In his Epistles Paul unveils to us clearly and emphatically the ultimate goal or objective of the Christian walk: "To know Him" (Phil. 3:10); "To me, to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21); "Christ our life" (Col. 3:4). Through these verses we can see that the reality and central point of the Christian life is simply Christ Himself.
As people who have been born of God and have Christ living within them, all Christians must be brought by the Lord's mercy to the point where they are no longer wholly caught up in studying about Christ, doing something for Christ, or even serving Christ, but rather are in the reality of touching and experiencing Him in a living way day by day. Romans 5:10 testifies, "For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life." This "much more" must be more of Christ. A Christian's initial salvation experience is indeed wonderful. He is now one who has been born of God, but "much more" he is to be saved by the life of Christ. Every person who knows Christ as his Savior can and must be brought into this experience of "much more," which is entering into the fullness and reality of a life wholly centered on Christ — experiencing, touching, and enjoying Him moment by moment.
Today the Lord has made Himself available to all Christians for them to contact and experience in a full and living way. The Bible reveals to us that in the beginning Jesus Christ was God (John 1:1). Then one day this very God became a man to dwell on the earth (John 1:14) and to accomplish redemption for all. He was among us as the Lamb of God that through the shedding of His blood we might partake of redemption (Eph. 1:7) and be reconciled to God. This is indeed glorious! Christ became a man, lived on earth thirty-three and a half years, and accomplished redemption for all. However, if Christ had stopped here, this would be the summation of our Christian experience. All could enjoy forgiveness of sins, but none could be saved by His life. None could touch and experience Him in a daily, practical way. What then did Christ do that every Christian may enter into this "much more" experience? Was He only crucified and then buried? Was that the end? We must praise Him that there is much more!
Shortly before His crucifixion He told His disciples that He was among them but that He was going to be in them (John 14:16-20). How could this be accomplished? If Jesus had only died and been buried and that was the end, He could never have entered into His disciples, nor could He enter into His people today. But, praise the Lord, that three days after His burial, He burst through the bonds of death and was raised from the dead. So let us ask the question: In what form is He today? He is the Spirit! "The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45b).
Jesus had told His disciples that He would enter into them; therefore, shortly after His resurrection He appeared before them in a room in which the doors were closed. He could never have done this had He not been the Spirit. There, "He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). At that moment Jesus, who had been among them and outside of them, came into them. Christ could never have entered into His disciples had He not been the Spirit. "The Lord is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17), and all that have been reconciled to God have this life-giving Spirit dwelling within them to be their bountiful supply and all they need. Since Christ has become the Spirit and has entered into every Christian, He is now so available to them; He is so easy for them to contact, experience, and even enjoy. "Much more we will be saved in His life."
All this is indeed wonderful, the wonder of wonders, that Christ became a man, accomplished redemption for us, became the Spirit, and has now entered into us to be our life and everything to us; but the question we must now raise is this: How can we touch and experience Christ in a practical way as our very life moment by moment? The Lord has given us a simple way. All we have to do is call upon Him, and we will touch Him who is the life-giving supply. In Romans 10:12b-13 the Bible says, "For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him; for `whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" In the past we may have had the concept that these verses were only applicable to an initial salvation experience; however, every Christian also needs a daily salvation from sin, self, human weakness, and other negative things. On the positive side he also needs a bountiful supply of the Lord to nourish and strengthen him in order that he may grow up into Christ in all things. The way into the realization of this is simply by calling on the Lord. He is rich to all who call upon Him. We see Paul in 2 Timothy 2:22 urging Timothy to live the Christian life with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
The Christian's experience of Christ as purposed by God is to be real to the believer and a testimony to those in the world. What was the testimony of the early Christians? It was this: they were a people who called on the name of the Lord. We are shown this in Acts 9:14, which states that Paul before his conversion was persecuting all those who called on the Lord's name. He was given authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on His name. First Corinthians 1:2 reaffirms this by showing us that the early Christians were those who in every place called upon the name of the Lord.
Many Christians today have begun to practice calling upon the Lord daily, hourly, and moment by moment in a simple, practical way. They have found to their joy that the Lord is all they need and that they can touch and fellowship with Him at any time and in any circumstance just by calling on Him from deep within. Our calling upon the Lord should not be in an objective manner, calling on the Christ who dwells in the heavens, but calling on the Christ who is the Spirit and who dwells within our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). By calling upon Him from deep within, we will sense the flowing and fellowship of Christ within us.
"But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness, for the Father also seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness" (John 4:23-24). To every Christian this true worship of fellowship is intended to be constant and life-giving. The true worship in these verses is not participating in and keeping certain rules, forms, rituals, and regulations, but rather calling upon the Lord from deep within, contacting and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ, the truth and the reality. The desire of the Father for us is that we may enjoy and participate in this true worship of touching and fellowshipping with His Son all day, every day. Whether on the job, in the classroom, driving a car, talking to a friend, or in meetings with other Christians, His desire is that we contact and fellowship with our Lord.
Again we have to praise and thank the Lord that He has not only told us that we must call upon Him, worshipping Him in spirit and in truthfulness, but He has also given us a very practical and simple way to touch Him in this true worship. The Bible gives us clear examples to show that we can touch and experience the Lord in worship by simply calling upon His name. In Matthew 8:2 we read, "And behold, a leper, coming near, worshipped Him, saying, Lord..." Then in Matthew 15:25 we read, "But she came and worshipped Him, saying, Lord..."
These verses help us to see that we can participate in true worship at any place, at any time, and in any situation. Whatever our immediate circumstance may be, we can worship Him simply by praying, "O Lord, O Lord." Many Christians are discovering that simply to breathe His name, "O Lord," when they are tempted or distressed or just "out of it" brings them into a real touch and fellowship with the Lord and into full deliverance from self, sin, and the world. When we cry in this way to the Lord from deep within, we have a deep inner sense of Christ and His life flowing and moving within us. In the Psalms we find that as the psalmists prayed to the Lord they cried "O Lord," over one hundred eighty times. On one occasion a psalmist said, "I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord" (Psa. 119:145). On another occasion one said, "Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord" (Psa. 116:4). Truly it is not a light thing to call upon the Lord, yet it is so simple and practical. In this way we can daily, moment by moment, touch and experience Christ as our inward satisfaction and joy.
The Bible gives another example of true worship in Revelation 19:4: "And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who sits upon the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah!" Second Corinthians 1:20 says, "For as many promises of God as there are, in Him is the Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through us to God." And in Revelation 3:14 we find that "Amen" is another name given to Christ. When we cry Amen from deep within, we sense that we have touched Christ just as when we called, "O Lord, O Lord," because as His name is Lord, so also is His name Amen. Then in 1 Chronicles 16:36 we see that our calling "Amen" is a real praise to the Lord: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord." For us to cry "Amen" from deep within is to call on the Lord and to touch Him.
Hallelujah means "praise ye the Lord," that is, "praise ye Jehovah," and over and over again the psalmist used hallelujah in his worship and praise to God. The last five Psalms begin and end with this heavenly word of worship. We also find this word offered in worship to God in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6. Today it is still the same. We can worship and fellowship with our Lord in the same simple way. All day we can cry, "O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah!" from deep within.
In summary, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth, lived a human life, was crucified for our sins, was buried, rose again, and became the life-giving Spirit. When we believed into Him, He as the Spirit came into our spirit, the deepest part of our being, to be our life and everything to us. Today, He as the Spirit is like the air to us — so fresh and so available. When we cry "O Lord!" or "Amen!" or "Hallelujah!" we take Him into us as the life-giving breath, supplying us with all the riches of Himself. Today we need to breathe these four words as our prayer and praise to God. From deep within just breathe, "O Lord," "Amen," "Hallelujah," and you will taste the sweetness and reality of Christ Himself. You will begin to realize more and more that His life is truly a saving life. Today many Christians have found that they can know Him, that they can be brought into the power of His resurrection, that they can experience His spontaneous salvation, and that they can walk in oneness with Him by calling moment by moment, "O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah!"
