Life in the Body: Our Identity

The story of Saul’s encounter with Jesus is one that is well-known. But there is a short phrase that you  may not have noticed that points to something even more significant.

If you’ve read much of the Bible, you’ve probably run across the story of Saul in the book of Acts. Saul was a Pharisee, a Jewish man zealous for the law of Moses. In Acts 7, as Stephen is being stoned, Luke mentions that Saul is there giving approval to what’s happening. Not only that, but he would enter Christian homes and dragged men and women to prison for believing in Christ!

In Acts 9 everything changes for Saul. He encounters Jesus Christ. I won’t go in to all of the details, but Saul, one of the greatest persecutors of the church, becomes Paul, the man who wrote much of the New Testament. Jesus Christ transformed him. What I want to focus on is what Jesus says during their meeting on the road to Damascus.

Christ and His Church are One

Saul is knocked to the ground by a light shining from heaven. And then he hears a voice:

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he [Saul] said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5) Wait, what?! What did Jesus say? Didn’t He mean to say, “Saul, why are you persecuting my church?” Evidently He didn’t, because He reiterates it again: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” I’m sure Saul had no idea of what he was doing! He wasn’t just persecuting the church, or any belonging to the Way, as they were known. He was persecuting Jesus Christ Himself!

This idea of the church being indistinguishably identified with Jesus Christ is borne out throughout the New Testament, particularly in the writings of Paul. He learned well the truth of the identity of the believer with Jesus Christ. Here are three of them...

1. Paul knew first and foremost that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross in our place for our sin(s). He said in Romans that, in essence, it wasn’t only Jesus on the cross: “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Rom 6:6) As believers we have partaken in the death of Jesus Christ, and the blood that He shed now covers our sins AND serves as the cure for sin itself. When God looks at us, He sees not our sin, but the sinless blood of Jesus.

Not only that, but we have been raised to new life in Christ. Paul also writes: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom 6:5) Life in Christ held two meanings for Paul. Here he speaks of the resurrection of the dead. Just as Jesus was raised on the third day, so too will we be raised with Him on the last day.

2. Paul also experienced the life of Christ while he was alive. An older, more mature Paul wrote these words to the Philippian church: “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.” (Gal 2:20) In his own life Paul saw Himself as inseparable from the life of Christ in Him. In a very practical way he was inseparable from the person of Jesus.

3. Paul also knew that our union with Christ is not only individual, but corporate.  In one of his letters to the Corinthians Paul spoke eloquently of the church as the very body of Jesus Christ: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor 12:12) Paul understood Jesus Christ not as one body with one member (Himself), but instead as one body with many members. We are those members! We are the body of Jesus Christ! We are truly united with Him!

The reality of our corporate identity with Christ has radical implications in our day. Just what are those implications? Check back on Friday to find out! That’s what we refer to in the business as ‘a tease’…. :)

One with Christ,

Ryan

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Other posts in this series:

Life in the Body: The Center of All Things

Life in the Body: The Center of All Things

This post marks the beginning of a new series on the life of the church, the Body of Jesus Christ. Initially it will have five parts, with additional posts to intermittently follow in the future.

The Center of All Things

In the first post on this blog I spoke of how often the church focuses on doctrines, traditions, teachings, practices, and teachers. Such things are important and can be edifying, but these things are not at the center of Biblical Christianity. While putting so much time and energy in to these topics, we unintentionally push to the periphery that which is truly central to the Bible. Or rather WHO is truly central to the Bible…Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ  is the focus of the scriptures. And it is in Him that everything mentioned above finds its meaning. We understand doctrine in the person of Jesus. Tradition takes a back seat to Jesus. Our practices are an expression of Jesus Christ in us. Teachers who teach rightly reveal and  preach Jesus. He is at the root and center in everything, for by Him,to Him, and through Him are all things.

Here are several passages the New Testament points to the centrality of the person of Jesus:

1. Many spend a great deal of time on God the Father, and rightly so. But He only spoke twice in the New Testament, and He said the same thing both times: “This is My Son. Listen to Him!” God the Father points us to Jesus Christ.

2. Much attention is given to the work of the Holy Spirit. But according to John, the Spirit is given to reveal Christ. The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus Christ.

3. Paul took the gospel to cities throughout the Roman Empire. And everywhere He went His message was the same. Paul taught Jesus Christ.

4. Not only that, but Paul often left these new churches within a few months of planting them. What gave Him the ability to do what pastors today wouldn’t dream of doing even after years? The life and faith of the churches rested solely on Jesus Christ.

In the words of Colossians 1:

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (v. 17-18)

When the Lord Jesus Christ takes His rightful place at the center of the life of the church, everything changes. Our focus shifts from things to a person, and He begins to have His way in our life together. May Jesus Christ have the preeminence in all things, and especially in His church.

For Him,

Ryan

The Copy Cat Religion

In most circles the practical aspects of the Christian life can be summed up in one word: imitation. The New Testament is riddled with references to modeling ourselves after what we see in others. Paul speaks of this when he says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” John also speaks of imitating.

But what does that mean? How literally do we take the idea of imitating Paul, for example? Should I travel to different cities to plant churches as he did? Should I dress like him? Should I do what I can to get beat up and thrown in jail for preaching Jesus Christ? How far should our imitation of Paul go?

 

It’s pretty ridiculous to consider some of those things, but it’s not that far from the way many Christians live. In many churches you’ll meet folks who dress the same, use the same phrases and language, eat the same foods, and have a similar standard of living. Sometimes this extends to bible-reading and prayer habits as well.

How much of this is related to what Paul was talking about? I would personally say very little, and in some cases none of it. This is because so much of Christianity focuses on outward appearances and neglects the true source of Paul’s life. The reality of imitation lies in the second half of the verse above: “as I the Lord.” What did Paul imitate in Christ?

Living By the Life of Another

The fact is that Jesus Christ Himself was also imitating someone:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” John 5:19

According to this verse, Jesus Christ could not live the Christian life. While He was on the earth, He lived by the life of His Father in heaven. He was imitating what His Father was doing. It wasn’t a matter of looking at things Father had done in the past and figuring out which of them to do. “What would Dad do if He were here?”

Christ was so connected to the life of His Father that He didn’t have to wonder what Dad would do. The Son could see what His Father was doing and be a part of it! This is the essence of the Christian life: living by the indwelling life of another person. When we see Jesus Christ as He is, we see everything He did on earth as inseparable from the indwelling life of His Father.

Imitation for Paul was not merely matching the actions of Christ. He penned the very words of Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." He lived by the life of Jesus Christ! The Christian life is much more than conforming to external standards. At its core it is Jesus Christ Himself and living internally by His life. Anything external flows from His life in us.

So what does that mean for us? One, we can live by the life of our indwelling Lord. As I mentioned in the previous post, Jesus Christ lives in us. The very life of God is at work in you and me, that He might be fully manifested in our mortal bodies. The more we behold His glory, the more deeply we drink of His love for us, the more of Him that we lay hold of, the more visible He will be in our lives.

Second, be careful who (and how) you imitate. By His grace the Lord gives us brothers and sisters to help us see more clearly how to live the Christian life. Some may have the outward appearance of godliness but not the substance of Jesus Christ on the inside. Hebrews 13:7 tells us to consider the outworking of someone's life (external), but to actually imitate their faith (internal). May we have the eyes and wisdom of Christ to discern the difference.

Living by His life,

Ryan

Guest of Honor

I caught the tail end of a conversation on the radio today. It was a local bible-answer-man-type call-in show. The comment I heard from the host was, "Jesus is in the midst of the churches, just like He was in Revelation 2 & 3*. He is the guest of honor." Guest of honor? Really?

I understand that this phrase is used in an attempt to honor and exalt Jesus. The intentions are noble, but there are fatal flaws. First, it assumes that Jesus is not always around. If someone is a guest they may only be present once or on a few occasions. But the scriptures clearly point to the reality that God is omnipresent. Particularly with believers, He does come and go, He is always with us (Matthew 28:20).

Second, being our guest is not what the Lord has in mind. In His grace, Jesus Christ will come as a guest if He's invited, but His ultimate desire is for something else, something more:

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..." Eph 3:14-17

Jesus doesn't want to be only a guest in our hearts. He wants to dwell there! He wants to live there! Our home is (hopefully) the place where we can relax and be ourselves. Our home is a place for us to set things up the way we want and find rest. Jesus wants to make our hearts His home, where He gets to rearrange the furniture, kick up His feet, and be Himself.

But there's more! Jesus wants to do more than live in us individually. He wants to build us together into a spiritual house.

"...you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the  apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." Eph 2:19-22

God is making a house for Himself. It's not a physical building, its made of living stones, you and me. We, as the church, are God's house. He's not the guest of honor in His own house, He is the head! Intentional or not, when we relegate Jesus Christ to house guest, we miss out on knowing Him as He is. May Christ have His way in each of us, and in His church!

Your brother in whom Christ dwells,
Ryan


*In case you don't know the reference, Revelation 2 & 3 list seven churches in the ancient Roman province of Asia Minor. There is a golden lamp stand in the midst of each of these churches, symbolic of the presence of Jesus Christ.

From Zurich With Love

I’ve titled this blog As He Is because of a burning desire in my heart to see the church come to a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ. I’m sure your reaction is to say, “Come on, you really think the church doesn’t know who Jesus Christ is?” Yes, the church knows Jesus on some level, primarily as savior and Lord. He’s seen by many as the guy who came out of heaven and took the royal spanking that I deserved from God the Father (a Father who many believers aren’t sure they really care for, but that’s a topic for another day).

The reality is that Jesus often serves merely as the introduction to Christianity. You’re encouraged to come to Him and be saved from your sins, and this is a glorious thing! And then what happens? Listen to a televangelist and you’ll hear, “Go find a bible-believing church.” And from there, if you stick with it, you begin reading the bible, attending various meetings, maybe studying doctrines and teachings, learning about how to have a good marriage and raise a family, hearing about what kind of life God wants you to live and what steps you can take to get there, political opinions, etc.

All of these things can be good, but over time they unintentionally become a replacement for Christ Himself. Ask other Christians about some of the topics I’ve mentioned above and they’ll have things to say. Ask them about Christ Himself and the conversations tend to be much shorter (at least in my experience). Practically, Jesus is the savior we learned about early in our Christian life, but the depth of our knowledge of Him hasn’t grown all that much since then. Is that because we’ve already explored all of who Christ is? Have we seen everything there is to see of Him? The fact is that most believers do not see Jesus Christ as He truly is.

By comparison, here’s what Paul says about Him: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that he might be preeminent in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:15-20

This passage is a description of Jesus Christ that is mind-blowing! He is more than just our Savior. He is more than just an introduction to Christianity. He is ALL! To focus on just one point, Paul says that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ. What does that mean? The fullness of God encompasses everything there is about Him. ALL that God the Father is lives in Jesus Christ. The very heights and depths of God Himself are found in the person of Jesus.

Here’s an example: I’ve flown through Zurich, Switzerland, on one occasion. I never left the airport, I had lunch at a café and a poor substitute for a nap on a bench. Technically, I can say I was in Zurich. But I never set foot on it’s streets. I never had a real conversation with someone who lives there, never saw the architecture, never had any local cuisine, never saw any sites. So how well do I really know Zurich? Even if I had done all of those things, there is so much more to Zurich. How much deeper would my knowledge of Zurich be if I spoke the language? Or lived there for a year? Or 10? Or a lifetime? I still wouldn’t exhaust everything and everyone that Zurich has to offer.

Brothers and sisters, Zurich is a picture of Jesus Christ. You can have a superficial knowledge of Him and be a Christian, but to stop there is to miss out on the inexhaustible riches of Him in whom the fullness of God dwells. And the reality is that all of those topics I mentioned above, all of those I haven’t mentioned, they ALL have their root and meaning in Him. They are rightly understood only within the context of Him who is all in all.

In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing what I have seen of Jesus Christ. He is my Lord. He is my Savior. And He is so much more… my hope and prayer is that you will see Him as He is, in all His fullness, and be captivated by Christ as I am.

Grace and Peace to you,

Ryan

A Gospel for the Middle

Ok, I've decided to take part in a synchroblog. Frank Viola, a Christian author, posted a fictional story on his blog and asked for responses. I've included the original story below, along with my response (a pseudo letter) and a summary of the key points. Please feel free to give your thoughts in the comments. And I'd encourage you to check out Frank's blog on a regular basis as well--the link is below.

Ryan

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The following exercise is from the synchroblog at http://frankviola.org/2012/07/09/gospelforthemiddle

Fielding Melish and his wife Felicia have two children, ages 10 and 6. They live in a very remote part of Maine, USA. They are surrounded by extended family, none of whom are Christians. The nearest churches are one hour away, and by all evangelical standards, none of them are good. These churches are either highly legalistic, highly libertine, or just flat-out flaky.

One of Fielding’s cousins is a practicing Christian. They see each other once a year. Fielding’s cousin has shared Christ with Fielding many times over the years. Whenever they’ve talked about spiritual things, Fielding shows interest.

Felicia grew up in a Christian home. She’s received Christ, but she isn’t evangelistic and is overwhelmed with working long hours and raising two small children. She would love to find a church nearby for the spiritual support and instruction, but none exist.

Fielding has no college education. While he is capable of reading, he is not a reader. He doesn’t use the Web either. He’s a man who works with his hands, both for his career and for recreation. He’s an “outdoorsman.” He hunts, he builds, he does manual labor, etc. In his spare time, he helps his elderly parents with various building projects.

Fielding is not an atheist. Neither is he an agnostic. He believes in God. He believes Jesus is the Savior of the world who died for our sins and rose again from the dead. He hasn’t fully surrendered his life to Christ, but he is not sure what that looks like exactly. His children know a little about the Lord, mostly because of what their mother has taught them.

Recently Fielding asked this question:

When I’m with my cousin once a year, I want to learn more about God. But when I come back home, and I’m around everyone else, my mind is off of God, and I am back to working, raising my kids, and helping my parents. Someone needs to come up with a solution for people like me . . . people who are in the middle. (By “in the middle,” Fielding means someone who believes in Jesus, but who isn’t fully absorbed in the faith yet either. They simply don’t know enough nor do they have any spiritual support system around them.)

Relocating is not an option for Fielding and his wife. Even if they wanted to relocate, they don’t see a way they could do it financially.

Remember: Fielding and his wife don’t personally know any Christians. None of their extended family or coworkers are believers either. And the nearest churches (which are an hour away) aren’t recommended.

Question: If you were Fielding’s cousin, how would you instruct him and his wife the next time you saw them?

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My response:

Fielding…..’Cuz,

So you don’t have anyone around to talk with you about God. That’s a hard place to be! But I have good news. God Himself is close to you, and He wants you to know Him even more than you do! He doesn’t just live in a church building, He’s everywhere. He’s there when you work, when you’re home with your wife and kids, and when you’re helping your parents. And if you want to know Him better and learn more about Him, all you have to do is ask.

In the morning when you first wake up, just tell God that you want to get to know Him better that day. If you don’t think of it then, just tell Him whenever you do. God is a person, and we can get to know Him. He WANTS us to know Him, and He’ll listen to you. You don’t need to go to a church to meet Him, He will meet you right where you are.

Here’s another thing: I want you to know God better, too. I wish we could get together more than once a year. Since we can’t, how about talking on the phone a little more? I love to talk about Jesus. He is incredible, He’s the God of the universe, He loves us and saves us, and He can live in us! How amazing! The two of us talking on the phone can take the place of having other Christians around you, at least for now. Maybe Felicia would join us, too.

Speaking of Felicia, how much do you talk with her about God? I know she’s a Christian, and I’m sure she would want to know what you’re thinking as well. And how about your kids? These are important things for them, too. Don’t keep your interest in God to yourself, tell them about Him too.

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So in summary, I would respond with five things:

1.       Tell Fielding that even though there aren’t other Christians around him, God Himself is near

2.       Encourage Fielding to ask God to show Himself in the course of everyday life

3.       Try to talk on the phone more and serve as a temporary substitute for other believers

4.       Preach Christ! I speak more of God in my letter because that’s how Fielding refers to Him. But God has a name—it’s Jesus Christ!

5.       Encourage Fielding to include His wife and children in all of this

As He Is

Greetings, and welcome to my new blog. This isn’t my first foray into blogging, but I come into it this time with a different perspective. There is a very specific topic that is on my heart, and yet it is one so vast that it cannot be exhausted. In the past I have written to express myself; this time I humbly write in hopes of expressing someone else. That person is Jesus Christ.

In the church today Jesus Christ frequently takes a back seat to other things. Doctrines, teachers, and specific practices become the focus of the Christian life shortly after someone is saved. In the past I too have spent so much time on other things and begun to see Christ Himself as the “elementary teaching” that Paul mentioned in Hebrews 6.

Boy, was I wrong.

In the last few years I have been reawakened to the person of Jesus Christ. I have seen Him as He is, the fullness of God who fills all in all. And I have begun to experience Christ and the reality of Him living in me in ways that have boggled my mind. In short, I am captivated by Jesus Christ, and this blog is some of what is spilling out of me. It’s not that other topics are not important, but they are not independent of Christ; He is central to them.

I could say much more about these things, but if I put it all in one post, what would be the reason for a blog? :) My plan is to post 1 to 2 times per week on Jesus Christ as He is, and my prayer is that you and anyone else reading would see Him more clearly and fall more deeply in love with Him. I’m sure I’ll be able to put a finer point on what I’ll be writing about as time goes on. Please feel free to comment (agree or disagree) as you see fit. And may Jesus Christ be manifested and glorified in His church.

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” 1 John 4:16-17

In Christ,

Ryan

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