Jesus told us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Imagine

Imagine having Christ’s nature replace your own. That would mean, without having to self-manufacture anything, force yourself to do or be something you’re not, His ways would become natural, even automatic, for you.

Jesus did not act righteous because He was supposed to. He did what He did because it was just who He was – and is. If that life comes to replace your life in you, it would be the same with you.

How do you think your life would be different if this were so? Would you live with shame, anger, discontent, fear? No. You would live with His phenomenal love in yourself. Would you know His love? Oh, how you would know it. There would be no problem comprehending His love. It would be in you and define your very life continually.

Can we not see that this would be the most extraordinary life imaginable? Is such a life available to man? Astoundingly, it is available.

What Must I Do?

If you say, give me this life so I, too, can have it in me! How do I find it? What do I have to do to get it? I have a surprising answer for you that tells us who He is: the incomprehensibly gracious God He is.

If I told you that you must do great things to find it, some might say, that’s ok, I will do it. But the answer is different from what we expect.

His Surprising Answer

He answers that you could never do enough to earn such a prize. Instead, He tells us it can only be received as a free gift. We can not, must not, offer anything for it. He answers that we must only humble ourselves and admit our incapacity to be righteous. We must thus abandon all hope in our self-rescue. We can receive this gift only and always by believing in Him and the offering for us of His perfect sacrifice. This is what it means to be found “in Him, not having a righteousness of our own but that which comes through faith in Jesus Christ,” as Paul tells us in Philippians 3:9.

It is constantly waiting and hoping for His life, revelation, and salvation in every moment. We always acknowledge our desperate need for rescue because we realize we cannot sustain any righteousness in ourselves. This understanding implies that we are, more and more, only living and hoping in Him.

Living an Extraordinary Life

His response to us as we enter this crucified state is to give us the same life that was and is in Him. This is no small thing. This is not some passing ecstatic experience, feeling, or bodily sensation per se. It is fellowship with Christ Himself, instantly recognized as the marvelous and profound thing that it is. One is standing on holy ground, and it changes everything. We become as Moses standing at the Burning Bush and are awe-struck as we sense His glory.

This transcends any plan or program of man. It is unlike any natural experience. It is humbling by definition to sense Him in this way. We are in the shadow of the Almighty. And so, we are near to Him, who is from the beginning and is the source of all things that are.

All things are possible in Him because He is the source of all things. His beauty and glory are simply beyond all imagination. I can now understand why Peter wanted to build a tabernacle on the holy mountain; he wanted to remain there in the glory of Christ.

Nevertheless, we must continue with the basic things, the foundational things of Christ. We are waiting and hoping only in Him and His salvation all the day long.

This most beautiful hymn came to mind as I finished writing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Nearer My God to Thee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWz4feHp0ko