Only those who see themselves as utterly destitute can fully appreciate the grace of God.
~Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
~Colossians 3:1-11
I find in myself, beloved, the most horrible propensity to get my life from things other than Life Himself.
Do you ever do the same thing?
The very things i seem to have let go, seem to be the very things from which i am still trying to suck out the last little bit of life. The old man of flesh screams for its positions. It markets the propriety of fear. It promotes the sanctity of self.
Somehow, though, we know this is a lie. We know, rather, that that old man really is dead. We do not need to listen to the voice. It is but a phantom. We no longer need to default over to the horrible shortcuts to comfort we took in the past. We no longer need to have any tendency to fear be more important than trusting in the Author and Finisher of our faith. Said more simply: He is our Life. He does not enable our next breath. He is our very breath.
So, even when those closest to us lash out and feel the need to mock and hurt us, we can realize and live in this deepest of truths… We are not bulletproof. We are, however, aware that bullets are irrelevant. Yeah, we bleed when wounded. But even in our being wounded, the only thing that need pour out of us is the infinite Life of our Saviour, for it is in Him that we Live and move and have our being.
So further, even in the the hardest of the hardest times and places of life, we can simply stand in a state of profound righteousness, joy and peace – for this is all of and by Him. He becomes the force and focus of our very existence. He becomes our everything. And as He becomes the all in all of our existence, an immense strength begins to build in us.
It seems that in Him becoming everything that we might disappear. But this is where the mysteries of the Kingdom abound. It is in this nothingness, that we actually can take on our new identity. With none of us in the way, we are freed to be more and more like Him every day. And this is very good news.
