We are called to be rooted in Christ. Being rooted in Christ is about abiding in His presence, standing in His finished work, and conforming to His image.
Abiding In His presence
To be rooted in Christ is to value and honor His tangible manifest presence! We acknowledge His presence in all we do. His presence is the center of our lives.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” – John 15:4
As a Disciple, We are called to abide in His presence. How we abide in His presence is by stewarding a hearing ear to His voice. It’s about learning to walk in awareness and sensitivity to Him. He is the treasure. His presence is the gift. We lean, listen, and let Him lead us. Resting in His voice is how we practically and actively learn and follow Jesus.
Abiding in His presence is a posture of action! It is a stance of actively refusing to move to the demands of man and moving to the rhythm of His voice. He is the Teacher, we are the disciple. It’s His voice that we follow.
Abiding in His presence isn’t an invitation into leaning on your own understanding. Like sheep with their shepherd, it is a call to acknowledge Him in all your ways. To follow Him.
You aren’t a disciple because of how much you know or because you have the answers for every situation you will face. You’re a disciple because of intimacy and leaning upon Him and His leadership. It’s not about what you know, but WHO you know. You have all you need because you have Him. He is the greatest resource you have. He will teach you and father you every step of the way. Just lean and listen and let Him Lead you!
I find in abiding in His presence, that I have to take the journey one moment at a time. Rather than looking at the entire day, week, month or year, I simply look at each moment as an opportunity to walk with Him.
I wake up in the morning with a simple thank you on my lips. I keep my mind stayed on Him one moment at a time. By the evening I find I have been aware of Him all day long. I simply keep Him at the front of my thoughts. I think of Him and His nearness as I go about my day.
When my mind wonders and my inner man drifts away from this awareness, I simply draw back and redirect my thoughts to His presence. I do this by a simple “thank you” or “I love you”.
As I give thanks to Him or tenderly speak affectionately to Him I become more aware of Him. The more I give myself to the practice of walking in continual awareness of His presence the more natural it gets. I quickly catch the moments when I drift away in my thoughts.
I remember one moment when my kids were fighting. I was in the kitchen and as I overheard them, I lost my temper and raised my voice. I very quickly felt the grief of the Lord for this. I apologized to them both and then returned my thoughts towards Him. At another time later that same day, I talked briefly with my wife about politics. I was agitated in my speech. Right away I could tell that it did not produce the peace of God or bring grace to us. I felt that shift in my awareness. I recognized it and again returned my thoughts to the Lord. These moments showed me I could cultivate my awareness. It is a habit we can all learn and practice.
When we abide in His presence we operate out of grace. His empowering presence enables us to speak the truth, be angry without sin, and only speak things that release grace to the hearers. We walk by His Spirit as we are simply aware of His Spirit. We become sensitive and aware of Him and the things that grieve Him. All the bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice is naturally put away from us. This is the influence of His presence. It is a work of His grace.
I’ll never forget what happened when I first really set out to walk in awareness of His presence. At the end of the first day, Meredith looked at me and asked “What happened to you?” I said, “What do you mean?” She continued, “You were different today. You were more present. You really parented the kids well. You helped a lot more around the house. You apologized more. You were the husband and dad of my dreams today!” I was floored. “You wanna know the secret?” I said, “All I did was practice being aware of God’s presence every second of the day!” Grace naturally flowed into my daily life as I simply acknowledged Him in every moment.
There comes an ease and flow to the practice of awareness. I’ve found that His presence isn’t a feeling but an ongoing relationship. The subtlety of His presence makes it very easy to miss. He is gentle and tender. If we were to look for dramatic expressions and manifestations only, we would miss Him. He is experienced in the simple practice of awareness.
Dramatic expressions do come, but the daily walk of relationship with Him is found in the fruit of peace. I have noticed an indicator of my wandering from awareness of Him is a felt lack of peace. If there isn’t peace on a thought or a conversation my tongue is tempted to have I must capture the thought and hold my tongue. As we begin to feel these subtle things we more quickly learn to keep our thoughts and tongue from fruitless activity. Things that would normally spark tempers in us are captured and we come back to the sweet awareness of Him.
His Finished Work
Being rooted in Christ is about standing in His finished work. We remain in Him and His redemptive work on the cross. He finished the work and made us free from sin and a new creation!
Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
We have been placed into Christ. We are hidden in him. It is no longer about our performance but our placement. Its no longer about our efforts, its about His efforts. Its no longer about our righteousness, its about His righteousness. You have received Christ Jesus! You are in Him and He is in you!
“our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;” Romans 6:6 NASB
We are no longer sinners. We have become a new creation in Christ Jesus! We have been completely united to Him. He fully and entirely destroyed our old self. This means that all our negativity, all our alienation, all our ignorance, all our pain, all our darkness, and all our evil is defeated. Our body of sin has been done away with because of His finished work upon the cross. We no longer relate to God based on our old man. We relate to God through the New Man: Christ Jesus!
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
He became everything we were, so we could become everything He is. We have been united to Him. He purchased our freedom from sin and gave us the gift of righteousness: right relationship, restored union. Our union to Him happens real time. It is a present reality.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20
We were past tense co-crucified with Him on the cross 2000 years ago, but we are also presently co-crucified.
“The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” 1 Corinthians 6:17
We have become one spirit with Him. Consider tea leaves and water. When tea leaves are added to hot water the two become infused! They are one. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are one. Nothing can separate this infusion.
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Colossians 2:9-10 ESV
All the fullness of God lives in Him. So what is inside of us? All the fullness of God. We never live from lack. We approach everything from the fullness of His finished work. We remain and rest in our placement in Christ. That is where the fullness is found.
Conforming to His Image
Being rooted in Christ is about conforming to His image. We conform to His purity and power. His humility and obedience. His power and love. His character and His nature.
Conform in the Greek is symmorphóō: sharing the same form from embodying the same inner (essential) reality; to be conformed to the glory of Christ.
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” Romans 8:29 NASB
My mom is an amazing artist. Growing up she would draw pictures and we would put tracing paper over them and copy them. In the same way, He is our pattern: our form or model proposed for imitation. He is the masterpiece of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the tracer coping His image and pattern onto us!
We must conform to His image. This is what we have been predestined for. This is our purpose.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
We are not called to conform to this world! We must be transformed into His image.
Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Conforming to His image means coming unto Him, taking His yoke upon us and learning from Him. His yoke is humility and obedience. This is what we are called to learn.
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” Romans 13:14
We must put Him on and make no provision for the flesh! Flee the world life and self life.
“Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” 1 Corinthians 15:49 NASB
We all have borne the image of the earthly. Adam was the earthly image born from the dust. Jesus is the heavenly image born from above. He is the second adam. Through the earthly (first adam) we were all born into sin and were once mastered by it. But now through the heavenly (Christ second adam) we have entered a new creation and His righteousness!
We step into conformity through repentance! In the Greek repentance is the word metánoia. It literally means “a change of mind that results in a change of direction and form”. Our word metamorphosis is derived from this Greek word. It means to have a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.
A caterpillar changes into a butterfly through metamorphosis. In the same way, repentance means to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus! As we contemplate Christ, our form is changed and transformed, our physical makeup and DNA and emotions and soul are shifted and altered.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB
As we behold Him in intimacy, the experience of His power, and the fellowship in His suffering we are transformed to look like Him. We conform! We put on His likeness. We transform into His image from glory to glory.
“… you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:9-10
“… put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
In the new creation we are being restored back into the image and likeness of God, which is Christ. Like in the beginning of creation when He made man in His image and likeness, we have entered a new creation where we are daily being renewed into His image and likeness. We are being restored and transformed! More and more as we know Him, experience His power, and fellowship with His suffering, we will begin to look like Jesus.
He “will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” Philippians 3:21 NASB
Our humble state will be conformed to His glory!
As we host His presence, stand in his finished work and conform to His image, we remain rooted IN Him.
by Micah Level