THE TRUE VINE (2)
The second consideration here is the time at which these words of Christ were spoken. This is Jesus encouraging his disciples in the most dramatic way at the most dramatic time in their lives. He is preparing to leave them to return to his Heavenly Father and the glories of heaven which he shared with the Father before time began.
We should be very interested, therefore, in studying these words, for in them we find the greatest meaning of all, considering the task of the disciples in taking the gospel to the world. They had before them the most important work ever assigned to a group of mere men. His preparation included teaching. This teaching was designed to equip them for the task. So when we consider the time in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ when these words were spoken, it becomes easy to see their importance.
We have here the principle of abiding, and it is this principle upon which the Christian life is based and founded. We cannot understand anything our Lord has called us to do unless and until we understand this point. Without the principle of abiding, we are left to ourselves to live for God—something that we absolutely cannot do. We cannot live the Christian life—we can only abide in Christ. And that is more than a mere matter of semantics. It serves to highlight the difference between self-effort, which always fails, and dependence upon Christ, which cannot fail.
Christ’s teaching about the vine reminds us that there is a relationship of complete intimacy that is available to all disciples of Christ who strive to maintain the connection to him that is theirs through faith. The process, then, becomes one of on-going closeness and ever-deepening appreciation of who we are and what we have in Christ. It is something that we will never fully understand in this life, but something that we nevertheless move toward and grow in.
To be joined to the Lord is to be one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17). There is no separation between the Christian and the Lord. He always knows the believer and the believer always know him. The Christian walks in close intimacy with the one who created and calls us. He knew the individual before the individual was formed in the womb. He determined our days and the set times for our dwelling. Christ is here with us at all times and there is nothing spiritual that we cannot do with him abiding in us.
It is very informative to understand the nature of all that we have in our relationship with Christ. The disciples knew Christ better than anyone on earth. And the twelve apostles shared a relationship with Jesus that no others were privy to. We know about it now through the recorded revelation that we find in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. When we turn to the epistles we note that the emphasis is not on law but on relationship.
It should reveal much to us to know that we have the writings of inspired men who knew Christ in the flesh. What they wrote is decidedly important for that reason alone. If they knew him intimately and knew his thoughts and his deepest feelings the way a friend today would reveal himself to another, we should pay careful and close attention to not only what they wrote, but the tone in which they wrote it. We must be careful not only to say what they said, but say it in the manner in which they said it. Our emphasis must be on par with theirs.
Read the writings of John and Peter and Paul. You cannot help but be amazed at the tone with which they revealed their respective truths. They spoke in the tone of grace, on the themes of love and intimacy with Christ and on being children of God. Everything they said must be understood from the standpoint of what Christ was saying through them. It is easy to see what kind of people we are to be in Christ and what is to be important to us. It is all about Christ Jesus.
Dewayne Dunaway
