Jesus is The Everything of The Christian Life

God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
-1 Corinthians 1:9

Do you carry with you each day these three things?

1. That God is faithful. 
2. That you have been called by God. 
3. That God has called you into is partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do you carry with you the awareness that God is faithful?  God is trustworthy and loyal to faith.  God moves in good faith.  You can trust God.  God's faithfulness is a settled matter and if it is unsettled in us, we need to get it settled.  That's our homework, if it is an issue.

If you are a Christian, you have been called by God into partnership with God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Partnership means fellowship or communion.  We call the Eucharist or The Lord's Supper communion because it symbolizes  a participation or sharing in Jesus' broken body and poured out blood to save us.  Eucharist actually means gratitude or thanksgiving.  Communion, as in the Lord's Supper, is all about thankfulness for what Jesus did for us.

We are called by God to be thankful for Jesus' work on the cross and remembering that and bringing to mind our thankfulness for it should be front and center in the life of the Christian.  This is the reason why some faith traditions participate in the Eucharist or taking communion each time they officially gather in services or convocations.

The words communion, the lord's supper, and eucharist are descriptive words.  How different faith traditions have interpreted the words written in the New Testament have led to how those faith traditions express their faith and what they do when they gather and how they do it.

If we are Christians, we have been called by God.  God has initiated something in your life.  You have a history in God and with God, initiated by God.  Now, it's not just your-story, but you have his-story.  Your story now is his story.  God called you.  That means God summoned you or invited you you.  Are you still responding to that calling, summons, or invitation?  God initiates, we participate.  What is God doing in your life?  That is a good question to start your fellowship with when you gather with another or other believers.

Since we are Christians, we already know what God is calling all of us to; and that is Christ.  But it's not just like flipping a switch or checking a box or praying one prayer.  God calls Christians to a life in Christ, as in partnership, fellowship, and communion.  Communion means a life of intimate sharing, in the spirit.  Sharing means we share the life, the love, and the suffering.

The Christian is a person called by God, the relationship is initiated by God; into a life, a participatory, communal, life shared with Christ; the Son of God and Lord.  This is what a Christian is.  This is the Christian's identity.  This answers all the questions.

God is faithful.  That means you can trust God.  That means he finishes what he starts.  That means he has a plan.  That means you can count on God.  God calls us and initiates our salvation, then takes us all the way through our lives by putting us in Christ and forming Christ in us.  That is the whole Christian life.  Everything in our lives is about God forming Christ in us.  It is that simple and that clear.
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Picture credit: Pastor Bob, from Fort Worth, TX: Living the Lectionary blog