Tuesday, August 17, 2010

"Beautiful Union"

(A repeat, with an update)


Walking with God involves the beautiful union of His involvement in our lives and our continuing response to that involvement.


"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).


Note Paul's exit and reentrance, as it were, regarding his relationship with the Lord. First, he is crucified and seems to be out of the picture. But then he returns - "I live." He seems to leave again - "yet not I but Christ liveth in me" - but only to again return - "the life I now live in the flesh". Finally, the Apostle culminates the mystery with the blessed union of two persons living, with one being the originator, motivator, and power, while the other responds in trust and submission to his Lord's love and the giving of that gift beyond compare - Himself.


A lifetime can and should be spent seeking to better know the meaning of these wondrous words. Authentic godliness involves both the Spirit of Christ living in us, and our living by Him. The new birth results in a redeemed and actualized human self united to the Holy Spirit, and completely dependent upon the Lord Jesus. "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). This "new man, created in righteousness and true holiness" nevertheless lives, utilizing the particular God-given gifts of his distinct personality, history, interest and environment to discover and minister life in its most vibrant and meaningful reality. "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). Christ lives, we live. Genuine spirituality involves this beautiful marriage of the Divine and the human wherein God is the sublime and beautiful Light, and "the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord" (Proverbs 20:27).


Many have crashed on the rocks of passivity by believing that Christ living in us is the fullness of truth regarding our walk with God. Many have also struggled in the dark sea of futility by seeking to live apart from the growing knowledge that our Lord has drawn nearer to us than our next breath. The Truth is that Christ lives in us, and we live by Him! Or as Paul stated so perfectly in another blessed declaration of the mystery of the Divine and the human united for the glory of God...


"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

(Philippians 2:12-13)

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