The Ruin of Sin Christ Comes to Restore
Christ came to bring us to God and to dwell in us as God meant to dwell in Adam, promising an abiding presence in our lives.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that the ruin of sin is countered by Christ's mission to restore our relationship with God, allowing Him to dwell within us as intended from creation. He explains that the Holy Spirit brings God's presence into our hearts, enabling us to experience a life filled with His fullness. Murray highlights biblical affirmations of God's abiding presence and encourages believers to recognize that God is meant to be their ultimate joy and life. The struggle to feel God's nearness stems from not understanding that He is all we need. Ultimately, we are created to have God as our portion and source of fulfillment.
Text
The ruin of sin Christ comes to restore. Creation foretells us what redemption is to effect. Christ came to bring us to God, that God might dwell in us as he meant to dwell in Adam. The Spirit came to bring God to us, that in our very heart and life, here on this earth, God might be all in us. When Christ said of the Father himself: 'We will come and make our abode with you'; when Paul wrote of being 'filled with all the fullness of God'; when John said, 'He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him'; they all referred to a possible, to a prepared, to a promised life here on earth in which the great, holy, abiding presence of God is known in the heart. We ordinarily count it an unnatural strain, an impossible struggle, ever to maintain the sense of God's nearness.
This is only because we have not yet learnt that God is all - that he created us for this very thing, that he himself might be our joy, our life, our portion. Because all things are of him, because we are of him, it can be, it should be true of us and in us - God is all.
(Excerpted from The Coming Revival, by Andrew Murray , pg. 67)
Sermon Outline
- The Purpose of Christ's Coming
- The Work of the Spirit
- The Promise of God's Presence
- God's abiding presence is possible
- God's presence is our joy, life, and portion
Key Quotes
“Christ came to bring us to God, that God might dwell in us as he meant to dwell in Adam.” — Andrew Murray
“God is all - that he created us for this very thing, that he himself might be our joy, our life, our portion.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- We can experience God's presence by learning that God is all and that he created us for this very thing.
- God's abiding presence is possible and should be true of us and in us.
- We should strive to maintain a sense of God's nearness in our lives.