The Thin Place Within
The Thin Place Within.
“ The thin place is where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer that it is easy to step through.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way).
This term from an ancient Celtic tradition has stood the test of time. The idea of a thin place between heaven and earth has captured our imaginations, and yet is not just a metaphor. Thin places are literal as well, even to the extent that within each believer is a thin place in which to be present with God.
The traditional thin place as the Irish understood it has been described in many ways: where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin as to be porous, permeable, practically transparent; where the space between the diviner and the human has narrowed; where eternity and time intersect; where the boundary between heaven and earth has collapsed; where the wall between heaven and earth have become indistinguishable; where the doors between heaven and earth have cracked open enough to walk through, if only temporarily; the place where eternity and time seem to join together. “Now you have been united with Christ Jesus and are inside of Him. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13).
A thin place could also mean… wherever God has chosen to reveal Himself and make Himself known with unusual intimacy; wherever the sacred interaction with God’s presence is more pronounced and accessible; wherever the Holy Spirit is released in a particularly powerful way; a physical space where one can more directly and intensely experience God’s spiritual presence.
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The Thin Place Within, the Meeting Place of God’s Spirit and Ours. When Jesus suggested to Peter that he “drop his net deep” in Luke 5, He provided a powerful picture of Christian believers finding our thin place within by going deep into our heart. We will discover that the veil separating the heavenly from the earthly has all but disappeared because of our intimate union with Him. Much like a marital union in which two become one, the boundary of separation between God and a believer has been erased. Followers of Christ each have our own thinnest of places within that accompanies us wherever we go. Our inner thin place is the meeting point of God and our heart, the place where we are united with the Spirit of God. A believer dwells inside Christ, and at the same time Christ dwells inside the believer. Within each of us, heaven and earth meet, the divine and the human are united, and so we don’t have to go on an arduous search for a thin place. We have our thin place within. The holy ground exists inside each of us who seek to follow God in Christ. We don’t know what exactly this spiritual mystery looks like, but we do know this thin place within is thinner than we can describe or imagine. Yes, there is a holy ground within, our very own thin place where the veil is ripped wide open, and our hearts stand barefoot in the presence of the almighty God. “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ inside God.” (Colossians 3:3).
Sacred Secrets. Jesus revealed many fascinating mysteries in His conversations with the Disciples… “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am inside my Father, and you are inside me, and I am inside you.” (John 14:20); or this, “Remain inside of me, dwell in me, continue to draw your life from inside me, and I will remain inside of you.” (John 15:4-7); or even the more perplexing claim that, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives continually inside of me, and I live inside of him.” (John 6:56).
The Thin Place in our Double Union. The idea that Jesus through His Holy Spirit is inside of me is pretty familiar. How many times did St. Paul say something along the lines of “Christ in me”? Actually, about 160 times. But at the same time as Christ is in each of us, each believer is actually inside of Christ! Christ in me, and me in Christ! Christ inside of you, and you are inside of Christ! There have been many descriptive titles given to this idea of union with Christ, of being within Christ, including: the Double Union; the Mutual Indwelling; the Mystical Union; The Double Mystery. And there have been some interesting ways to try to describe this two-way unity we enjoy with Christ: bonded in union within Christ; somehow inside of each other; a believer’s new spiritual location; participating in the interior life of Christ; intimately joined together with Christ; hidden with Christ inside of God; a Christian’s spiritual address; in a new sphere of spiritual existence; fellowship with God inside the Person of Christ; tightly wrapped around the Personhood of Jesus; regaining our original identity in Christ. Being inside of Christ, we have shared in His death and resurrection, and we now will go wherever He goes, including being seated in the heavenly realms.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). “En” and “Eis”. In the New Testament there are two little Greek words used constantly, en and eis. When “in” is intended, then the Greek term “en” is generally used. And when “into” is meant, the term “eis” is used. Eis literally means into or to, and implies motion into, union, and penetration.
With that in mind, this is how John 3:15-19, the most popular passage in all of Christendom, could more literally be translated: ”… whoever believes in (en) Him, should have eternal life. For God so loved the world (Kosmos) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into (eis) Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into (eis) the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The one who believes into (eis) Him is not judged; but the one who does not believe has been judged already, because that one has not believed into (eis) the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this now is the judgment, that the light has come into (eis) the world, and mankind loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Living into the Thin Place by Believing into Him: “Into Him” is an apt phrase to use in the context because it implies action, not mere belief; it suggests entering into a union with Christ; it is not a passive phrase in which one believes in Christ’s existence, but won’t bother to embrace Him in everyday life. Believing into Him includes working His words practically into His heart and mind; this phrase implies a movement from a generalized belief that Jesus exists, into a personal commitment to Him; to believe into Jesus is to lean into Him, to intimately join together with Him, to trust Jesus enough to unite yourself into Him through active faith, to place yourself into the spiritual reality of Christ; to believe into Him is to desire a permanent relationship with Him, finding your human identity in Him; believing into Jesus is to work His words into your heart and mind; it is to prove your allegiance to Him by the biblical standard of both hearing and doing, not just hearing. Believing into Christ means both that you have asked His Holy Spirit to enter your life and that you have asked to enter into His.
Half the Story. “There is no condemnation to those who are inside Christ Jesus, those who belong to Him and are joined in life-union with Him.” (Romans 8:1). Imagine if someone has gone through a long life in the Christian faith, being told that one side of the story is the complete story. Yes, that’s me. I grew up being taught that the believer’s relationship with God involved God inside of me through the Holy Spirit, which of course is true. But that’s the incomplete part. I was never really instructed as to the importance of the believer being inside God, and that we have therefore a thin place inside of each of us. There is a double mystery here, and our union with Christ actually goes both ways… God inside of each of us, and each of us inside of God. Christ enters us through the Holy Spirit, and His Spirit delivers us into the Person of God. Christ dwells within me, and I dwell within Christ. This double mystery, God in me and me in God, is well-mentioned in the New Testament, including in John’s letters: “God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live inside Him, and He inside us.” (1 John 4:13); those who obey God’s teachings remain inside Him, and He inside them.” (1 John 3:24).
The Thin Place Within Our Mutual Indwelling. Our union with God is obviously full of mystery, the kind of sacred secret that the Lord needs to unpack for us. Some scholars call this the “Mystical Union,” while others refer to it as the “Double Union.” For a flesh and blood finite person to join with and into the supreme Lord of the Universe, a human being intimately united with the world’s Creator and vast spiritual presence, is way beyond our understanding. Our double union with God must mean that somehow we exist inside of each other, that the heavenly has joined with the earthly. Our mutual indwelling with God prompts us to consider thoughts like these: When we unite with God, we are one in spirit with Him; We are inside of God, which means we are welcomed into the intimate and eternal fellowship of the Holy Trinity; Since we are inside Christ, we can participate in the interior life of Christ; To pray ‘in the Spirit’ might actually mean we pray inside the Spirit; Living inside Christ means we can acquire the very mind of Christ; We belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to us; We can only become new creatures if we are enfolded into God and He is enfolded into us. There is even a million-dollar word that many believe sums this all up: “Christification.” That’s quite a mouthful, and one wonders if believers are truly “Christified,” or as the Orthodox Church puts it, “Deified.” “Because of His glory and goodness, He has given us great and precious promises, so that through them you may escape from the world’s corruption due to disordered passions and human desires, and may become partakers of the divine nature, participants in His nature, sharing in the divine life of God.” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Transformation. Because we are joined with Christ, He is within us, and we are within Him. Our transformation, our sanctification, would seem to happen two ways, then… The Holy Spirit inside of us gradually transforming our nature into the image of Christ; and each of us inside of Christ, receiving an endless supply of the interior qualities of Jesus, His character, attributes, and all the spiritual riches we could ever imagine. We were created in His image, became hopelessly broken, and then in God’s love welcomed into Jesus so that we could end up like Jesus once again. Being inside of Christ and intimately joined with Him means we receive the divine sap that flows through the Vine. Inside Christ, we have an eternal supply of heavenly nutrients that enable us to change, mature and go from one level of glory to another, into the very likeness of Christ Himself.
“God made this sinless Man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with Him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God, by your union with Christ Jesus, living in fellowship with God through Christ.” (Romans 6:11).
The Thin Place Within Christ. Because of the Double Union, believers are assured that we are participating in the life of Christ; we are inseparably joined with the Trinity; we have been hand-delivered into the very Person of Christ; we are tightly wrapped into His nature and essence; we are in Christ’s family and so our human identity is hidden within Christ; we belong to Him, and He is in possession of each of us; we have a permanent spiritual location within Christ, an eternal home address, and are not lost in the cosmos. Inside of Christ, we go wherever He goes, including His death, resurrection, ascension, and now in the heavenly realms. We were baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), are united with Him, and thus our union with Him enables us to be with Him right now seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:4-7). “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ inside God.” (Colossians 3:3).
“No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God remains united with us, and He makes His permanent home in us and we make our permanent home in Him. His love is then brought to its full expression in us. He has given us His Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that we remain united with Him and He with us…. Those who confess and give thanks that Jesus is the Son of God remains in union with God, they live inside of God, and God lives inside of them. We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love He has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.” (1 John 4:12-16, The Complete Jewish Bible and The Passion Translation).
The Thin Place within the Heart. During the Biblical era, the heart was seen as the center of the body, so the reasoning was that therefore the heart was the center, the core, of every person. The heart was viewed as that which housed everything about a person that made him human… emotions, thoughts, motivations, inspirations. The heart was the central part of the inner life of each person, the home to the essence of each person, and represented a person’s personality, character traits, actions, thought process. The heart was the source of love and faith, as well as hate and sin.
God has a Heart. With that in mind, God of course has a heart. The only reason each person has a heart is that we were all made in God’s image, therefore we all have an inner home within that operates as a source of what is true and distinctive about each of us. Yes, God has a heart that is bigger than the universe, an inner home that is able to contain everything and everyone. God had been on the lookout for a “person after God’s own heart” as He searched for a suitable King of Israel to replace Saul. (1 Samuel 13:14). The closest man God could find was David, but even the best of men is not perfect. God knew all along, though, that there was only one Man who would perfectly reflect His heart as a King… His Son Jesus. Jesus was the tangible image of the intangible God, and so it was Jesus who was perfectly able to reveal God’s heart on earth. If we wonder what makes God tick, that will remain a mystery. But Jesus did reveal the inside of God’s heart-home. The heart of God… full of grace and truth.
Jesus physically fleshed out the spiritual heart of God, and in fact is inside His Father’s heart. The Father is so intimately in union with the Son, that they are somehow inside each other. And going a step further, we are inside Jesus when we begin to trust in Him and accept Him into our own heart. In the kingdom of God, we find unions popping up everywhere… Christ inside the Father; the Father inside of Christ; Believers inside of Jesus, and at the same time Jesus inside of believers. “Dwell inside of Me, abide in Me, make yourself at home inside of Me, and I am inside of you.” (John 15). “God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live inside Him, and He inside us.” (1 John 4:13).
Our Hidden Thin Place. Even though the phrase “accept Jesus into our heart” is not in Scripture, we get the picture. Accepting Jesus into our hearts means we receive Him into the very core of our being, into the centerpiece of who we are, affecting everything about us. When we receive Jesus into our heart-home, our identity becomes His, the essence of our personhood is intimately wrapped into the essence of Christ’s Personhood. When we make our home in His home, He miraculously becomes a Resident inside each of us as well. And when we experience that Double Union with Jesus Christ, we discover that our spiritual location is inside of the very heart of God. In other words, if the Son is inside the Father, and we are inside the Son, then logically we are inside the Father! By dwelling in the Son’s heart, we dwell in the Father’s heart as well. By living inside Jesus, the Person after God’s own heart, we find ourselves inside God’s heart! As Paul claims in Colossians 3:3, believers are “hidden within Christ, inside of God.”
God’s discipline is always good for us, He corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, so that we may share in His holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10). In our union with Christ, we ‘share in His holiness:’ Being set apart from sin and its consequences; growing in those aspects of divine nature that God shares with believers; being partners with Christ in His divinity because of His partnership with us in humanity; cultivating divine characteristics because of intimate fellowship with God; God’s image being restored in us because of our union with Him; participating in the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; acquiring God’s spiritual DNA. Yes, we become “partakers of God’s divine nature.” Does that make us Gods? Are we changed into His essence? Does sharing with Jesus’ holiness make us worthy of worship? The quick and definitive answer is NO. There will always be a profound distinction between man and God. We do not become God, but we do acquire Godlikeness. This is indeed a mystery. We participate in God’s holiness. We become intimate partners with God in a unique fellowship. We ‘share in His divine nature,’ without becoming God.
Restoring God’s Image. Before the presence of sin in the world, God’s image in us directed our human destiny. But that image, that holiness, was marred and tainted. As we live into Christ, we partake in the divine nature, and God’s image in us is renewed. The thick place of our separation with God becomes the thin place of our re-union. Our original destiny re-emerges. Communion with God results in the renewal of God’s image in us. As the Orthodox Church puts it, “We become by grace what God is by nature.” God’s divine energy transforms us into people who share in His holiness. The divine likeness is restored in a heavenly process. “We are being transformed into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transformation comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Through our intimate union with God, we participate in the process of re-creating God’s image and likeness in us. We share in His holiness. The boundaries between each person and God are obliterated.
The Father’s Genes. When we are given birth into God’s family, we begin to share His spiritual DNA. We have become children of the Lord, God’s true sons and daughters. We now share family characteristics, and holiness becomes a family tradition. God the Father has imparted His spiritual genetic framework to us, placing us in His gene pool. We now partake in His divine nature by being born again through the Spirit in union with our brother Jesus. “Jesus the Holy One makes us holy. And as sons and daughters, we now belong to the same Father, so Jesus is not ashamed or embarrassed to introduce us as His brothers and sisters!” (Hebrews 2:11).
“Now you have been united with Christ Jesus and are inside of Him. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13). “As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.‘” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
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