One living all the time
God's word should flow into us that His life may increase in us(Col 2:19, Joh 3:30). His word to mankind is His Christ (Joh 1:1). His word put on flesh and dwelt among us(Joh 1:14). For this incarnated Word, doing the Father's will was the priority in His living (Mat 26:39, Gal 1:4). He thus set a pattern for all His followers to lead a divine life pleasing to the Father.
All the riches of God are available in Christ (Eph_2:7, Rom 11:33). When we are in Christ, these riches are available to us abundantly. May God teach us the true meaning of being in Christ and enjoying His riches. Let His grace pour into our lives, so that we may lead a life that is in Christ. When we are in Christ, doing the Father's will will become our priority which is also our true bread (Joh 4:34).
God's unique work for today
God's unique work in this age is to work Himself into man (Eph 3:17a), so that He may produce a sanctified corporate entity, the church, which is His dwelling place (Matt 16:18, Acts 14:27, Acts 20:28, 1 Cor 12:28, Eph 1:4, 22-23). This dwelling place in its consummation will become the New Jerusalem, adorned as the bride of Christ (Eph 5:25-27, Rev 21:2). The bride for His son is what the Father is working for from the beginning.
Grace
God working into man is called grace (2Cor 12:9). Grace is nothing but experiencing God to produce God (Joh 1:17). Often we hear people say that by the grace of God, they are doing fine. They actually mean that in a particular situation, they experienced something of God's working which was beyond their ability of any logical explanation. Grace is something we received freely without deserving it (Rom 3:24, 5:15). Grace is a free gift which doesn't have anything to do with our efforts, talents, not even our own righteousness(Gal 4:31). Hallelujah, what a gift!
What should be our attitude towards this work of the Triune God?
Christ has set a pattern for us to live today by His life, death, resurrection and ascension(John 1:4, 5:40, 6:33, 8:12, 12:25, Rom 8:10, Gal 2:20, 2 Thess 3:9, Eph 5:1) . During the Lord's earthly days, His life was His work. His work was His living (Eph 5:2). In other words, He practised what He preached. Our living should be like the Lord's living (John 15:4). We should take His living as the pattern today for our living. This is grace in an updated state, in an unlimited way. Christ is grace. When we live like Christ, we are living the life of grace.
Christ's silent years.
Our Lord Jesus lived for 30 years and ministered for 3 1/2 years. Majority of the Bible scholars would describe the Lord's lifespan from 12 years to 30 years as 'silent years'. Was it really silent? Did the years never existed? If those years had passed just like the present years, then what was the Lord Jesus doing in those years? Hallelujah, the living God was living in the world (Mat 16:16). In those silent years the glorious Son of God, the Mighty Father was living in the world. In Luke2:49, we have a window of just one verse spoken by the Lord which might enlighten us further about the Lord's silent years.
And he said unto them, "How is that ye sought me? Wist ye not that i must be about my Father's business?"
The Lord was found in the temple doing the Father's business at the age of 12. His interest and His living were doing the Father's business, building His temple. We can now know how He must have progressed in the subsequent years to do the Father's will. Hallelujah.
Meditating upon the life of the Lord.
We can meditate upon this living of the Lord. His living was His working. His working was His living. With Him there was no dual standards, but always single. How often we stumble and are tossed around with our dual standards. We have a standard in the church and another when we are in the world. When there is a problem in our life, we forget or not believe that faith can move mountains (Mat 17:20). One standard when we are praying and another when some situation demands our choice between surrendering to God and depending upon our ability. Brother Watchman Nee once traveled to Kulangsu in the Fukien province to do Lord's work. His money was stolen and he didn't have sufficient money to buy the return ticket. To his dismay, he also had rejected money form a believer he met at that place earlier. The co workers was unaware of Brother Nee's financial condition. Though he didn't have money, he stepped out in faith at that time rejecting many suggestions from the devil. His eyes were filled with tears when he sees the Lord's providence. The same brother whom he had refused earlier returned to give him a packet of food and a cover containing 4 dollars just enough to buy a bust ticket. This time brother Nee accepted. (The Third Testimony, Watchman Nee's Testimony) Here is an incident where a person is single minded without having dual standards, living for the Lord, in the Lord. Hallelujah.
The Lord's earthly life
There is an account of the Lord's earthly life in Hebrew 5:7 in which it is described that He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. What an amazing report this is! The Lord who is the heir of all the riches in the universe (Col 1:16,18) offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. though He is the Son of God, He learned obedience by the things He suffered (Mat 16:21, Rom 8:17). We today who are in Christ need to learn such obedience by all the things we suffer. We are the sons of God (Rom 8:14,19 Gal 3:26) and we are in Christ and it is God's desire that we may learn obedience through all things we suffer under His sovereign authority.
The Lord's living is His shining
The Lord is light (Mat 4:16, Joh 1:8-9, 3:19). He is life (Joh 1:4). His life is true light in us. The Lord's living is light shining. Hence when we have the Lord as the life giving Spirit in us, it simply means that Lord is shining in us. Amen, Hallelujah.
In Phil 2:5-11, we see the Lord who being in the form God, thought not to be equal to the Father. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto the death of cross. He was humble and meek and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. the result of such a living before God in the earth is His highly exalted position in the universe in His ascension. His name rose above all names.
'Every knee would bow at His name. Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.'
The Pattern set by the Lord for us
The greatest worker lived silently for 30 years and then ministered for 3 1/2 years. He was silent till God's appointed time when He began His work. Today we need to learn to wait for the Lord's appointed time to express the Father and do His will according to His leading. We need to pray for much grace regarding this matter.
The Lord Jesus says that on His own He does nothing (Joh 5:30, 6:38). He seeks the will of the Father who sent Him. This is an exact life which the Triune God desires for us today (Rom 6:11, 8:9). We too should be allowing the Lord to live in us and through us.
Father and the Son are working to this day (Joh 5:17). The Son is the life giving Spirit in us. The Son is living in us (Rom 8:9). The Father is living in us (Rom 8:9). Their living is Their working. Their working is Their living. Amen, Hallelujah.
One Living all the time
We have one living for God in faith and another living to the world according to its standards. When both these lives converge in the reality of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, we will be living a divine life that is a godly life.
This one living should be in the Spirit and all the time. Let us pray for such a godly life by the Lord's rich mercy and grace.
Amen.
— churchinvizag (@churchinvizag) February 17, 2013
