Let’s Chat: Pleased to Dwell 19

The gospel which God promised way back in Abraham’s day is the only solution to the problem caused even earlier–in the Garden of Eden. The problem was a faith problem. The solution is a faith solution. The solution has never been about striving, effort, works, flesh and religiousness. The solution has never been a what-to-do, but always a who-to-trust.[1]

You can see all posts in this series by clicking on this line.

When we started this series (Pleased to Dwell 1), we began by noting that all of our whats – what to do, what to say, what to think – tend to crowd out the Who of Christmas. Galatians, as we can see from the chapter, is grabbing us and keeping us close to the Who, Jesus.

Regardless of the worry and difficulty of all our whats, many of which we can’t and shouldn’t ignore, we need not leave out Jesus. Salivation introduces us to the life of Jesus – a life of turning to God at all times. In intense hardship, Jesus would turn to His Father. In grief, Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. Before big ministry moments, Jesus took time to go off alone and pray. In conversation Jesus felt the freedom of turning to His Father and talking directly to the throne of heaven. That life is what He came to give us! The deep joy and grounded power of that life is meant to hold our hearts close to God in the midst of all our whats.

Back in Eden the Spirit was lost, the One who bonds Father and Son within the Trinity, and who was the loving bond between Adam and Eve, and between them and God. But now, finally, in the fullness of time, the Spirit is again fully restored to the hearts of God’s people. What is the result? Notice it is not an immediate emphasis on empowerment or behaviour (our post-fall tendency is to want whatever we need to be able to perform independently, which is why our thoughts move in that direction). No, Paul points to the presence of the Spirit as the bond of love that cries out within us, ‘Abba! Father!’

This is the cry of intimacy and unity with God Himself. This is the cry of a totally dependent child who fully trusts in their Daddy because if I am with him then all is well! [2]

Let’s Chat

I want to ask the same basic question we asked in the first post:

How can our whats drive us to the Who of Christmas this year? In other words, let’s let seeing the heart and life of Jesus drive you to turn to God in the midst of all that’s going on.

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[1] Peter Mead, Pleased to Dwell,

[2] Peter Mead, Pleased to Dwell,