“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20
We live not for ourselves but the higher purpose of our enduring Lord, given to us at Calvary’s heights when, in His magnificent sacrifice, He bore our sins, dying that we may live. We are, in that enduring love, a new creation, born of hope, grace, and charity. It is then, as we consider this life, that we see the changed nature of our existence wove through us by the power of the Spirit.
We may then still, in this temporal existence, remain in the flesh, yet the flesh, that mortal coil, remains as nothing more than a shell for the spirit. The spirit though, giving voice to the soul, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, offers to us a true nature, a true purpose for our being: to be like that of our blessed Saviour, giving ourselves in love to others in a hope that shows itself in the cause of liberty.
Dear brothers and sisters, in this world it is not enough to say Christ lives within me, it must be the vigilant task of the faithful disciple to show that He lives within with a life that is unwavering in its commitment to others. It is a life that looks to the dark bondage and the grim estate of those who live in slavery and oppression, persecution and hopelessness, injustice and hurt, and not only asks of itself what may be done for them but ensures it is done, waging a constant battle against the chains that will bind. To remain in that mortal life while living in faith, through Christ by the power of the Spirit, is to know there is more that God has planned for your life in the struggles and the adversities of this world.
How then shall you meet that call and what then shall your testimony be when you see it before you...
Let us pray:
Stir within us a noble heart and a courageous spirit that our lives may recite Your love written upon our souls O Lord. Gird us with Your testimony, guard us with Your hope that, by Your witness we may speak forth Your liberty that, by Your majesty, freedom shall reign in the lives of those who are in need.
Listen, O Lord, to the cries of Your people and equip us that we may stand steadfast against those forces that bind. Hear, O Father, the calls of Your children and arm them that they may stand in defense of the weak and the oppressed, the persecuted and the subjugated. Bear not their pleas falling upon deaf ears but let your light guide their ways that they may step with confidence in a love and peace offered in the struggles and the adversities that may grip Your creation in darkness.
Fight with us O God, let your freedom sweep through the hidden places with a washing tide that none shall be lost or forgotten. Look upon us with favour, O Lord of Hosts, that, by Your hand, Your love shall break the chains that are forged in hatred. Be not silent to the desperation of the slaves and the captives, the prisoners and the hostages. By Your mercy, raise Your voice like a deafening thunder to call them from the grim estate they now find themselves amidst.
Hold Your protecting hand over the lost, show your guiding hand to those who need be found, and we shall, by the wondrous hope You have given, find our voices to sing your glorious praise.
In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.
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