My life for Christ vs. Not I, but Christ
Gal. 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” This is truth, this is the reality, but do we really understand this reality? At times it may even seem as though there is no difference between the two.
Let’s start with us…
When it’s us living for Christ:
We can’t help but live by the lists, the do’s and the do not’s. So what happens is as time goes by and cultures change and technology and information evolve and progress, so do our lists. Besides that, even on our best day we aren’t and can’t be good enough!
We must note Isaiah 64:6 which says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
Also, Luke 18:9-14, 9And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector 11“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner! 14“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
To do or not to do… is that the question? Looking at these two passages it goes to say that even if we “are righteous” we still have a problem. The problem ultimately is that we are simply of the wrong kind. It is like saying i can perfectly imitate a dog but i still won’t be a dog. I won’t be able to run like a dog runs or smell like a dog smells or hear like a dog can hear. The point is our imitations no matter how accurate still don’t make us of the acceptable kind.
Moving on now to Christ…
When it is not us, but Christ:
We’re the ground; He’s the seed.
We’re the body parts; He’s the head.
We’re the vessels; He’s the treasure.
Ok so we already know all of that, right? That’s why we are supposed to live our lives for God isn’t it? Think for a moment about our roles here, the vessel, the body parts, and the ground. We are worthless, lifeless, and useless without HIM! Let’s briefly take a closer look at us as the ground…
/// we the ground, drink up the rain! – Heb. 6:7
/// super spiritual?!? – NO!
/// God gives rain to EVERYONE!!! – Mt. 5:45
/// the difference = what’s IN us: Christ!
the perfect seed, the perfect mind & the most valuable treasure
Drinking up the rain is not some super spiritual act, it is simply our existence, the good the bad and the ugly. But when we allow this existence to manifest Christ, we realize the very purpose the human race was created, to bear the image, and be the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 1:23, “the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”)
This concept of “not i, but Christ” (otherwise known as the Gospel) is simply an understanding of the reality that someone OTHER THAN yourself now lives IN YOU and that life is Christ. We don’t ourselves become Jesus Christ, we become His fullness, or in other words, His full expression! We put off the old and it’s fleshly manifestations and perverted images, and we put on the New Man, who is Christ, and naturally the outcome is the pure manifestation of HIS ABUNDANT LIFE! Amen.