CHRIST IN US, PART 1 THE VICTORIOUS ONE
CHRIST IN US, THE VICTORIOUS ONE
Watching our children growing up is such a challenge for parents since we are often forced to stand on the sidelines and cheer them on, yet all the while we are aching for them and would give anything to run the race for them or stand in their place to fight their battles. God our Heavenly Father knows only too well the exasperation and has indeed provided that exact solution. “And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying ABBA, Father.” Galatians 4:6
The perfect solution to every parent's dilemma, He Himself right there in us and with us - always!!!
Therefore we can now say, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives I me; and the live I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20Along with His Presence, an abundance of His grace is lavished on us in Christ Jesus. Furthermore there are the things that we receive, and there are things that we are admonished to do regarding the exercise of our faith, all in and through Him. “According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside all this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, charity(love). For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3-8
WHY THEN DO WE STRUGGLE SO?
God has not removed our weaknesses, arrested our freewill, pulled us out of the ring of opposition, nor lessened the demand of our cross. He has left us with the impact of life's struggles that require the full intent of our heart, faith, and purpose, yet all the while we are fully and completely equipped to be "more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Romans 8:37). Still we could not do it without Him "For without Me (Jesus) you can do nothing." John 15:5. Indeed there will likely be failures so that we may never have confidence in our flesh, boast of our abilities, nor fail to rest entirely on His saving grace for our righteousness. In other words, not matter how successful we are in our own eyes, it is only the blood of Jesus Christ that justifies us.
Again, we all face the old battle from within and from without, the flesh, the world, and the devil. But these battles are critical in the development of our faith, They also reveal the kind of person we are through the choices we make, and the faith by which we face them. This is not a scary thing to face ourselves if we confidently acknowledge that we are all sinners who needed the Savior and who are being prepared for Heaven. There is no profit in our pride or assumed self-righteousness.
THE BATTLES OF THE ISRAEL OF GOD
"Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known the wars of Canaan; Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least such as before knew nothing thereof...And to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses." Judges 3:1-2,4
Typically the battles Israel fought were not only the enemies that surrounded them, but the enemies within them which they never defeated or drove out. The Philistines were perhaps their fiercest opponents in Israel's earlier days. The word Philistine in the Hebrew comes from a root word meaning roll (in the dust), to roll (wallow) self. Kind of reminds us of an enemy of ours, doesn't it?
Their disobedience and failure to drive out the enemies became barbs in their eyes and thorns in there sides as the Lord said they would. Numbers 33:55. Also as the Lord said, He left them there to test Israel's loyalty and obedience. It is important to say here that our Salvation is free for us, but was purchased at an unimaginable price to Him. Let us be clear that we must be found worthy- "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection of the dead..." Like 21:35, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of My Father which is in Heaven." Matthew 7:21, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 Dear friends, it is not so much about how well we perform, but how faithful we are to Him in spite of our performance. Will we deny His name or defy His commands? Is He still the God and Love of our life in spite of ourselves? If we are caught in sin and disobedience, will we still trust in His saving grace? Look at David's sins, then look of the Lord's testimony of him "I have found a man after My own heart, which shall fulfill all My will." Acts 13:22. Make no mistake here, David's sins ware horribly costly, not only to his own pain and grief, but also led into an extremely high death toll because of the fallout of the war against his son as one of the consequences. We must never take our disobedience lightly. Will the enemies in our lives, our pride, our lusts, our fears, our attitudes, will they be our downfall, or will they be the stepping stones to His glory in our lives? Will we lean on our own strengths and abilities, or will we trust fully in His redeeming power and grace?
What are some of the things we learn from the struggles in our lives?
- we learn that we have an enemy Ephesians 6:11-12, 1 Peter 5:8
- that we need to learn to contend for our faith Jude 3:3
- who we really are, and what are our weaknesses "For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing." Romans 7:18
- our need to abide in Him through faith and obedience John 15:5,7
- and become familiar with the power God through faith to prevail. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
FIERCE OPPOSITION - I do not want to dwell on this too much lest we get the wrong idea and the wrong focus, because "greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4. Still we must be aware that our opponents are merciless and ruthless. It is imperative that we take the battle of life and salvation completely serious. As in any war, careless and sloppy behavior can lead to our downfall. The Scriptures admonish us, "Be sober, be vigilant, because our adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."1 Peter 5:8. So many of our struggles are instigated by the lies and deceptions of the devil and not just our own folly. God has given us His Word, the Bible, to help us know what is and is not of Him, and through His Holy Spirit in us, all the guidance and power we need to defeat him. For those we are mentoring, we cannot fight these battles for them, but we most certainly instruct, inspire, and pray for them as they learn to lean on and trust Jesus.
NOT ALL BATTLES ARE UNPLEASANT! There are also the testings of blessings, prosperity, and abundance. Surely, it is not just the hard times that test our faith and devotion to Christ. "And it shall be, when the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land which He swore to you fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities, which you did not build, and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and dug wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant; when you shall have eaten and are full; then beware lest you forget the Lord, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." Deuteronomy 6:11. Perhaps that is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God Mark 10:25. I was told the testimony of a Christian community leader who was describing the struggles living under an oppressive regime. Apparently he said that under persecution it was hard, but under the western liberties the allurement of the world is an even fiercer trial, especially for the youth. Having untold freedoms, worldly benefits and pleasures, comfort and abundance, is a huge test of our devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. We can tend to forget Him if we feel we do not need Him. God does not despise those that have it, as long as those of us who have such things have not sold out to them. Instead we can glorify God our Heavenly Father through them. Our amazing liberties in Christ and the free access to pursue that which God has made available to us must not become the desire and focus of our life. Consider King Solomon whom God had visited twice and had granted him wisdom and riches beyond that of any person, but became overwhelmed by his pursuit of worldly pleasures and thus wandered dangerously away from his devotion to the Lord. Dear friends, let us never take His Presence and grace for granted, but ever strive to keep Him as the complete focus of our heart, our mind, and our world.
THE DRAW OF THE WORLD - I would like to touch on this a little more. We all know the draw and influence it has on us, but what we have to consider is that we are designed to live in this natural world and yet it is still a danger to us regarding our faith James 4:4, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17. The gravitation to it is not only comfortably NATURAL and matches our physical design, but the super test of our heart, desires, character, faith, and thereby shows the riches of His grace when we prevail over it. "And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' 1 John 5:4-5"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight). We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 Nor will we miss the hard trials either, "For we would not, brothers have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure , above strength, in so much that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.
Jesus and the Father calls us to direct our affections toward Him and the Kingdom of Heaven. yet all the while we are somewhat alienated from Him and Heaven because of our physical attachment here on earth. David said it like this, "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears, for I am a stranger with You and a sojourner with You as all my fathers were." Psalm 39:12.
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of Him and not us." 2 Corinthians 4:7 We, on one hand, must live out our natural lives to the best of our ability being in the world (but not of it), yet on the other hand having our heart and mind fixed on Heaven above. This is no easy task and a major test of our faith and devotion to Christ. Seriously, we are best proven/tested in our day to day activities. Our flesh is drawn to the natural inclinations (and not all of them are bad), the world is appealing to us and to an extent properly so (just not the ungodly parts). Furthermore, the devil intensifies whatever distractions he can use to draw us away from devotion to Christ. Usually there is a logical and practical reason, like our jobs, keeping people happy....Oh Dear Friends, how we need the grace of God to fight this battle. How beautifully in Christ, Who now resides in us, that are we able to walk through it as we look to and keep Him as the Love and Desire of our heart. We could not do it without Him. This conundrum must be discovered and walked through by each and every believer in Christ. Once we realize what is going on, it is easier to embrace our difficulties with almost an enthusiasm. "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Which is given to us." Romans 5:3-5
Thus the purifying of our faith is being worked in us as we struggle against the tide of this world and our flesh. But that is not all. As we submit by faith to the will of the Father in our day to day life, Jesus is utterly glorified by our transformed lives, wherein His beautiful character and nature is manifested in us. For instance, instead of giving into greed, selfishness, deceit, or bitterness, the way we normally would in our daily trials, our heart and actions are transformed to His (or at least that is the way it should be) and the people in the world around us can witness His glorious work in our lives. How awesome is that, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if indeed be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:5-7 How could we boast in the Lord of the glories of His grace and virtue if we were not in need of Him all along the way. Considering this standpoint, then life is not a terrible trial, but an awesome adventure (although sometimes scary when we are aware of the dangers)! Not only so, but we are never walking it alone. All along the way we have a Friend, Helper, Guide, Who will never leave us, nor forsake us! Come on, now that is glorious and beautiful!!! How blessed we are!!!
CONCLUSION - Truly, because He Himself is so attached to us in this life sentence that God has committed us to, that He has gone way beyond the expected or anticipated route of a Spectator, Judge, Lord, GOD. He has jumped right in there with us, not only as the Son of Man Who paid for our sins on the cross, but through His Holy Spirit He has given Himself to us to make the journey with us to the end. Now that is TRUE LOVE. HE IS OUR COMPANION AND OUR GOD - CHRIST IN US THE HOPE OF GLORY!
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