Intimacy with Christ should energize our activities in this world; being should animate doing. The world tries to define who we are by what we do. However, God’s Word says it’s the other way around: Who we are should shape and guide what we do.
A New Heart, A New Life
Recall our previous discussion of the command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is an inside-out process, and it starts with the heart. As God promised through the prophets, the heart of stone we once had when we were separated from God has been replaced by a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). This analogy is used to indicate the kind of change that God brings about in His people. A heart of stone is dead; it is no good to the body. What the body needs is a heart of flesh, a heart that pumps blood, which gives it life. When we come to the Father through Jesus Christ, He gives us a new heart. He gives us new spiritual life; indeed, we pass from death to life (John 5:24).
Security
Having this new life in Christ changes everything. Because we are in Christ, we have a new destiny. God has determined in advance what happens to us who are in Christ. We will be glorified (receive a new resurrected body), we will be conformed to the image of His Son, we will experience their final adoption as children of God, and we will receive our inheritance as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:23, 29–30; Ephesians 1:5, 11). These are guarantees for those in Christ. Because of who we are in Christ, we are eternally secure in the hands of the Father. No circumstances of life can disrupt that security. Our eternal destiny is determined by who we are in Christ, not by not by our deeds on earth or by what happens to us.
Significance
Having new life in Christ not only gives us a new destiny, but it also gives us a new calling. We are called to follow Jesus and love and serve as He did (John 13:34–35); this is our newfound significance. Our significance is not found in our earthly possessions, power, or popularity, but in the fact that we are in Him and, as a result, we have this profound calling to participate in His kingdom work. This calling contrasts with the temporary and decaying pursuits of the world. The treasures of this world will pass away, but the treasures of heaven never fade. What we do for as for the Lord has lasting significance (Matthew 6:19–21; Colossians 3:23).
Satisfaction
Because we are in Christ, we have a new security and a new significance, and we also find ultimate satisfaction. Augustine wrote,
You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.[efn_note]Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo, LeaderU.com, accessed June 24, 2022, www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/augconfessions/bk1.html[/efn_note]
David agreed when he wrote:
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. (Psalm 107:9)
Jesus spoke of this satisfaction in Him on several occasions, including when He spoke these words:
I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. (John 6:35)
We find ultimate rest and satisfaction in Jesus. Jesus satiates the hunger of our souls by giving us a new destiny, a new calling, a new life. We are defined by Him and what He’s done for us and in us.
Our Response
Finding security, significance, and satisfaction begins with an inward process of recognizing who we are in Christ. Our goal should be to grow in intimacy with God, who will then work in us to conform our outward practice to the position He has given us in Christ. While what we do now in Christ for His kingdom has lasting impact, we only have so much time to do it. Let us make the most of our time on earth by seizing every opportunity presented to us to serve and love others as Christ served and loved us.