In the Kingdom of Heaven, where we live and move and have our being in Christ, through Christ and for Christ, the reality is that every single situation you and I will face has already been dealt with by Jesus! Every challenge you face in your life has already been overcome by Christ and in Christ.
Every problem which presents itself today or tomorrow in your life has already been solved by Christ and in Christ and He is present now and active in our lives through His Spirit to bring the fruit of His finished work into our lives. We are not called to imitate Jesus, we are called to surrender to Christ.
Do you remember the WWJD (‘What Would Jesus Do?’) bracelets and campaign years ago? I think it’s time we started a better movement and manufactured some new bracelets with the acronym WHJD: What Has Jesus Done? The answer to that question will be: EVERYTHING.
Your salvation, your entrance into the Kingdom of God, your sanctification, your growth and maturity in your faith, your spiritual gifts and passion for ministry, your fruitfulness and joy in ministry, your faith, your courage, your healing, your wisdom and the revelation of God Himself … it has ALL been secured for you already, in Christ, through Christ and for Christ.
When Jesus hung on that cross and said, “It is finished,” He really meant it is finished. God’s reconciling work is complete, from God’s perspective and in God’s kingdom. Now you and I and all mankind are invited to believe, receive and walk in that reality. Believe the truth that Jesus has done it all for us and receive the fullness of God’s love and grace and presence and power.
Then, and only then, out of that abundance, out of that overwhelming experience of the love and grace and the presence of God, will flow faith, prayer, a passion for the Bible, a heart for people, a commitment to serve; your giving will increase in all areas of your life; your lifestyle and values will become more and more conformed to Christ in you, the hope of glory … and all of that will be the fruit of what you have received from God, Who is love. None of that will be religious duty or well-intentioned good works done in the flesh. It will be the fruit of the Life that is within you, the Love that has been lavished upon you.
Every imaginable spiritual discipline will emerge in your life with increasing measure without you straining, groaning or flogging yourself with guilt and shame. It will simply emerge as the fruit of God’s presence in your life, the natural and automatic outworking of God’s love deep within you.
Let me ask you something. Have you ever walked through an orchard when the fruit is forming on the trees? There is this amazing miracle which happens in an orchard when the fruit is forming. When the trees are young, they are just trees, with wonderful leaves and a beautiful shape and they certainly look great – all in rows across a whole orchard. But they are just time-consuming, money-swallowing ornaments taking up space – until the day arrives when the fruit starts to form.
What a miracle that is and when you are there, standing in the middle of that orchard watching that abundant, rich, succulent fruit appear before your eyes from nowhere, guess what you can hear – if you go right up close to one of those trees? Guess what you can hear? Absolutely nothing!
Isn’t that a miracle? There’s no grunting, no groaning and no straining on the part of the tree. The fruit just forms. If the tree is well fed and watered, the fruit will always form and it will always be rich and succulent. If the tree is healthy it doesn’t have to exert any extra effort to produce the fruit – it just forms automatically because that is the God-ordained purpose for that tree.
Hello? Are you getting this? Are you still with me? Just as a healthy, well fed and watered tree in an orchard will always produce rich, succulent fruit, so too will a healthy, well fed and watered disciple of Christ always produce rich, succulent fruit in their life and within the life of the Church.Trees don’t have to ‘do more or try harder’ or discipline themselves or beat themselves into submission to bear fruit. Trees just need to be still and know that the fruit is already within them – just as their Creator intended. If they are healthy, the fruit will always appear, in season – it’s guaranteed.
The source of our food and drink is Christ in us. It is the gift of God’s Son, our Lord and Saviour and His indwelling presence and love within us which is the source of all life, all power, all gifts, all effectiveness and all fruit in the Kingdom of Heaven. We don’t need to imitate Jesus or strive to be like Jesus – we simply need to surrender and let the Spirit of God transform us day by day, minute by minute, choice by choice . . into the image of our Lord and Saviour.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come – fill us to the measure with the fullness of God, fill us with Your Presence, fill us with Your love, fill us with Your life! Amen.