Learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ.
“To live is Christ” means present and complete transformation into the image of God because we are in Christ. And because Christ is in us, it means we are slowly and progressively being changed from one degree of Christ’s glory to the next by grace through faith and into his same self-sacrificing love.
“To live is Christ” is to live beholding the glory of the cross. How? By letting everything in life take our hearts on a journey to the blazing center of God’s love and grace found in Jesus and his death and resurrection.
Let’s start where “to live is Christ” demands that we must – with simple faith. Simple beholding. Simple worship. Simply being loved and simply loving.
“To live is Christ” is to live by the Spirit of freedom. Freedom from the law and its condemnation. And freedom to trust the power of God’s love that has poured into every beating heart of every believer in Christ.
“To live is Christ” isn’t just something that happens to us, it is an invitation into what God is doing through us. It is the New Covenant being enacted IN our lives and BY our lives. By our faith in the indwelling life of Christ, and our faithful words and deeds, we make the good news of the New Covenant accessible to all that we come in contact with each and every day.
When we choose to embrace his cruciform life, our sacrificial love will always be the aroma of the crucified Christ to others. To some it will be a fragrance from life to life. But to others it will be a fragrance from death to death. To some your life will smell sweet, and to others your life will be a revolting stench. Some will embrace you, others may reject you. Our response to the cross is a life of humility and joy that spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. The rest is up to God.
