"In Christ," "in union with Christ," "Christ dwelling in our hearts" these recurring phrases capture Paul's conviction of the good news. Fullness of being, the fullness of God himself, is ours through Christ who indwells us. It is in this reality of the indwelling Christ that my understanding of spiritual formation is rooted. It is in this reality of the indwelling Christ that prayer as a specific act and prayerful living, for me, has taken on fresh, vibrant, and powerful meaning.
It was the passion of Paul's life and I believe should be the passion of every Christian to be formed in Christ. He stated this passion in a graphic way to the Galatians, using the metaphor of a mother giving birth to a child. "I am in travail with you over again until you take the shape of Christ" (Gal. 4:19 NEB).
Recall Jesus' metaphor of the vine and the branches. "It is the (person) who shares my life and whose life I share who proves fruitful. For apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5 Phillips).
In a Christmas Day sermon in the fourteenth century, Meister Eckhart put the truth in focus.
"We are celebrating the feast of the Eternal Birth which God the Father has borne and never ceases to bear in all Eternity: whilst this Birth also comes to pass in Time and in human nature But if it takes not place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me."
The Word is to be enfleshed in me. Christmas Day is every day. Emmanuel, God with us, is a daily and continuous event.
From: Alive in Christ
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