Part of 14 of 14 – God’s
Expectation
Actually, God has no expectation
of “you” – you in yourself are as hopeless as I am. Knowing we are hopeless, God
placed the life of His Son’s very life into us as our “hope” of glory” (Col 1:27). Thus, God’s expectation is of “Christ in you” as you simply trust Him
in every situation of life, as your new life. Christ is the embodiment of the
Father’s love and life given to you. It is by His life in you, which is one with
you, that you have the very real potential to express that life of the love of
the Father to all those around you.
The conflict is between your old
way of living that was on the basis of a corrupted love of self as the god of
your own life, and now a willingness to trust His love and life. We can
only love and accept ourselves and others as we come to know the love of God; to
see ourselves as precious in His eyes – so precious He sent His Son to die for us and to give His Son’s life to us. Unless and until we receive
God’s love in the person of His Son we don’t know love and we have not received
real unconditional love – so we have no real unconditional love to give to
others.
1 John 4:10-12
(AMP) In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning
sacrifice) for our Sins. 11
Beloved, if God loved us so [very
much], we also ought to love one another. 12 No man has at any time [yet] seen
God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us
and His love (that love which is essentially His) is brought to
completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in
us!
We need to receive Christ moment
by moment, by receiving His speaking within us moment by moment as He works in
us to regulate and guide our living. What is expected, but not required to keep
or maintain our salvation, is that we should “learn Christ” (Eph 4:20), not just
learn about Jesus of Nazareth. We need to learn to walk in accord with “the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” who
indwells our spirit. He leads us from within by the His "Spirit of
life," by a new “the sense
of His life” that we've come to possess. This is to be our new normal way of
living. Every one who is of God hears God (John 8:47), but we don't necessarily
receive His inner speaking that we have by His indwelling Son so as to walk
with Him walk with Him - this we must come to learn.
Christ as God's grace given to us
lives and speaks within us in order to enliven us with His glorious power,
nourish us to endure life with patience, to lead us, and to govern our
living. The title “Lord”
in Greek is “kurious,” meaning, “Governor.” This life and leading we
have by Christ in us comes with His empowering life to enable us to
overcome with His glorious power that enables us to endure life's
conflicts with all patience and longsuffering.
Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with
joyfulness;
The one key for victory in
life is that we must flee to Christ
within and abide in union with Christ
within us as soon as we recognize our need. Thus, we do have a need to
co-operate with Christ who indwells us if we are to overcome Sin and life's
situations. We can say this, He is the operator within
us and He is the empowering life – all we need do is agree and to
co-operate by taking that first
step of turning our heart to Him within. He is as the living hand
within the glove; we are the living glove that must bend to the sense of Him
within. Of course we may still fail by refusing to co-operate for a time; it is
then that we will receive the training that comes from our loving Father
who knows our real need.
Hebrews 12:5-8
(AMP) And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal
and encouragement in which you are reasoned
with and addressed as sons?
My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the
correction and
discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage
and give up and faint when you are reproved
or
corrected by Him; 6
For the Lord corrects and
disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges,
every son whom He accepts
and welcomes to His heart and
cherishes. 7 You must
submit to and
endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with
you as with sons. For what son is there whom his
father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? 8 Now if you are exempt from
correction and
left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are
illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all].
We must note the word used for
God in Heb 12:7 above is “Father”–
not “judge.” Paul says we are chastened in a remedial way of a loving
Father - we are not punished as by a judge. We grow by learning Christ, learning
to trust Him, learning to obey His voice within, to be led by His “Spirit of life” within.
Romans 8:14 (AMP) For all who are
led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. This means, if we
accept His inner leading, we are growing up. We begin as children of God.
Romans 8:16 (AMP) The Spirit Himself [thus]
testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of
God. But, it’s by our failures that we learn to obey Him; then we
become the grown up “sons of
God.”
We can see from the foregoing
that it is God as Father who is at work in our lives; calling us, justifying us,
enlivening us, and empowering us with the very life of His Son - then He
trains us to walk in accord with Christ’s
“Spirit of life.” Philippians 2:13 For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
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