The Answer to Spiritual Deadness

Psalm 48:9 “God, within Your temple, we contemplate Your faithful love. ”(HCSB)

So often I see people lost and wandering the world in the midst of their Christian walk. They do not know what is wrong but know that something is wrong. Here in our verse the Psalmist gives us a simple yet clear answer to our seemingly empty and sad Christian life. The first thing we see here is that Christianity must be and needs to be in Christ. You may say, “Where did you get that from?” Simply said, the rest of the bible and in places specifically like John 2:19-21, we know that Christ Himself is the temple. You see, Beloved, we cannot seek to have a Christianity which is outside of Christ; it is within the temple that is Christ that we are able to contemplate the goodness of God. What does that mean practically? It is in Christ that I know that I am now perfectly righteous and obedient and radiant. It is in Christ that I know now that I am forgiven, accepted, and a child of God because of Christ. It is in Christ that I know that I am free from the power of sin and free to be with and enjoy God. It is in Christ that I realize that I have every privilege and status and honor that Christ has. You see it is in the temple that we are able to sit in the sweet sunlight of God’s faithful love! It is not in you, your good deeds, your worldly accomplishments and titles! It is in the temple, that in Christ that you can experience this affection from heaven! Are you thinking of yourself regularly as you are in Christ? Beloved, you need to be.

But look there is more! Not only is Christianity in Christ but Christianity is with Christ. Within the temple tells us not only who we are in but who we are to be with. That means, Beloved, your Christian life needs to shift from simply doing things and knowing things and/or avoiding things to seeking to be with Christ in all things! Do you see prayer and the word and fellowship and such things as ways that you can be with Christ Himself? Brother, Sister this is Christianity! God is so good that He has given us an all-sufficient lovely person to be with and enjoy in fellowship rather than having given us a bunch of things and guidelines to be with ourselves. It is in Christ that I realize that I have every privilege and status and honor that Christ has. You see it is in the temple that we are able to sit in the sweet sunlight of God’s faithful love! It is not in you, your good deeds, your worldly accomplishments and titles! Simply said, in order to experience this love from heaven you must seek to be with your very own Christ. Do not seek to have a hotter and ordered Christian life by adding more things and being more of this or that! Seek one thing! Seek to be with the risen Lord, be with Him and then and only then will you taste of this love. Why? God’s faithful love is experienced in the temple, and that is in Christ. You know what this means? It means also that you must seek to immerse yourself into a deep and meaningful relationship with God’s people. You see, Jesus is not a temple in Himself alone, but He is a temple in a people (Eph 2:21-22). Amazing! We are in Christ and with Christ only in the community of faith! Brother, Sister have you ever considered that the reason Jesus is so little to you and so boring is because the extension of His presence in His people is such a small part of your Christianity? It is in the gathering and the relational connection with God’s people that we actually are in and with Christ so that God’s heavenly love can come down and fill our hearts! Oh, may we seek to throw away all these man-made ways of making false heat and fire in our deadness and may we seek to taste of God’s reviving love as we see ourselves in Christ, as we seek to be with Christ, and as we seek to be with His people!