Tuesday, April 13

Begin your time with God today by thanking Him that you are alive. Just take a moment or two and praise God for the gift of life…for lungs that work and eyes that see and a body that works (reasonably) well. Too many of us take this for granted, but the truth is that the very fact that we live is a gift from God!

This is not only true physically, but it is also true spiritually…

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus - Ephesians 2:4-6

The most important truth in all of Christianity is stated right here: We are made alive together with Christ.

Notice that Paul says “with Christ” three times: We are “made alive with Christ.” We are “raised up with Christ.” We are made to sit with Him. He has come to live in us, and He has joined Himself to us, and we are one person with Him. That is the most important fact upon which to build all the rest of Christian faith and experience--this amazing, wonderful, incredible statement that we are made alive with Jesus Christ.

Your spiritual life is inseparable from the life of Christ (remember that apart from Him you are dead). You are a part of Him and He is a part of you! In John 15, Jesus used the image of a vine and its’ branches to communicate this concept to His disciples. The vine is the source of life for the branches, but you can’t always tell where the vine stops and the branches start. The point is that they share one life together and they cannot be separated without causing the death of the branch. So, again…Jesus Christ is your life!

There is one more thing about this passage: these verbs are all in the past tense. This is something that has happened, not something that is going to happen. It has already occurred when you believed in Jesus Christ. You don't have to work toward it. It is not something that only the super-spiritual achieve after years of effort. It is something that is already true, and every Christian has this experience. We have been made alive in Jesus Christ. We cannot be the same again. Even if we try, we won't be able to. I know a pastor who will sometimes say to people who get discouraged with their Christian life, “Well, quit then, go back. Try not to be a Christian. See what will happen.” They can't do it, and they know they can't, because they are new creatures, made alive in Jesus Christ.

Close your time with God by thanking Him again for the amazing gift of life in Christ!

Jeff Frazier