Philippians 3:8 says, “On account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Second Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” The words excellency and transcendence are very close in meaning to Paul’s words in the original language, both meaning super-eminence. Based on these two verses, we know that the Christ in whom we believe and whom we experience is the One who surpasses and transcends all. If we carefully consider these two verses, we will know what kind of heart and understanding we should have in order to comprehend Christ.
Today we are in an era in which human culture is already six thousand years old. In these six thousand years, human society has had many inventions, and the first invention was human culture. Genesis 1 shows us that God’s purpose in creating man in His image and after His likeness was that man might express Him. Regretfully, before this purpose could be fulfilled, Satan came and tempted man to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The result was that man was joined to Satan. Thus, man fell away from God’s will and lost God. Once man lost God, he did not have any protection, satisfaction, or joy. Therefore, man invented culture as a substitute for God. Genesis 4 shows us that the first few generations of human beings invented different kinds of weapons for self-defense; they invented different kinds of tools for cattle-raising and farming to feed and satisfy themselves; and they invented musical instruments for their amusement (vv. 20-22).
Protection, satisfaction, and enjoyment are man’s three great needs. Originally, God met these three needs, but after man lost God, human culture was invented as a replacement of God to meet these three needs. Today the things sold in the stores are all for man to be protected, satisfied, and entertained. Man needs these things because he does not have God. If we have God, then He is our safeguard, satisfaction, and joy. Today the most cultured countries are all trying to meet these three kinds of need. They spend large amounts of money on national defense for man’s protection; they develop industry and improve agriculture for man’s satisfaction; and they promote different kinds of recreation and music for man’s amusement. This shows that man does not have God within him. Without God, man needs these things.
Man realized that he still was not inwardly satisfied with human culture alone, even though he had protection, food, and amusement. Why is this? It is because these three things can satisfy the needs only in man’s body and soul but cannot meet the need in his spirit. There is a need in the spirit of man that cannot be satisfied with anything apart from God. Hence, man invented worship.
Over the past six thousand years, all nations, whether big or small, barbaric or civilized, all have engaged in the worship of birds, beasts, creeping things, or other kinds of idols. This is what Paul said in Romans 1, that man changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. For example, the Japanese people worship snakes and superstitiously believe that snakes can get rid of evil. The Chinese worship dragons and believe that dragons can bring good fortune. In addition, the Persians worship fire. There is really no end to these strange things. People have all kinds of worship, but they worship wrongly. Worship is a human necessity. A more civilized term for the word worship is religion. Religion is a human invention; it is the product of human culture. Religion teaches people according to the object of their worship; the teaching is based on what they worship. Furthermore, religion is also used to regulate man’s heart. This is why the rulers throughout the ages would never reject religion. In their consideration, it is more effective to have religion along with culture. Religion is a great help to culture.
We all know that based on Marxism, Lenin advocated atheism and practiced communism, but the result proved that this was ineffective. Within humans there is the need for religion. At present, in the Soviet Union the percentage of people who go to church for Sunday worship is greater than that in England. The spirit in man needs God. Hence, man cannot be a godless man; even atheists need God. Around 1954 I read a newspaper article in the Philippines which said that when Beria, the chief secret agent under Stalin, was on the execution field, the execution officer gave him a few minutes and told him that whatever he asked for would be given to him. At the hour of his death, Beria said, “I want a Bible.” Such an atheist, a real Communist chief secret agent, asked for a Bible before his death. This tells us that within him there was a need for God. Later, Kruschev, the man who pronounced the death sentence on Beria, was banished to Siberia. I once read a booklet which said that when Kruschev was in Siberia, he repented and believed in the Lord. The Chinese have a saying: “A man speaks the good when he is about to die.” When a person is about to die, he cannot be hardened; he will repent and believe in God. Everyone needs God.
I believe that some people have read the book Fragrant Myrrh, which is the autobiography of a French woman named Madame Guyon who lived over three hundred years ago. Madame Guyon was born into an aristocratic French family. One evening she attended an elegant ball and danced until late that night. Upon returning home she sat there asking herself, “What meaning does this have? My own family and my husband’s family are both aristocrats and are wealthy. Everything is available for my enjoyment. I do not know how many balls like this I have attended, but what meaning did tonight’s ball have?” The more she thought about it, over and over again, the more she felt it was meaningless. She took off her dancing shoes and gown and threw them down on the floor. In that instant, she felt that she should get up and pray to the Lord. From the depths of her being she prayed to the Lord, and her entire person changed. Later, Madame Guyon became a spiritual person with a deeper experience of the Lord than many in those hundred years following the bringing in of the Reformation by Martin Luther. Her experiences became a help for the next three hundred years to those seeking the growth of the inner life. This also proves that in man’s deepest part there is a need which only God can satisfy.
The Bible often uses the word thirst to describe this human need. Man has a need like that of a thirsty person who needs to drink water. If someone is thirsty and you give him billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, and precious stones, it still will not quench even the slightest bit of his thirst. Only a glass of water can quench his thirst.
The thirst of the human spirit can be quenched only by the living water. Who is this living water? The Bible says that this living water is God Himself, the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit (John 7:37-39). God is the source of the living water, the Lord Jesus is the course of the living water, and the Holy Spirit is the flowing into us of the living water. God flowed out in Christ, and Christ became the Spirit of life to flow into us as the living water. Only this living water can quench the thirst of man’s spirit. Hence, this living water is what everyone needs.
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