The Risen Lord part 3
Jesus. He died, we died. And as amazing as that is... that He would draw us into Himself and lay down His life both for us and as us to free us from the bondage of sin and death... thank God that's not the whole story. Because He didn't just die. He rose again. He laid His life down so He could take it back up again. He gave us the second death so that we might be born from above and experience the gift of God that is the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of knowing the Father through the context of Sonship. Knowing that Daddy loves us and would rather die than be without us. Knowing that we are loved... which is what empowers us to love! That's the New Commandment, right? Love one another as Jesus loves us. And the reason we can obey that commandment is because of the Holy Spirit. Our love receptor. Because God poured His Spirit out on all flesh. Because He poured Himself into us so that He could overflow out of us. So that we could live as He lives in us, and through us, and as us. That's the key to the resurrection. It's not just Jesus who rose again. It's all of us. He drew us into Himself when He was raised up from the earth on the cross. So, again, when He died we died. And then when He rose again WE rose again. He is risen. WE are risen. As He IS, so are we in this world. Not as He was. Not us trying to act the way Jesus acted. But as He IS. Which, of course, begs the question: How is He? And we find that in the verse we started this Rant series with, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1). He is seated (in a posture of rest, because the work is finished) on the right hand of God. The power seat. And that's where WE are. Because when He rose, we rose. So in order to "seek those things which are above" we don't have to look up. We need just look WITHIN. Hebrews 2:8 tells us that, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see no yet all things put under him." Now this is important. All things are under HIS feet. Right? And His feet are OUR feet. So all things are under OUR feet. We have been made kings and priests to rule and reign on the earth. The problem is that we don't yet SEE all things put under Him. But in the next verse (Hebrews 2:9) we get the solution to the problem. "But we see Jesus..." What are "those things which are above" that we are supposed to seek? In a Word... Jesus. And, again, where do we seek Him? Above us? As if we're lowly worms way down here and He's way up there? No. We seek Him within. That's where He lives. In Him we live and move and have our being. In us He lives and moves and has His being. We see Jesus within us. Because there's no separation between us. As He is, so are we in this world. So even when it doesn't feel like it, even when it doesn't look like it, in order to see everything under His (OUR) feet... all we have to do is see HIM. See Him as He is. So we might BE Him as He is. Not by trying. Not by works and labor. Not by might or power. But by His Spirit. The Spirit of the Living God. The Spirit of the Risen Lord. The Spirit that lives within us and fills us to overflowing with His love. So we can love others with the same love we are loved with. So we can live the ascended, abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting Jesus live it in us, and through us, and as us!