No one has seen God at any time; if we
love one another, God abides in us,
and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His
Spirit…Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have
believed the love which God has for us, God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides
in him.
Concluding
our reflection on the word “abide” in John’s first letter:
Loving
one another, the giving and receiving of the Holy Spirit, confession that Jesus
is the Son of God – these are all dynamics of abiding in the Trinity. Abiding
in the Trinity is to be our naturally supernatural sphere of life, our breath,
our heartbeat, our joy, our daily vision and delight. While abiding in Christ
is remarkable, it is not to be thought of as the exception in our lives but
rather the rule, the norm, for the one who follows Jesus.
The
theme of abiding in God is woven throughout John’s first letter; it is also
prominent in John’s Gospel. Jesus says, Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides
in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are
the branches, he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart
from Me you can do nothing, (John 15:4-5).
We
have a peach tree in our yard on which peaches are forming. Suppose I cut
off a branch that has fruit in the process of formation – what can I expect
from that branch? What can I expect from it today, tomorrow, next year? Can I
expect the fruit to continue to form and ripen? Can I expect to eat sweet and
juicy peaches from the branch? Can I expect the branch to bear fruit next year?
They are absurd questions because I can expect none of these things. It is also
absurd to think that we can bear fruit outside of Jesus Christ, it is absurd to
think that we can sustain that which God has begun apart from His ongoing
abiding presence and grace (Galatians 3:1-3).
Consider
the love that the Father has for the Son, what a love it must be, a love that
surpasses our comprehension. Do we know that Jesus loves us as the Father loves
Him? Do we know that the Father loves us as He loves Jesus? Jesus says, Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also
loved you; abide in My love, John 15:9. Jesus also says, I in them and You in Me, that they may be
perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved
them, even as You have loved Me,
John 17:23.
Do
we gloss over these words of Jesus? Do we think them unattainable? Impractical?
Impossible? They are only unattainable in the sense that we cannot produce that
which Jesus promises, we can only receive His words and abide in them by His grace
and the Holy Spirit. We can respond to His life, we cannot produce or sustain
His life. His life is to be our life, our Way of life – abiding in Him is our
home, our address, our biosphere. Oh what joy there is in Jesus; and what
liberty to forget ourselves and to love Him and others.
What
is the point of living in a beautiful home if it is not to enjoy it with
others, if it is not to practice hospitality? A home is made beautiful by
peace, love, and contentment. A home may be palatial but cold and without the
warmth of love and care – true beauty includes correspondence between heart and
eye. Are we inviting others to come and live with us in Jesus? Are we
practicing the hospitality of witness? Or do others pass the door of our heart
daily without so much as an invitation to have a cup of cool clear water from
the Throne (Revelation 22:1; Isaiah 32:1-2)? Would we hide a source of inexhaustible pure water from desert
travelers? Then how can we hide the Living Water from those who we see every
day?
Abiding
in Christ is not an unattainable ideal – it is our desperate necessity; it is
also the delight of our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment