Containers of Christ's Life

When God created humanity, he fashioned us to be a container.  That container needed something for it to function properly; it needed life! Genesis 2:7 says God breathed life into man’s container and he became a living being. 

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  God’s life in Adam and Eve, expressed in their moment by moment living, was a display of His glory.  Nothing generated from self-effort expresses the glory of God.  This can be confusing because we want to believe when we do good things it is pleasing to God.  However, anything done out of self-effort, whether good or bad, is flesh.   Paul said in Galatians, “the flesh sets itself against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). 

If you want to test whether your good deed is of the Spirit or of the flesh, here is a simple question to ask yourself: Will I feel better about myself if I do this?  If the answer is yes, most likely you are operating out of the flesh.  If the answer is, “I’m doing this because I want to,” or “The Holy Spirit prompted me,” then you are operating in the Spirit.  The first answer reveals us attempting to get our need for worth or value met through a good deed.  The second is focused on Christ’s life expressed through actions.  When you are walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), you are doing what you want to do, not out of need, but out of His life.  The flesh prohibits us from doing what we want to do (Gal. 5:17b).

As I began to think about believers being a container of Christ’s life, the Holy Spirit revealed that my view of “container” was limited to my earthly way of thinking.  Every container I’m familiar with has a limit to how much it can hold. When I look in the mirror, I see a physical container that weighs just under 200 lbs., and is almost six feet tall.  In other words, with my physical eyes I see the limits of the space I fill in this world.  However, I cannot see my spirit with my physical eyes.  It is my spirit which is designed to contain Christ’s life.  It is my soul and body which express His Life.  Paul indicated in Ephesians 3:19, we can be filled up with the fullness of God.

Again, we were designed to be a container, but only a Person can fill our container.  As humans, we try to fill our container with riches, power, relationships, influence, education, etc. None of these things can begin to take up space in our container, no matter how much we put in.  If we could attain all the wealth, power, and prestige of this world, it would only be a drop in our container.  We were given an eternal container designed to be filled solely with an eternal source.  How awesome is that!  When you and I are abiding in Christ, we are expressing His fullness in us.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7, NASB)