Someone I love very much said something that annoyed me, and my immediate response was a cynical thought: “That’s just the way they are.” Immediately the Holy Spirit answered me with: “No they’re not, they’re holy.”
That little exchange brought me up short and gave me a lot to think about. I know that God has made us holy in Christ. Or do I? Funny how truths one’s heard for years become little more than clichés if they’re not lived out in actual life experience. Of course man-made doctrines have defined our righteousness in Christ as a legal standing only. But how would it impact our relationships if we treated one another as we would Jesus if he made himself visible and paid us a visit? I’m convicted for treating a holy vessel as something common. It means that I must have forgotten that they’re one among the kings and priests favored by the King of kings.
I’ve been to hundreds of meetings where Christians were begging God to pour out his Spirit and reveal his glory. Well, he’s already done both. He’s given us his Spirit and is revealing his glory in us. What more can he give us? The God that spoke the universe into existence loves us so much and values us so highly he wrapped himself in flesh, destroyed death, made us his sons and daughters and heirs of all creation, lives in us and continues to store up treasures for us in heaven too wonderful for the eyes to behold or for words to describe.
We who are so loved by God, made holy in Christ and have this incredible treasure in earthen vessels are anything but common. Seeing another brother or sister as the king, priest and holy servant of the most high God has a way of radically changing our thoughts and attitudes toward them.
David Fredrickson
