Jump Start # 699

Colossians 1:27 “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.”

We have looked this week at the activity of God in the lives of disciples. God taught us. God works through us. God is for us. Each of those are powerful expressions that illustrate the relationship, love and care that God has for His people. God wants us to spend forever with Him. Those verses show that God is not finished with us. He is still working with us, in us and for us. We are a work in progress. The work of His kingdom is not completed. It is on going and we are a part of that.

Our verse today expresses the idea that Christ is in us. That is repeated several places in the N.T. Paul told the Galatians that he no longer lived, but Christ lived in Him. There are some things we need to understand about the expression, “Christ is in you.”

1. This does not mean that I am God. That will never be. Christ in me does not mean I am Christ. That was never the intention of that expression.

2. It likewise does not mean that God is everywhere and everything, like the New Age philosophy taught. The tree is God, the sky is God, we are God. No. Not at all. God is a living being. He is not a rock, a mountain, or the rain.

3. It does not mean that I am capable of doing what Christ could do. I am not miraculous nor can I do miracles. I am not inspired. I cannot read minds or the hearts of others. Christ was. Christ in me does not mean I can do those things. It also does not mean that I am sinless. Christ was. Never did He do wrong. Never did He have to apologize. Never did He have to repent. I can’t say that.

What it does mean and what it is referring to is relationship and fellowship. Christ in us means unity. Same goals. Same purpose. Same desires. Spiritually living…God’s will prevailing…His kingdom growing…living for Heaven—that’s what Christ is after. When I am after those things, Christ is in me. It is as if we are on the same side, the same team. Unison and harmony is the key. A piano note is like this. A person can hit a key and it plays a note. Inside the piano, each note is actually three separate strings that the hammer strikes. When a piano is in tune, you hear one beautiful note. It is that way with God. Individually, we are separate strings. When we are in tune with God it sounds like one beautiful note.

This thought presents a great responsibility upon us. Christ in us means that we are showing the world the characteristics of a life governed by Christ. Kindness, compassion, grace, patience, attitude, spirituality, and love ought to highlight our demeanor and our choices. When we lose our cool, we show that Christ doesn’t do much for us. When we act selfish, demanding and ugly, the way of Christ hasn’t conquered us. Christ is not at the wheel when those things happen. We will never convert someone with our words, until we capture their attention with our actions. The two cannot be opposites. Christ in us has to change us. Ephesians and Colossians detail the new life and the new person in Christ. Gone are the wicked, crooked ways that we once lived. Honesty, truthfulness and godliness dominate our thinking and our behavior.

Christ in us is not a badge, a position nor a bragging point, but rather, a way of living. Christ lives in us when we act that way. There are many places Christ could choose to dwell. He could dwell in a palace. He could be on display in a museum. He could be found only in the most talented among us. Instead, He chose to live in the hearts of those who will bow down to Him and walk in His steps. How impressive is that?

This also means that you are never alone, not if Christ is in you. That relationship cannot be separated by anyone else. They can imprison you, but Christ remains in you. They can isolate you, but Christ remains in you. They can put you in a far away place, all by yourself, but Christ is in you. He only leaves when I walk away from Him. I alone decide whether He will live in me or not. When I break fellowship with Him, then the bond is severed. Those words are good to remember. No one can separate us from Christ. That thought is how Paul ends Romans 8. He lists seven terrible things—including violence (sword), resistance (persecution), hardships (perils), natural disasters (famine). None of these things can sever that bond we have in Jesus.

Christ is in us—what a great thought. What a great relationship. What a great responsibility.

Roger