How do we abide or remain in Christ and His love? There is a secret place!
The heart of God is beautifully illustrated when Jesus Christ cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” Luk 13:34. Compare this with the Old Testament passage Psalm 91: 1-4; “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God: in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler; and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler”. These verses paint a similar portrait which is a great comfort to a believer. This alludes to the hen gathering her chicken under her wings; Matt 23:37. By natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that protection when she sees them in danger. She keeps them safe, cherishes them and keeps them warm.
The Hebrew word for shelter means a “covering, hiding place, protection, secret place (Strong’s). A great truth is in general, that all those who live a communion with God are constantly safe under His protection and may therefore preserve a Holy serenity and security of mind at all times. He that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all in Him that he needs or can desire and he is at home in God. The implication of this verse is that a certain level of safety and immunity from evil onslaughts exists for those who choose to dwell there. The concept of dwelling in Psalm 91:1 is synonymous with the concept of remaining in Father’s love; “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” Jn 15: 10.
Let us see how do we describe a sort of immunity? Obedience to the Father’s commandments is the key to immunity from the enemy. In other words, obedience to the Father is what positions us in the shadow of the Almighty and any evil that comes against a believer has to go through God first because He is our shadow. Jesus Christ when He was living on this planet earth He lived for one purpose and that is to do the will of His Father as written in Jn 6: 38. When the time came for the rulers and the chief priests to come against Jesus Christ, they were only used as puppets by God in His pursuit of greater glory.
We can trust God and take comfort in His Word, because He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Our place of immunity from the obstruction of God’s plan for our lives is gained through the obedience to His will. We can choose Him as such and confide in Him; in Him we trust. He is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of being disappointed in Him; Psa 91:2.
Sadly, and very often we choose our own will over Christ’s, forfeiting the shelter of His wings and the result was desolation and defeat; Luk 13:35; 19: 43. As believers in Christ two different forms of immunity apply to us.
a. Those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in our life had the gift of eternal life and have immunity from eternal judgement. We stand in the shadow of the cross and God has bought us with a heavy price of His Son and all the judgement that should have come to us came to Christ instead.
b. The second kind of immunity does not come naturally on accepting the gift of salvation. This comes when we surrender our will to the Father’s will and our obedience to His Word. When we bow to His will we will become immune to the threats and defeat to the plan of God for our personal lives. We will have troubles, and tribulations and certain amount of oppression but, nothing will be able to defeat us because God gives us power to overcome them.
Jesus Christ longs to draw us under the shelter of His wings, close to His side and He earns to lavish us with His possessive, protective love to cover us from unnecessary harm. Beloved! There is a secret place to hide!!
