Everyday Christianity: Spiritual Life (1)
The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15.47, 48
A spiritual life
Of course, every Christian will assent to the idea that the Christian life is, in the first instance, a spiritual life. We may not fully understand what that means, but we will agree with the idea that, in some way or after some fashion, we are spiritual people and ours is a spiritual life.
And this is an important truth to keep in mind as we launch out into our everyday Christian lives to be tested every moment by our God.
Our faith in Jesus engages us with God, in the first instance, in our spirit—our soul. In Jesus Christ our souls, are renewed; the Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell within us; and we are transferred to a spiritual Kingdom, a realm not of this world which unfolds for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit in and through our lives (Col. 1.13; Rom. 14.17, 18).
The framework of our lives is spiritual. The ambience in which we go about our everyday life is spiritual. Ours is a spiritual life. And while this is true of everyone, most people either do not acknowledge or do not recognize this to be so. But we Christians do, and we are intent on making the most of this spiritual life.
Yet while most Christians will affirm that the Christian life is a spiritual life, far too few of us actually understand or experience the spiritual life to which we have been called in Jesus. Nor do many of us practice the dynamics that make the Christian life full, abundant, and fruitful with blessings for ourselves and others.
Unless we grasp and practice these dynamics, we will never enjoy the full power and benefit of following Jesus.
Define, depend, demonstrate
We need to be clear about the life in which we venture out into the fallen world. We can summarize the spiritual life under three heads, each of which overlaps with the others. The first of these is simply define.
Before we can live the spiritual life, we must define it, to understand the broad scope and full detail of what we have received and what we are called to in Jesus Christ. And, since our spiritual life is eternally greater than anything we could ever imagine, we will need to continue enlarging our definition of the life of faith as our understanding and experience grow.
Spiritual life is simply that—life oriented toward, sustained by, experienced within, and expressive of an unseen realm where Jesus Christ reigns as King and Lord. Put another way, the spiritual life means practicing the Kingship of Jesus.
Spiritual life is oriented toward Jesus and the unseen realm. We are called to “set our minds” on things that are above, to make Christ in His glory, exalted at the Father’s right hand, and all the other features and creatures of the unseen realm, the continuous North Star for our daily journeys (Col. 3.1-3; Heb. 11.1).
Under the second heading for a spiritual life, we acknowledge our complete dependence on spiritual truths and spiritual realities, even to sustain us within the physical world in which we live our spiritual calling from the Lord. As we have seen, apart from Jesus we can do nothing. More to the point, apart from Jesus, Who upholds the cosmos and everything in it by His Word of power (Heb. 1.3), we would be nothing. We would cease to exist.
This means that spiritual disciplines, an other-worldly orientation, and the filling of God’s Spirit become more important to us even than our physical needs or our temporal possessions and concerns (Job 23.12; Jer. 15.16). If we do not attend to the disciplines and vision that sustain and grow our spiritual lives, we will never know the fullness and abundance which we have received in Jesus Christ. We will always be babes in Christ, sipping on the milk of God’s truth and seeking some religious diversion.
The final heading under which we may begin to understand a spiritual life is demonstration. The spiritual life is not just something to talk about with other believers, or to be happy about together in worship or other activities. Believers demonstrate the reality of their spiritual renewal through the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the tokens of love, power for witness, mutually-enriching lives in community, a commitment to holiness in obedience to God’s Law, and reconciling all things in culture and creation to God and for His glory. That is, a spiritual life gives evidence of its presence in outward manifestations (Heb. 11.1; 6.9-12). We expect to demonstrate the reality and power of a spiritual life consistently, in specific ways.
It’s all Jesus
We may thus define the spiritual life in terms of Christ exalted as our focus, Christ indwelling as our sustaining power, Christ at work in and through us as the outcome of our discipleship, and Christ returning as the hope which sustains us through the tests we encounter every day.
True spiritual life, in other words, is all about Jesus Christ. This is how believers explain what has happened in them as a result of the redeeming and saving work of the Lord. We have come to Jesus, received Jesus, been seated with Jesus in heavenly places, are commissioned and sent by Jesus, indwelled by Jesus, are being transformed into the very image of Jesus, and live to bring all of life under the rule of King Jesus.
This simple definition will grow and expand as our experience of the spiritual life grows, and we will discover, as it does, that we can never exhaust the beauty, never fathom the full power, never achieve the whole vision, and never express the full glory of the transforming reality of Jesus Christ above, in, and through us.
But we can live it, to an ever-fuller extent, in every aspect and moment of our everyday lives.
For reflection or discussion
1. What is the most important facet of your spiritual life at this time? Why?
2. Which aspects of the spiritual life would you like to know more of every day?
3. How would you describe the state of your spiritual disciplines—prayer, reading Scripture, worship, solitude?
Next steps—Preparation: When and how did you enter into this spiritual life in Christ? Pray your testimony back to the Lord with thanksgiving and praise.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
A spiritual life is a disciplined life in every facet. How does this work out? Our book, A Disciplined Life, can help you review and improve your own disciplines toward a more robust walk with and work for the Lord. For a free PDF of The Disciplined Life, click here.
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast features excerpts from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival.. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
