The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
“In Him"
“He is not far from every one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
What can this statement of the Apostle Paul possibly mean?
I have pondered this, prayed about this, wrinkled my brow about this, shaken my head about this, fallen to my face in the wonder of this, and perhaps foolishly, preached and written about this for nearly a half century. After all this time, I never read or remember the words without being overwhelmed by them and thinking to myself, “I do not have the foggiest notion!”
Note that Paul included unbelievers in the “we” of “not far from us” and “in Him.” He spoke to Athenian philosophers, most of whom rejected the Apostle and his contentions about the Lord Jesus Christ. “We?” to such ones? Paul certainly did not suggest that all know God in the saving, relational way through the Lord Jesus Christ clearly proclaimed by Scripture. “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent” declared Paul to the Athenians of the only hope human hearts have for redemption through Christ from sin and the establishment of relationship with God (Acts 17:30). Nevertheless, the Apostle stated of all that "in Him we live and move and have our being.”
While the marvel and mystery of the statement far transcends our understanding, its truth does change much in our hearts and minds regarding how we view others and ourselves. Since conception, we have lived no moment in which God is not the greatest of all facts and realities. Nor will we ever, including this moment. Our Lord, the giver of breath, dwells nearer than our next breath right now, as He has always been, and will always be. We cannot presently see, hear or touch Him. He nevertheless abides as the great fact, the great reality of both now and forevermore. This is true of ourselves, and of all. “We.”
Concerning our view of others, we do well to join Paul in the light of such truth.
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead. And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more” (II Corinthians 5:14-16).
Paul determined that whatever he perceived of attitude, word, deed, or any fleshly expression in people, his primary perspective would be guided by the constraining love of Christ. He would view all as those for whom the Lord Jesus died, and who either needed to avail themselves of God’s saving grace, or to walk more in the light of its glorious reality. He would see all who lived and moved upon the earth as far more living and moving in its Creator. Note that the Apostle did not explain to the philosophers what this meant. He likely did not know himself. However, Paul did know how much every human heart needs to hear the words, and even in our bewilderment, to see ourselves and others in their holy illumination. “In Thy light shall we see light” (Psalm 36:9).
We will encounter no one in this day, or in any day, who does not “live and move and have their being” in God. All will be “not far" from Him. Be it the most unbelieving of atheists, or the most devout of saints,” the truth and reality applies to all. For those who do not believe, the realization goes far in reminding us of their desperate need for salvation in the Lord Jesus that affects both this life and forevermore. “Ye must be born again” declared the Savior in the most dire imperative ever uttered in human history (John 3:7). For our brothers and sisters in Christ, we recognize they not only live and move in God. He lives and moves in them. Indeed, in yet another Scriptural declaration that profoundly transcends our understanding, while infusing our being with “the hope of glory,” Paul declared, “Ye are the temple of the living God… the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (Colossians 1:27; I Corinthians 3:16). Whatever we may see outwardly in fellow believers, our first and primary gaze must be “not after the flesh,” but rather upon the “new creature” wherein God dwells (II Corinthians 5:17).
Breathtaking. Heart overwhelming. Mind shattering. And yet somehow, our inability to see fills us with the brightly of all lights and glories. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” What does this mean? Perhaps answers exist. Let us seek whatever we can find of them. However, the fact that we cannot begin to fully understand may be the clearest of all answers as by faith we choose to see the great fact of our existence, and the greatest reality of this, and of all moments.
Father, are You there?
No, My child, I am not there.
I am here, nearer than any other.
And I will always be not there, but here,
of this you can be sure,
and this you will discover
As the years roll on and eternity draws nigh,
I am with you always,
so near, so much nearer than any other.
I am here, My child.
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.”(Romans 11:33-36)
Weekly Memory Verse
“Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 6:11)
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