"The communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" 2 Cor. 13:14. The word communion is often thought of in terms of an act, as in we take communion, the breaking of bread or the Lords supper. Yes this is communion in a colloquial way. A moment of remembrance, and sometimes confession, where we might experience a emotional response to the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth as a relief to ourselves. By that we are thus encouraged to remember what He has done for us. But in what sense is the communion or fellowship of The Holy Spirit, spoken of in the bible to be affected as a internal condition which can cause us to grow in likeness to Him who we admire, and in whom we are regarded, as recorded in the Word of God?
The word Communion is derived from the Latin. It is a word most commonly used in the tradition originating in the Roman institutional Church. But the original Greek word is koinonia. Meaning fellowship. But there are much more important implications to this word, when thought of in the original form: As in the sharing or exchange of intimate thoughts and feelings; especially when this exchange is on a mental or spiritual level. It is a feminine noun, which suits the intimacy we have in being positioned in Christ as His bride.The ultimate fellowship we may so enjoy.... if entered into.
As Christians we are to develop a conscious communion [fellowship] with the Father which is dependent on a practical/spiritual abiding in Christ. So the question becomes how do we view ourselves to align our thought of ourselves with His purpose in that regard?
Most Christians have a earnest desire to be conformed to a image of Christ: but the problem is we often look at ourselves, to see if we are like Him...... Whereas it is by beholding Him where He is in heaven before the Father that we gradually apprehend that we are changed into His image in Spirit. "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as from the Lord's Spirit" 2 Cor. 3:18. And that by learning His positional presence for and as us in heaven we are called upon to believe, and count as true, the great gift of the unsearchable riches we posses in Christ......His life is ours, His glory is ours, the love which the Father loves Him is also ours! " God who has commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts" 2 Cor. 4:6.
This image of Christ we are destined into is not approachable in the flesh; which is the whole of the Adamic nature under the power of sin. It includes our whole being, spirit, soul, and body. All of mans power is under the influence of the flesh. "But God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world [the flesh] is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" Gal. 6:14. That is why it is vitally necessary to apprehend our Christian life and purpose solely in the image of a crucified Christ as representing us: Who died to that flesh, for the purpose of drawing us into the presence and power of God. The crucifying of our flesh therefore is not a thing for us to do, but a thing which has been done. "Knowing [mental acceptance] that our old man [the flesh in total] has been crucified with Christ".
Andrew Murray said it like this: " Everyone who accepts Christ receives Him as the Crucified one, and receives not only His merit but also the power of His crucifixion and is united and identified with Him. And is called on intelligently and voluntarily to realize and count upon that identification". "So also you, reckon yourselves [count as true in a personal volitional way] to be dead to sin but living to God in Jesus Christ" Rom. 6:11. We that are believers in Jesus Christ have in virtue of accepting Him in this way have accepted the crucified One as our life.We have given up the flesh to the Cross. Which enables us by faith and in spirit to live in the very essence of the person and character of Jesus Christ. This is a personal definition of simply who we are as Christians. Therefore in trusting that as true we have indeed crucified the flesh with it's passions and lust; as a practical application of that truth. Which now the Father has applied to us and identifies us in. It only remains for us to live in that truth as the defining reality of our Christian life! That is accomplished only by faith in these facts to be true, nothing else! Although it must be granted all Christian are retained in this position before God by grace, even if unaware. "Now thanks to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ" 2 Cor. 2:14.
No action, service experience or feeling will activate the communion we are called to as members of His body. We are those who are alive from the dead. We are viewed by God entirely as a heavenly race, and presented as such in complete newness by the Son as our representative or identity there. " Your life is hidden with Christ in God" Col. 3:3. This is totally a spiritual position and condition, the flesh and natural man is set aside by the Father in death. Nothing we do or say can alter that charge.We are a new nation of new creatures all seen by the Father inclusively when He looks upon His Son. " You are partakers of His Resurrection,through the faith wrought in you by God, who raised Him from the dead" Col. 2:12. There is really no other explanation for the Christian. We know the world in not our home. "God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph. 1:3. For us to enter into the mindset of a presence in Christ as our Christian reality we must change the course of our thoughts; how we regard ourselves. "My soul waits only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" PS. 62:5. We must come to apprehend ourselves as wholly contained spiritual beings transferred into His image by The Spirit of God, to the very person of Jesus Christ! And then by the power of faith in that as truth we will become as Him as we regard ourselves in this life. Mentenaly/spiritually consecrated and progressively being conformed to His image; therefore not empowering the conditions of the flesh. There is no other way, that is the only destiny we have. The question is will we begin to live the new life now or wait to be transferred by the inevitable, always hoping it is true: but never experiencing Christ as life in this world?
I personally would rather consider myself as dead now than to wait for my heart to stop; for it is by a mental/spiritual based faith attitude contained in my mind, that the Father has dealt a death blow to the flesh, that promises a life here and now, a life in Christ; anything else is death. "Until Christ be formed in you" Gal. 4:19. I have come to learn it is by my taking account of my natural Adamic being as having any value for gaining God that I suffer failure to realize the truth; that my only true life is found in Him. It is with great sadness I look at myself, the Church, my friends and family and see so often a self appraising value defining the Christian life. Perhaps we will even enjoy and find affirmation in conducting a Christian life of works and experience, buying into the presentation of a worldly atmosphere geared and fine tuned to the needs of the natural man. Although by that choice we might never know there is another new way, never give it a chance to form here on earth in our soul's. It will be a sad day indeed when we discover before God that all which we have done in the flesh, good and bad, have equally no value in the judgement of a Holy God. "That you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will [to know ourselves identified and living in Christ] accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things" Col. 1:9.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
OUR PERMANENT POSITION
It is a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever, at least in the form we now occupy. We have faith in the promised gift of eternity: but we are only human, we are here, this is our only practical existence. How can we take the promises we all hope for and cause it to be appreciated, even lived experientially while we are on this earth?
I think of the Lord Jesus, His beauty and the love He contained within Himself for us, His sacrifice for the ones He loved. His obedience in portraying the Grace of the Father is such a wonder. Surely if His example is true, and it applies to us as individuals, He must have also wished for it to impact the way we live our lives in a self volitional way; in light of the fact He gave us the advantage of having the gift of such joyful knowledge of a life in Him, available to us in His Word. "I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" Phil 3:12.
The practical side of such prose as above is hard to reach as a aware existence. Where is the hope then found? If a life in Christ doesn't become practical what good is it? If we are simply carrying on for the good of a improved situation on this earth, history shows this has been a fruitless endeavor. How can the beautiful vision painted in the Bible's Words, us as the children of God, "hid in Christ", bear fruit via a expression of our most inner being? Becoming what we are portrayed to be in it's pages: in our daily earthy lives.
Well the answer is; there is a way, and it's right before our eye's, giving us a total revelation of the living God. The power is in His Word's. This is how life is changed. We by the alive Spirit of Jesus Christ inside of our minds can take advantage of the reflective inner vision of a life given in complete abandon to the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowledge guides with faith as it's anchor. "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection" Phil. 3:10a.
The problem on the way to achieving this nirvana like existence is we come to realize a fact; a large part of that discovery, as a way of life, is found on the down side. How ironic, but it must be a Godly intentional condition. After all He could have made us any way He wished! " And the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death" Phil 3:10b.
John Darby said it like this: "The awakening of the conscience in one who is sincere, never produces in him the accomplishment of righteousness, but on the contrary despair."Oh wretched man that I am!" This thought puts us in a position of asking. "Who shall deliver me?" His ways are so above ours. How can we take the place we are told we have been positioned in Christ Jesus?" Has made us alive together with Christ" Eph. 2:5.
God takes no pleasure in leaving us here in such a wretched condition: but as soon as we acknowledge our state as natural earthly men, without any hope, the Father reveals our perfect deliverance in Christ. " Oh wrenched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death" Rom. 7:24 This is the new position we find in our weakness, by the Spirit in the Fathers mind seen fully in the light of His Son, and from that as our platform for life we may be delivered and bring forth good fruit. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be reveled in us" Rom 8:8
"Alive unto God in Jesus Christ, our lord" Rom. 6:11. Until we come to believe in the fact that our position as Christians is in the risen Lord Jesus Christ we will have no rest during the process of becoming alive to that position. Him becoming our true condition. In other words we must be sure of the Source before growth. " Set you affections [mental attitude] on things above....for you died [old nature on the cross] and your life [new nature in Christ] is hidden with Christ in God" Col. 3:2, 3.
Our standing with the Father is settled, it is perfect, it is eternal. "You were set free [co-crucified with Christ] from the tyranny of sin' Rom 6:18. However our condition or state is imperfect and is always fluctuating. We as Christians are partakers of a new life by Spirit, without sin, as we are considered as in Christ and Him only by the Father. But we go about our physical existence in the old Adam nature, which can only sin. "Sin is in the flesh". Our standing with God however is the new spiritual, not the old natural. We are not in this sinful flesh if in the Spirit of Christ as one born again. "But you are not in the flesh [natural man in God's sight]. but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you [ born again]. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him" Rom. 8:9. Our freedom from the old condition lies not in function and behavior or experience which is Law: but in mental acquiescence to God's Grace given as an identity, to the new man of faith, who bears the new nature as his very own. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [our identity is in Him] has made me free from the law of sin and death" Rom. 8:2. We are excepted by God.....complete in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our practical sinful condition can never even touch our spiritual position which is internally secured by Jesus Christ. But it can very seriously affect our fellowship and worship. Our testimony, service and spiritual enjoyment can be very compromised. The carrying about of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in our practical Christian life, is defined and lived by the discovery of our position and identity in Him. This is a spiritual apprehension which defines our eternal life itself. "He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" 2 Tim. 2:21. There are great consequences to be gained in understanding this truth, in the recognition of the new personality and conscience we have inherited, which requires a new mind; changed by God's revelation, to take advantage of the new man we have become in Christ.
The position of the true believer always remains intact, we have complete security and even the most immature Christian is seen as perfect in Christ by the Father, as He wholly represents us. As we become more mature however we can see our condition as both in the sinful man and in the perfection of our Lord. The former condition serves the aware saint as a thorn to prod us to ever seeking identity in Christ. But now we are partakers on the earth of a heavenly position by Spirit and our faith. We may then more fully enjoy the favors of the Father [us represented by the Son] to us in heavenly places. "This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill [define yourself as a natural man] the lusts of the flesh" Gal. 5:16 Then we may thank Him for the condition we must live under, in the circumstances of the earthly man; as it only serves to enhance the position of love we may rest in; trusting in faith in all that the Father has made us in His Son. "For me to live is Christ" Phil. 1:21.
I think of the Lord Jesus, His beauty and the love He contained within Himself for us, His sacrifice for the ones He loved. His obedience in portraying the Grace of the Father is such a wonder. Surely if His example is true, and it applies to us as individuals, He must have also wished for it to impact the way we live our lives in a self volitional way; in light of the fact He gave us the advantage of having the gift of such joyful knowledge of a life in Him, available to us in His Word. "I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" Phil 3:12.
The practical side of such prose as above is hard to reach as a aware existence. Where is the hope then found? If a life in Christ doesn't become practical what good is it? If we are simply carrying on for the good of a improved situation on this earth, history shows this has been a fruitless endeavor. How can the beautiful vision painted in the Bible's Words, us as the children of God, "hid in Christ", bear fruit via a expression of our most inner being? Becoming what we are portrayed to be in it's pages: in our daily earthy lives.
Well the answer is; there is a way, and it's right before our eye's, giving us a total revelation of the living God. The power is in His Word's. This is how life is changed. We by the alive Spirit of Jesus Christ inside of our minds can take advantage of the reflective inner vision of a life given in complete abandon to the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowledge guides with faith as it's anchor. "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection" Phil. 3:10a.
The problem on the way to achieving this nirvana like existence is we come to realize a fact; a large part of that discovery, as a way of life, is found on the down side. How ironic, but it must be a Godly intentional condition. After all He could have made us any way He wished! " And the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death" Phil 3:10b.
John Darby said it like this: "The awakening of the conscience in one who is sincere, never produces in him the accomplishment of righteousness, but on the contrary despair."Oh wretched man that I am!" This thought puts us in a position of asking. "Who shall deliver me?" His ways are so above ours. How can we take the place we are told we have been positioned in Christ Jesus?" Has made us alive together with Christ" Eph. 2:5.
God takes no pleasure in leaving us here in such a wretched condition: but as soon as we acknowledge our state as natural earthly men, without any hope, the Father reveals our perfect deliverance in Christ. " Oh wrenched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death" Rom. 7:24 This is the new position we find in our weakness, by the Spirit in the Fathers mind seen fully in the light of His Son, and from that as our platform for life we may be delivered and bring forth good fruit. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be reveled in us" Rom 8:8
"Alive unto God in Jesus Christ, our lord" Rom. 6:11. Until we come to believe in the fact that our position as Christians is in the risen Lord Jesus Christ we will have no rest during the process of becoming alive to that position. Him becoming our true condition. In other words we must be sure of the Source before growth. " Set you affections [mental attitude] on things above....for you died [old nature on the cross] and your life [new nature in Christ] is hidden with Christ in God" Col. 3:2, 3.
Our standing with the Father is settled, it is perfect, it is eternal. "You were set free [co-crucified with Christ] from the tyranny of sin' Rom 6:18. However our condition or state is imperfect and is always fluctuating. We as Christians are partakers of a new life by Spirit, without sin, as we are considered as in Christ and Him only by the Father. But we go about our physical existence in the old Adam nature, which can only sin. "Sin is in the flesh". Our standing with God however is the new spiritual, not the old natural. We are not in this sinful flesh if in the Spirit of Christ as one born again. "But you are not in the flesh [natural man in God's sight]. but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you [ born again]. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him" Rom. 8:9. Our freedom from the old condition lies not in function and behavior or experience which is Law: but in mental acquiescence to God's Grace given as an identity, to the new man of faith, who bears the new nature as his very own. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [our identity is in Him] has made me free from the law of sin and death" Rom. 8:2. We are excepted by God.....complete in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our practical sinful condition can never even touch our spiritual position which is internally secured by Jesus Christ. But it can very seriously affect our fellowship and worship. Our testimony, service and spiritual enjoyment can be very compromised. The carrying about of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in our practical Christian life, is defined and lived by the discovery of our position and identity in Him. This is a spiritual apprehension which defines our eternal life itself. "He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" 2 Tim. 2:21. There are great consequences to be gained in understanding this truth, in the recognition of the new personality and conscience we have inherited, which requires a new mind; changed by God's revelation, to take advantage of the new man we have become in Christ.
The position of the true believer always remains intact, we have complete security and even the most immature Christian is seen as perfect in Christ by the Father, as He wholly represents us. As we become more mature however we can see our condition as both in the sinful man and in the perfection of our Lord. The former condition serves the aware saint as a thorn to prod us to ever seeking identity in Christ. But now we are partakers on the earth of a heavenly position by Spirit and our faith. We may then more fully enjoy the favors of the Father [us represented by the Son] to us in heavenly places. "This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill [define yourself as a natural man] the lusts of the flesh" Gal. 5:16 Then we may thank Him for the condition we must live under, in the circumstances of the earthly man; as it only serves to enhance the position of love we may rest in; trusting in faith in all that the Father has made us in His Son. "For me to live is Christ" Phil. 1:21.
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