My Life, His Life

On Monday I started an exploration of the question, did Christ unplug me when He came to be me? Am I somehow expunged now and it is just Jesus with my face? No, absolutely not. “Christ in me” is a huge paradox. It’s the mystery of the Gospel and my hope of glory. But it does not supersede another amazing gift of the Father to my life: free will.

Free Will, My Life, Christ’s Life

Free will is still a part of my existence. I have the choice every step of my life—Jesus or me. While my sonship is found in the Life of the Son of God, I too am His child and the Spirit in me calls God, Abba, Father. My personal belief is that there is only ONE Son and many children. When I say yes to the Life of the Son of God in me, I am in His sonship. This only happens when I will be a child, believing the unbelievable and receiving the wonder.

…to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:5b-7 HCSB

All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:14-17 HSCB

My Life is Not Living Independent

Though in my neurotic nature I have wished to escape, I still have the responsibility to choose. Christ wants to be me with me. He wants me to choose Him again and again over self. It is relationally motivated, so I am not eradicated. He wants me to choose to be with Him and to say yes to Him performing my life. But I have the opportunity to do it on my own at any point. This is the choice to live dead or not.

Living dead is not living independent; it is living dependent. And living independent is living through self-effort OR irresponsibility. I don’t get to shrug things off as if I have no responsibility in this life. Nor do I get to buckle down and do it in my own strength. I am a witness to the Life of the Son but also a door of permission to let Him be me. Volitionally I am giving the rights for Him to be my life and He gives me the privilege of witnessing His Life up close and personal. There is no greater witness than to see Him as me in my situations. But this only comes as I surrender, “not my will but Yours be done.”

Part of the mystery of the Gospel is that it will remain a mystery no matter how much of it is revealed to me. No matter how much I discover today, tomorrow the understanding of the mystery will be challenged and expanded. It will always remain a mystery this side of heaven.

More to Come…

Tomorrow I want to start sharing a transcript of a powerful message I heard over 15 years ago on this subject from Art Katz. I was so dynamically impacted by it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.