The only way to live is the way of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Third Person in the Trinity. He knows the Father. He issues forth from Him. He knows the Son. He is the literal Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is God in the same sense that Jesus is God, and He is “another comforter” – just like Jesus! He is therefore holy and He is love. Every time He speaks, it is to point to the Holy Path, to the way into God’s presence. Every feeling He feels, as He searches our heart and sees so much that wants God’s blessings more than God, is saturated with kindness, and hope. His passions stir Him to stir our passion for Christ, to turn our heart toward home, to position our feet on the road into God’s presence, to let us see the sparkle of the radiant diamond that is Christ.
Jesus came to earth to tell us He is the way, the truth, and the life. His death opened the way into God’s presence, the greatest blessing of all. His teaching made clear the truth that life does not consist in a return to Eden’s comforts; it doesn’t even consist in graduation to heaven’s bliss. True life is knowing God. Jesus said so. And this life is Christ Himself, not the bread He could multiply or the corpse He could resurrect, but Him. Being in Him, abiding in Him and having Him abide in us, living with His energy, chasing after His purposes, loving what He loves, seeing Him formed in us until we’re actually like Him – that is the abundant life. And it can be enjoyed in bankruptcy or affluence, from a hospital bed or a deck chair on a cruise ship, at the graduation of our child from law school or our child’s graveyard interment, or when we walk out of a divorce court we never thought we would see or into a surprise party celebrating fifty years of wonderful marriage.
The Spirit always points to the Christ of the Bible, the One who offers no guarantees that my marriage will survive, that the biopsy will yield good news, or that I won’t lose my job. The Spirit exposes a problem in my soul worse than my suffering, than reveals the God of Grace. He tells me I can know this God; I can know His heart, rest in His power, and hope in His purposes. And I can see it all in Christ. He keeps stirring my heart to say, “Just give me Jesus!”
TRUE ABUNDANT LIFE
No comments:
Post a Comment