Philippians 1:10b-11
"Live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God."
Since the fall of man, Adam and every human being that followed, lost the capability to exercise holy reign over the whole of creation. Adam violated the holy command and every generation that followed did likewise. David and the nation of Israel continued this sinful trend. They too were unable to fully manifest God’s kingdom here on earth because of their unrepentant sin. Zerubbabel’s lackluster performance after returning to Jerusalem following the exile into Babylon proved that there always remains a spiritual problem of faithlessness to the law of God, a problem so prevalent that even God's wrath cannot cure it.
And I suppose this is why many Israelites rejected Jesus as the Messiah. His earthly mission was to inaugurate the kingdom and restore righteous dominion to Israel. And apparently his mission was also to expose and explain the problem of righteousness among men at a down to earth level. God (The Messiah) had to become man to prove the problem can be overcome if one was truly interested in fulfilling that mission. Christ’s entire life of obedience, his atoning death, resurrection, and ultimately his ascension; are the means of grace by which He has inaugurated the kingdom of God on earth and in the spiritual realms.
Human beings forfeited their right to claim citizenship in Christ's kingdom when they (we all) sold our inheritance to Satan. The serpent took ownership of our souls in Adam's temptation and sin. In order for Jesus Christ to restore that inheritance for us, he needed to defeat death and sin, and overcome the Devil’s lies, winning back our place in His holy house.
Jesus faced off against Satan in the wilderness and throughout his ministry. Before the cross there was a conversation. Satan tried to convert Jesus Christ to his cause. Jesus faced temptation as we face temptation. He faced the same challenges of hunger, deprivation, poverty, and pain. He was tempted by uncertainty, he sweat blood his pain was so great. And he faced it willingly with perfect faithfulness. You never see Jesus being a wishy-washy believer. Sure, he loses his cool and is seen turning over tables at the temple, but he's not doing it because the church didn't cater to his needs. He wasn't refusing to worship until they created a program for his particular needs. He didn't stop speaking the word of God, or obeying God's commands. He wasn't church shopping. He faced all the very same problems we face in our daily lives and church lives. And he loved his church so much that he died for them.
God the Father counts us as righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), Jesus fulfilled the demands given to Israel and to Adam. And now he is our representative of righteousness. And in that righteousness, we gain his light. His light that we reflect to the world. We are now commissioned to go share that light, proclaiming the good news of His kingdom to all nations.
This mission is called "Coram Deo", it means to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the glory of God. This is the life Jesus lived. When we say we desire to live Christ-like, what we're saying is we want to live Coram Deo. To live in the presence of God, knowing that everything you do, say, and think, all of it is under His authority and examination. We live Coram Deo knowing that there is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze. And we live that life, for Him, a life that is sweet smelling and filled with the fruit of our Salvation in Christ's righteousness.
As I write this devotion the autocorrect keeps trying to change the "Deo" in Coram Deo into Deodorant. And it's interesting because it's kind of right to want to do that. This Corum Deo thing is about a sweet-smelling life of faith.
2 Corinthians 2:14
"But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume."
Ephesians 5:2
"And we walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Sometimes when I'm writing I see the Ai trying to think like The Spirit, maybe The Spirit is trying to save Ai. I don't know, but I find it interesting. It seems like Ai is becoming religious, or at least reflecting it with every encounter we share.
This inaugurated holiness, this Coram Deo, is our hope of final perfection based on our confidence in God’s ability and faithfulness to bring about salvation in Jesus Christ. There is power in his name, power to bear the fruit of love in our lives. Love (agapē) is the distinctive feature of the Christian character. A character of grace. The supreme commandment of love.
Knowledge? Yes!
Insight? Yes!
Purity? Yes!
Love? Absolutely!
To live all of our life Coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. Not a life of reluctant submission. Not a life motivated out of a fear of punishment, remember God's wrath doesn't fix sin. Our lives are to be living sacrifices, a sweet-smelling faith offering in a spirit of adoration and gratitude. To not live a fragmented life mingled with the worldly ways of confusion and all its many contradictions. If a Christian is compartmentalizing his life, he has two masters, and we know what Jesus thinks about that.
Integrity is found when people live their lives blameless in a pattern of consistency, with pure motives, in the church and outside the church. It is a life in which all that is done is done before the Lord. It is a life lived by principle, not expediency. Living fruit, a righteous character produced in our lives by Jesus Christ. A life lived before and for God.
It boils down to being truthful, loving in grace, and integral in every situation, as if you're doing it with God by your side. You've got to come clean. You can't be one of the usual suspects.
Coram Deo...before the face of God.