No human in the history of our species has ever prayed with the fervor and passion we find in Jesus the Christ.
This is true for a number of reasons.
First of all, no human being had enjoyed the Fellowship that Christ had with the Father, for as long as Christ had enjoyed that Fellowship. For the Bible tells us that Christ did not simply exist, as the multitudes of the Heavenly hosts did, in the Presence of the Father, BUT IN THE VERY HEART OF THE FATHER (John 1:18).
This Special Relationship is highlighted by other Passages in the Scriptures.
“No one has ascended into Heaven, but He who descended from Heaven: the Son of Man.” – Jesus Christ, John 3:13 “He is the Radiance of the Glory of God and the Exact Imprint of His Nature, and He upholds the universe by the Word of His Power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the Name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” – Hebrew 1:3, 4
Sharing the Great Father’s Form, Fullness and Essence from all Eternity (Philippians 2:6), the Son then, at the Father’s behest (John 8:42), subjected Himself to the humiliating trauma of being trapped in a woman’s womb for nine months! Most of us have buried the memory of our gestation and the ordeal of our birth deep in our subconscious; but Christ was quite awake and aware as He rested nearly a year in Mary’s womb and was finally squeezed into this world, and never forgot the experience even to this day.
Thus this Member of the Godhead Who had forever dwelt in Unapproachable Light experienced darkness and physical separation from His Divine Family.
Secondly, Christ–Who had been the Primary Light of a Heaven in which there are no shadows–now found Himself planted in a world rife with ignorance, superstition and deep spiritual darkness and wickedness. Furthermore, the Prince of Darkness–called the Devil and Satan–had bent all his diabolical will and vast armies of hatred to the singular purpose of achieving Jesus’ demise at all costs.
Thirdly, taking the aforementioned circumstances into consideration, Christ could not afford the luxury of concerning Himself with His own safety; for He had been given the stupendous task of ridding the human race of all its sin…
…ALL OF IT…
…every atrocity that had ever been committed: from Adam’s disobedience to the Antichrist’s blasphemy…
…completely.
Fourth and finally, He had to choose, train and anoint disciples that would be faithful to share not only His Message, but His Heart, with present and future generations.
What Held Christ’s sanity together? What kept Him on task? What guarded the Son of Adam from the myriad distractions that plied for His Attention day in and day out?
It was the Memory…
…the Memory of His Father’s Bosom…the hot, intense LOVE which had been His Home from before Time and Space existed. It was Christ’s Homesickness that gave Him the clarity and unswerving drive and faithfulness to place His Father’s Will above all else, complete His course and return Home. If Jesus made His Way back to the Father successfully, the Door would be open for ANY OTHER HUMAN who was willing to follow Him!!!
Now…LISTEN CAREFULLY…
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My Throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His Throne.” – Jesus Christ, Revelation 3:21
We, as disciples of Christ, overcome the world IN THE SAME WAY that Christ did: through HOMESICKNESS!
Stay with me…
…how can I be homesick for a Place I’ve never been?
By means of the Holy Spirit of God.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the [Holy] Spirit of Adoption as sons, by Whom [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba [Daddy, or Papa]! Father!’ The [Holy] Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” – the Apostle Paul, Romans 8:14-16
I really don’t like the word “trinity” due to its mathematical constraints; that’s why I prefer to use the term “Godhead.” You won’t find the term “trinity” in the Bible, yet the concept of of Deity as a Family rather than a single Person is pervasive throughout the Old and New Testaments.
That is to say that the Holy Spirit of God is Himself an Eternal Personality–just as God the Father and God the Word is–Who has always and will always exist. The Scriptures rarely address the Person of the Holy Spirit directly; His agency is nearly always declared in reference to the Father or the Son. One author shrewdly described the Holy Spirit as the Embodiment of the Father and Son’s LOVE for Each Other.
Through the Holy Spirit I experience Christ’s Homesickness…Christ’s Deep, Passionate and Abiding Love for the Father (and the Father’s Unfathomable Love for Christ). It can be painful (as long-distance love affairs often are), but we endure the pain because we know that the Day is coming when we will enjoy that same Unity with our Great Father that Christ now enjoys…and it will never, EVER be taken away from us again.
It is this Homesickness (rather than simple human desperation) that drives true, effectual and fervent Prayer.
The Greatest Commandment is:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” – Moses, Deuteronomy 6:4, 5
Have you ever wondered how it is even possible for any fallible human being to live that directive? It is possible…through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.
This Indwelling of Deity in your body IS THE WHOLE POINT of the Gospel, and no other truth you find in the Bible functions without it.
Amen.
(LISTEN to this blog-post on any of TEN podcast platforms!)