REDEMPTION: A MORAL RESTORATION TO THE DIVINE IMAGE

     By A. W. Tozer

     Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace
     always by all means . . . . 2 Thessalonians 3:16

         Symmetry is a right proportion of parts in relation to
     each other and to the whole. By this simple definition
     symmetry of character is both highly desirable and
     extremely difficult to attain. Yet it is precisely what
     Christ had in supreme degree and what every one of us
     needs if we are to become saints in something beside
     name!

         We can hardly conceive of God's creating us in such a
     way that we should be forced to sacrifice one good thing
     to attain another.

         If redemption is a moral restoration to the divine
     image, (and it must be that ultimately), then we may
     expect one of the first acts of God in the Christian's life
     to  be  a  kind  of  moral  tuning-up,  a  bringing  into
     harmony the discordant elements within the personality,
     an adjustment of the soul to itself and to God.  And that
     He does just this is the testimony of everyone who has
     been truly converted!

         The new believer may state it in other language and
     the  emotional  lift he  enjoys  may  be  so  great  as  to
     prevent calm analysis, but the gist of his testimony will
     be that he has found peace, a peace he can actually feel!
     The twists and tensions within his heart have corrected
     themselves as a result of his new orientation to Christ.

             He can then sing,
             "Now rest, my long-divided heart;
             Fixed on this blissful center rest."

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     Yours in Christ,
     Paul N. F.