14.3 Sharing Life with God

The ultimate level of fellowship is to share together with the Father the same deep purposes and to act together in the necessary steps to fulfill those shared purposes.

Consider these three lines together. – I have exalted My Word above all My name. – That the name of Jesus might be exalted above every other name. – Christ lives in your heart. It is evident that we share Christ with God; thus we can rightly conclude that we share Hheart with God. Jesus is the Pro-Thesis of God as well, the detailed statement of all God’s intentions and purposes. The intentions and purposes of God for all creation lives inside of our hearts through faith.

A Shocking Statement. The statement “Christ lives in my heart through faith,” in its actual meaning, is shocking; it is revolutionary; it is contradicted and even opposed by every manner by which humans define themselves in this world. We have barely entered the beginnings of knowing what it means. We are talking about the Heart of the All-Carrying One, the most private and personal core of an infinite God.

The one presently and actively overcoming, I will give him to sit with Me inside My throne, just exactly as I also overcame and sat down with My Father inside His throne. The one having an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Come up here, and I will show to you what is necessary and proper to become as a result of these things (that is, Christ revealed in His Church) (Revelation 3:21-4:1).

The Throne of God. Immediately, I was inside Spirit and behold, a throne was set inside of heaven and upon the throne One sitting. – And her child was seized into God and into His throne. – And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given to them (Revelation 4:2, 12:5 & 20:4).

We have established elsewhere that the throne of God is the Mercy Seat upon the Ark of His Covenant. And as we are seated inside of Jesus, as Paul says we are, in that same Seat of Judgment together with the Father, and as we judge all things by Mercy, so we practice the deepest and most meaningful levels of fellowship with the One who Carries. In this lesson, we want to think about the fellowship side of practicing the Mercy Seat.

Fellowship Comes First. As a young man living and working in community, I was a doer. I got the job done, and I bent everything at my disposal, people and equipment, towards getting the job done. As I grew older, I observed that this way of thinking is typical of any working or productive man. Through my thirties, however, God worked a change in the understanding of my heart. I began to understand that getting the job done comes second. Doing it together comes first.
Fellowship comes first.

Because we are foolish humans, it is likely that we have treated practicing the Mercy Seat in much the same way, that is, with our focus on “getting the job done.” But there is something far greater happening in our labor.

Jesus Becoming Real. Yes, “for the sake of others” is the task and purpose of our present daily life. BUT – fellowship with Father, that is, doing the job together, is the greater value. What would life be like if I were always communicating with Father and Father with me as we worked together in bringing the knowledge of God in goodness into people’s lives?

My problem is, of course, that I always forget. But when I remember, I never let it bother me, I just take up where I left off, just as the Father has always done with me. This is a relationship that grows ONLY as Jesus becomes more and more REAL to me on the inside of me, and thus Father as well inside of Jesus.

A Narrow Way. Now, this way of living and thinking and acting, always doing everything together with Father, is a narrow, narrow way, as Jesus said. It is also LIFE. First, it must be actually Father with whom I relate, not the imagination of my exalted self. And second, this actual arising of Father inside of me through faith must be – out from my own heart. It cannot be a separated “God” towards whom I am obligated.

Some who teach “union with Christ” place Jesus far far away, in heaven somewhere. Thus it is not actually Jesus whom they are knowing, and if not Jesus, then not Father also. In the end, this becomes little more than union with self.

Two Ditches. More than that, this way of defining “union with Christ” has no need for the fear of God. And thus “my” contempt for others, “my” enjoyment of being rude and crude, “my” refusal ever to admit a mistake, “my” practice of dishonesty, “my” rejection of Spirit enablement, all of it comes into “Christ as me.” If you want to know the real meaning of such a “me,” just look at the bloody man dying on the cross.

But every narrow way has two ditches, or in this case, two drop-offs going straight down, one on either side. And so the tendency in seeking to escape such an Adamic “Christ as me” is to veer over and fall immediately into the ditch of relating with a separated “God” by obligation.

There Is a Way. Fellowship with Father, however, knows nothing of either perversion, for His way is straight and pure.

In my fellowship with Father, I never call myself by my own human perversities, but by every Word that is Jesus. I never exalt any disrespect I might feel for others into “Christ as me.” And in my fellowship with Father, I never treat Him as “other,” as a harsh taskmaster requiring obligation of me. And so you see me going back and forth in my speaking, between Father at Home in my heart to the MIGHTY and fearsome Being that is God. And you see me going back and forth between calling myself by Jesus and rejoicing in my own human weakness and inability.

The Proof of Christ. Fellowship with Father is not an exaltation of self, but fellowship with an actual Person inside of me. And fellowship with Father is not an obligation to something other, but the dynamic knowing arising from within my own heart. This is the glory, the liberty, and the safety of union with Jesus. Jesus, Himself in Person, is the One who makes this wondrous relationship of togetherness with Father to be true and good.

This chapter is titled “The Proving of Christ.” To put it simply, the perfection of this task, joining me with Father and Father with me, in shared life, in shared purpose, in shared work, this is the one and only PROOF that God is telling us the truth.

From I Am to Appearance. I, sharing life with Father and Father sharing life with me, this is the inner rest, the I AM part of the PROOF that Jesus is faithful and true. And Father and I working together, turning all things towards life and goodness, that is, towards the knowledge of God, that is the dynamic action of the PROOF that Jesus is faithful and true.

But the visible result, the “glory,” the thing that makes people sit up and take notice – “Wow, okay!! Now I know that God sent Jesus into the world” – is as this wondrous relationship I have with Father becomes also the same relationship I have with you, that is, Father as Love among us. This is the visible appearance of the Proof that Jesus is True.

Practicing the Mercy Seat. As humans, each one of us is a unique and complete entity, relating with the Father in full as an individual. Yet as we pass through life, we bump up against other unique, complete, and individual persons, other humans, on a regular basis.

Practicing the Mercy Seat, then, is what Father and I do together every time this “bumping up against” another unique human happens. And I use the phrase “bumping up against” to mean any form of interaction with another human. Other people are not on the inside of me as Father is. The authority and judgment of Mercy is how I act towards them.

And We Also. God has taught us the meaning of being the Mercy Seat slowly over time, eventually bringing us into the very Heart of Jesus upon the cross as God and we met together inside His willing embrace of both of Uus. And we also are committed to setting forth our souls for the sake of our brothers and sisters.

A part of this practice of being the throne of heaven is releasing the other person from ourselves and into the honor and liberty of God. What I am saying now is that this is Father and I together drawing this person into love, Father and I together releasing this person into liberty, Father and I together imparting honor and life and joy.

The Closeness of Fellowship. This is, of course, what got Jesus in trouble, stating that the Father and He did all things together. This practice of judging all things by Mercy, utterly together with God the Father, is the Proof and Demonstration of Christ.

Having lived in Christian community for many years, I know the closeness of fellowship that comes out from sharing life together, from working together, laughing together, crying together, fighting for one another – together. Yet as I think back now, I realize that our theology prevented us from knowing the real meaning of walking together. And so I turn and place this same understanding of togetherness upon Father with me, yet without the limitations and blockages we once knew.

Father and I Together. I live with Father; Father lives with me. I work with Father; Father works with me. I laugh with Father; Father laughs with me. I cry with Father; Father cries with me. I fight for Father, together with Him; Father fights for me, together with me. And all this togetherness is taking place in every moment of my hum-drum daily life and in all my ups and downs.

Yet there is no greater togetherness than Father and I together loving and honoring you, when I feel like it AND when I don’t. Father and I together take your offense and place it into the Sacrifice of Jesus. Father and I together take the value of the Blood and place it upon you. “Pray without ceasing” means acknowledge Father always doing and sharing all together with me.

The Honor of Jesus. Let me repeat that statement. – Father and I together take your offense and place it into the Sacrifice of Jesus. Father and I together take the value of the Blood and place it upon you. – This is the meaning of the Lamb Slain and alive again. It is the way Father and I together honor the Lord Jesus above every name that is named.

“God just forgives everybody” is one of the most worthless statements I have ever heard. Just let one of these “other humans” bump up against you with mockery, dishonesty, and abuse. Father and I honor Jesus ONLY when we together place this OFFENSE into His Sacrifice and His Blood upon this offender.

“Butting Heads.” And so in the end, it is Father and I together, judging all things by that One Sacrifice, that proves the Lord Jesus to be true.

I think of Brian Dwyer with whom I butted heads over eight years of life together. The result is that I know and highly regard Brian, and Brian knows and regards me. And so I have “butted heads” with God, going on, now, sixty-five years. Yet the familiarness of our togetherness, Father and I, has become comfortable and good. I know what He’s about, and I know that He knows what I’m about.

Jesus said that age-unfolding life is to know the only true God, the Father. Sharing life together is how we know God and He knows us.

Two Lives Shared. I think of Maureen, with whom I have spent 31 years, now, of married life. Our children are gone, and God has given us the gift of building a new life together, just the two of us. I know Maureen and Maureen knows me. I saw her first when she was 15 and I was 21. And I have been to the places she lived before that, and she the same. Everything of our lives has become part of that which we share together. I say to her, “I miss our children so much, and I am so glad they are gone.” And she understands because she thinks the same way. So many tears, so much joy – shared together for years.

Two Belonging Together. I think of the dream God gave me of resurrection life coming upon me. And in that dream, Maureen was right there with me and our bodies became young again and filled with life, both at the same time – TOGETHER. I belong with Maureen, and Maureen belongs with me.

This is the meaning of sharing life with Father; it is the meaning of union with Jesus. Two, sharing life together. This is the only definition given in the Bible for “eternal life.” It is the essence of sharing Hheart with God.

The next chapter is “How We Love One Another,” the reciprocity of our hearts. Such a love between you and me cannot exist except it comes first and only out from our own individual lives shared utterly together with God our Father.