ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) (09/23/90)
A Simple Way to Touch the Lord
PART I
In his epistles Paul unveils to us clearly and emphatically the ultimate goal
or objective of the Christian walk: "That I may know HIM" (Phil 3:10); "To me
to live is CHRIST" (Phil. 1:21); "CHRIST, who is our life" (Col. 3:4). Through
these verses we all can see that the reality and central point of the Christian
life is simply Christ Himself. As people who have been born of God and have
Christ living within them, all Christians must be brought by the Lord's mercy
to the point where they are no longer wholly caught up in studying about, doing
something for, or even serving Christ; but rather are in the reality of
touching and experiencing Him in a living way day by day. Romans 5:10
testifies, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
This "much more" must be MORE OF CHRIST. A Christian's initial salvation
experience is indeed wonderful. He is now one that has been born of God, but
"much more" he is to be saved by the LIFE of Christ. Every person who knows
Christ as his Savior can and must be brought into this experience of "much
more," which is entering into the fullness and reality of a life wholly
centered on Christ, experiencing, touching, and enjoying Him moment by moment.
Today the Lord has made Himself available to every Christain for them to
contact and experience in a full and living way. The Bible reveals to us that
in the beginning Jesus Christ was God (John 1:1). Then one day this very God
became a man to dwell on this earth (John 1:14) and accomplish redemption for
all. He was among us as the Lamb of God that through the shedding of His blood
we might partake of redemption (Eph. 1:7) and be reconciled to God. This is
indeed glorious. Christ became a man, lived on this earth thirty-three and
one-half years, and accomplished redemption for all. However, if Christ had
stopped here, this would be the summation of our Christian experience. All
could enjoy forgiveness of sins, but none could be saved by his LIFE. None
could touch and experience Him in a daily, practical way. What then did Christ
do that every Christian may enter into this "much more" experience? Was He ONLY
crucified and then buried? Was that the end? We must shout no a thousand
times, "No, no, no ...!"
Shortly before His crucifixion He told His disciples that He was among
them but that He was going to be IN THEM (John 14:16-20). How could this be
accomplished? If Jesus had only died and been buried and that was the end, He
could never have entered into His disciples, nor could He enter into His people
today. But praise the Lord that three days after His burial, He burst through
the bonds of death and was raised from the dead. So let us ask the question,
In what form is He today? He is the SPIRIT. "The last Adam <Christ> was made
a LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT" (I Cor. 15:45).
Jesus had told His disciples that He would enter into them; therefore,
shortly after His resurrection He appeared before them in a room in which the
doors were closed. He could never have done this had He not been the Spirit.
There "He breathed into them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit"
(John 20:22). At this moment Jesus, who had been among them and outside of
them, came INTO THEM. Christ could never have entered into His disciples had
He not been the Spirit. "Now the Lord is that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17), and all
that have been reconciled to God have this LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT DWELLING WITHIN
THEM TO BE THEIR BOUNTIFUL SUPPLY AND ALL THEY NEED. Since Jesus has become
the Spirit and has entered into every Christian, He is now so available to
them; he is so easy for them to contact, experience, and even enjoy. "Much
more we shall be saved by His life."
All this is indeed wonderful, the wonder of wonders, that Christ became a
man, accomplished redemption for us, became the Spirit and has now entered INTO
us to be our life and everything to us; but the question we must now raise is
this, How can WE touch and experience Christ in a PRACTICAL way as OUR very
life moment by moment? The Lord has given us a SIMPLE way. All we have to do
is call upon Him, and we will touch Him who is the life-giving supply. In
Romans 10:12b-13 the Bible says, "For the same Lord over all is RICH unto all
that CALL UPON HIM. For whosoever shall CALL upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved." In the past we may have had the concept that these verses were only
applicable to an initial salvation experience, but we all know that every
Christian needs a daily salvation from sin, the self, human weakness, etc. On
the positive side he also needs a bountiful supply of the Lord to nourish and
strengthen him in order that he may grow up into Christ in all things. The way
into the realization of this is simply by calling on the Lord. He is rich to
all that call upon Him. We see Paul in II Timothy 2:22 urging Timothy to live
the Christian life with those that CALL ON THE LORD out of a pure heart.
The Christian's experience of Christ as purposed by God is to be real to
the believer and a testimony to those in the world. What was the testimony of
the early Christians? It was this: they were a people who called on the name
of the Lord. We are shown this in Acts 9:14, which states that Paul before his
conversion was persecuting all those that CALLED on the Lord's name. He was
given "authority from the chief priests to bind ALL THAT CALL ON THY NAME." I
Corinthians 1:2 reaffirms this by showing us that the early Christians were
those who in every place called upon the name of the Lord.
Many Christians today have begun to practice calling upon the Lord
daily, hourly and moment by moment in a simple, practical way. They have
found to their joy that the Lord is all they need and that they can touch
and fellowship with Him at any time and in any circumstance just by calling
on Him from deep within. Our calling upon the Lord should not be in an
objective manner, calling on the Christ that dwells in the heavens, but a
calling on the Christ that is the Spirit and who dwells deeply within our
being. By calling upon Him from deep within, we will sense the flowing
and fellowship of Christ within us.
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth" (John 4:23-24). To every Christian this true worship is intended to be
constant and life-giving. The true worship in these verses is not
participating in and keeping certain rules, forms, rituals and regulations, but
rather calling upon the Lord from deep within, contacting and fellowshipping
with Jesus Christ, the Truth, the Reality. The desire of the Father for us is
that we might enjoy and participate in this true worship of touching and
fellowshipping with His Son all day, every day. Whether on the job, in the
classroom, driving a car, talking to a friend or in meetings with other
Christians, His desire is that we contact and fellowship with our Lord.
This is the end of part I. Part II will follow perhaps tomorrow.
Please send me a little note informing me that I have reached the outside
world with this, I don't know if our system defaults to WORLD or not.
Ppppplllleeeeaaaaasssssseeeee send me a note saying that you read this,
please.
Robert W. Johnson
ROBERT at FIRIEN (Bitnet)