(The Reality of Christ Made Effective and the Song That Includes Sorrow)
June 9th brings the believer into two complementary truths: everything accomplished through Jesus Christ becomes effective in the believer through the operation of the Holy Spirit, and even the sorrows of life become part of the greater song of communion and sonship.
The Holy Spirit Makes the Work of Christ Effective
Chambers writes:
“The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.” (My Utmost for His Highest)
At its heart, Chambers is emphasizing application rather than mere knowledge.
The work of Christ is not intended to remain an objective truth known only intellectually. What Christ accomplished must become operative within the believer’s life.
This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit does not add to the work of Christ.
He makes effective what Christ has already accomplished.
The Son’s obedience, death, resurrection, and exaltation are historical realities. Yet the believer comes to participate in their power through the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit.
What Christ accomplished outwardly in history becomes effective inwardly in experience.
The Holy Spirit bears witness to the Son.
The believer’s spirit responds.
And through that communion the life of sonship becomes increasingly manifested.
The issue is not merely knowing truths about Christ.
It is living from the reality of what he has accomplished.
Sorrow as Part of the Song
Spurgeon writes:
“Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise; we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s song.” (Morning and Evening)
Spurgeon offers a beautiful picture.
Most people assume joy and sorrow are opposites. When sorrow appears, they imagine praise must diminish.
Yet the believer gradually discovers something deeper.
The song of communion contains more than one note.
There are seasons of joy.
There are seasons of grief.
There are moments of triumph.
There are moments of heaviness.
Yet all of them may belong to the same life when the Father remains the source.
The bass notes do not destroy the melody.
They deepen it.
The griefs of life often produce depths of trust, dependence, humility, and communion that could not be learned elsewhere.
Thus sorrow becomes part of the testimony of sonship rather than a contradiction of it.
Where the Two Meet: The Life of Christ Manifested in Every Season
These truths meet in a profound way.
The Holy Spirit makes the life of Christ effective within the believer. And that life is not limited to moments of visible blessing or outward success.
It remains present in every season.
The same life that rejoices also endures.
The same life that sings also suffers.
The same life that knows resurrection power also passes through trial.
This is why grief cannot destroy praise.
The source of praise is deeper than circumstance.
The life being manifested is the life of the Son himself.
One truth explains how that life becomes effective. The other shows how that life endures through sorrow.
Pastoral Orientation
June 9th calls for participation and perseverance.
Do not allow the work of Christ to remain merely a doctrine you affirm. Allow the Holy Spirit to make its reality effective within your life.
Do not assume that sorrow means communion has diminished. Even grief may become part of the song God is forming within you.
As you continue walking “after the spirit,” you will find that the life of Christ becomes increasingly real through the operation of the Holy Spirit, and that both joy and sorrow become occasions for the manifestation of that life.
Receive what Christ has accomplished. Remain faithful through every season.
And you will discover a life that is continually being shaped by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and whose song remains intact because its source is not circumstance, but the life of the Son before the Father.