We Are Radioactive

2/12/1993

Another important concept that Sparks manages to put into words is “Christ ministered, not Christ ministered about.” He’s grasping for words to describe something that is spiritual. He says it’s not just the truth itself, but there is some virtue, some added extra something that comes up that can register an effect on a person’s mind. He talks later about what happens: “The Word of Christ being livingly brought forth” — something along those lines. It’s not just words; it’s not just bible stuff; it’s not just principles, but it is the living and active Word of God. In the beginning chapters, the book of Proverbs talks about craving for wisdom, calling out to God for understanding and knowledge and wisdom. Another word for what he is talking about when he talks about “Christ ministered, not just Christ ministered about” is “anointing.” It’s a more popular word and it’s probably misused a lot these days, but it describes the living and active Word of God, the kind of word that cuts to the heart and lays bear the thoughts and intentions. Gray area is absolutely evaporated when the light shines. It works both ways—it can convict of sin, and it can also be the word to sustain the weary and to turn a person around who was very downhearted. There is something special about “it’s not just words.” There is a virtue; there is something added.

Especially for those of you…maybe the younger generation who are having a little bit of difficulty saying that. I think you know the difference when something really touches your heart. It’s not just that it is true facts and principles about God— not just true things said about God— but there is something about it that touches our hearts, either in a way to convict us deeply, or to encourage us tremendously or whatever else the effect is. A term that is used a lot nowadays is “the anointing.” I think it is often misused, but that is who Jesus was—Christ, the Anointed One. One who just lived that way—everything He did was anointed. There was something special, divine. Not just ordinary, but supernatural. The thumbprint, the fragrance, the aroma of the other world was just a part of everything Jesus did, and it can be a part of everything we do.

That’s what I think Peter was talking about when he called us to participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption caused by evil desires. That kind of life is possible, and I think it is something that we should crave. Solomon said, “Call out; crave it.” This is what life can be about, to have the Christ within, living, touching, alive, the Uranium-235 hitting and having an effect. You are radioactive and it is going to have an effect on you. I am radioactive, so you can’t be near me without it having an effect one way or the other. It is very difficult to put words on it, but I think that the Sparks writing is very, very precious, just because he managed to wrap some words on something that is precious. He put words on something that is the will of God for all of our lives, something that I believe is a prayer that God wants to honor—that we would cry out, call out and say, “God, I know this is Your will for me. It seems like such a high call, but I know it is possible.” It is possible for each of us to live and walk in that kind of life because that’s what the uranium inside, the Jesus within, is like and it just needs to be expressed somehow or another. We need to get things out of the way— Nick talked about cracking the earthen vessel in order to do that— but it is precious. It’s precious. If you can live your life with a deep and ever-increasing measure of that kind of Jesus -life that touches more than just words- the Life expressed through your life- it is a glorious, tremendous thing. It’s also, as Sparks makes the point in the reading, a tremendously costly thing. Costly thing. “Death is at work in us that life could be at work in you”- something really to consider.

These are some of the precious things, some of the gems. This is part of the treasure from the storehouse, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God that has been given to us. This is part of the knowledge of the secrets, not just to know a lot of stuff, but to walk in that kind of life. That’s part of the secret—to be in communion with God to the extent that it is not about techniques, it’s not about knowing all the right answers. It’s about the secret of a life truly in touch with God that has cracked the earthen vessel so that the life of Christ within can be expressed. It can register an effect that cuts through all the layers of self and personality and whatever else stands between a person and their heart. It has the ability to cut right to the middle of all that and to have the effect of whatever God’s will is for that person—to convict of sin, to encourage in a way that is supernatural—whatever it is, that’s what Jesus does; that is what He is like; that’s what the Word of God is all about. It’s the will of God for each of us to learn to walk that way. I really treasure that writing. I read it fairly frequently, because it captures something in a way that is absolutely precious. I don’t know where else that it has been captured quite that way.