Let’s Abide in Christ Together
Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,
I hope this edition of Parent News finds you walking closely with the God of all comfort.
Please remember to save the date for our next Tuesdays at King’s Crossing event, the grand opening of the CCS Art Gallery on December 3, 6:30-8:00pm. At the gallery opening, we will be welcoming the multi-arts ensemble LeTour for their inaugural performance at King’s Crossing.
—
Recently I have been living in Chapter 15 of the gospel of John, as well as the book “Abide in Christ”, by the 19th c. South African pastor, Andrew Murray.
This classic book, available here, provides a powerful devotional look at the famous “I am the Vine” section of John 15 and related passages.
Please check out my October 17 Parent News article for some context on this wonderful passage.
—
Today let’s take a brief look at John 15: 9-17 (CSB)
9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I want to focus on one crucial truth that shines forth from this passage, especially in the turbulent and confusing time in which we live.
The repeated dance between obedience and blessing in these verses appears to me to be less about sequence i.e. God will love you after you obey Him, and will not love You if you don’t obey.
It may seem obvious to some, but we need to consider the “whole counsel” of God’s word as we seek to draw conclusions. In other words, the more I know about all 66 books of the Holy Bible, the better equipped we should be to draw appropriate conclusions.
Applying this concept to the passage at hand, our knowledge of the gospel of the Kingdom as it is set forth in some fashion in every book of the Bible would remind us that we cannot earn God’s favor or His love (“...while we were still sinners He died for us…).
Instead, the obedience spoken of here is more of a “get to” rather than a “have to”. In this rendering, the obedience to which we are clearly called will be a natural result of engaging with the love of God. We have the privilege of loving God because He first loved us, and our response to this is gratefulness, which translates in real time to glad obedience.
We embrace and follow God’s will as revealed in Scripture and applied by the Holy Spirit in real time because we love Him who first loved us.
This seems simple, but like so many truths it is not easy to apply. A solid way forward would be to take the time to “behold” (gaze intently and lovingly at) Jesus, using the gospels as a springboard for our meditation on Him and His life and words.
And, of course, the best subject for our meditation is Jesus on the cross, and coming out of the tomb of death. It is here that we see the undying ;love of Jesus poured out for us in bold relief. And it is at the foot of the cross that our hearts and minds are healed, and we are renewed in our inward person, day by day.
Please join me in this prayer:
Father God, help me to abide in Christ so deeply that the daily grind of work and ministry and life cannot drag me down, cannot overcome His joy in me, cannot crush my peace in Him. And help me to serve You fruitfully out of that overflow.
Now may God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them, receive all of the glory as we continue to move step by step toward becoming a truly extraordinary school, for the greater glory of God.
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom