Friday

Related Verses
Gen. 1:26
26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Isa. 43:7
7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created, formed, and even made for My glory.

Rom. 3:23
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Luke 22:31-32
31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have you all to sift you as wheat.
32 But I have made petition concerning you that your faith would not fail; and you, once you have turned again, establish your brothers.

Rom. 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Related Reading
God created us that we might be for Him. He created us to be His expression and His representation. He did not create us for ourselves. But we live independently of Him. When we hate others, we are independent of God, and when we love others, we are also independent of God. This means that in God’s sight our hatred and our love are the same. 

Furthermore, neither our hatred nor our love is from our spirit. Rather, both our hatred and our love are from our flesh, and both are from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan. We should not think that only doing evil is of Satan and doing good is not…We need to realize that anything we do out of ourselves, whether good or evil, is for ourselves, and since it is for ourselves, it is sin. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 184-185) 

—

Sin involves a power struggle. We may love others for ourselves—for our name, position, benefit, and pride. This kind of love is in the power struggle with God. We need to pray, “Lord, save me from doing anything for my pride, for my name, for my promotion, for my benefit, for my interests.” This is to be saved from the power struggle with God. When we love others for our name and promotion, we are not for God. This kind of love is of Satan; it is in the flesh, and it is sin. Whatever is in the flesh is sin, whatever is sin in our flesh is Satan, and whatever is done there by Satan is the power struggle. 

Our love for our children may be in the flesh. The New Testament charges us to raise up our children in the Lord. However, we may raise up our children for ourselves and our future. This is sin. 

Even in the church life we may do things that are not for God but for ourselves. We may do something that is very good, yet deep within our hidden intention is to do that good thing for ourselves…For example, in giving a testimony or in praying, we may want everyone to say “amen” to us. We may offer a high, spiritual prayer, but our aim in doing so may be to receive the “amens.”…From this we see that even in our prayer there is the power struggle with God. We desire position, not God. 

Because we may have hidden motives in doing spiritual things, the Lord Jesus spoke concerning those who do things apparently for God but actually for the purpose of advancing themselves. Therefore, He said, “Take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them” (Matt. 6:1). Concerning giving alms He said, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (v. 3). Concerning prayer He went on to say, “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men” (v. 5). Concerning fasting He said, “When you fast, do not be like the sullen-faced hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that they may appear to men to be fasting” (v. 16). Even in doing righteousness, giving alms, praying, and fasting, there may be a power struggle with God. To do these things for ourselves and not for God is sinful in His eyes. 

To take Christ as the sin offering is very deep. The experience of the sin offering is altogether related to our enjoyment of the Lord Jesus as our burnt offering. The more we love the Lord and enjoy Him, the more we will know how evil we are. Sometimes, when we love the Lord to the uttermost, we may feel that there is no place to hide ourselves…When Paul was seeking the Lord, he saw that there was nothing good in himself [cf. Rom. 7:18]. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 185-186) 

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 8, pp. 25-35; CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” ch. 6