To live is Christ is to live in future hope, a hope we do not yet see. Nature is subject to futility today, as are we. But not forever. A day is coming when we will both lead and join nature in the victory chorus of Christ our King.
Learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ.
To live is Christ is to live in future hope, a hope we do not yet see. Nature is subject to futility today, as are we. But not forever. A day is coming when we will both lead and join nature in the victory chorus of Christ our King.
So plan your praise if you must, or let it break forth spontaneously if it can. Whatever you do today make sure praise is part of it. Christ, the Right Arm of God, has rescued you and brought you into his life – to live is Christ. If that doesn’t produce a joyful noise in you I don’t know what will.
To live is Christ is to live in joy. Not to the exclusion of sorrow, the two can and must co-exist. But in the midst of sorrow choosing to rejoice in the hope of the glory of Christ breaking through like sunrise beams in our hearts.
To live is Christ is to constantly evaluate your worship. Not so that we can remove good things from our lives (the asceticism of the Colossians), but so that we can allow these good things to point to the best thing – the love of Christ for us and in us.
Are you in Christ? If you are then you will welcome the purifying love of Christ to the Earth. Just as his love is inevitably yet painfully removing impurity in you today, it will one day painfully remove all impurity from the entire universe. To live is Christ both welcomes this and warns of this.
To live is Christ is to look forward to the Day of the Lord with great anticipation – come quickly Lord Jesus! But it is also to live each moment under the reign of Christ in our hearts as we make his righteousness and faithfulness known to the world in every word and in every deed.