Post by tomdurst on May 5, 2011 11:46:17 GMT -5
A DEEPER LOOK AT "THE CHRIST EVENT"
by Thomas E Durst
by Thomas E Durst
I would like for us to think about a deeper spiritual sense of every part of the earthly sojourn of Messiah Jesus and how that can apply to our spiritual journey.
His virgin birth shows that our "new birth" into God's Kingdom of light and life is totally "virgin" in that it is not of human origin or human effort but by God's grace and power alone. We are born "from above" which means from God and not of works lest any man should boast. Also we have daily the "virgin birth of new ideas" that come from God when we need guidance and solutions come to us in ways that are not of human origin. Some call this process "inspiration" but the term doesn't matter.
His life of love, service, healing, and teaching is to also be our life which is lived always by God's empowering grace. As we receive God's all reaching and inclusive love into our hearts it will go out from us and heal many and most of the time we won't even be aware of what is happening.
His Gethsemane experience and His cry on the cross "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" speak to the "valley of death" or the times of darkness that we go through in our journey. Sometimes we don't feel God's presence at all but by faith and dependence upon His grace we know that He is with us whether we feel it or not.
His death on the cross as well as His Gethsemane experience show that we must constantly die to that old self-centered life and completely surrender to and depend upon the power of God. "Not my will but thine be done" and "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" are commitments to a complete yielding to the will of His Father when the human situation looked very dark and hopeless. There is no substitute for this daily surrender and submission to God's will and His power.
The human ego is very ugly apart from God and we must learn to deal with it by the grace of God and until we do we shall continue to heap suffering upon ourselves and others. This surrender is a continual, ongoing process that we need to experience everyday. The surrender of Messiah Jesus in Gethsemane and on the cross were done on our behalf and through His strength and in dependence upon Him we can do all things.
His resurrection is our resurrection to newness of life which needs to be a daily experience. Everyday are privileged to die to self and rise in His strength and power. We can be resurrected spiritually and rise above all thoughts of negativity, gloom, defeat, anger, fear, judgment, etc. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is always present to meet every need.
His ascension is also ours for we not only are born again in Him, live for Him, die with Him and are raised with Him but we also ascend with Him to heavenly places where He ministers as our High Priest at the right hand of the Father (see Hebrews 2:17; 4:14-16; 7:25-29 and more in the Book of Hebrews). Instead of living in bondage to self and the material plane of life we continually ascend to heavenly places in Christ.
These are just some of my thoughts on the spiritual sense of the key events of the earthly pilgrimage of Messiah Jesus. My intention is that these be "seed thoughts" that will encourage you to meditate and study more about the spiritual application of "the Christ event" in your life.
I invite you to read CHRIST LIVES IN ME which is on the link below:
CHRIST LIVES IN ME
