we’re just as near as He.

Near, so very near to God,
Nearer, I could not be;
For in the person of His Son,
I’m just as near as He. 

Dang, let that truth reach down and grab you and transform you.  Over the past few years, this is something that I have been contemplating in my Spirit. 

How come we are just as righteous as Jesus?  How dare we say that we are close to God as His Son is? 

Well let me tell you:  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 

Christ was sent so that we could be the righteousness of God.  Righteousness has the image of being able to stand in the process of God, or being right before someone.  It is the image of being free from debt of someone.  If you are right before a creditor, you don’t have any thing that is owed them.  This is the glorious picture that God has given us. 

This moment right now, I just want to convey to you that God has redeemed you to Himself.  He has given you freedom and life so that you may live out of the abundance of His nature.  He wants you to grow in Him.  He wants you to do ”greater things than He did.”  He wants everything for you.  But ultimately He wants it for His glory.  He wants you, his child, to point others to Him.  So right now, read these verses and meditate on the freedom that He has given you.  It is so easy to forget that we are God’s children because we get stuck by being concerned with all the work we need to do but it is my prayer that we will let us remember God in all those moments.   

“It was freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” - Galatians 5:1 

“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”  - Romans 6:17-18

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore.  Amen.” - Galatians 1:3-5

“He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  - Colossians 1:13-14

“Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [Christ] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”  - Hebrews 2:14-15

“In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches in His grace, which He lavished on us.”  - Ephesians 1:5-8

whatevs.

I have been captivated by many verses in the Scriptures in my day, but there are none that hit me as hard as Colossians 3:17 does every single time I read it. 

It reads as such:  “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  Wow!  Jam packed with truth, straight to the core. 

A little background before we continue.  Paul, in Colossians 3, is showing how we must be willing to think about heavenly things.  We shouldn’t dwell on our circumstances here, because these moments are fading away quickly.  We should put all our thought on the spiritual things, which last forever.  This is not saying that there is a difference between sacred and secular.  Everything is spiritual in Paul’s mind because he was a Jew and there was no distinction between the physical and the spiritual in the Hebrew language.  One word for that which is spiritual and that which is physical.  All things are spiritual.  Paul is telling us to focus on everything as if it were what it is, spiritual.  He wants us to have a heavenly mindset on all things.  He doesn’t want us to get bogged down in the details, but rather, remember that God is in the midst of all the details. 

But here is where we are, Paul is telling us to not get caught up in the earthly things, the things that will destroy us if we let them, but he wants us to focus on the things that matter the most.  Mainly, faith, hope and love.  We are being renewed in knowledge of the image of our Creator.  We are being reshaped more and more everyday to look like God.  In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind and to not conform to the pattern of this world.”  We should conform ourselves more and more after God everyday.  We should look to God in all circumstances. 

So having these thoughts about being spiritual in all moments, Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16 to encourage each other in the body, 1) by letting God’s word dwell in us richly, 2) by teaching and admonishing each other, and 3) by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  And all of this with thanksgiving.  Being thankful to God.  Being utterly devoted to Him because of all that He has done for us. 

Then it gets to the crucial moment of truth, Paul tells that in whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

A few things we should notice about this:

1) Paul does not tell us to do certain things.   He doesn’t give us any particular things to look for and do. 
2) Notice the scope of whatever.  It is all things.  It is not, as stated above, something specific.  It is whatever.  Huge implications that Paul makes right here.
3) We should not do it for ourselves, as is often the case.  Paul tells us to do everything for God.  He tells us to do it in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through Him.  We should do it all for God. 
4) Giving thanks to God is the way in which things should be conducted.  We shouldn’t just go around doing everything as if we are the reasons for us being able to do it.  We should constantly remember that God is the One who gives us the opportunity to do those things that we love. 
5) Jesus is the center of this whole verse.  He is the reason that we can do all things and He is the reason that we are able to give thanks.  His sacrifice brings us to the point where we are friends of God.  And His sacrifice brings us into adoptions as sons and daughters of God.  He is the restoration of all creation.  We should do, “whatever we do,” remembering His gift.

But all in all, Paul gives us a huge jewel to take with us.  He simply says, without holding back, that we can do whatever we feel right about, as long as we do it for God.  This is amazing.  This is something that needs to be seriously considered and prayed over throughout our whole lives.  We can do whatever, as long as we 1) do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, 2) do it by giving thanks to God the Father through His Son.  Nothing is left out of the scope of this verse.  Amazing!!

Whatever you do, this could be:
serving the homeless
washing the neighbors’ car
mowing someone’s lawn
having coffee with a friend
paying your taxes
playing basketball at the gym
tutoring a kid in need
playing Halo 3
giving a gift
eating
sleeping
blushing over a girl you like
singing in the car to some Jackson 5
dancing (like David the King or like William Hung)
everything else you can dream or imagine

You can do all things as long as you do it for God.  There is nothing you can’t do.  But whenever you are doing something, just ask yourself, how can I do this for God?  What do I have to think about when I am doing _____, in order to do it for God, and give thanks to Him and think of His Son’s sacrifice throughout the process?

My advice is go ahead, do whatever.  But remember, do it for God.