If you missed Sunday's broadcast, please catch up by following the link below. (For the foreseeable future, we be running our Sunday morning services digitally. Please go to our website on Sundays at 10:30 to join in)
The soil in which a plant is growing makes a massive difference to the life of the plant. Some plants like acidic, some like alkaline soils. Some like lots of moisture, some well-drained… For spiritual growth, there are not a range of soils depending on taste or need. No, Jesus is the only soil in which there can be eternal life and any kind of fruitfulness for God.
If we are not planted into Jesus, we are dead in our sins.
As Christians, the condition of our living in relationship with Jesus will determine our fruitfulness.
How does one get ‘planted’ into Jesus?
The simple answer is faith. Faith in Jesus' death and resurrection unites us with Jesus and his victory. Paul writes,
‘For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.’ (1 Corinthians 15:13).
‘Baptism’, rather like planting, means to be immersed. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has ‘baptised you’ into Jesus. This is about union with Him. Like a plant, gaining life and nutrients from the soil, so Christians, in union with Jesus, have the life of the Spirit working in them and through them.
This baptism into Jesus is expressed in the act of physical baptism in water. In the symbolism of baptism, we are declaring the very real spiritual truth that we have been planted into Jesus; in Jesus, we have died to our old life and the condemnation of sin; and in Jesus, we have risen to a new life for God.
RESPONSE
Christians have been planted into Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:13 (that we read earlier) says a lot about how our attitude and lives are to change as a result of being planted into Jesus. Here are a few things that this text teaches us.
The Holy Spirit, by coming and dwelling in us, unites us to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, by dwelling in us, unites us with every other Christian.
The Holy Spirit, by dwelling in us, and ever other Christian means that we should love all of our brothers and sisters regardless of race, background, status…
We ‘have been given the one Spirit to drink’ - we are made alive by the Spirit and we are to walk with the Spirit each day.
If you and I have been planted into Jesus, these truths and attitudes should be in us.
COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY – COMING SOON
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