Our union with Christ involves our spirit, soul and body.
They unite us in vision and purpose with Christ. Through this union, God
expresses His heart through us in sympathy for the hardships of others, in
patience in tribulation, and in devotion in Bible study, prayer and fellowship
with other Saints of God. Consequently, God fulfills through us His purpose for
us in the earth. In this manner, the union between the Creator and the created,
the divine and the human, the eternal and the temporal is complete (Colossians
2:10).
Learning about the works of God often causes us to focus
our attention outwardly. We see God on His throne in Heaven, but we see our
self as struggling alone in life in need of His divine help. Some people say we
are nothing but marionettes, forced to serve as the Divine Manipulator
dictates. However, we are more like a glove. He exactly fills us, and we are
perfectly molded and fitted to His character and nature. Then, when He moves
within us, we move as His exact replica on the earth.
At times, we may also visualize Jesus walking beside us,
instead of Him living within us. We fail to grasp the true picture of the
finished work of Jesus within us. We focus on Christ on the cross, but we
disregard the fact that the risen Lord dwells within our spirit. We clearly see
that Christ redeemed us from sin by the cross; however, we forget about the
fact that this same Jesus dwells within us and works out His purposes in us and
instead of us.
Jesus justifies our spirit; sanctifies, inspires and
directs our soul; and eventually He will glorify our body. Christ does this by
using our body, soul and spirit to do His work in the earth. Jesus speaks the
oracles of God through our voice (1 Peter 4:11). He
heals a sick body through the laying on of our hands (Mark
1:41; 6:5; 5:3; 7:32, 33; 8:23, 25; 16:18; James 5:15). He sees
a need and meets it through the resources He provides for us (1 John
3:17). He will even raise the dead, cleanse the leper and cast out devils
in and instead us (Matthew 10:8).
Jesus is the expression of God’s
glory and the exact image of God’s being (Hebrews
1:3). We freely receive from Him. Then, instead of us, He uses our body,
soul and spirit to freely give to those in need around us (Matthew
10:8). Christ in us has limitless resources to accomplish His will for each
life. We fail to access this power when we deviate from God’s will for each
moment of our day. We submit our human will to Christ’s divine will, knowing
that it is only through the submission of our will to His, that we can actually
succeed in anything we endeavor.
Prayer:
Father God, harmony in our relationship with You increases
as we live in union with Christ. This guarantees that more accord abides
between our will and Your will. We soon find that our purpose is to do nothing
more in life than to step aside and allow Christ to work instead of us. Your
will flows from a combination of Your divine love and wisdom. You consume us
with Your nature, which is the fruit of Your Spirit: love, joy, peace,
patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith (Galatians
5:22-23). Help us to lay down our plans and expectations and use us
for Your purposes each moment of our day.
Thought for the Day:
It is only as we walk in union with Christ within us, by
the direction of His Holy Spirit, that we experience the gifts and fruit of His
Spirit functioning through us and making us shining stars to shed His light in
the dark, lost world around us. – Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:15 