He Lives!

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8: 10-11 NKJV

There is a bible scripture, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Although I whole heartedly agree with this verse, I would add one thought.  Jesus does not give us our strength, Jesus IS our strength!  If we agree that it is our savior who lives on in us, then all that we see, touch and feel we share with our Lord Christ.  The senses that make up our fleshly bodies, we share with Jesus, for he lives on in us.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved Me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

Although there are more than a few places in scripture that point to Jesus living in Gods children, it is a quite difficult truth to accept.  The scripture tells us of Gods infinite love that walked Jesus to the cross for our sakes, and we believe.  Scripture also tells us that Christ rose again on that third day to be witnessed by a few hundred witnesses, and we believe.  Yet, the scripture also tells us that after his resurection, Jesus dwells within the very bodies of those he was crucified for, and this we struggle to believe.  Our Lord Christ is the same yesteday, today and forever, he has not changed!  Do we now cherry pick our scriptures, believing some while disregarding others we find difficult to comprehend?  

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.  For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1: 20-21 NKJV

Just because we simply don't understand how something in scripture could be true, we cannot invalidate Gods word by adding our own interpretation.  This truth, this reality of Christ in us, was one of the most difficult things in scripture for me to accept.  How could my Jesus live on in this sinful body of mine?  If my Lord cannot stand in the presence of sin, how could he live in me?  But wait, by saying that we are sinners, are we not invalidating the shed blood of our Lord Jesus on the cross?   After all, was it not for us that Jesus died on that cross?  Did God not love us so much that he would send his only son to be a sin offering in our place?  The scriptures tell us this, and we believe.

In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:7 NKJV

There it is, through Jesus, THROUGH HIM, we have forgiveness of our sins!  That is, ALL of our sins past, present and future!  So, I was wrong all along.  My Lord Jesus can AND DOES live in me.  The scripture tells me this, and I believe.  We need not worry that Jesus will find our sin soaked bodies repulsive enough to refrain from residing in us.  The fact is, Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross to wash away those sins that burdened us.  We are sinners no more!  We can now welcome our Lord Jesus to live within us and share our lives.  He Lives!

~Scott~