TOPIC: LIVING TOGETHER WITH CHRIST
Bible Reading: 2 Chron. 21; 1 Thes.5:1-14.
“Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:10 (KJV)
As children of God, we are expected to live together with our Lord and Saviour in any situation we find ourselves. The bible says in Acts 17:28 (KJV): “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
So we live in him because the moment we accept him as our Lord and Saviour, he resides in us and he guides us through the Holy Spirit if only we will listen to him. The good part is that as we listen more to him, we get used to him such that we can hardly do anything without his direction. Just like having a very close friend that you cannot do anything without conferring with him. Jesus could be closer to us than our closest friend if we allow him.
On the other hand, if we keep rejecting the direction of the Holy Spirit in us, we will keep losing touch with him till we will get to a level that we will not hear him even when he speaks to us.
God has given us the right to choose our way. We either decide to listen to him or rather listen to the devil. However if we listen to him and we get used to him, he will not only direct us on the spiritual issues of our life, he will also guide us on all other issues whether economic, financial, physical, emotional, or even technological.
Even when physical death comes, the believer’s immediate judgement is that you will go to the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:19-31) and when the rapture comes you will reign with Christ in the new earth for a thousand years! (Rev. 20:4).
This is why the bible shows us that Christ died for us such that whether we are alive or dead physically (i.e. asleep) we live in Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:10 (KJV) says: “Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”
So we are forever with Christ as long as we live a life of total obedience to him. That’s why the ultimate for a child of God is to be conformed to Christ; be like him in everything that we do. Romans 8:28-29 (KJV): “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Prayer: Father, draw me close to you like never before in Jesus name.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero