin
for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2Corinthians 5:21). Thus, the Secret of Life will
benefit an Awakened Sinner, who does not see how his sin can ever be overcome by
God or himself, only when the Holy Spirit discovers to him that the
"Son of God was manifested, that He might
destroy the works of the Devil" (1John 3:8).
This pattern of man's deficiency and God's sufficiency is the Secret of Life. "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity
captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the
LORD God might dwell among them" (Psalm 68:18). The recurring pattern must first identify the human lack, then the Spirit
of God must reveal to us God's supply. "1 In the year that King Uzziah died
I saw also the LORD sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled
the Temple. 2 Above it
stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and
with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole Earth is full of His glory. 4 And the posts
of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is
me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.
6 Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs
from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy
lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged"
(Isaiah 6:1-7).
Again, the Secret of the Christian's Life is tied up in our trusting the Almighty
for whatever our lack is. "Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2Corinthians 12:10). Whatever our natural deficiency
is, He makes up with His Infinite Supply. "But
my God shall supply all your need according to His Riches in Glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). That is the way of the Christian's
life, if we pause to consider it. God expects us to trust Him to supply for our
deficiency, after He discovers to us His sufficiency.
"And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee: for My Strength is made
Perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the Power of Christ may rest upon me" (2Corinthians
12:9).
The goal is not simply to comprehend that we have a necessity, but to realize that
He is the Supply for our every need. "29 That no flesh should glory in His
presence. 30 But of Him
are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and
Sanctification, and Redemption: 31 that, according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD"
(1Corinthians 1:29-31). For example, after we sense that we
are in a situation where we are being tempted to sin through impatience, then we
need to immediately plead in faith for His patience that we may walk in patience.
"In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19). His patience can be seen in that He
suffered long with the world for the benefit of the few who were rescued and preserved
by His Ark. "Which sometime were disobedient,
when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was
a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1Peter 3:20). When we plead for that Supply of Patience,
we must count on His Supply-- on penalty of sin, where our disbelief would
call Him a liar. "But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the
wind and tossed" (James 1:6).
Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) ---New
Window referred to this process in his 19th century theological
way, as Entire Sanctification, where Christ in His unique names, titles, and relations
meets our every need in life. [See Finney's article at WStS, "Relations of Christ to the Believer" ---New Window.] "And the very God of Peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the Coming
of our LORD Jesus Christ" (1Thessalonians 5:23). We must see how He is the practical answer to our everyday need of "holiness unto the LORD"
(Zechariah 14:21). Our prayer for the Body of Christ in this
short period before He Raptures us Home, is that He might discover to all of us how
He is the Supply of our every need. "But
my God shall supply all your need according to His Riches in Glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Maranatha!
.
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