CIP
The Christian Institute of Philosophy
The Most Important Thing
With all the different requirements and responsibilites of the Christian life, don't you wish God would tell us what is most important - so we could make sure to focus on that one thing and at least get that one thing right? Well, in fact, He did.
" Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." Matthew 22: 36-38
According to Jesus, intimacy with God is the most important thing in a Christian's life.
To develop intimacy with God there are 5 things you need to understand.
Editor's Note:
The statements below are theological proposals. You may be a member of a denomination that disagrees with some of these proposals. As always, CIP is a site where you have to decide what is applicable to your own life and your own denominational background. You are always encouraged to talk with your pastor or a good Christian friend about these issues. What you will read below are the perspectives that made the difference for me and dramatically changed the course of my life. I share them now as a beggar telling others where I think the bread is. From here on, I leave the results to be worked out between you and the Lord.
Five things you need to know
1. God is Spirit
Many people have an idea that God is "the man up stairs". According to scripture, God is not a man with a long white beard, He is eternal Spirit and infinite mind. Our minds are finite. If we are come to God we must humble ourselves to accept the fact that we are finite and He is infinite. This would seem to be an obvious truth, but our Old Man is naturally arrogant and will fight this simple fact. The Old Man wants to believe he can figure it all out on his own. The Old Man feels God must accommodate him rather than the other way around.
... the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The words of Jesus: John 4:24
To develop an intimate relationship with God, we must be willing to acknowledge our need for Him, and come to Him with the heart of a child.
2. Christ has completed a finished work which reconciles us to God.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10
When Jesus said it is finished on the cross, He had completed the first part of His finished work. His death paid the penalty for all our sins - past, present, and future. This meant that the penalty of God's judgement and wrath would now "passover" us which allows us to be reconciled to God. Reconcile means to co-exist in harmony or peace. Christ's finished work gave us harmony and peace with God by taking the penalty of our sin upon Himself as He died on the cross.
It is important to note that our reconciliation does not take away the natural corruption of sin. Sin creates corruption, and corruption creates death. This is the nature of sin and that remains the same. But, the judgement and wrath of God has been paid for through Christ's suffering. This is important, because it allows God to establish personal relationship with us and reconcile us to Himself.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:...But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6
The second part of His finished work was His resurrection from the dead. In the power of His resurrection Jesus was able to send the Holy Spirit of God to be in and around us. It is the Holy Spirit that takes the scripture and applies it to our everyday circumstances to produce Spiritual reality in our lives.
3. We are reconciled to God by accepting the finished work of Christ and resting our lives upon it.
The most difficult obstacle to accepting Christ's finished work is that we have to give up on our own efforts to save ourselves. Christ has reconciled us to God even though there is no goodness in us. You would think this would be a great joy, but the Old Man who is at war with God is not impressed. He does not like the idea that there is no good in him. He wants to present something to God to show that he is at least a little worthy.
Surrendering this Old Man to God and accepting God's definition of us; is what opens our heart to Christ. As Christ comes into our heart through the person of the Holy Spirit, we become born again - this time not physically but Spiritually. And because God is Spirit, we now become Spiritually alive to Him and have Spiritual relationship with Him.
Resting into the finished work of Christ is accepting that our salvation and reconciliation RESTS totally in what He has done, and not in any goodness of our own. Once we surrender the Old Man, God gives us a New Nature through the Holy Spirit. This is the beginning of the New Man. We begin to see what Jesus has done for us, and we rest into His finished work. It is in this rest of faith and trust that we find a new relationship with God. A relationship of rest, reconciliation, and acceptance. All based on what Jesus has done at the cross and in the resurrection. Based in rest the Christian life takes on a whole new dimension. Now we are intrigued about what God is doing in and around us.
Perhaps the most vivid example of this new life of rest is found in the story of Mary and Martha.
Jesus had come to the home of Mary and Martha with a crowd of people. Mary and Martha were sisters and they knew Jesus well, and were happy to host the event. But feeding this crowd required a lot of work, and Martha was very busy trying to make sure everyone was taken care of. Mary, on the other hand, became enthralled with what Jesus was saying and she sat down "at Jesus' feet" to listen to His words. This naturally made Martha angry, because now she was having to do all the work. So Martha went to Jesus and said the following:
"But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me." Luke 10:40
Jesus replied:
"And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke10: 41-42
The one thing needful is to sit at the feet of Jesus - at rest - and learn to hear Him. We must calm ourselves and rest into the finished work of Christ to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. That still small voice leads us into all truth.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. - Jesus Christ
4. In Christ we find the answers to life.
Life is extremely complicated in all three dimensions of existence - the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. It is far too complicated for us to figure out on our own. To find good answers in life, we need a frame of reference that gives us a realistic assessment of who we are, and offers a way to find eternal meaning. This frame of reference must also minister to the needs of our heart. Only Christianity can provide that frame of reference.
In Christ we find reference points that give us a sense of orientation and context that allow us to make wise choices. We find moral behavior that will protect us and keep life fresh. We find intimacy with God. And out of that intimacy we find acceptance and proper new self-esteem. Through prayer we ask God to open doors and show us were we are to go in life and how we should live.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
5. Christ in us builds our lives.
More to come on this subject.