Becoming One With Christ
Becoming One With Christ
There are two kinds of preaching. One shows the listener how to use Christ in order to have a "better" life. The other focuses on teaching his listeners how to live by the Life of Christ.
Have you ever given thought to the fact that Christ is asking us to surrender our life so that we might live by His Life? Are you willing to do this?
The only eternal life there is, is that which is found in Christ. The only resurrection from the dead there is, is that which is found in Christ.
The only way we can attain eternal life and the resurrection from the dead is by feeding constantly on the body and blood of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:53,54)
Let's think about the two ways of living our life. We can choose to continue on in our customary fashion, eating, sleeping, working, playing, reproducing. We can rely on our intelligence, abilities, and experience in order to survive and achieve whatever it is we wish to achieve.
We may participate in Christian activities. Our pastor may give us some guidelines that will help us live a happy, contented life. He may tell us that the Lord came that we might have life and that more abundantly, meaning a healthy, secure life in the American culture.
What is the end of our choice. We finally become infirm, our mind may not be clear. We may take refuge in an assisted-living apartment. Eventually we may be hospitalized, or find rest in a hospice.
We may have a made a significant contribution to society. Or, as probably is true of most of us, we worked until we were in our sixties, retired, and spent our remaining years traveling around the country or sitting on a couch watching television.
There are of course outstanding exceptions to this pattern. But by and large, as the Prophet said, we are as grass that flourishes for a season and then withers away.
A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)
I suppose I have just described the life of millions of American.
But what is next? Let us say when we die we stand before Christ. Suppose He asks, "What did you do with your life?" How shall we answer God? Then we have to wait until the Day of Resurrection to see if we are going to be saved into the new world of righteousness, or be thrown into the Lake of Fire to be with Satan and other wicked creatures for eternity.
I am not certain what awaits the spiritually lazy Christian when he or she dies. I am aware of the spirit world. It is a better world than the present, as I view it. But for the person who has heard the Gospel and does not give his or her life to serving Jesus, death may not prove to be a pleasant experience. I do not want to experience the destiny of the careless Christian.
To whom much has been given, much shall be required. There are multitudes of people in the world who have not been given the opportunity to follow Christ, as is true of us in America and in other Western nations. "They shall be beaten with few lashes if they have been wicked," as Jesus said.
I am sounding the alarm because I do not wish to have blood of lazy Christians on my hands. How many times has the Lord told me that those Christians who sow sparingly shall reap sparingly.
So much for the flesh and blood life of the average person in the world.
Then there is another way of living. But it means letting go of our own thoughts, words, and actions, and entering the rest of God. I refer to this way as the eternal dialogue, and the previous way as the eternal monologue.
Day by day we look to the Lord Jesus for guidance and strength in all that we do. We keep on consulting with Him about all things. We practice His Presence at every waking moment.
Every time we turn away from some fervently desired relationship or situation, a part of us dies. Then we are given, in the spirit world, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus to feed on. Death, and life. Death, and life. Death, and life. Here a little and there a little. Line upon line. Line upon line. Command upon command.
You mean a person actually can live like this? Yes, and not only that, it is a far more pleasant way to live then to indulge our various lusts and passions and reap the consequences of our undisciplined behavior.
As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."
This is the way Jesus lives. Jesus always talks to the Father about everything. Jesus lives in the eternal Sabbath, the rest of God. This is the way we are supposed to live with Jesus. (John 6:57,58)
So we have a choice, don't we? We can live as an animal, working, playing, sleeping, eating, and reproducing. Or we can live by the Life of Jesus.
I already have mentioned what may be true when the person dies who has lived in the eternal monologue—that is, lived in his own thoughts, words, and actions in terms of his own desires, fears, motives, agendas, needs, and situations. Really, such an individual is an intelligent animal that has the potential of speaking to God, whether or not he uses it. He will die like an animal, his body returning to the dust to await the Day of Resurrection.
This is not the case with the individual who has lived by the Life of Jesus. When his body gives out, he walks fully alive and conscious into the Presence of a smiling Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25,26)
What does it mean "will live even if he dies?"
It means that when his heart stops he will enter into the Presence of Christ with all his faculties unimpaired. He simply will not enter the darkness of death. He will see the beauty of the spirit world. Jesus will be there to meet him, because Jesus is living in him.
As it was with Eve, so with the individual who chooses to live by the life of Jesus instead of by his own life. Just as Eve was Adam in another form, so will the diligent disciple be Jesus in another form. Not as exalted in authority, but of the same Divine Substance.
I do not know about you, but I prefer to live in the eternal Life of Jesus Christ. The other kind of life is little different from that of the animal. It is the manner in which the great majority of humans pass their days on the earth.
Why live like that when we have the opportunity to live in eternal resurrection life. Jesus is knocking at the door your heart right now. If you will open the door, He will enter. He will dine on your obedience and worship. You will dine on His body and blood.
And, Brother, Sister, His body and blood are real food!