Page 42 - In His Image

than by My going to the cross, reveal that way now." What was the answer? There
was none; the heavens were silent. By this eloquent silence we know that there was
no other way for God to justify guilty sinners than for Christ, the sinless Savior, to
die as our Substitute.

What lesson is to be learned from the Gethsemane event? How should the disciple
grow as a result of understanding what took place in the Garden? It is a simple, yet
eternally powerful... "nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." A disciple is
concerned, concerned to the point of action, of being about the Father's business.
His agenda is put aside to fulfill the call of God in his life. Another way of relaying
this powerful truth can be read in Galatians 2:20...
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me."
The disciple no longer lives for self, for "self" has passed away with the "old man,"
the old sin nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). The disciple now lives for Christ, through
Christ, to be about His business. He is a new creation, born of God's Spirit. Jesus
Himself models this truth for us as we see in John 5:19...
"Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do
nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also
does in like manner."
The Message Bible presents the 19 verse this way...
th
"So Jesus explained Himself at length, 'I'm telling you this straight. The Son can't
independently do a thing, only what He sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the
Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes Him in everything He is doing."'
Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus was the very manifestation of God in our time
and space. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, God incarnate! Jesus is the fulfillment
of God's love for us in a tangible, real way. Our walking as disciples should be our
response to the love that God showered us with two thousand years ago. It should
be our response to being blood bought. It should be our choice to follow Him
because He (Jesus) chose to be about the Father's business, to forego completely
His will.

The message of Gethsemane should resonate in our hearts continuously... Father,
NOT my will, but YOURS be done. A true disciple's life is shaped by this truth!

In His Image 33