(This message series is inspired and excerpted from Heaven is Now by Andrew Farley)
“At Christmas, we reflect on the fact that God would humble himself to the point of taking on real human flesh. Why did God go about saving us in this way? He could have beamed himself to earth to die on a cross, offering the blood sacrifice, then beamed himself back up again. But instead, he came as a fragile, helpless baby and lived thirty-three years as someone fully God and fully human at the same time.
I believe he did this to demonstrate his divinity is 100 percent compatible with our humanity. He wanted to announce that the life Adam lost in the Garden was on display again in the humanity of Jesus. Why? So that one day that same life could be on display in us!” (loc. 1663 of 2138) Share a recent display of Jesus in your life.
“The natural implication of this reality is that we can stop trying to imitate the actions of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. Instead we can allow the risen Christ, who is alive and living in us, to be himself in and through our unique personalities. He is the only catalyst for anything of value in the Christian life.
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24 ESV)
How could we ever know how to imitate Jesus? We’d try to apply a pattern or set of principles to the Christian life, and the waters would only become murky. Why? Because we were never designed to treat Christianity like a religion, merely imitating a historical teacher. We were designed to house the Spirit of the Teacher and exude him from within. We were designed to partake of his divine nature.” (loc. 1674 of 2138)
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)
“Do we just let go and let God? Is it all of him and none of us? How does letting Christ live through us really play out?
Today we remember how Hurricane Katrina consumed everything in her path eleven years ago. We think back as we actively pray and assist our neighbors who just experienced the consuming destruction of massive flooding. This year there have been 4,084 fires, that have consumed 150,498 acres, in California. There are many hurting people to pray for as you read this.
“While fire normally consumes everything in its path, there’s one story in the Bible where it didn’t. You may know the story of how the angel of the Lord appeared in a burning bush to deliver an important message to Moses. But there is a detail mentioned in the story that I have always found peculiar—the bush was burning, but it was not consumed:
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. (Exodus 3:1-2 ESV)
We are inhabited by God himself. He even speaks through us, making an appeal to the world to ‘be reconciled to God.’
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV)
But even though Christ lives in us and expresses himself through us, he does not consume us.” (loc. 1685 of 2138)
“God is not trying to replace us. He already has—with a new self! Instead God is embracing all that we are. It’s all of Him, and all of us, in a beautiful spiritual union. God does not consume us or circumvent us. He dwells within the midst of all that you call you!
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)
Life in the flesh is what we experience as our default setting. But at salvation, when the Spirit of Christ exchanges our old self for a new self and takes up residence within us, he gives us a new default setting. The most natural and normal thing for a Christian is to live uprightly. Conversely, the most unnatural and awkward thing for a Christian to do is sin. This is precisely why John writes the same thing twice in his epistle:
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9 ESV)
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18 ESV)
Of course, we Christians still commit sins (1 John 2:1). This will be the case until we exit this world. But there’s an important truth to be gleaned here: to ‘go on sinning’ or to ‘continue to sin’ as the everyday norm is no longer our default setting. Sin is now a most abnormal and unnatural thing for us as new creations in Christ. We are born of God, and everything in our spiritual DNA cries out against sin. Christ living through us is our new default setting. ” (loc. 1711 of 2138)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV)
“It’s not about trying to grab the attention of others in order to impress them. It’s simply about living in the way we were designed to live—living from the life of Christ. It’s a knowing, not a feeling. It’s not about pursuing some emotional high. Instead it’s about believing what we’ve heard. [Describe a time when you acting on a knowing instead of a feeling.]
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)
So our heavenly calling is to wake up every day and live as if this is 100 percent true, because it is! …Heaven invites us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (loc. 1725 of 2138)
Heaven Speaks (What Jesus might say if he were sitting right here)
“I have generously poured out my Spirit into your heart, and you have become an heir of a great hope and a great life in me. I have set my seal of ownership on you, and it is through my Spirit within you that you cry out to me. My anointing remains in you forever and will teach you about all things. Through my Spirit, I will make known to you the glorious riches of your inheritance in me.
I am able to do more than you can possibly ask for or imagine, as it is my power that is at work within you to cause real change in your life. As you walk with me, you will indeed labor and strive, but it will be according to my power at work in you. I am the one who makes you stand firm, and I will carry you to completion. It’s you in me. And it’s me in you. And it’s life as I always intended.
Examine the fruit of my Spirit and see for yourself. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control—these are born from a place of rest. My Spirit radiates through your life as you rest in the truth of my finished work. As you set your mind on all I have done for you, you will exude and transmit my life to others. Expressing my life is your destiny.
Forces will tug at you to pull you away from this rest. Your own emotions will sometimes betray you as they are not aligned with my truth. You may feel dirty. You may feel distant from me. But I’m not inviting to an emotional experience. I’m inviting you to truth, to a spiritual reality—your intimate union with me.
So come out to me, outside the realm of self-made religion, and walk in truth with me. I have promised never to leave you. The words I have spoken to you are like solid food that nourishes your entire being. Take in my living Word and be fed. I promise you will not be disappointed. I love you – Jesus” (loc. 1748 of 2138) (inspired by Rom. 5:5; 6:5; 8:5-6; 11; 15; 10:11; Gal. 3:29; 4:7; 5:22-23; 2 Cor. 1:22; 2:15; 1 John 2:20, 27; Col. 1:27, 29; Eph. 1:18-19; 3:16, 20; 4:14; Phil. 1:6; 2:13; 2 Thes. 3:3; John 8:32; 15:5; 17:22-23; Heb. 4:10; 13:5, 13; 1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Peter 2:2; Isa. 28:16.)
Awakening (a sample closing prayer)
Thank you, Jesus, for speaking words of life to me. No matter what ups and downs I may experience from day to day, you are my constant. You are my stability and strength. I am forever grateful for your love that never fades, your forgiveness that never ends, and your life that never fails to sustain me. I am convinced that you are a God of your word. You are always with me. You are always in me, offering your counsel and comfort. And you will complete this incredible work that you have begun in me. I am so thankful to be a partaker of your divine nature here and now, when I need you the most. I love you, Jesus. (loc. 1756 of 2138)
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