Recently I started reading "The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me," by Major W. Ian Thomas. The book is meant to be read more as a daily devotional rather than a sit down and plow. Being very early in the book, chapter 4, it is quite unreasonable to give any critique of the book.
Being more of a daily devotion, over a theological treatise, the chapters are no more than three pages long. This is great for someone looking for more than the 1/8 page daily bread but not wanting to read something as meaty to chew on as a work from John Piper, or the like.
The basic premise of the book seems to be (have grace I am only in chapter 4) that God created us to be the bearers of His image in the world; however, because of sin that image has been all but lost completely in humanity and when Christ died on the cross an aspect of His mission was to reboot that image within us, His redeemed.
In Chapter 4, "Instinct for Animals, the Holy Spirit for Man," it is suggested that God has created us to be "functional" only when His presence is instructing or minds, controlling our emotions, directings our wills, and governing our lives. I would resound, absolutely! The Great Commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.
If God created the entire cosmos, then I believe that it begs the question that he should govern it as well. I believe that it also means that the creation will only "function" appropriately under the design of its Creator.
The good news is that the moment we have received Christ as Lord and Savior we are born again. God sends the Spirit into our hearts that we cry abba, father. These words expressing intimacy and dependence in all of life. The Spirit enables God's image to be reformed in our humanity as we submit to his governance in our lives.
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