Spring 1999
There is a Difference
Everett Allen

There is a difference between our giving mental assent to what we believe, and understanding and embracing truth through a personal relationship with the Lord.

Many proclaimed that they had truth, but Jesus came teaching that He Himself is the truth. He said,

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one
comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6.

Jesus spoke to the seven churches in Revelation, chapters two and three, commending them for the ways in which they faithfully followed Him; and He reproved them when they followed their own ways.

Then in Rev 3:21 He said,

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me
in My throne, even as I also overcame and have sat
down with My Father in His throne.”

The root principle of that which we must overcome is given in Genesis 3:6.
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took
of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her
husband with her, and he ate.”

They chose to satisfy their desires, apart from remaining dependent upon the Lord. To this day, all humanity suffers the effects of their choice.

We become an “overcomer” by crucifying the Adamic nature and all desires of the flesh which live by the values of man, and return to the place of unconditional dependence upon the Lord that was forfeited by Adam.

When we personally know the Lord, we become aware that His love, mercy, and truth are the real values of life, and that His ways are far better than anything we could accomplish, apart from Him.

Only then can we begin to understand why the apostle Paul said,

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” Phil 1:21.

The Lord desires a people who through their own free will, accept His life as their own, in a relationship in which His life flows out through their lives.

Only then will we understand that true satisfaction and fulfillment can come only from personally knowing the Lord.
We were created for this.