Communing With God

What does it mean to "commune" with someone. Theologian John Owens defines communion as, "the sharing of good things between persons who are mutually delighted being cemented together by some union."

Coming across these words, I had to pause for a moment and realize the absolutely astounding glory that this statement implies. God, being the perfection of Beauty, infinitely glorious and lovely, was delighted to be cemented together with us. The infinite willingly became united to the finite. God, being the definition of love, bound himself to the loveless. The Holy One has united himself to sinners. This is the beauty of the gospel. Jesus came in the flesh, becoming finite, so that we may live forever. Jesus, the one who is altogether lovely, emptied himself and died for the unlovely, so that we could be made lovely. The Holy One took the ultimate punishment for sin, so that he could clothe sinners in his robe of righteousness. 

In many Christian circles, growing in the Christian life is often systematized into some kind of formula, or deduced to some form of behavior modification. However, I think the simplest way to think about the Christian life is to think about it in terms of growing in our communion with God. It means going deeper and deeper into the mutual delight that God has in us. This means recognizing more and more the ways that we fall short, sin, disobey, look for satisfaction in idols etc, and in turn, recognizing the way in which Jesus Christ has accomplished our redemption in his life, death and resurrection. It means resting in our union with Christ, trusting him, depending on him, and looking to him as our source of life. It is truly amazing that God desires to commune with undeserving creatures. Yet, this is the beauty of grace.