Life More Abundantly

“I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10

Our apprehension of Him is determined by our understanding of the intent of His coming. To many these days, His coming was for the forgiveness of sin alone. As vital as this truth is, Him bearing the penalty of our sin and receiving upon Himself the horrific judgment of God for each of us is the initial step into the full purposes of God in Christ.

His purpose in coming to humanity was to bring the very breath and life of God. Forgiveness is necessary to initiate the wonder of reconciliation between God and man. It is not an event but merely the beginning of our journey into Him, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. My limited understanding of Him, my inherent wrongness of heart, needs the continual ministrations of His Life to nurture a growing conformity to His likeness.

Our relationship with Him, the incredible privilege of this life here on earth, is the only purpose for our existence. This relationship is an eternal reality where the Life of Him is assimilated into our own; the branch ever receiving and partaking of Him whereby we grow into a life of fruitfulness and likeness.

“I am the Vine; you are the branches.
The one abiding in Me, and I in him,
this one bears much fruit…”
John 15:5 (LITV)

“The one abiding in Me and I in him” takes us beyond simply a belief into the substance of a relationship with Him. Salvation is much more than a one-time event accomplished by His blood being shed for our sins. Jesus clearly expressed our partaking of Him as an ongoing process of life.

John 6:53 “Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.”

John 6:54 “The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood has everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:55 “For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink.”

John 6:56 “The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

John 6:57 “Even as the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father; also the one partaking Me, even that one will live through Me.”

Lost in some English translations of these scriptures is the power of all that Jesus was impressing upon us: relationship. It is to be an ever-growing dynamic of partaking of Him, drinking in the life-blood of the Vine. It is the “ING” that emphasizes the purpose and wonder of His Coming. (see related Post: The ING of Life

One Bread – One Body

Through this sense of abiding in Him, we begin to appreciate the depth and significance of being members of HIS BODY. This profound realization can only be known via a relationship with Him in which we are transformed from our selfish and limited concept of “me and God” into the comprehension that we are, in truth, “members one of another” (Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:25)

It requires little discernment to ascertain the depth of Christ’s abiding Life in another. Those who feel the pulse, the Life, and the Heart of Him within are filled with the care, concern, and passion to see His Body arise in the unity and the power of His Spirit.

Though true children of God, those who live for themselves and unto themselves have yet to feel and know the vital truth of being “members one of another.” There is something so simple, yet so profound and so divine, in this statement.

“For we being many are one bread, and one body:
for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
1 Corinthians 10:17

Only those eating and partaking of the ONE BREAD will feel the truth of that ONENESS. When the doctrines, the leaven of men’s teachings, or the mixture of the carnal mind are introduced into the “diet” of His people, division, conflict, and schisms are sure to occur.

“and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body having been supplied through the joints and bands, and being joined together, will grow with the growth of God.”
Colossians 2:19 (LITV)

By not beholding the Head, we fail to realize God’s power and nourishment “through the joints and bands” of relationships. We fall short of this joining with others and the corresponding growth of God. Stagnation occurs whenever a living thing becomes detached from its source.

When we abide in Him, we begin to feel His heart concerning the well-being of the Vine. Ministers who propagate their church or their persona to the exclusion and denigration of others are blinded to His purpose in the giftings of His people.

The construct of the Adamic nature prevents us from enjoying the nourishment of the joints. Only in partaking of Him will the virtues of His life become ours.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.”
1 John 5:1 (ESV)

It is a glorious truth that whosoever truly believes that “Jesus is the Christ” has been born of God. The Love of the Father is the very heartbeat of the Son. His devotion to the Love and Will of the Father is the revelation of the UNION that exists in the Godhead. Our understanding of that UNION between the Father and Son will be revealed in our conduct with one another here.

The groanings of the Spirit of God are revealed in the prayer of the Son unto the Father:

“…that they also may be ONE in US…”
John 17:21

Brian Troxel