Our Hearts Are the Garden of Christ's Life

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the HEAD, from whom ALL the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.  Therefore you if you have died with Christ..."  Colossians 2:18-20a

Holding fast to the Head is a powerful truth that Paul spent his entire ministry preaching.  In the natural, if one's head is decapitated, obviously there is no life to the rest of the body - and obvious there is death.

It is amazing how in the spiritual, God works the total opposite of natural things in regard to life and death.  When we are born, we are born in physical life and then die physically.  Spiritually we are born dead, then are raised into life.  Our natural physical body is exchanged or as Paul puts it, "we put on immortality."

In the walk though throughout our time on earth, we walk solely by the Life of the Lord - not by external elements of anything religious and worldly.  It's what has been discussed over and over again in the epistles.  

Here is another passage that makes this more clear to me:  Ephesians 4:17, 18, vs.20

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord (very important), that YOU should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind (in Colossians Paul talks about being vainly puffed up in the fleshly mind), having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the LIFE OF GOD, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart...But YOU have not so learned Christ."

There is much said about LIFE in the epistles.  So much.  Christ is LIFE, we are raised to newness of LIFE, Resurrection LIFE, Abundance of LIFE, Jesus the Way, the Truth, the LIFE, the law of the Spirit of LIFE, our life is hidden with Christ, the life we now live is the LIFE of Christ.

We can continue to grow in our spiritual understanding and all the contexts surrounding the discussion of Christ as Life.  The following are just a few things as a way of reminder - not exhaustive, but just reminders:

1)            No one has life except through Jesus Christ.  Life begins when we receive Him - and His life is endless.

2)            The Spirit comes in us, after we believe the word, the Gospel of our Salvation.  The Spirit is Life and Liberty - The Holy Spirit leads us in Christ's Life - we grow in life, we grow in Christ in our spirits.

3)            We continue to HOLD FAST to the HEAD WHO alone is the LIFE.  Praise the Lord we are not acting out religion - no religion in the world and our externally "doing it" can bring life to the dead and damned - only Jesus who loved us and died for us. He has done this marvelous work.

4)            We live and walk by HIS LIFE.  We walk by faith in Him - not of ourselves, but HIM.

We surely get to discover the strength, the power, the wisdom, the depth, and glory of Christ in our hearts as the LIFE of GOD. 

In God's garden, everything grows.  Our hearts are the Garden of His Life.

May we continue to realize by God's Word and Spirit the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Sue Gaither