Everything was committed into the hands of the Son. At no period of His being and life in any form or place did He count that equality with God was a thing to be grasped at. He knew it and understood all it meant, but deliberately humbled Himself from it. He was content to give all to the Father who gave all to Him. 'In Him most perfectly expressed the Father's glories shine; of the full deity possessed, eternally divine'. God's act of putting Him to grief was incorporated into man's act of putting Jesus to death. It entailed unspeakable pain and suffering, made possible only because of His complete self-denial. Total non-existence of desire or will or word or deed to obtain, attain or promote His own right to recognition or glory is as utterly natural as it is eternal in Jesus.
In God equality does not breed over-familiarity, for over-familiarity destroys sacredness. It is a noxious poison, vitiating relationships and attitudes of men; it is an evil leading to worse evils. One of its worst manifestations is the way it has tinged expressions of praise and worship of God in the churches. True sons of God must reject these repulsive expressions; they show bad taste, rising from the natural annihilism of untaught minds. Equality can only exist by the kind of self-sacrifice which is advised among us by Paul, 'love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own', 'in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than himself' — this is true humility. Jesus said, 'my Father is greater than I .... I and the Father are one'.
This always was and still is His attitude — 'He humbled Himself'. Father, by whose will His Son was slain, did not need to slay Him Himself; Jesus Himself did it. In scripture this fact is so evident; He said of Himself, 'I lay down my life that I might take it again', and others said, 'He offered Himself without spot to God, He gave Himself a ransom for all'. It is true that He said His Father had given Him commandment to lay down His life, but that was not because He Himself was unwilling to do so, nor was it because He was inferior to and only a mere subordinate of His Father, it was the crowning glory and visible point of voluntary obedience rendered in true filial love.
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G.W. North (1913 - 2003)
G. W. North was born in London England in 1913. As a young man he became aware that the Lord was calling him into the work of the ministry. At timely stages the Lord placed folk in his path who were able to direct him into the truth of heart purity and a more expansive understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He held pastorates in Kent and Bradford. By the late 1960s, following a significant period of ministry in Liverpool, he began a more itinerant ministry. This led him to many parts of the world, and occupied him until well into his eighties. His powerful preaching and the unique sense of the Lord's presence, which seemed to brood over his meetings, were always intensely challenging.The true secret of his remarkable ministry stemmed from his personal communion with the Lord Jesus. To him, 'entering the holiest' was not merely a theological concept; it was a distinct spiritual reality - and the central feature of his spiritual life. It was here, in the place of worship, that his revelatory ministry found its source. He preached from understanding and conviction. He was never the echo of another, nor did he take on board the ebb and flow of various contemporary emphases. He was not a man of 'books'; he soaked himself in Scripture and allowed it to saturate his heart and mind. Truly, this is a man who has lifted up a standard for the people. Mr North went to be with the Lord on 29th April 2003, shortly after his ninetieth birthday.