In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you
Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament
There are many people who make a habit of saying, "Live your life." In our human understanding, we have been led to believe that we are the sole individual who is responsible for whatever happens in our lives. We idolize those who seemingly get by of their own accord. To truly be free, it seems, is to be in charge of your own life. But is that how things really are? When we believe in such things, are we not relegating God to second hand status? The author Norman Grubb has written that "There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe except the One Who calls Himself the I AM" {Norman Grubb ~ No Independent Self}. Indeed, as the creator of all which we see, God the Father is the One and only self that will ever be known. He is what matters. Our lives are not our own, but are carried out through Him. Jesus has proclaimed this as true in the book of John {Johns Account 14:20}. In the words of Jesus, He is in the Father, we are in Christ and He remains in us. Nothing which has ever been written in the scriptures has declared man independent of God in any way. How is it that we can be separate from the One Who created us {Genesis 1:27}? As humans, we have trusted that even though we have our own characteristics, that we have a unique DNA which will forever connect us to our earthly family. How is this not also possible with the Father who created us? I believe that it goes deeper than that. For it is God who has breathed into us the breath of life, creating a living soul {Genesis 2:7}. It is without doubt that the Lords fingerprints are all over our physical being. The trouble is, we rarely trust in that truth. We would rather trust in the world view that we are the ones responsible for what happens in our lives. Our life. Our decisions. Yet there is no room for that way of thinking when we know the truth of our life in Him.
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone should be loving Me, he will be keeping My word, and My Father will be loving him, and We shall be coming to him and making an abode in him"
Johns Account 14: 23, Concordant New Testament
It is Jesus, also, Who has proclaimed that He will be coming with the Father to make their home in us {Johns Account 14:23}. The truth of our life in the Father is that this life of ours has never been of our own accord. But, then again, our life in Him is not the life we have known. For we have been taught that we are separate from God. That we live our lives here on earth while God watches over us from His abode in heaven. And what of Jesus? Well, Jesus has ascended into heaven to be seated at the Fathers side {Marks Account 16:19}. So, then we must ask the question, where exactly is heaven? From the scriptures we know that heaven is a spirit realm. Yet there are many times in the scripture where the eyes of man were opened to reveal what the Father desired for them to see. After His resurrection, the followers of Jesus had an interesting interaction with a man they considered a stranger among them. This man it seemed knew nothing of the events which had unfolded in the days before. However, as he sat and ate with them, their eyes were opened and they instantly recognized this stranger as the Lord Jesus {Lukes Account 24:31}. Did Jesus simply ascend once again into heaven, or was He already in heaven but not revealed to these men who knew Him? Indeed, there is ample scriptural evidence to suggest that we are living in the Lords heaven as we speak. That our daily lives are lived in the presence of His kingdom. This is indeed a life we've never known.
~Scott~
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