… but Christ lives in me.
Summary: Understanding that we have an invisible spiritual self is one thing. Understanding that Jesus wants to be with us is another.
So, how does Christ come to live in me?
From the world’s point of view, looking at the outside of the “tent” of my body, anything that happens with my spiritual self looks like it is “in” me. How the spiritual self works is something that is beyond our understanding. Yet, there are spiritual realities that cannot be ignored.
Perhaps you have heard “voices” in your mind. They may or may not sound like audible voices, but you can “hear” the thoughts they present to you. When people are tempted these “voices” are the ones doing the temptation. If these voices are not honoring God above all else and loving other people as ourselves (Matthew 22: 37-40), then they are not good voices.
When Christ comes to live in us, we hear his voice (John 10:27). Jesus also promises us the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 15:26). God’s Spirit also has a voice.
Another kind of “voice” we hear is when we read the written word. As we read, words are formed in our minds, and we “hear” them as a voice. When we read God’s Word, we are listening to the words of our Lord.
When Christ comes to live in us, he comes because we invite him into our “tent.” From a spiritual perspective, something similar happens, although it is more difficult to talk about because it is so personal. When we invite Jesus in and accept his Holy Spirit, we submit to our Lord. Through his Word and his Holy Spirit, he begins the work of helping us to clean our tent.
Why does it need cleaning?
Remember those other spirits we talked about? The voices of temptation? Those spirits need to be cleaned out. For some people, they are no bigger than a dust bunny. Others have given themselves over to more substantial demons who are like gorillas in a china shop. The Lord is not intimidated by any of these. When Christ comes to live with us, the housecleaning begins and continues throughout our lives.
When Christ lives in me, I can finally be free.
Application: Listen to Jesus’ voice.
Food for Thought: How do we know that Christ is living in us?
Faith. We believe we have sinned against God, that sin has separated us from God, that Christ came out of love to pay that debt so we can be reconciled to God through Christ. Our faith in Him allows Him to reveal Himself to us. Just as Christ has made a place for us in heaven, we have made a place for Him in our hearts. And He graciously abides there.
There is other evidence for believers that Christ is living in us.
Ephesians 3: 16-19 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Strengthened with power through his Spirit.
Rooted and grounded in love.
Comprehend…what is the breadth and length and height and depth.
To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.
Filled with all the fullness of God.
We know that Christ is living in us because He is the source of our life in Him.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Chris,
You wrote, “Our faith in Him allows Him to reveal Himself to us.”
I like this construct! Our faith is the open door that allows Jesus to walk into our hearts and our lives. 🙂
I like CH’s comments. Perhaps the primary evidence of Christ in us is spiritual fruit. Matthew 7: 15 – 23; John 15: 1 – 8; Galatians 5: 22 – 23.
Thank you, Rich.
I agree that being spiritually fruitful is evidence of our spiritual connection with God.
Thank you for the verses you shared. Very interesting!
How do we know that Christ is living in us?
When we repent, turn from our sins, give ourselves to the Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ comes to dwell in our hearts, and we are given the opportunity to begin the life long process of growing in Christ as we are changed from being self-centered, to being Christ centered. In the power of the Holy Spirit His character and motivations will overcome the power of our old self and we will see these changes as we experience the joy and are reunited with our creator
Romans 8:9-10, You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
1 John 4:13, By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.
This is what Paul meant when He wrote that He was “crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live” (Galatians 2:20). He was in the process of overcoming his sins and evil character—metaphorically killing those things. And, in their place, he was striving to let Christ live in Him—replacing his character with Christ’s character. In faith, walking as Jesus walked.
Thanks Ron!
I really like the Romans 8:9-10 passage:
“You … are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit…”
That speaks to the question of who (and where) are we.
For those who might be curious:
The late posting today was due to a technical glitch. I’m not sure what happened but the post was scheduled to go live at 3 AM.
On top of that I was on the road this weekend and experienced more technical issues with trying to access the website, and later, accessing my computer due to time constraints.
Thank you for your understanding and your patience!
I was letting it go one time, if it happened again I was set to pry.
Happy to hear all is well!
LOL!! 🙂
Thanks Chief!
This totally threw off my groove. It will take days to recover 😊.
🙂
I’ll be more careful!! 🙂