Divine Intimacy: Abiding in God
One of the greatest questions any
Christian can ask is, “how does a man abide in a continual relationship with
God?” It’s so easy to get distracted by the things we see, the cares of this
life, that we can easily become disengaged from the very fountain of life
Himself. As Dr. David Jeremiah says, “Don’t you know we never drift towards
God, only away from Him.” Yet, God has created us and saved us so that we would
enjoy a personal relationship with Him and that He also would enjoy a personal
relationship with us forever! We were predestined as the children of God to
live continually in this relationship (Eph. 1:5), but because we are sinful
people living in world that is hostile towards Him, we often find ourselves
drifting and disengaged from the greatest gift we’ve ever known, namely our
relationship with our Maker.
So, man, how do we stay engaged in
this relationship with God? How do we abide in Him? This question is vital to
every Christian and it is especially vital to those of us heading off on the
World Race. Praise God, He has already given us the answer. Turn with me to
John 15.
“I am the
true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.2 Every branch in Me that does not
bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears
fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless
you abide in Me. 5 I am the
vine, you are the branches; he who
abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John
15:1-5).“
What are some things
that verses four and five teach us about our relationship with God? Three things
stick out to me:
1.
It takes a conscious effort on our
part. “Abide in Me.” That takes action. I don’t think we are going to abide in
Jesus absent-mindedly.
2.
We are hopelessly dependent on Him
for bearing fruit.
3.
When we are abiding in Him and He in
us, we bear much fruit.
Now what kind of
fruit is Jesus talking about here? We find out later on in verse 8 that this
fruit glorifies God and proves us to be His disciples. Though Jesus doesn’t say
in this passage I tend to agree with Henry Bible Commentary when it says, “Here Christ discourses concerning the fruit, the fruits of the
Spirit, which his disciples were to bring forth, under the similitude of a
vine (E-sword, HBC).”
Alright, all you Awana graduates, what is the fruit of the
Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Now how many
of you would like to have your life marked by that kind of fruit? If you are
not jumping up and down like a little kid something is wrong. J Truly, this is the evidence of the supernatural
living in us.
So, back to
John 15, if this fruit is the result of Christ abiding in us and us abiding in
Him, there should be one question at the forefront of our minds. How does a man abide in Christ?
Let’s keep reading.
“6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown
away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the
fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to
be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father
has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide
in My love. 10 If you
keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love (John
15:6-10).“
Ok guys, how do we
abide in God’s love? We keep His commandments. Some of you at this point are
thinking, “That’s it? Seriously? Here I think you’re going to tell me how to
have a thriving relationship with God and you tell me, ‘Keep His commandments?”
And my answer to that is,
“Yes.”
Guys that is it!
That is how we abide in Christ! Read it again, “If you
keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My
Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you
so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full (John
15:10-11).”
Read 1 John 3:24, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and
He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has
given us.”
And what is Jesus’
most expressed command in John 15? He says it twice, once in verse 12 and once
in verse 17. It is the first attribute mentioned in Galatians 5 on the fruit of
the Spirit. It is the greatest and second greatest commandment (Matt.22:34-40).
And it is also mentioned in our passage in 1 John. Alright ya’ll, John 15:12, let’s
say it together.
“This is My
commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” And
as it says in 1 John 3:23,
“This is His
commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, just as He commanded us.”
Do you guys remember 1 Corinthians
13:1-3? Any spiritual gift, any action, any ability no matter how great, is
worthless and useless without love. Also 1 John 4:7-13,
“Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is from God; and everyone
who loves is born of
God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us,
that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God
abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us,
because He has given us of His Spirit.”
Do you want to have joy complete? Do you want to live in an intimate
relationship with God? Do you want to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
Do you want to bring glory to God?
Then keep His commandments. It is how we show our love for Him. John
14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
And what is His most expressed commandment in these passages? “That you love one another (John 15:17b).”
2 John 1:6 slaps them both together, “And this
is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the
beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
Oh guys, if we do this, if we truly love one another, we will see God do
awesome things among us. He wants us to be filled with His Spirit. He wants to
perfect His love in us (1 John 2:5). And if we will commit ourselves to
loving each other, no matter what, we will live like we have never lived before.
We will bear a kind of fruit that is out of this world. And through us God will
proclaim His love to the nations so powerfully that it cannot be ignored.
It is God’s mission.
The question is: Are
you in?
(PS: To further understand what love looks
like read John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13, and 1 John 3:11-4:21.)
