As human beings and believers in Christ Jesus, we have three distinct lives but only one of them is suitable for the Christian life today and for New Jerusalem.
The proper life for a Christian is Christ Himself. “Christ our life” (Col. 3:4). He is in our spirit (Rom. 8:10), spreading in our being for the renewing of our soul (Rom. 12:2), and will transfigure (‘redeem” in Rom. 8:23) our mortal body with Himself as life.
Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Because we have a share in Christ’s death and Christ’s resurrection, we no longer need to live by our soulish life nor our fleshly life. “It is no longer [the old I] who live.” Instead, we live in spirit, one with “Christ who lives in me.” This is “the life which I now live.”
Later, in Philippians 1:20-21, Paul says, “as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body….For to me, to live is Christ.” When we live Christ, Christ is magnified/expressed/ made great. This is Christian life today on the way to New Jerusalem as the eternal magnification of Christ.
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses aboutChrist is Our Life and We Live Him.
