Longing for Connection
Male and Female – we yearn to connect, to belong, to feel complete. This primal drive is imperative—the center of our hopes and dreams, and ground zero of our angst and tears. Our solution for “The Battle of the Sexes” was distressed self-effort and demands for the other person’s cooperation. And then try it again. Heartbreak and disappointment abound. And even our moments of “success” never satisfy our dream of transcendent relationship.
Christ came to resolve our dilemma – once and for all. God’s plan is startling – ultimate oneness between male and female. This unity/oneness/wholeness/completeness is a new state of being. Here is the catch: It’s only available within Christ.
Christ’s Solution that We Underestimated, Ignored, Opposed
Humanity tried to follow Christ, but ignored an essential element. Though it’s shocking to admit, there is an aspect of Christ that has been greatly underestimated or even opposed: wholeness/oneness in Christ – true male/female unity in Christ. By rejecting this vital element, we put ourselves into a no-win situation.
Christ is The Source
In Christ alone this Wholeness/Oneness exists fully and perfectly. Christ is the only source of oneness; abiding in Christ is the only way to experience wholeness. So we can either abide in all Christ accomplished with our hearts at rest – or we can continue to wrestle with other people.
No One’s Cooperation is Needed
Good news, really awesome news: This does not require another person’s cooperation. We need to grasp the magnitude of what Christ accomplished: Christ made the two natures to be one in Himself. Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ “made” oneness; this word is “ktizo” in Greek, meaning to create something absolutely new; this word tells us that Christ united the two natures and actually created one new nature. Galatians 3:28 tells us there is no male or female in Christ because they have actually become one in Christ Jesus.
Getting Beyond Our “Yes, But” Opposition
The great difficulty is dealing with our hearts’ hidden fear, antagonism, and sometimes outright opposition to this Wholeness, this actual male and female unity and harmony in Christ. Because of our unhealed wounds and unresolved conflicts – we have sidestepped and avoided the issue – and missed out on the deepest inner reconciliation we so desperately need.
With Immeasurable Grace, God Invites Our Awakening
As a woman fully abides in all that Christ accomplished on the Cross, she becomes a living response to Christ’s finished work.
Be reassured: Marriages are enhanced with love, affection, and tender-loving kindness. Children are blessed with a loving and respectful home. Singles live in purity, content and peaceful; their lives overflow with love and fellowship.
As we abide in all that Christ accomplished, the conflict in our own hearts is resolved; we have no enmity, no strife, no envy against others – regardless of their behavior. As we abide deep in Christ, we experience no lack, no incompleteness, no aloneness in our hearts. And we enjoy increasing purity and freedom from sin.
As we more fully embrace all Christ accomplished, we are increasingly healed, set free, and operate in the power of God. Scripture details the spontaneous results of real belief in all of Christ: unfeigned love for others, forgiveness from the heart, honor and respect for all others, prayerful and sincere desire for the awakening of every person, lighthearted joy as we trust Christ’s promises.
You can live overflowing with love (even for difficult people). As the truth settles deep in your heart, you honor others (based on God’s promises not on other’s behavior), and you forgive from your heart (humbly admitting your own sins and trusting Jesus’ redemption). Trusting all of Christ, you are “of good cheer” and your heart enters a state of rest because you are fully convinced of the goodness and wisdom of God’s glorious plan (see Ephesians 2:14; Mat 5:44; 1 Peter 2:17; Mat 18:35; John 16:33; Hebrews 4:11).
We need all of Christ.
We need all Christ accomplished.
Excerpts from “Inside the Gears: Our Hidden Opposition, God’s Genius Plan and Other Life-Altering Topics”
