After
Salvation, we often focus our attention outwardly. We see God on His throne in
Heaven, but we see our self as struggling alone in life and in need of His
divine help. Some people say we are nothing but puppets, forced to serve as our
Divine Manipulator dictates. However, we are more like a glove. Christ exactly
fills us and we are perfectly molded to His character and nature (2 Peter 1:4).
Our
union with Christ involves our spirit, soul and body. He unites them 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 (Ephesians 2:10).
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). The Spirit directs us, and
we move as His exact replica on the earth. Jesus also walks beside us, as well
as living within us. He completely surrounds us, finishing His work of
sanctification in our soul. We live, move and exist in Him (Acts 17:28).
Christ
redeemed us from sin by the cross, and He works out His intentions in us and
through us (Ephesians
2:10; Colossians 2:9-10). Jesus is our all in all (Colossians 1:17). He justifies our spirit; sanctifies, inspires
and directs our soul; and will eventually glorify our body. Jesus is the expression of God’s glory and the exact image of God’s
being (Hebrews 1:3). He speaks the oracles of God through our voice (1 Peter 4:11).
Also,
Jesus 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 demons in and through us (Matthew 10:8). As we walk in union with
Christ, by the direction of His Spirit, we walk as shining stars, shedding His
light in the dark, lost world around us (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:15).
Prayer:
Father
God, Your will flows from a combination of Your divine love and wisdom. Harmony
in our relationship with You increases as we live in union with Christ. This
guarantees that more accord abides between our will and Yours. We soon find
that our purpose is to do nothing more in life than to allow Christ to work
through us. Fill us with the spiritual gifts and fruit of Your Spirit, and help
us to lay down our plans and expectations, so You can use us for Your purposes
each moment of our day.
Thought
for the Day:
If
we only focus on Christ on the cross, we may forget the fact that the risen
Lord dwells within our spirit.
