Life with God - Why do we Need it?

Did you ever meet someone and think to yourself “that person knows God?”  I don’t mean because they’re wearing a Christian t-shirt or carrying a bible or something, but just because of the way they treated you, or the way you saw them treat others.  I was at an anti-war rally the first time I saw Martin.  He was on the mic for something like three minutes and I knew… this guy knows God.  I wasn’t following Jesus at the time, and still I knew… here was a man who walked with God.  I wanted to know more.    

Who do you know that so exemplifies life with God it makes you curious to know more about them?  

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 is a fascinating glimpse of what it means to have a life with God according to St. Paul.  Reflecting on this passage can help us clarify why we need a life with God, how to get one, and what to do once we have it.  

Here’s the passage. 

2 Corinthians 5:14 – 21.  

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. 

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Why do we need a life with God?  

We need a life with God because the times demand and so do our souls.  Healthy communities need to be rooted in a life with God as well.

Difficult times demand a life with God. 

You’re probably tired of hearing how difficult 2020 is.  I’m tired of saying it.  And, it hasn’t stopped being true.  The combination of critical losses and ambiguous losses have been so great in this season that many of us are grieving and not even aware we’re grieving.  If you’re a student, this is the first time your generation has had to deal with loss at a massive scale.  As a result, many Christian students are wrestling with doubt, (where is God in this mess…maybe God isn’t there or doesn’t care), distraction, (huge numbers of students, both men and women wrestling with compulsive engagement with porn) or disconnection (loneliness).   

In such troubling times we need a life with God.  Douglas Coupland confessed,  

“Now--here is my secret: 

I tell it to you with the openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God--that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.”[1]

When we don’t have a life with God we move toward spiritual death and personal disintegration, especially in times of loss, grief, and disorientation.  

The context of 2 Corinthians 5:14 speaks to times of loss grief and struggle.  Paul describes his experience in ministry in these words, “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake...”[2]  In the section right before the passage quoted above Paul is wrestling with the question of whether it wouldn’t be better just to give up his earthly struggle.  Here is a man acquainted with grief, despair, and disappointment.  How is he able to keep going?  Verses 14-21 are Paul’s answer to the question.  

We need a life with God because our times demand it.  

Our souls demand a life with God.

Ronald Rolheiser said, “We do not wake up in this world calm and serene, having the luxury of choosing to act or not act. We wake up crying, on fire with desire, with madness. What we do with that madness is our spirituality.”[3]

Our souls demand to be satisfied.  The longing drives us.  Augustine said, “our hearts are ever restless until they find their rest in thee.”[4]

Chance the Rapper captured the restless and longing of his creative process this way,

 “I don't make songs for free, I make 'em for freedom
Don't believe in kings, believe in the Kingdom
Jesus' black life ain't matter, I know I talked to his daddy
Said you the man of the house now, look out for your family.”[5]

In this passage Paul is clear about what is compelling him forward in ministry, despite all the challenges, disappointments, and temptations to despair.  “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.”  

It’s easy to dismiss a passage like this. We think Paul is describing a deep feeling of affection, intimacy, or enthusiasm for Christ, which is compelling him in ministry.  Since no one lives in a state of perpetual warm fuzzy feelings toward God, we might be tempted to dismiss Paul’s words as unattainable.  But notice, it’s not Paul’s love for Christ, but Christ’s love, that is motivating and pressing Paul forward.  

How does Paul know Christ’s love?  By staring into the mystery of Jesus on the cross until he’s overcome by it.  This is what he means by saying, “because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.”  As Paul looks into Jesus’ death he sees the death of the righteous for the unrighteous.  He sees the death of the messiah for Israel.  He sees the death of the obedient for the disobedient.  He sees death of God in exchange for life, for him… for all… for you.   

Contemplating the death and resurrection of Jesus places our souls in touch with a love that burns away weaker passions.  In the death and resurrection of Jesus the power of our disobedience, unrighteousness, and sin is melted away, and we behold the depths of God’s love.  This vision of the cross and resurrection presses Paul forward despite despair.  

Contemplating this vision of the cross will change us too.    Here’s an example… Everyone on the campuses where I minister says, “don’t judge,” but I love to say, “Jesus is uniquely qualified to judge the living and the dead.” I know That sounds horrifying.  Objections come forcefully,  until I say, “would you like to know why Jesus is uniquely qualified to judge the living and the dead?  It’s because he hung naked on a cross for three hours, subjecting himself to the most inhumane and unjust tortures, and never once did he cry out for judgment or vengeance.”  Anyone who can do that, and then be resurrected from the dead, is uniquely qualified to judge the living and the dead.   

As we contemplate a love that subjects itself to torture without resorting to vengeance or escape our souls are moved, for they demand a life with God.  

Healthy community requires a life with God. 

If the love of God is not leading us to a life with God, then whatever else is driving us to serve others will ultimately destroy us.  If it’s guilt, it will lead us to resentment.  If it’s fear, it will lead us to anxiety and burnout.  We can never be perfect enough, pleasing enough people, or fulfill all our moral duties.  The weight of trying to do all of these things is a heavy burden and ultimately destructive. 

According to Paul, the power to endure in his ministry is a life with God anchored in the gospel.  Paul describes it in verse 15 by saying, “And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.”

This verse is a challenge to many of us because we live in a culture that values individualism above all.  The idea of not living ‘for ourselves’ feels inauthentic, oppressive, stifling, and the opposite of everything we’re groomed to value.  How can living for something other than ourselves be the way to thrive?

Contemplating the gospel helps us to see how living for ourselves is a prison not an accomplishment.  When you live for yourself you inevitably relate to people based on the value you can get from them.  We attempt to manage this dynamic with dating apps, contracts, and social norms, but most of us long for something better.  We long to fall in love with someone who wants us, not just to get something from us.  We want to do business with someone who wants to offer us their help, not just take our money.  Nevertheless, the call to life for ourselves is ubiquitous.  When you actually live that way, though, it undermines your relationships, and you end up isolated and alone.  As our old systems and social structures have given place to economic and expressive individualism, and technology has swooped in to fill the gap, we’ve discovered an epidemic of loneliness!  We think living authentic individualistic lives is going to be a heaven, and it ends up a picture of hell.

The gospel challenges individualism.  When we contemplate the love we see in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we see “one dying for all.”  Here we are confronted with the self-giving love we all crave but are groomed to avoid.  This death is not just for us to admire, however.  It happened so that, “those who live, might live no longer for themselves…”. It is as if this particular death has the ability to liberate us from the prison of self and its entanglement with sin and death.  And then, as liberated people, we’re free to respond to God’s love, grace and truth, in the unique personalities, contexts, and relationships we’ve been given.  

Think of your friend whose life with God you admire.  I bet that part of what draws you to them is the way they are comfortable in their own skin, they are themselves, but they are not consumed by themselves.  They live, not for themselves, but for him who died for them. 

We need a life with God.  Our times demand it.  Our souls demand it.  Healthy community demands it.  At the center of this life with God, at least according to Paul, is a contemplation of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

How might reflection on this story and these verses inspire your life with God?  

[1] Douglas Coupland, Life After God (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1994), 365. 

[2] 2 Corinthians 4:11, Holy Bible New Revised Standard Version 

[3] Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality (New York: Image, 1999

[4] Augustine, Confessions (New York: Doubleday, 1960) 

[5]  Chance the Rapper, Blessings