It could be argued that the main thread of the Bible is God’s desire to be WITH us.
The Creator of the Universe gave up His only Son to have Eternal fellowship with us. But we don’t have to wait until we die. He wants to be with us now.
Ongoing, intimate fellowship with God can begin at the point of our salvation.
Jesus promised it: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23b NASB)
Paul confirmed it: “having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13b-14 NASB)
What a pledge of our inheritance! GOD HIMSELF, in the form of the Holy Spirit given to us!
Sealed in Him – marked, for security from Satan, concealed and hidden, stamped in order to confirm, to authenticate.
As believers in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of Jesus indwells us.
In light of this, how do we live?
In what some consider a summary of the Christian life, Galatians 2:20, Paul answers the above question: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
We died. Christ lives in us now. Our new normal is to live a life of depending on Him to live His life through us.
Our lives are to be marked by the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control exemplified by Jesus’ life on earth.
But how does “Christ lives in me” work out in our everyday lives?
Treasuring God Above all Else
As with other aspects of our Christian lives, living WITH God starts with us realizing, trusting and walking in His love..
God’s love is the reason He rescued us to begin with. Our greatest command is to love Him back. Delighting in God accentuates our longing to be WITH Him.
Skye Jethani, in his book With, writes, “the life with God posture is predicated on treasuring God above all else.” [1] He goes onto say that treasuring the world and a long comfortable life is not a life of living with God.
Our pathway to living out our union with Christ must begin with love for God above all earthly gains: our possessions, success, popularity, comfort, etc.
Our love for God must be absolute. Jesus told his disciples that coming to Him and deeply loving Him, makes human love seem like hate in comparison. [2] Our love for God must be extreme and the more we love Him, the easier it will be to delight in His nearness.
Story: In my human weakness, I sometimes forget that God Himself is my highest delight, especially when I don’t feel love from people who are important to me. During these times, I can easily shift from enjoying the experience of God’s abiding love, to chasing human love to fill my heart cup.
However, more and more an awareness of God’s great love for me is growing. I’m understanding that the love of people are like sprinkles on top of a decadent hot fudge sundae, complete with the dark chocolate sauce, nuts, whip cream and the cherry on top.
God’s love completes me. May I love others out of the abundance of His love, not to try and satisfy my need for love.
Draw near to the One who indwells you and invites you to revel in His love.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth (Psalm 73:25 NASB)
I No Longer Live
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin (Romans 6:4-6 NASB).
For me, our crucifixion with Christ has always been hard to comprehend.
How can a person who lives and breathes be dead? To understand, we must seek deeper truths, beyond the temporal.
In the above verse, Paul says our old self has been crucified. Before our flesh reigned, but having been crucified with Christ, it’s been rendered powerless.
However, until we physically die, we can still choose to walk in the old ways of death. This is why Paul warns us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:12-14 NASB).”
So, on a Wednesday afternoon, in the midst of duties and temptations, how do we live out “I’ve been crucified with Christ and I no longer live?”
Our old fleshly choices have worn paths not easily broken. Even in the splendor of God’s love and His life within, idols and addictions chain our souls. Carnal pleasures, seeped in death, can seem more real and viable than God’s loving presence.
Imagine you were in the Marines and you had a sergeant who was constantly picking on you. Eventually you serve your time and are honorably discharged. As a civilian, you come face to face with your old nemesis on a street corner. Assuming a familiar position of authority, he orders you give him 25 pushups.
Out of habit, you drop and begin churning them out. But then it hits you; you’re free from his reign. He’s lost all authority over you. You stop and walk away. Being a marine is in your past, but that life is behind you. You’re dead to it’s authority and power.
When we’re tempted to walk in our flesh, it’s like meeting that old sergeant. We can still choose to follow Him, but why should we? Now, we can refuse and “present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over us”.
Story: One of my strongest temptations to operating in my “old self” has to do with trying to handle problems in my own strength. Historically, when challenges come I try harder rather than recognizing my weakness and walking in newness of life.
Recently, I fell and severed my quad tendon. I was down the hill from our house at our barn when it happened. When I heard the pop, I knew something had happened, but my first response was to try and stand up and walk. Impossible! Helpless on the ground, all I could do was crawl like a crab and scream for my wife.
During the time of recovery after the surgery, I was helpless. My wife even had to put on my socks. It was a forced time to slow down and realize how little I have to offer. A real life experience of true weakness. What a blessing!
I Live by Faith in the Son of God
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5 NASB).
After promising to send us the Holy Spirit, in John 14, Jesus gives us an earthly example of what life WITH Him is like.
A wine branch, connected to the sap enriched vine, is able to produce luscious fruit. But, a branch detached from the vine of life, yields nothing but death.
Our lives are like that. Sure, we can busy ourselves with all manner of seemingly good things, but any activity detached from the source of life is life-less, no matter how good it looks.
We’re familiar with a bowl of plastic fruit. Painted up and shinny, it can look so real, so delicious! But try tasting it. There is no life.
Our souls are to be governed by the Holy Spirit, not our flesh.
Jesus commands us to “abide” in Him, His Holy Spirit. Over many years I’ve had two wrong understandings about what this means.
First: that abiding is a level to get to in our maturing process as Christians. Wrong. Abiding is not a level. It’s not a “nice to get to.” Abiding is the process. Abiding is the way Christ is formed in us.
Second: I assumed abiding took great effort. With great strain and discipline I sought to tap into Christ’s life within. Actually, it’s just the opposite. The Greek word translated as “abide” also means to remain, stay, stop, tarry, live or dwell.
We did nothing to be placed in the love of Jesus. God did it. [3] So, abiding is not an effort to get somewhere, its a command to stay where we’ve already been placed. Dwell there, remain there, stay there, tarry there, abide where you’ve been placed. Don’t move.
Story: My wife recently bought us a small plaque which we placed on the window seal above the kitchen sink, where we’ll often see it.
I need Thee every hour.
The longer I live the more I believe these words. Not only do I need to depend on Jesus to know the Father’s will, to speak His words and love in His strength, but I also need Him every second to fill to overflowing my longing heart. I so easily forget and begin to look around me at the world to love me, to deem me successful and to value me.
Lord, show me quickly when I stray.
Conclusion
Living out our new life of total dependence upon God is not an option. The New Testament is saturated with the truth of God being WITH us now. The Holy Spirit of Jesus indwells us. We’re to enjoy His nearness every moment of our lives. Jesus is the source of all joy and life, but we must continually chose life over death.
We’ve been crucified with Christ. We’ve been raised with Him in newness of life. But, we can still be influenced by our old, worn out fleshly patterns. We must recognize our death in Christ and choose to depend upon Him.
By faith, we rest in Christ’s finished work and remain in His love. We yield to His life within us that His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control might be displayed in our lives.
Prayer
Lord, I’m seeing it now. My life with You is not about me following a bunch of rules and trying to pattern my life after Your example in my own strength. I died because You died in my stead. Thank You. You love me so much You want to be with me forever. Please give me a moment by moment dependence upon Your Spirit within me, that I might speak with Your words, serve in Your strength and love with Your love. Please stop me in my tracks when I move ahead of You and try to do anything apart from Your abiding Spirit Amen.
the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26b-27 NASB).
Personal Study
Highlight Romans 6:4-14
Explain it in your own words
Apply it to your life
Respond to God in prayer
[1] With, Skye Jethani, Thomas Nelson 2011, p. 131
[2] Luke 14:26
[3] I Corinthians 1:30
Previous posts in the UP series:
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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