Where You Really Live

Where do you live?  Some people live in a house, some in an apartment or a trailer or a condo.  Some live in huge refugee camps, some in shanty towns, and some out in the open.  But the Bible says everyone lives in
God.  How is that possible?

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (and anybody else who would listen) told the people of Athens, recorded for us in Acts 17:28, "For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’"  Now, wait -- these were rank pagans, people who worshipped so many gods they had a blank altar out there, just in case they left a god out accidentally.  They had no clue about the true God, the creator of the whole universe, the One whom Paul was describing.  So how could they be "in him?"  And why would Paul agree with the poet, even if the poet didn't know who he was writing about?

Paul saw that the only way there is to live, is in God.  Paul saw God not only as creator and life-giver, but he also recognized the Son of God, the man Jesus Christ, as the source of everything, including our lives.  Jesus, who was God born into flesh, gave the entire human race a new starting place (Rom. 5:6-21), including life for everyone:  "Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone" (verse 18).  So the only place we can live, is in Christ.  Our only way of living is in him.  Our only purpose for life is in him.   

Our reason for living is to move outward from our center in Jesus Christ, and to be a bubbling spring of life and love and peace and hope for everyone we know.  Some of the people we know are probably like the pagans Paul met, with no knowledge of God and no love in them, and maybe they're hard to love sometimes.  But Paul said they "live and move and exist" in him just like we do.  They too have been given "new life" by God through the life, death and resurrection of his dear Son.  Like the Athenians, they don't know it yet, but if somebody will tell them, some of them will believe.

Like Paul, when we approach people graciously and patiently and lovingly, we'll find ways and times and even the words to pass along this wonderful message of peace.   When we focus on "living in" God, he will move us to love, and as we let him love others through us, we ourselves will experience more of his love and joy than ever.