The life of Christ in us is the key point for every person born again. The life of Christ in us is the life and juice of the Vine in branches completely dependent on Her and the Vinemaker. This is exactly the illustration that Christ gave to His disciples. He says: “I am the vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Christ’s words “without Me you can do nothing” should be taken extremely seriously. What did Christ mean? What is His role? The Apostle Paul says very similar words: “But by the grace of God what is is; and His grace in me was not in vain, but I have labored the most: not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). What do the words “not me, however” mean? In another passage, he says the following: “And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Now that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). What does “and no longer I, but … Christ” mean? We have heard a lot about how great the Apostle Paul was. However, I want to show the complete opposite: the Apostle Paul, like other Apostles, missionaries, pastors and other authorities of ours, was a simple weak man with the life of the Great and Almighty God. It is not man who is a great Christian, but God who is great in a Christian. Hudson Taylor, who appears to be the first to use the term “replaced life,” realized this very well. Hudson Taylor went through great problems and worries about sin in his life as a Christian, which led him to realize his complete dependence on God and trust Him to live through him. Mr. Mac Carthy, whose words revealed the truth about the life of Christ Hudson Taylor, wrote:
“Do you know that now I believe that striving, striving, hoping for the bottom is not the true path to holiness, betterness, happiness or fitness.”
…I need to allow my loving Savior to work in me as He pleases, to allow Him to be my sanctification. And to live like this only thanks to His grace. To live, being in Him, and not exerting one’s efforts and stress; live with an eye on Him; trusting Him as the source of strength for life; resting in the love of the Almighty Savior, rejoicing in complete salvation from all sin.”
In the letter to the Colossians, the apostle tells believers that Christ is their life (Col. 3:4). It would be very foolish to say that this is the simplest theoretical fact. No, this is more than a theoretical fact. This is a practical basis for the life of every believer. The success of the Christian life depends on our talents, abilities or intelligence, the success of the Christian life depends on Christ Himself. Think again of Jesus’ illustration of the Vine and the vines. You don’t have to be a gardener to understand that the branch owes its fruits only to the Vine. It is the Vine, with the participation of the Vinemaker, who gives the twig everything it needs to bear the long-awaited fruit. Against the background of this illustration, we can better understand Paul’s words “not I, however” (1 Cor. 15:10) and “no longer I” (Gal. 2:20). May God reveal to us all that Christ is for us, His power and life in small and weak twigs.
Serhii Tomash
