Archive of Daily Bible Lessons
April 9-19, 2004
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You in Christ, and Christ in you | |
Jesus is The Vine; you are a branch | |
{NOTE: No Bible lessons were posted on 4/11 & 4/12} | |
Christ is Living in You | |
Christ is Being Formed in You | |
Enriched with Grace by Christ | |
Eternal Life and Knowing God | |
{NOTE: No Bible lessons were posted on 4/17 & 4/18} | |
The Excelling Value of Knowing Christ |
{Jesus said...} He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him... At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 6:56; 14:20) |
In today's Bible verses, you again see the extent of the intimate relationship that God's new covenant of grace has given you. An astounding intimacy is declared in Jesus Christ's words: "you in Me, and I in you."
According to the words of Christ Jesus, this unique arrangement for spiritual intimacy is experienced by the one "who eats My flesh and drinks My blood." Although Christ's wording may sound strange, the picture is glorious. His words speak of eating and drinking SPIRITUAL food so as to obtain eternal-life-giving nourishment. The unusual aspect is that the source of your spiritual nutrition is a Person. Earlier in Christ's discourse, He defined what this process encompasses: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
Christ is in you, and you are in Him! There is a union between you and your Savior that can NEVER be severed. This unbreakable union is the *food* that keeps your spirit alive.
"My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ...He who eats this bread will live forever." (John 6.55; 6.58b) |
Dear Lord of life, help me to learn to live this way — me living in You, and You living in me. As I trust food and drink for my physical life, I want to trust in who You are, and what You have done, for my spiritual life, Amen. |
I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me. (Galatians 2:20) |
Read today's verse -- Galatians 2.20 -- again and again. The "I" in that verse is YOU! Meditate upon that fact. Galatians 2.20 gives you profound insight concerning the grace of God at work through your intimate relationship with Christ. This majestic verse begins with your crucifixion *IN Christ*. "I have been crucified with Christ."
The cross of Christ is now your testimony of glory: "God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of your Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14)
The astounding consequence of these truths is that you are not the one who is producing your Christian life. "It is no longer I who live." This reality is radically contrary to man's natural thinking. If you are not to manufacture your life with God, what other option could possibly be available? The wonderful answer is: "Christ lives in me." True Christian living is to have Christ living in and through your life.
How can you unleash the full power of God's grace to work in your life? You can do so through Humility and Faith...
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Dear God of my salvation, what a magnificent plan! Thank You for providing a way out of the old life. Praise You for raising me to a new life. How wonderful that this new life is to be Christ living in me. Lord Jesus, please live in me as I depend upon You, Amen. |
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you... Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (Galatians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 13:5) |
When you take the truth of the Gospel to others, so that they might
be born again, you often enter into spiritual birth pangs on their behalf. They are wresting over issues and questions.
You are agonizing with them, that they might embrace the truth they need in order to become a child of God by faith. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26)
It was by the will of your Heavenly Father that you invited His Son into your life. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
Sharing the Gospel with your unsaved friends and family can be painful at times. Do not be surprised if you experience the same spiritual birth pangs as did the Apostle Paul. When this happens, rejoice! God is at work in you, and He will see you through, as He touches their lives and yours. |
Lord Jesus, my indwelling Savior, please express Your life in and through me. May there be no area of my life that is just me doing my best, or me fulfilling my will. Also, Lord, be my strength, enabling me to share these great realities with others, in Your mighty name, Amen. |
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge... you abound in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us. (1 Corinthians 1:4-5; 2 Corinthians 8:7) |
As you have learned in previous lessons, God's new covenant of grace is essentially about developing a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 8:7 lists five blessings that are yours by virtue of your being IN Christ: "You abound in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us."
In Philippians 1.9-11 God recorded a prayer that was made on behalf of all His children. This prayer is a *good fit* for closing today's lesson. The "you" in these verses includes YOU (of course). Read this prayer more than once. As you read, remember -- the gracious God who inspired this prayer to be included in His Bible is the very same Person who answers prayer. Thus, it is quite evidently God's intent that you RECEIVE all the blessings that this prayer asks for. "This I pray...
(Philippians 1.9-11) |
Heavenly Father, I again see that Your grace enriches my life by means of Your beloved Son. Lord Jesus, I humbly depend upon You to fill my life with Your righteous fruit, in Your holy name, Amen. |
{Jesus said...} And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3) |
In John 17.3 Jesus Christ *defines* the term "eternal life." His definition begins in a very profound manner: "And THIS is eternal life." To define the "THIS" in Christ's statement requires an all-inclusive, comprehensive truth. If Jesus had begun His definition with the words, "these aspects are INCLUDED in eternal life," then He could have listed any number of NON-comprehensive truths in defining eternal life...
To finish that profound beginning, Jesus needed to provide an all-encompassing definition of the OVERALL meaning of eternal life. That is, the Lord's use of the word "THIS" meant that His definition had to cover every possible nuance of what is meant by eternal life. What is large enough to complete that majestic opening? There is
only one mind-boggling, infinitely wonderful answer to that question ---- "knowing God." Nothing else
is {or ever could be} sufficient to fulfill the THIS of Christ's astounding definition. Yes, knowing God is what eternal life is all about.
These truths certainly concur with God's prophetic words of old that promised a new covenant of grace to replace the old covenant of law. "I will make a new covenant... not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers... But this is the covenant that I will make... I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people... they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them." (Jeremiah 31:31-34) Hebrews 8:11 makes it clear that these words are for you today. "All shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them." Because of this unbreakable promise, you now and forevermore DO know God, by virtue of your belief in His only begotten Son, Jesus. And THAT, dear child of God, is eternal life! |
Dear Father, I confess that I often think and behave as though eternal life is less than knowing You. Help me to understand and to live the very essence of Your new covenant of grace — Your provisions for allowing me to grow in knowing You, through Christ Jesus, my Lord, Amen. |
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