13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (NIV)
What does it mean to “live in” something? Whether it’s temporary, or old, or new, a home is the place where we live. It’s where our hearts are, where we are. For some who work outside the home, the home is the place we return to. For those who work inside the home, the home is everything. John tells us that we are at home in Jesus; we live in him, and he lives in us. Is that a confusing picture? Are you picturing a little Jesus inside your heart—but you are also inside Jesus? Is your mind getting baffled by that picture, like when you fold the sides of a three-way mirror in close so that you can see an infinite number of reflections of yourself stretching back into eternity?
Our relationship with God isn’t like the relationship of Russian Dolls, the smaller one inside the bigger one. And it isn’t like the relationship of a battery in an appliance—the battery is in the appliance, but the appliance can’t be inside the battery. And our relationship with God isn’t like the relationship of the devil in the snake. We aren’t ‘possessed’ by the Holy Spirit. He does live in us, but we also live in him.
No, this passage tells us that our relationship with God isn’t like a possession, and it isn’t like a power source. It’s the relationship of living beings who interact with each other, who love each other. We are in God—we listen to him, obey him, pray to him, and live in his grace and peace. And God is in us—he speaks to us in his word, he puts opportunities in our path for service and obedience, he listens to our prayers and he answers our prayers, and he gives us his grace and peace.
John further explains this relationship when he says that “perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” We don’t serve God because we’re afraid of what will happen if we don’t. If our only reason for obeying God is because heaven is a less frightening eternity that hell, then we have the wrong picture of heaven. We need to get away from the idea that heaven is nothing but clouds, harps, blond hair, nothing to eat but fruit, and standing in a choir. I like clouds. I don’t know how to play the harp. I have blondish hair, I like fruit, and I enjoy standing and singing in a choir. But heaven is about being with God. Heaven is about the reality of living without sin, without pain, without death—and without fear.
Heaven isn’t about boredom; it’s about fulfillment. It’s about union and communion with God and with all believers of all time. It’s about rescue, and it’s about peace. It’s eternal joy—and God knows what makes us truly happy. We may sinfully, even suspiciously think that the one thing that makes us truly happy on earth is the one thing that will be missing from heaven. But like a man who has a cold one day and wished for nothing else than a fresh box of tissues and wakes up the next day well again and gives no more thought to the tissues, we won’t miss earthly things in heaven. We will be truly fulfilled; truly satisfied.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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