Lesson for April 16, 2023
The Victorious Christian Way of Life
Occupation with Christ
Lesson 12
Occupation with Christ is personal love for Jesus Christ. Personal love for Christ is developed by means of learning Who He is and what He has done for us. This means that we need to learn more than the fact that we received the gift of eternal life the moment we believed that Jesus died on the Cross to pay for our sin.
Occupation with Christ is personal love for God the Son, caused by epistemological rehabilitation. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. Epistemological rehabilitation, as it applies to spiritual matters, is defined as the function of a believer’s positive volition in being persistent in expressing that positive volition by diligently learning accurate Bible doctrine. Using this definition, we can see that the possibility exists for believers to know something that can be verified and justified by knowledge of the Word of God, the Bible. As a believer learns the written Word of God, they come to know Jesus Christ in a very intimate way, which causes them to love Him in a very personal way.
I Peter 1:8, “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him [occupation with Christ]; and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible (happiness) and full of glory.”
Capacity to love someone who is invisible requires a tremendous amount of information. The capacity to love Jesus Christ comes only from accurate doctrine and no other source. Therefore, it is necessary to make learning God’s Word number one priority in your life. It is impossible to love someone that you don’t know very well!! Those who truly love Christ have made Him their role model for living. These are believers with true happiness – sharing the happiness of God. The happiness from occupation with Christ is a happiness that is inexpressible.
You cannot love Jesus Christ until you know how He thinks. Having the “thinking of Christ” results in occupation with Him, in contrast to preoccupation with people.
The “thinking of Christ” is a specific reference to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. The mystery doctrine of the Church Age is the Law of Christ that was revealed to Paul and the apostles, designed specifically for this present stage of the Angelic Conflict. More precisely, the mystery of the Church Age is “Christ in you the hope of glory,” according to Colossians 1:25-27. I Corinthians 2:16, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? (Isaiah 40:13) But we have the mind (thinking) of Christ.”
Occupation with Christ requires a believer to be consistently using Divine Viewpoint Thinking, which is the thinking of Christ. Hebrews 12:2, “Be concentrating on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our doctrine, Who because of the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross and disregarded [using the problem-solving devices] the shame [imputation of our sins to Christ], and He sat down at the right hand of God.”
Occupation with Christ also requires a believer to set apart Christ in your hearts.
I Peter 3:15, “But sanctify (set apart) Christ as Lord (your Master) in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.” God gives believers a command to be occupied with Christ, which is a command to allow God the Holy Spirit to develop the character of Christ in your life. Galatians 4:19-20, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you, but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!”
Occupation with Christ also requires a believer to be in fellowship with Christ.
I Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Fellowship with God is fellowship with the entire Godhead – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When you’re out of fellowship with One member of the Godhead, you’re out of fellowship with them all. Personal sin breaks our fellowship with God (not our relationship), and using the Rebound Technique found in I John 1:9, restores our fellowship with God.
Occupation with Christ also requires a believer to be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. II Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love for God [the Father] and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is another way of describing the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is required for occupation with Christ. Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Occupation with Christ also requires a believer to be in fellowship with God the Father. I John 1:3, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life, and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” True Christian fellowship is fellowship with God the Father, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and occupation with Christ. You cannot grow up spiritually or execute the plan of God through fellowship or interaction with other Christians.
Philippians 2:1-2, 5, Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing fromselfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”
When a believer is occupied with Christ, they are being encouraged. Encouragement in Christ comes from the knowledge of accurate Bible doctrine. Occupation with Christ doesn’t depend upon emotionalism or human works. Occupation with Christ depends entirely upon your attitude toward God and His Word (Bible doctrine).
When you experience suffering, it is the Problem-Solving Devices that become encouragement in Christ and the means of handling the issues. When you are occupied with Christ, you are also sharing the happiness of God, which means you are prepared to meet and handle all the circumstances of life.
Occupation with Christ requires spiritual growth, which is gradual. II Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Spiritual growth takes time and persistence. Studying God’s Word takes a lot of discipline and commitment from believers. However, the reward of knowing God’s Word is imperative if a believer wants to reach spiritual maturity and occupation with Christ. II Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, handling with accuracy the Word of Truth.”
Occupation with Christ is one of the greatest motivators in the life of believers. As believers begin to grow spiritually, they have a stronger and stronger motivation to please God, and they begin to become spiritually independent, having taken control of their own spiritual lives. They become self-motivated by the knowledge of accurate Bible doctrine.
II Corinthians 5:14-17, “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf. Therefore, from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Occupation with Christ eliminates human viewpoint of life. The key to God’s plan for our lives is that we no longer live for ourselves but for Christ. The only way we can ever have a happy, fulfilling life is to no longer live for ourselves. Once we become occupied with Christ, we are living for Christ, and we are happier than we ever were when we lived for ourselves and ignored God and His Word.