Men have written many lives of Jesus, setting forth the beauty, the grace, the wisdom, the gentleness, and the power of him who was the chief among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely. In the New Testament we have four lives of Jesus — we call them the four gospels. But St. Paul tells us that in every Christian’s life the life of Jesus is to be written — “That the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” And it is these lives of Christ, written in men’s daily lives that are needed to save the world.
How is the life of Jesus to be manifested in his followers? It is not enough to talk about him. There are those who, with silver tongue, can speak of Jesus eloquently and winsomely, in whom it cannot be said that his life is manifested. When the apostles were sent out, they were not to witness for Jesus, but were to be witnesses for him, unto him. It is not more preaching that is needed today to advance the kingdom of God among men — it is more gospels in the lives of Christians. It is not what we tell people about Christ that makes his name glorious in their eyes, that makes them want to know him, that draws them with their needs, their heart-hungers, their sorrows, their defeats, and failures to him. It is only what we manifest of Christ in our own life that is really witnessing for him. We preach just as much gospel as we get into disposition, character, act, life.
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