Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor
You are way, way off base here. How come you missed the "inhabited by our Maker" part?
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The other thing I find so interesting about these discussions, is that the verses I cited are usually ignored, as they were in this case. So I'll repeat them.
"Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." John 6:57
"If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love." John 15:10
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." John 20:21
What I see is a pattern of equivalents: Jesus notes some aspect of his relationship with the Father, then says the believer's relations with him are "Just as" or "even as" his are with the Father. So just as the Lord Jesus obeys the Father, we obey him. Jesus lives on the Father (his food is in keeping his commands, cf John 4:34) so do we live on him. As the Father sent him, so he sends us. How does this not represent a compelling pattern?
The focus in the gospels and Acts is not on us, it's on him. Peter preached this gospel, not of his (Peter's) enjoyment but on Jesus' resurrection. "Know ye that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified." Peter didn't get side-tracked by his own "enjoyment" or "experience". He was laser-focused on the resurrected Messiah.
And the epistles didn't leave this - they built on it. Nothing Paul did, that I can see, departed the "right hand of fellowship" of those that preceded him, including their gospels and their testimonies of Jesus.
Now, perhaps I'm conflating Major Ian Thomas with Witness Lee. But they sound a lot alike, and the danger's the same. And the only protest to my noting this, quoted above, comes from someone who ignores the substance of what was written, which only serves to reinforce the idea that perhaps I'm onto something. They're bothered, and they protest, but do so ignoring the word. Again, similar arguments were received in the LC -- ignore the substance of what was said.
The gospel word shows us a relationship, beckons us to follow. Instead we get a generic "Christ in you". In this case, it seems that "Christ" is whatever you want. How do you know that your "enjoyment" or "experience" is real? Jesus' was - the Father raised him from the dead, furnishing proof to all, for all time. Why then focus on your own ephemeral sensations? Your striving, your joy? It seems rather untrustworthy. And why ignore the trustworthy revelation of God, regarding the person, position, and experiences of Jesus the Son of God, Saviour of the world, as if it weren't laid out here, if not in full, at least in part?