...that is, the mystery
which has been hidden from the past
ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God
willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-27
The truth of today is one of
the most important truths in our faith.
Paul proclaims the significance of the gospel in these words. If Christianity were nothing more than a man
deciding to worship Jesus and doing his best to imitate Him, there indeed would
be little hope. But if Christianity is
Jesus coming into an available human body and acting like Himself, then there
is abundant hope. It is this dynamic, Christ in you,
which secures our salvation.
In the first concept, all is
based on human strength. In the other,
all is based on the dynamic of the indwelling Christ. If my salvation depended on my ability to be
like Christ, I could be lost again and again.
But if my salvation depends on Jesus, then I cannot be lost. Thus my salvation is secured not by my
imitation of Christ but by my participation in Christ.
Not only is our salvation
secured, but our service is accepted. I
greatly fear that when the final accounting is done, much of the work that we
have sought to do for God will not stand. It has been done in the flesh, with fleshly
motives, and toward fleshly goals. Paul declares in Romans
14:23b, "whatever is not from faith
is sin." Jesus said, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the
Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative,
but the Father abiding in Me does His works. (John 14:10). If Jesus depended on the Father in Him to do
the works, how much more should we depend upon Him in us to do the works
here? If Jesus freely admitted, "The Son
can do nothing of Himself," we
should certainly not feel capable on our own.
Man working for God is one thing. God working in man is quite another. What we have
in our world is a system of religion that, in the main, encourages folks to
work for God. This kind of work is
bothersome, fruitless, and frustrating. Many
people become bored to death of church work growing “weary in well-doing”
because they are operating out of the wrong source of power..
This also changes the concept
of victory in our walk. No longer do we
need to struggle to find victory through human effort. Our victory is secured through the work of
Jesus and is ours to receive. In this
great key, (Christ in me) there is victory.
"And
this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (John 5:4). Victory
is not something I win, but Someone I
receive into my life.
CHRIST IN ME. Nobody can be
like Jesus like Jesus can. He is in
me. All of Him is in me. All of Him in me is available to me and
through me to a lost world. That makes
Christianity exciting. This makes it
Christ-in-you-ity and Christ-in-me-ity.
Scripture to Claim:
For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act
for His good purpose. Philippians 2:13
