Abiding in Christ - Day 10 - He is Your Redemption!

Because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, Who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. ~1 Corinthians 1:30

Think about REDEMPTION.  What does it mean to you, Christian?  It is the complete and final deliverance from all consequences of sin.  Amazing. Grace.

Jesus Christ has three offices, Prophet, Priest and King.

As the Prophet, He is our wisdom, revealing to Who God is, how He loves, & the great salvation He gives.
As the Priest, He is our righteousness, restoring us to right relationship with God, securing His favour.
As the King, He is our sanctification, forming and guiding us into obedience to the Father's holy will.

We long for the grand consummation, when we will have complete deliverance from sin and all its effects, regaining all that was lost in the Fall of Man.  Can you imagine?  What would it have been like to walk with God in the garden, before sin entered the picture and marred everything?  Don't you long for that day, when you are free from sin?

As our communion with Jesus becomes more and more intense, we feel the power of an endless life working in us, a foretaste of glory.  Oh, to sit at the feet of Jesus!  Oh, to feel His power in me!

As I type this, a sister in Christ lays on her death-bed.  Gitzen Girl is full of grace, and has chosen joy in spite of living in pain for the past 14 years.  As her world got smaller, her heart for God and others expanded, and she has lived a full and joyful life.  She soon will be in the presence of Jesus, her Prophet, her Priest, her King!  She'll be free, delivered from her body and from all of the sin that so easily entangles.  She'll be experiencing grace first-hand.

Blessings From Abiding in Christ as our Redemption

• NO FEAR OF DEATH - it is simply the servant that removes the last rags of carnal clothing so that we can be clothed in glory - a new body with a glorified spirit awaits!
• WILLINGNESS TO SURRENDER the sinful members of our body to Him to be put to death, so we can give them to Him to reign over them.

Matter & Spirit

God created angels as spirits with no material bodies.  He created the world as matter without spirit.  Man was made in His image, to be both matter and spirit in perfect harmony.  This was to be a type of the most perfect union between God and His creation.  By sin, however, the material became supreme over the spiritual.  Men worried about their bodies, what they would wear, what they would eat, where they would lay their head.  That became more important than what was most important - their hearts before God.

God's plan was still in place.  The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.  And we beheld His glory.

When we abide in Christ as our Redemption, 

• we triumph over the fear of death - He is our Redeemer, and we have nothing to fear.
• we see Christ as Lord of our body - We present our body to Him as a living sacrifice.
• we look on nature as part of the kingdom of Christ.  We know that it groans, awaiting His return.
• we anticipate life in the heavenly places.  How glorious it will be to be finally free and fully restored!

Abide in Christ as your wisdom, following Him with humility.

Abide in Christ as your righteousness, dwelling clothed in Him before the Father.

Abide in Christ as your sanctification, experiencing His power to make you holy.

Abide in Christ as your redemption, living here as an heir of future glory.

LIVE WORTHY OF THAT HIGH AND HEAVENLY CALLING

BY ABIDING IN HIM.

To Christ Crucified

I am not moved to love you, God,
By hope for heav'n's reward;
Nor am I moved by fear of hell
To turn from sin, my Lord.
What moves me, God, is seeing you,
Despised and nailed up high
Upon that cross with gaping wounds,
Rejected, left to die.
Your love so moves me, Lord, that if
There were no heav'n or hell,
I still would fear your holy name
And truly love you well.
And so I need no promises
To sway my love for you;
For even if I had no hope,
I'd love you as I do.
               —Translated by Hugh Seay, Lent, 1978