None of us goes through life without asking many times, “What’s the purpose of my life?” The world has an answer to that question. It involves school, career, a nice house, finding a mate, etc. Its focus is on possessions, pleasure, maybe even power—none of which can ultimately satisfy.
God has a different answer. His plan, designed before we were born, doesn’t have to do with external things. It has to do with life on the inside—his life in you. The God of the universe has come to live in you, to express himself, through you, to all creation.
That gives your life incredible meaning, far more than any meaning the world offers.
It should also radically change our whole conception of the Christian life.
Have you noticed the gap—more like a chasm—between how the New Testament describes the Christian life and how the vast majority of Christians actually live it? Our lives are to be characterized by “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). We are to experience “God’s peace, which transcends understanding” (Philippians 4:7). We are to “love one another, as [Jesus] has loved [us]” (John 15:12). We are to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We are to have the same attitude of that Jesus had when he humbled himself, laid aside his divine privileges, and became human (Philippians 2:5-7). We are to consider others above ourselves, bless those who persecute us, forgive as Christ forgave us, and never repay evil for evil. We are to glorify God in all that we say and do.
Let’s be honest. Who can truly do all of those things? Who can do even one of them?
None of us can. But we think we must get better at doing them, because that’s what spiritual growth is, isn’t it? It takes a lot of work, a lot of character building, and a lot of self-discipline to make any progress at all. We’ll never get very close to actually accomplishing the goal, but we have to try hard, and keep on trying harder, because that’s what God calls us to do.
But Jesus said this:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Wait a second. You mean walking with Jesus is supposed to be easy and light? Is that what Jesus just said?
Yes, it is.
How is it possible for Jesus’s yoke to be easy, and his burden to be light, if all of that is what God calls us to do? Who can live the kind of life the New Testament describes?
Ah. There’s the answer to our dilemma. Who can live this kind of life? Only Jesus can. Because it’s a description of his life. And where has Jesus come to live his own life? In us!
This is the paradigm shift, and it’s huge. God never calls us to produce the life of Jesus. We can’t. It’s impossible. He is God. How are we going to produce his life by trying harder, being more committed, being more disciplined, or whatever. Only Jesus can live his own life. Now, he does it in us. And we are called, not to produce his life, but to trust him to do it in and through us. It’s a walk of faith. Completely of faith.
This shouldn’t surprise us. Over and over the New Testament writers tell us this.
“The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17b, ESV)
“The righteous shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11b, ESV)
“But My righteous one will live by faith.” (Hebrews 10:38)
Paul makes it even clearer in his letter to the Colossians, saying, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him …” (2:6). How did we receive Christ? Completely by faith. We trusted him to save us. We certainly couldn’t do it ourselves. Now, Paul says, live that same way in your daily lives, in your walk with Jesus.
And then Paul makes it completely clear where he writes to the Galatians:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
The person Paul was, his old man, his old rebel heart, died on the cross with Christ (Romans 6:6-7). Now, he says, it’s no longer he who is living this life. It’s Jesus, who lives in him. Jesus is the one living the life—his own life, in Paul! So what is Paul’s role? He lives by trusting in Jesus to be living his life in Paul. He trusts in Christ in him.
Christ in us, Paul said, is the heart of the gospel (Colossians 1:25-27). Christ himself is our life (Colossians 3:4). For us, to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)—Christ living in us. We who have believed in Christ have the life in us, John explained; the life is Christ (1 John 1:1-3; 5:11-13). Jesus said he is the life (John 11:25; 14:6). He said that he abides in us, and we abide in him. He is the vine (where the life comes from). We are the branch (which expresses the life of the vine). He lives through us (John 15:1-5).
Who is going to live the life of Jesus in us? Jesus is!
So what does that make us? It makes us containers of the life, vessels for the life to flow through. This is exactly what Paul said to the Corinthians:
You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7, NLT)
This treasure, Christ himself, is in us, “so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10). We don’t produce the life. Christ is the life. He reveals his own life as he lives it through us.
So we are at rest. We aren’t striving. We’re trusting. But it’s not a passive trust. It’s a very active one. Moment by moment, we’re walking a life of faith, trusting he is the one living in us, trusting in his adequacy. Which means we have true joy. We have true peace. We express true love, because Jesus is the one living it through us. And we experience his own perfect love, the love the Father has for the Son, and has for us as well.
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