THE SPHERE WHICH CHRIST FILLS
There is a sphere down here which Christ fills in the power of the Spirit. Nothing of man after the flesh is found there, nothing of sin or death is there; it is beyond death, beyond the power of Satan. We can scarcely define it, we can speak of it as the presence of the risen, living Son of God. It is not connected with anything material, but has been established in Christ in resurrection; we touch it in coming to Him where He is. It is a spiritual sphere and can only be apprehended spiritually, filled as it is with the glory of the Son of God. The Spirit conducts us into it by engaging our minds and affections with Christ where He is: “He shall glorify me”, John 16: 14. When in the spirit of our minds we enter this blessed sphere, for the moment we lose sight of our flesh and blood condition; in mind we leave the place and circumstances in which we actually are and join Him where He is. Clearly this is only possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. This privilege is open to all saints through the death and resurrection of Christ. Before He died He said to Peter, “Thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards”, John 13: 36. In going into death He has destroyed its power, and made it a way through which we can follow Him, in spirit now, into that sphere of life into which He has entered as Man risen from the dead and gone to the Father. We are one with Him there; it is the sphere of our life. Our privilege is to join Him and live together with Him there, for we are His brethren, brethren of the risen and ascended Son of God. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren”, Heb 2: 12.
In His presence there is perfect peace and gladness. Every question of sin has been settled to the satisfaction and glory of God, and we are in the presence of the Victor, every enemy has been laid low, He has annulled death, and him that had the power of death, the devil; hence all is perfect calm and eternal peace.
There is gladness, too. ‘‘Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord”, John 20: 20. They realised, as we may, the truth of what the Lord had said to them, John 16: 22. ‘‘I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes from you”. He had been the Man of sorrows and had tasted the bitterness of death, but now all that was past. He had come forth into the joy of the Father’s presence: “In thy presence is fulness of joy”, Ps 16: 11. Into this scene sorrow can never enter. He would have us share His joys. “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves”, John 17: 13. His joy is in the Father’s love, and here He declares the Father’s name, “that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them”, v 26. What joy to be with Him as sons before the Father, to know that the love which ever rests on Him rests on us, to be able to say, Father, to Him whom He could speak of as “my Father”. What a source of endless joy! In the presence of the Son of God we are in the light of the eternal day. The night of weeping is past, the morning of joy has come. This joy none can take from us; men might take from us everything we possess in this world, and our lives also; but they cannot rob us of the joy that comes from seeing the risen, triumphant Son of God.
It is when we touch this blessed sphere in coming to Him on the other side of death that we are able to share His praises. It is here He sings praise to His God and Father. And as His brethren, sharing His joys, it is our privilege to sing with Him. We may sing of Him and we may sing to Him, it is another thing to sing with Him. “In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”.
And in Thy risen life, a countless host
Are all of one with Thee, Thy joy and boast.
What a precious opportunity we have of realising these things when we come together in assembly on the first day of the week. The Lord manifesting Himself to us in His Supper, and thus quickening our affections, should greatly help us in taking up these wondrous privileges to the joy of the Lord.
Thou giv’st us, Lord, once more to taste down here
The joy Thy presence brings, its warmth and cheer;
With great delight we ’neath Thy shadow rest,
Thy fruit is sweet to those Thy love has blest.
May the Lord grant to us that when we come together we may know more of what it is to reach the sphere which Christ fills, the sphere which we shall dwell in eternally, so that we may taste even now something of the joy that will be ours for ever when with Him.
Bristol
From Mutual Comfort vol 6 (1913)