These are Christ's words about His relationship with God: "...believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him" (John 10:38b). And these are Christ's words about His relationship with us: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5). In these verses, the Bible describes for us the perfect picture of the connection we have with Christ, and it is a perfect duplication of Christ's connection with God. Notice that both connections are two-way. God is in Christ and Christ is in God. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. Now in following that thinking, if all of God is in Christ and all of Christ is in me, then all of God must also be in me. And if I am in Christ and Christ is in God, then I am in God. The picture painted by the illustration of the vine in John 15 is significant. In a vine, there are shoots that go down into the branch. Through those shoots, everything the branch needs to live and be fruitful is funneled. But there are also shoots that go from the branch up into the vine. Those shoots have only one purpose. They simply cling to the vine. Do you see the implication of this illustration? In John 15, Jesus Christ calls Himself the Vine, and He calls us the branches. Christ is in me, as a vine is in a branch. Through Him, I receive everything I will ever need to experience the full fruit of the Christian life. I am in Christ, as a branch is in the vine. By myself, I am unable to produce anything. I can only bear the fruit the vine produces. I can do nothing but cling to Him, trusting Him to produce His fruit through me. Because I am in Christ and Christ is in me, our fellowship manifests itself to the world. The fruit of Christ is borne out of my life. The power of God, Himself, flows through me.
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Debbie Childers (Georgia, USA) is a contributing writer for IOM America - Transformational Biblical Worldview & Exchange Life Development.
Permission obtained from author to republish Connected to God. Copyright � 2015 by The Reality Group. Articles, or portions of articles, can be used only with written permission from The Reality Group.
Scripture note: Changes made to original verses [i.e. bold, indent, underline, parenthetical contents...] are by this article's author for emphasis and/or clarification.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright � 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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