Maybe you've heard it said that Christians can sometimes live like atheists. If you ever hear a statement like that, it normally means that a Christian has failed to remember that they belong to Christ. It's too easy for Christians in our frail and feeble human state to forget Christ even though we know that there is nobody more important than our Savior. We do so because in the face of temptation we can easily take our sight away from Christ and lean into the urging of our own sinful hearts. If you are human, it can certainly happen to you, and it doesn't matter whether you are a high-profile mature Christian or a sagely elder in your church. Sin is ready for any of us as soon as complacency offers a crack in the door.
In the flood Narrative in the Scriptures, we read of the glowing reputation of Noah. He was described as a man who was blameless in the eyes of others and righteous before God. He was a man who was obedient to the command of God. Well, at least he was before he planted a vineyard, and then the fruit of his labor became more important than his Creator. In his gluttonous enjoyment of wine, he had found himself looking away from God. Like Adam and Even had sinned in taking the fruit that God had forbidden, Noah had sinned in using fruit for his own sinful pleasure. In both instances that sin was depicted in the shame of nakedness.
After meditating on 9 chapters of Genesis there are two main thoughts that come to mind. 1. God's grace in salvation is my every need for every breath I take. and 2. If Adam and Eve in their perfection can sin, and Noah in his upstanding righteousness can sin, what can I keep in mind to help me to remember who I am in Christ? What can remind me not to be complacent?
This week I just want to share one little verse that drilled its way into my head as I was contemplating my own fight against temptation in this world. 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. This verse comes in the middle of a section of Paul's letter to Corinth as he is dealing with their false perceptions about the problem of sexual immorality. Part of his argument to them is a very positive one. Rather than sinning against God and your own body through sexual immorality, how about remembering that if you are in Christ, there is more to you than mortal life. This body of flesh that you sin with is more important than flesh and blood. You are one spirit with the Lord. He dwells in you. He owns you. He is connected to you as your Savior. He has adopted you in his family. There is a oneness you have with Christ that is more beautiful than anything you have in this world. But more than that... how about remembering that you are one spirit with the eternal, all-powerful, holy God of the universe.
When I remember that being joined to Jesus is becoming one spirit with him, how can I approach any part of my life in the selfish pursuit of sin? How can I live without a constant and intentional reminder that every thought, word and action reflects upon who I am in Christ and who Christ is to me? Surely, we can all imagine how Noah might find great pleasure in a delectable cup of his own produce and revel in its enjoyment to the degree of forgetting God. But that's the problem - forgetting God. Every sin starts with forgetting God. And while Noah used wine to forget his Savior, Jesus has given us wine in the New Covenant to remember him. Every time we join as a church for communion we can remind ourselves that being joined to Christ is being one spirit with him.
Beyond that reminder we get when corporately celebrating the Lord’s Supper, we can remember this truth every day at every meal and in every moment. We who are joined to the Lord become one spirit with him. There is more to every moment of my life than me. There is always - always - Christ with me and in me.