Engage the Reality of God’s Light, Life, and Love
“And so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us! And we gazed upon the splendor of his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father overflowing with tender mercy and truth!” (John 1:14 TPT).
Football fervor in our country is a reality that cannot be denied.
Oh, the planning, the strategizing, the commentating, the engagement, the brightness, the splendor of the season among college and professional ball enthusiasts!
Now I don’t make this statement to begrudge the fact that many people enjoy watching the sport. It is relaxing, entertaining, exciting, and fun for them, to say the least.
Rather, I am using the analogy of football to make a point. Because I want to shed light on a word that relates to the football experience—but one that is also very beneficial in terms of our relationship with God.
This is the word: engagement.
The Right Influence
Engagement is important to the things of God, because engaging with Him is what we do when we understand Him, become intimate with Him, and are then influenced by His Light, Life, and Love. (These properties are the essence of Who He is.)
Learning to engage with God’s essence is a critical component of the Christian life. I wrote the book Invite Jesus into Your Traumatic Memories to illustrate this reality.
Inviting Jesus into our memories is helpful because the experience allows us to interface with Him in those raw and painful places that few others in this life even know about. When we open ourselves up to His presence, the Light, Life, and Love of God becomes real to us—so real that we don’t want to forget it. Then we want to build on that experience.
If you have ever been aware that you were gazing upon Jesus’ face, feeling His presence, or hearing what He is saying about a thing in your past or present, then you likely know what I am talking about. You know the bliss, the ecstasy, the excitement. You are sitting on the edge of your seat, looking forward to the next encounter!
More Than a Spectator
Similarly, avid football fans have built a relationship with the sport through their year-to-year engagement with it—which fuels a high level of anticipation and excitement in every new football season. This is true even if a fan has never played on a team. They have spent years understanding and memorizing the plays and the strategies—also remembering the best players, the greatest wins, the most spectacular upsets!
But the truth is, most football fans fixate on the game from a distance, as opposed to playing the game—despite all the time spent nurturing their football fantasies. Many fans watch at home on a couch. If they want to watch alongside other raving fans, they go to a stadium. Others go to sports bars so they can watch multiple games at the same time!
Only a few football fans have played the game on an organized, high-level team (such as a high school, college or pro team). Those who did play have inevitably “retired” to the stands.
God Invites Us to Advance to Higher Levels
To continue with the football analogy, there are major differences between the life of the average sports fan and the life God has invited us to live.
The fact is, God has invited everyone to not only observe the life of His Son—but to also live His life, at the highest levels of engagement. This is something that greatly sets the Christian life apart from any other activity or job or hobby one could ever aspire to become involved in.
This is it: Even though we can’t “see” God, He has made it possible for us to engage with His Light, Life, and Love (His essence) through His Son, Jesus (Who is the Christ, the Messiah, the “Anointed One”). When we learn to engage, by letting Him live His life through us, we manifest His Light, Life, and Love. We literally become His “anointed ones”!
“It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first revealed as ‘anointed ones’” (Acts 11:26 TPT).
(Note: The Greek word chrematizo means “supernaturally revealed.” This word is also used in Matthew 2:12 where God gives the Magi revelation through a dream.)
How Do We Go Deeper in Our Engagement with God?
Perhaps Jesus was preparing His disciples to go deeper into the greater mysteries of God when He told them to “eat” His body and “drink” His blood (John 6:53). (He demonstrated how this command should be followed at the Last Supper, the first communion service. See Matthew 26:26-29).
I believe Jesus used the analogy of “eating and drinking”—what humans must do to live and not die—to explain why we must now engage with His life, death, and resurrection. This is accomplished through communion, or union, with His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17).
The intimation is that we must learn to live in “union/communion” with Him so we can “live” spiritually. In effect, we must learn to exchange our life for His! This is how we become players in the Christian life, not just spectators!
To go deeper into the revelation of these mysteries, let’s meditate on the following:
Whereas the eating and drinking of food and water keeps us physically “alive” and in touch with our humanity, spiritual eating and drinking is what we must do to “stay alive” and in touch with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Staying in touch (through “union”) is how we grow in strength as God’s spiritual sons and daughters (John 1:12, Romans 8:16).
In other words, the spiritual “eating and drinking” of the body and the blood of Jesus helps us to “grow up” into our engagement/connection/relationship/union with Him (John 15:5).
When we “consume” Jesus’ flesh (when we become conscious of our “oneness” with His flesh), we become “one” with His death and His resurrection (Colossians 2:12–13, Romans 6:4–5). We sense that our sin died with Him—and that He has taken the power of that sin and put it in another place (Isaiah 53:11–12). Then we are free to rise with Him into new life!
Likewise, when we “drink” the blood (when we become conscious of our “oneness” with His blood), we are cleansed from all unrighteousness (wrongness). As greater levels of revelation are received, Jesus’ perfect blood supernaturally fuses with our blood. In increasing measures, we manifest His light, His life, and His love! (Romans 8:19).
Granted, we must “grow up” into this revelation. But as we meditate on these truths daily, our revelation, understanding and engagement increases. As revelation increases, experiences expand. The manifestation of Jesus’ life in us grows! This is the fullness of the Gospel message!
Emily Gardner Foppe helps hurting individuals discover intimacy with God by inviting Jesus into their traumatic memories. In so doing, the reality of God’s Light, Life and Love dismantles fear, shame, guilt, and anxiety, along with all sorts of other harmful attitudes and problems! To order Emily’s book, Invite Jesus into Your Traumatic Memories, click here. To consult with her, click here.
Related verses:
“We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 TPT).
“I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me, you are powerless” (John 15:5 TPT).
“Sharing in his death by our baptism means that we were co-buried and entombed with him, so that when the Father’s glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also raised with him. We have been co-resurrected with him so that we could be empowered to walk in the freshness of new life” (Romans 6:4–5 TPT).
“Life came into being because of him, for his life is light for all humanity. And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom—the Light that darkness could not diminish!” (John 1:4–5 TPT).
“There is a divine mystery—a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it’s being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!” (Colossians 2:26–27 TPT).
“I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us. The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!” (Romans 8:18–19 TPT).