It absolutely astounds me that the great God of the universe, the God that spoke all things into existence, wants to be at home in our hearts. He wants to be at home within our inner-most being. But this is understandable. It is what He intended from the beginning. He created us to have a close, personal and intimate relationship with Himself. He wants us to truly enjoy Him!
We shall see at the close of this article that this closeness to God in Christ is where we get our strength to live the truth.
When we believed in Jesus and became children of God, the Spirit of Christ came into our life. The Spirit moved Paul to write of this truth, this reality:
You are sons [children] of God through faith in Christ Jesus . . . And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 3:26; 4:6)
What the Spirit of Christ cries out within us is an expression of a close, intimate, trusting relationship with our heavenly Father. Christ's Spirit confirms the truth within that the perfect heavenly Father places within us the capacity to have a close relationship with Himself.
The Aramaic word, “Abba,” is much like our word, “Daddy.” It is a word of endearment. A word used by children who sense a closeness to their father. “Daddy!” And this is what the Spirit of God cries out within us.
I recall Francis Schaeffer speaking of this relationship from the perspective of a child holding up his arms, reaching up to his father and saying, “Up, Daddy, Up!” And so we as God's children look up to our heavenly Father, reaching up to Him for consolation and counsel. "Daddy!" And that's what He wants.
But, sadly, stuff in this life gets in the way of enjoying a close relationship with our heavenly Father. We are our own worst enemy in this. Thankfully, the Spirit of God draws us back to Himself as He helps us realize what has happened. We can confess, admitting our failure and once again enjoy intimacy with God the Father and Jesus (1 John 1:9). But after acknowledging our sin we should renew our minds with the truth of God's Word and keep on reflecting on it. We especially should ponder the truth of how Jesus Christ has demonstrated His love to us (Romans 5:6-11).
Include in the Apostle Paul's prayer for the believers of Ephesus is the request that Christ Jesus might be at home in their hearts:
. . . that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts [be at home in your hearts] through faith . . . (Ephesians 4:16-17)
When God the Son is at home in your hearts because you are trusting Him and walking in the light of His Word, your receive His strength to apply the truth. Paul's prayer is my prayer for everyone who reads this. May you enjoy having Christ Jesus be at home in your hearts as you ponder how much He loves you. And may you thereby experience His strength. And when you do you are experiencing His amazing grace!
As always, I welcome your comments and questions ( eldondeboer@yahoo.com ).
No comments:
Post a Comment