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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Being With Christ Where He Is
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, ‘What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13,14—NIV)
We humans tend to worry constantly about the future. If we would grow in Christ we must learn about Jesus as the "I Am," the God of the eternal present. Christ always Is what God Is. God and Christ are what They Are right now.
The Lord wants us to enter this timeless relationship. He wants each of us to be an indivisible part of Himself, of what He always Is. He desires that we grow in Him until it can be said of us we are fully with Him where He Is. Then the future will take care of itself.
The things of the world clamor for our attention. Meanwhile the Lord Jesus is knocking at the door of our heart. If we are to keep from devoting our days on earth to that which is temporary and insignificant we must listen carefully each moment to what the Lord is saying, presenting each decision to Him for His will and blessing. We must strive to always be with Him where He is and a part of what He Is.
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58—NIV)
Not "before Abraham was born I was."
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:3—NIV)
Not "that you also may be where I will be."
I understand Jesus meant, in the preceding verse, "that you also may be where I am at that time." However, by leaning too heavily on the idea of time we interpret the Lord to mean He will return to take us to Heaven. I think we miss the point.
Notice the following verse:
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. (John 1:18—NIV)
From the context I think John meant that Christ has come to earth and made God known. Yet while doing so He remains at the Father's side, or in the bosom of the Father as the King James Version expresses it.
Otherwise John might have said, "who has come from the Father's side."
It may be that the Holy Spirit has a purpose in using the present tense on these occasions. I like to think of God and Christ remaining as One whether Christ is in Heaven, on earth, or somewhere else. I believe it is of importance that we understand the Oneness of God and Christ because Christ works continually with each true saint to bring him or her into the same Oneness.
I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23—NIV)
To be continued.