By
Arthur J Licursi
John
16:33 These things I (Jesus) have spoken unto you, that
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
1
John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life.
Jesus
tells us in John 16:33 that He is the one who has overcome the world. Yet
Jesus said He as the Son could do nothing of His self. John 5:30 I
can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is
just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which
hath sent me. Jesus limited His self to do only the will of the
Father. He came to do the will of the Father (Jn 5:30). As such He is as
the Father’s lamb to redeem us.
Jesus
is the only one able to do the will of the Father, because He alone
knows the Father (Luke 10:22) and He is one with the Father. John
10:30 I and my Father are one. Jesus told the Jews, “apart
from me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). We can know the
Father only through Christ in us (Luke 10:22b). Jesus prayed for those
whom the Father gave Him (John 17:9), that they would be one in the Father
and the Son, through being in Him. John 17:21 That they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us…
We
Christians, who are members of the body of Christ, have been placed or
immersed “into one body” of Christ (1Cor 12:13a), and we also
have Him in us since we were “made to drink into one Spirit.”
(1Cor 12:13b)
1
Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and
have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
We
should note the dual and mutual indwelling mentioned in this one verse.
1)
We are placed into Christ’s body
2)
We drink into, or take the one Spirit into us.
So
we see that we are in Him and He is in us,
by the Spirit.
There
is no way for us to have the overcoming life except by having received the
life of the Son into us. The overcoming life is none other than the
resurrection life of Christ, which is given to us in the person of the
Son, as “the Spirit of life (Zoë, spirit life) in Christ Jesus,”
to indwell our human spirit. While we as an individual proper soul still
exist, we are as a living, free-willed, container to bear and express His
life. When God gives us His Son, He is not giving us a His
commands or a prescription as to what to “do,” He is giving us the
“do’er” Himself - Christ. Christ’s life within us is active,
speaking and effectual. It is Christ in us who is the only one able to do
the will of God the Father. Thus, we are utterly dependent upon
Christ in us for living the Christian life.
God
does not merely give us “life;” He is giving us the life that is the
Son’s resurrection life – we become partakers of His one life as the
elevated Christ presently is, far above principalities, powers, and
dominions.
We’ve
received the life of “the last Adam” who is Christ; it is the
resurrection life of Christ that overcame death that we now possess. It
was after Jesus was incarnated, lived, suffered, died and was resurrected,
that He “became the life-giving spirit” (1Cor 15:45). 2
Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit… 1
John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
Thus
we have the life of the one who endured and overcame all that the world
and the Devil could throw at Him, including death, to be our new life. We
must see that having the overcoming life is not a matter of receiving life
as an object or thing that is apart or separate from Christ; receiving
life is a matter of receiving the resurrected Son of God Himself into
our being. Our receptivity is the key by which we obtain and enjoy
all that Christ is. John 1:12 But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name: One only becomes a son or child of a
father by receiving the life of that father – and so it is with God. We
have received the Father’s life (which is in the Son) and thus we are
literally born of God. Having the new life of Christ, makes us to have a
new Father.
When
we turn away from the overcoming Christ who is in us as our new life, to
try and live the Christian life by our own resources, we break our union
with Him and thus we make His life on no effect. Galatians 5:4
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; ye are fallen from grace. After receiving Christ, we are free
to assert our self and we may turn to our own way; yet we do not
lose Him, but we do lose the benefit of His life since, by our choice,
there has been a break in the union, hindering the flow of His life
from our spirit (where Christ dwells) to nourish and renew our soul-self.
At that point, we have “fallen from the grace” of His
overcoming life in us.
Therefore,
when our relationship with Christ is improper, problems develop. Once we
choose to assert our self in away that is contrary to Christ in us, or we
doubt or distrust Christ's presence and His will working in our lives, we
will have problems within. We will no longer enjoy the benefit of His
effectual life, wisdom, guidance and power if we do not trust His life in
us. Since Christ is patience, wisdom, peace and rest, God
does not give us patience, meekness, or humility independent of Christ in
us as those things. He has given us patience, peace, and humility…in the
person of His Son. The minute we are not right with His Son, we have
broken the flow of His life – and we will have a sense of that
separation by an inward sense of heaviness, darkness and loss. This is why
we need to maintain a proper relationship with Christ moment by moment.
It
is never that He leaves us – it always is that we have left Him, by no
longer trusting Him and or choosing to go our own way; we thus have become
independent of Him who is our new life. We have asserted our self and we
have broken away from our normal “default” position of union with Him
who is our proper life-source. The answer is simply to turn to Him and be
restored to that union – and the Life (His Life) will flow once again
from within our spirit – as “a well of living water” (John
7:37-39).
Having been placed into His
body (1Cor 12:13), we should always bear in mind our relationship as being
a member of His body, of which He is the Head, our Head. No physical body
member is independent of the head that guides and directs each member of
the body. Being in right relationship, His life and authority flows from
Him as head, to we who are His body members. If we turn our eyes to
ourselves and our situations of life, we will find Christ of no benefit.
Again, in ourselves, apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 5:5). But if
our eyes are turned to Christ, we will have everything. This is trust,
which is faith in action. We cannot hold onto holiness, peace, victory,
patience, or humility apart from holding Christ as our all. As a properly
dependent soul, we have union with Christ in us, we automatically have
holiness, peace, victory, patience, and humility, which are the
characteristics of His life, which is now our life (Col 3:4a).
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