“The fact of the incarnation should be enough to alert us to the truth that we have been made by God to be compatible with him.”
This is a quote that I read this morning in my time alone with the Lord from a theologian named Robert Letham, and it is a remarkable statement. Jesus Christ was 100% God, but he was also 100% man, and in his humanity the Holy Spirit took up residence that the life of the father might be lived out through him.
““O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your form, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely.”” (Song 2:14 NAS95)
I believe that one of the ways of interpreting that verse from song of Solomon is to see that being in the cleft of the rock is another way of describing being “in Christ.“ 1 Corinthians 10 says that Jesus is the ROCK and the Lord is inviting the Shulumite to abide in Him. The phrase, “in the secret place of the steep pathway,“ should be simply translated, “in the hidden, steep place.“ Ephesians says that we are in Christ seated in him in the heavenly places. This is the hidden, steep place that we are called to abide in and to live from. Abiding in His life, and seeing, thinking, and speaking from our union with him from heavens perspective is what it means to walk in the Spirit. This is the life that brings pleasure to God. The Lord says, “let me see you there, abiding in that place, and let me hear your voice from that place, for from the place of abiding in Christ in the heavenly‘s is sweet, and are you living in and from that place of abiding in Christ in the heavenly places is lovely to me.” The word “lovely,“ is a Hebrew word that simply means “fitting.” It’s a perfect fit for us, for we are created to contain and manifest His life, and it is a perfect fit for Him, who is looking for a resting place; a temple not made with hands. We are His temple; His holy of holies. We are compatible, and we don’t have to be perfect to be compatible, for He loves to take up residence where there is weakness, for then His strength is perfected. “We have this treasure in earthen vessel‘s,(simple frail clay pots) so that the greatness of the power may be of God and not of ourselves.“