Revelation 3:20 is one of the most well known and loved Scripture verses in the Bible: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Jesus pictures himself standing at the door outside of his church, knocking. That is, he is seeking entrance into his own home. It would seem that the church has taken on a life of its own, apart from him. It may be involved in doing good things for people and even teaching true doctrine (or maybe not). In any case, at some point in time, a separation occurred between Christ and the people in this picture of the local church, and they don’t seem to have noticed it.
So Christ presents himself to our senses as visually standing, audibly, knocking and calling to us, touching us by his presence in us, and allowing us to taste and savor his nourishing and satisfying fellowship with him as if it were a meal.
It is not just forgiveness we need, but fellowship with the forgiver. It is not just love we need, but a love experience with the one who loves us and gave himself for us. It is not just a promise we need, but the presence of the one who made and guarantees every promise.
In other words, we need, not the benefits of Christ, but we need Christ himself who is the benefactor. And when we have Christ, we have all of his benefits.
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