Do you want to have more faith? Then look at Christ more and your faith less. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and his cross. His holiness colliding with your sin. Keep looking. Never stop. Move your gaze from your own faith to the grace displayed on that pole. Now your living by faith. Now “to live is Christ.”
“To live is Christ” means no more fear of losing control and no more fear of being forsaken. And no more going back to Egypt. Jesus is God’s “perfect love that casts out all fear.” Look forward to him. Run to his open arms. Fix your eyes ahead on Christ, not backwards on Egypt.
“To live is Christ” is the realization of the priestly blessing of God. God’s face shining upon us is the face of Christ shining in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6). God’s countenance turned toward us bringing the fear melting power of his peace. Not a peace that’s found in the temporal blessings of this earth, but the peace that passes all our human understanding and grows through all eternity. The eternally satisfying blessing of God’s presence now placed in us in the indwelling life of Christ.
“To live is Christ” has made the impossible unconditional love of neighbor possible. When we remember each day that Jesus loves us, his neighbor, as much as he loves himself, it is then that we can find the freedom to move past our unworthiness and the default of earning love, and move into the freedom of a love given to us simply because we are God’s neighbor.
“To live is Christ” means we never have to carry the weight of our own sins again. There is no more need for a scapegoat. Jesus has carried away our sins once for all time. And now there is no need for “scapegoating.” No need to shift our blame onto others, for Christ has shifted his righteousness onto us.
“To live is Christ” means that the de-creation and re-creation work of God in us is finished. We are the new creation. Right now! The glory of God has entered the tabernacle of God – our life. Knowing that we are God’s finished work, we can get to work serving and worshiping God from the freedom of “it is finished.” Now we can walk through the glorious cycle of de-creation and re-creation each day knowing that we are already God’s new creation in Christ.
