Today the very Christ who lives in us is still the One who possesses the human virtues strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes. While He was on earth, He lived a life in the highest standard of morality. Such a life was a composition of the divine attributes and the human virtues. Of course, the Lord Jesus lived this kind of life outside the disciples. But from the time of His resurrection He has been living this kind of life within the believers. This means that within us today the Man-Savior is still living a life in the highest standard of morality, a life that is a composition of the divine attributes and the human virtues. If we see this, we shall say with Paul, “It is no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Have you ever realized that the Christ who lives in you is a composition of the divine attributes and the human virtues? The kind of life He lived on earth He is now seeking to live in us.
We have seen that the Lord spoke in parables to illustrate a life in the highest standard of morality. We have also seen this life displayed in different gospel cases. Suppose you had been the criminal who asked the Lord to save him, and He immediately gave you more than you had asked without any terms or conditions. Perhaps you would say, “Oh, what love this is!” Actually, it is not adequate to call this love. This is the highest standard of morality.
Suppose you had been the one wounded by robbers and left to die without anyone to care for you. Then this good Samaritan came, was moved with compassion, and did everything necessary to save you. This also is something more than love—it is the highest standard of morality. I hope that we all shall see this.
The subject of the Gospel of Luke is the Man-Savior and His salvation in the highest standard of morality. If we have this view in our reading of this Gospel, it will become a new book to us. As we read chapter after chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we need to have the view of the Man-Savior and His salvation in the highest standard of morality.
The Gospel of Luke presents the Savior as a genuine, moral, and perfect Man. This Man revealed God among men in His saving grace to fallen mankind. I like the expression “saving grace.” In the Gospel of Luke God is revealed in a Man who saves sinners by His grace. In this book we have a picture of a Man who is genuine, moral, and perfect, a Man who reveals God in His saving grace to fallen mankind. This Man did not reveal Himself. Instead, He revealed God in His saving grace.
The contents of the Gospel of Luke impress us with the completeness and perfection of the Man-Savior’s humanity. The more we read this Gospel, the more we are impressed that it is the record of a Man, a full, whole, complete, perfect, and real Man. In this Man God is revealed. Hence, this Man is God’s expression. In all He did and said, He was a genuine, complete, moral, and perfect Man who revealed not Himself, but God primarily in the aspect of His saving grace.
The contents of this Gospel do not emphasize the dispensational aspect or the Jewish background. This is in contrast to the Gospel of Matthew, which does stress both the dispensational aspect and the Jewish background.