Zoe

Posted on by Makala Doulos

The ascension of Jesus is to me even more shocking than the stooping of God to enter our world. Perhaps in our wildest dreams we could almost understand God becoming human for a short while to work out our salvation, but who can understand the ascension of the incarnate Son? For it means that the Son’s becoming human is not a past event, but an ongoing reality. The humanity of Christ was not a robe that he donned for a season but has now taken off and put away in a heavenly closet. “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” Jesus sits now, as a human being, at the Father’s right hand, knowing his Father in the fellowship of the Spirit.
~ C. Baxter Kruger

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
~ unfathomably rich truth from Romans 8

It is, beloved, bigger and more real than any theological model we could ever construct. Words and language and culture and both meta-themes and mega-trends break down in any attempt to model these truths.

We are in Christ.

Christ is in us.

Christ is in G_d.

We are part of the family of G_d.

We are children of the Most High.

We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

We are accepted in the Beloved.

We are heirs of all things in The Kingdom of Heaven.

We are the friend of G_d.

We are the bride of Christ.

We will reign with Him forever.

And we had nothing to do with it.  He did it.  This One who is Three, this One who has built eternity as a habitation, this One who is Love… This One has done it.  Oh how He Loves us!

It gets better.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
~ more of the same from 2 Corinthians 5

We are made new.

We are like Him now, and will be utterly conformed to His image one Day.

We are a different breed of human.

We are a New Creation in Him.

Zoe.  

We are not simply living and breathing (bios) any more.  We are Zoe.  We now Live and move and have our being within Him.  As C.S. Lewis said, this is a change from being creatures of God to being sons of God.

Astounding.

Can we see it?  Jesus is not some limited being now sitting next to the throne of His Father.  Jesus is indeed glorified and high and lifted up.  He reigns eternally as the King of the universe.  He is King of Kings and LORD of Lords.  There is no limit to His power.  There is no limit to His authority.  There is no thing that limits Him.  Period.  

He wrestled with justice, that thou mightest have rest; 
he wept and mourned, that thou mightest laugh and rejoice; 
he was betrayed, that thou mightest go free; 
was apprehended, that thou mightest escape; 
he was condemned, that thou mightest be justified, 
and was killed, that thou mightest live; 
he wore a crown of thorns, that thou mightest wear a crown of glory; 
and was nailed to the cross with his arms wide open, to show with what freeness all his merits shall be bestowed on the coming soul, and how heartily he will receive it into his bosom.


~John Bunyan (1628-1688)

And this King (and this writer kneels before Him alone) is now and forever a human being.  Oh, most surely as He is a man, He is eternal G_d.  There is none who will ascend to this position under their own prideful efforts.  And now, just as surely as He is both Man and G_d, He has purchased our freedom from the slave market of sin and self – that we might be joined with Him in a friendship that escapes our ability to comprehend with the blunt tools of intellect and language.

Are we getting this?  Obviously not in our churches today.  The Bible is exceedingly clear about the destiny of those who cast themselves into the hands of the One who has so mightily saved them.  We are to be like Him.  And He who has begun this very good work in us will be faithful to complete it until His Day.

Oh my. 

Yeah.

Trust Him beloved.  He is very good at everything He does.  And He has said this is finished already.


At the beginning I said there were Personalities in God. I will go further now. There are no real personalities anywhere else. Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self … But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away “blindly” so to speak … Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in. 
~ C.S. Lewis (“Mere Christianity”, pp. 218-227)

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