"What Water?"

A film crew was sent to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to interview Mr. Fish.  Finding him 2 miles beneath the surface, they placed a microphone around his neck, and began the interview. 

"Well, Mr. Fish, first things first," began the TV reporter. "What do you think of all this water around you?"  A puzzled look came upon Mr. Fish's face. 

"What water?" he responded.   

"In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).   

We live in a universe saturated with the presence of the living God.  A large portion of the human race, however, fails to recognize this, the greatest fact of our life and existence.  Moreover, even those who know God through the Lord Jesus Christ recognize and apprehend Him in precious little measure considering how completely He fills us both within and without.  "The Spirit of God dwelleth in you... Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus" (I Corinthians 3:16; 1:30).  Think of it, God lives in us, we live in God, and nothing changes or can change the spiritual proximity of the One about whom the Apostle Paul understated the truth when he declared, "He is not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27).   

Mr. Fish has nothing on us, does he?  He no more misses the physical environment in which he lives than we often miss the spiritual reality of our life and being.  An infinite, almighty, and eternal God comprises the sea in which we live, as it were.  How is it possible that we fail to know such glory when "in Him we live and move and have our being?"  The Bible's primary answer involves the truth that we presently "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).  "We see through a glass darkly" wrote the Paul who knew and experienced more than anyone of God's pervasive reality (I Corinthians 13:12).  Apprehending God thus requires the exercise of faith wherein we choose to believe Truth based not on our limited human senses, but rather upon the Word of God.  Indeed, "sight" may ask, "What water?"  Faith answers, "It's everywhere, even to the degree I'm swimming in it!"      

Of course, we don't always miss the great fact of our existence.  Some moments grace us with blessed experience of God's presence and involvement in our lives.  For those times we give thanks and rejoice in the glory revealed.  Most often, however, the Sea in which we live remains an environment known in the spirit rather than the senses.  For this we also give thanks and rejoice because such limitation grants opportunity to discover the heart of our faithful Lord.  Indeed, when we must trust Him without seeing and sensing Him, we discover "the deep things of God" that might evade us were we not pressed to faith (I Corinthians 2:10).   

Our hearts know His heart in waysapprehended by trust rather than sight.  We shall eventually know how blessed a time was this, that time when God granted opportunity for us to walk (or swim!) in Him despite our senses wondering, "What water?"

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence ofthings not seen."(Hebrews 11:1)

"He endured, as seeing Him who is invisible."(Hebrews 11:27)

"Sanctified... To Be Sanctified"

"We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews10:10).      

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (IThessalonians 5:23).           

Why does the Apostle Paul ask God to sanctify completely those whom the writer of Hebrews (perhaps Paul) declares to be sanctified "once for all?"    

The answer involves one of who we are and Whose we are, as opposed to our practical response concerning such truth.  The Greek root word of sanctify, "hagiazo," means to consecrate, or to make holy.  That is, we first acknowledge ourselves as belonging to the Lord lock, stock, and barrel, as it were, or in Biblical terms, in spirit, soul, and body.  In this sense, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ become as sanctified as we shall ever be when we trust in Him.  We are sanctified and holy "once for all."  Indeed, whether or not we act accordingly, Christians belong to God no less in this moment than we shall in our glorified eternity in Heaven.  We are a "purchased possession" (Ephesians 1:14).  Nothing alters this fact, and the more we discover the Biblical truth that we belong to Another, the more likely we are to think, speak, act, and relate accordingly.  "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).   

The experience and outworking of such reality, however, requires a lifetime growth in the grace and knowledge of our Savior.  Our sanctified being may or may not result in sanctified walking.  We can - and do - sometimes think, speak, act, and relate as if we still perceive ourselves as belonging to ourselves.  The marvelous freedom in Christ that makes real love for God possible also provides the possibility of not loving Him in our presently less than perfect existence.  Nothing changes the fact that we belong to Him -"sanctified once for all."  Living, acting, and walking accordingly, however, requires God's working in us (as evidenced by Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians) to increasingly illuminate and empower us to respond to the truth of who and Whose we are.   

Grace gave to us the blessed gift of belonging to our rightful Owner and Master.  Growth in grace gives to us the blessing of a life that practically reflects such truth. Let us therefore pray Paul's prayer for each other concerning a whole sanctification, even as we also thank God for the writer of Hebrews' wonderful affirmation of a "once for all" sanctification.  Indeed, by the ongoing work of God in our lives, may our being and our walking align for the glory of God and the fulfillment of His will.

"Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light."(Ephesians 5:8)

"Remember Him"

     When asked at his retirement banquet how he wanted to be remembered, the Bible professor responded, "As someone to whom the Lord has been amazingly gracious.  Remember," he added, "my sins caused the Lord Jesus Christ to be tortured to death and forsaken by both God and man on the cross of Calvary.  My sins..." The man's voice trailed off, and He seemed to lose himself momentarily in deep and solemn thought before continuing.  "My sins were the cause of our Lord's terrible suffering" the man said with a quavering voice and glistening eyes."However, God forgave me and promised to me eternal life as a completely free gift of grace.  He has also blessed me beyond measure in countless and completely undeserved ways.  So, concluded the professor, "remember Him."

    I cannot imagine a better response concerning the legacy of every born again believer.  "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (II Corinthians 4:5).  Where would any of us be without His grace and mercy?  The answer is too uncomfortable to long consider.  Moreover, we know where we would eventually be, an even more devastating thought.  The professor realized he was an ambassador for Another, and that his own faith and faithfulness were not the issues of consequence.  No, he well knew that future glory - "The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day" - must form and inform our determination in this day - "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (Isaiah 2:11; I Corinthians 10:31). 

    Certainly, the professor's students and colleagues do remember him with fondness, appreciation, and much gratitude for a life well lived.  It was.  His words, however, pressed them to the far greater remembrance and affirmation of the true Source of all goodness and godliness.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing... I can do all things through Christ" (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13).  Moreover, they caused the pondering of Calvary, the consideration that always helps us to establish or regain our spiritual bearings.  Yes, so long as our sins led our blessed and innocent Lord to that bloody, forsaken place, and so long as the entirety of God's  goodness flows to us from the Savior's great sacrifice, we do well to heed a wise and humble man's parting words..."Remember Him."

"As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man."
(Acts 10:25)