Living in and Through Christ
To abide in Christ is to abide in His love, and this is the secret to the Christian's rest and joy.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that abiding in Christ means abiding in His love, especially as He approaches His suffering. He encourages believers to recognize their unity with Christ and to yield themselves to His infinite love, which is the source of rest and joy. By studying Christ's life, believers can understand their dependence on Him, as expressed in John 15:5 and Philippians 4:13. Murray highlights that just as Christ revealed the Father, believers are called to be the revelation of Christ to the world through perfect unity in love. This path of dependence, subjection, and self-sacrifice is essential for living a life that reflects Christ's love.
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Christ taught His disciples that to abide in Him was to abide in His love. The hour of His suffering is near, and He cannot speak much more to them. No doubt they have many questions to ask Him about His love and their abiding in Him. He anticipates and meets their wishes, and gives them His own life as the best expression of His command. In His life of humiliation on earth He tasted the blessing and strength of knowing himself to be the object of an infinite love, and He dwelt in it all through His days; from His own example He invites you to learn that in this the secret of your rest and joy can be found. You are one with Him: Yield yourself now to be loved by Him; let your eyes and heart open up to the love that shines and presses in on you on every side.
The believer who studies this life of Christ as the pattern and the promise of what his life can be learns to understand how the verse ''Without Me you can do nothing'' (John 15:5, NKJV) is the forerunner of ''I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'' (Philippians 4:13, NKJV). Dependence, subjection, and self-sacrifice are for the Christian as they were for Christ: the blessed path of life. Just as Christ lived through and in the Father, even so the believer lives through and in Christ. Christ was the revelation of the Father on earth. He could be His revelation because the Father loved Him, and He lived in that love. Believers are the revelation of Christ on earth. They can only be this when there is perfect unity.
We are His representatives, His revelation to the world that Christ loves us with an infinite love that gives itself and all it has.
(Excerpted from The Andrew Murray Daily Reader in Today's Language, p. 9.)
Sermon Outline
- I. The Secret of Abiding in Christ
- A. Christ's love is the source of our strength and rest
- B. We must yield ourselves to be loved by Him
- C. Dependence on Christ is the path to life
- II. Christ's Example
- A. He lived in the Father's love
- B. He invites us to learn from His example
- III. The Christian's Life
- A. We live through and in Christ
- B. We are Christ's representatives to the world
- IV. Perfect Unity
- A. Essential for being the revelation of Christ
- B. Demonstrates Christ's infinite love
Key Quotes
“In His life of humiliation on earth He tasted the blessing and strength of knowing himself to be the object of an infinite love, and He dwelt in it all through His days;” — Andrew Murray
“You are one with Him: Yield yourself now to be loved by Him;” — Andrew Murray
“We are His representatives, His revelation to the world that Christ loves us with an infinite love that gives itself and all it has.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- Yield yourself to be loved by Christ and live in His love.
- Dependence on Christ is the path to life and strength.
- Strive for perfect unity with Christ to be a revelation of His love to the world.