Saturday, February 20, 2016

Identity in Christ - 62a (part of the Vine)

Jesus introduced a metaphor about life in God: the grapevine. First, he identifies all the roles in the story. Jesus is the vine. The Father is the vine dresser, the gardener, or the farmer. God's family are the branches. The results are fruit. Grapes according to the story. Lives, conditions, and growth in real life.

(Again, the original compiler of this list worded this trait so there would be a "V" in the list. Otherwise, it would be included in the "B" section, under "Branches.")

I am seeing a need to include a lot of material in this post. Since, Jesus highlighted the roles, we should look at them. There is the process of producing fruit. There is my normal God's Perspective and practical applications. There will be definitely be more than one post. Perhaps several.

We will being the same way Jesus did.

♦ Roles

As a reminder, the God-head is trinity. Scripture says that the Father, Son and Spirit were all involved in creation. Each had a part. So, all have a part, or are active in, wherever one is mentioned. Father, Son and Spirit are active in each role.

The Father is a farmer. The farmer is the strategist for the vineyard. He evaluates the ground, the condition of the vine, and each branch. He works the ground and environment. He removes rocks, and other obstructions of the root system. He adds nutrients. He removes weeds, and other things that leech life from the branches. He prunes the vine. That is, he removes legitimate "growth" of the vine, but "growth" that does not add to the health, growth, and fruit. It is a part of the branch that detracts.

Jesus is the vine. He is the connection between the root (the gatherer\synthesizer of the nutrients) and the branches (the place fruit occurs). When Jesus died, he prepared a place for the branches to connect to the vine. When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we\he initiated the connection process. Now, the Spirit maintains the connection. The Spirit continues the feeding process, fosters a flow of love and grace into the branches.

God's family are the branches. The branches are where God's "nutrients"  love and grace meet the world. The branches are where the good God gives the worlds originates.

♦ Process

This will not be an exhaustive description. We will focus on the process in terms of the story,

Nutrients are collected\created in the root. Raw materials are drawn from the earth, which has been strategically developed by the farmer.

The nutrients are pumped from the root into the vine, into the branches. Unlike a real vine, the nutrients are tailor-made, individualized for each branch. The farmer and the vine have crafted a particular "cocktail" for each branch. The branch yields a particular effect, a particular fruit, into the world.

But it all depends on the connection. If the connection is inferior/blocked/broken, no nutrients can flow into the branch. It is the nutrients that enable the production of fruit. The nutrients enable the health and growth of the branch. The vine grabs onto the branch. The branch grabs onto the vine. It all depends on the connection.

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