In The Mirror Of Christ

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

A friend recently forwarded a video clip of the television series "The young pope" for a very profound reason.  In the scene, the pontiff is attempting to his visitor his overall importance in the big scheme of things.  Finaly, the pope proclaims "I do not exist!"  Now, I do not dispute this anology, for we who have accepted Christ Jesus ourselves no longer exist, but only live through Jesus who is within us.  However, to hear such new age christian talk coming from the leader of the worlds foremost institution of idol worship took me by surprise.  I would have been much more comfortable to hear a catholic pope proclaim, "Christ only exists because I allow Him to exist!"  What else would one expect from a religion which places the virgin Mary almost on par with Christ Himself?  A religion in which millions of faithful catholics the world over dutifuly stream millions of dollars into church coffers in the belief that somehow their "Sins" will be forgiven.  A religion where ornate church palaces seem to be worshiped more than our heavenly Father.  Not a religion really, but a business institution.  But, I digress.  What intrigued me of this video clip was the pontiffs speech, even if it was just for show.  For in the larger scheme of things, we ourselves do not exist!  Oh, we used to exist in that sin nature which we were born into.  However, all of that has changed once we accepted Jesus into our hearts.  For once we realized that there was more to Jesus than the man on the cross, a new reality was opened up for us.  A reality where that old man which once resided within us, having been put to death with Jesus on that cross, has now been replaced by Jesus Himself.  Therefore, when we look into that mirror each day, we see not ourselves but Christ Jesus looking back at us.  This is the reality of who we truly are in Christ.

20“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

The apostle Paul tells us in Galations 2:20 the basis of this very truth.  It is no longer we who live, but Christ who now lives in us.  It is Dennis who is fond of saying that we are but ourselves in Jesus form, and I agree.  I am Scott in Jesus form, Praise be to God!  THIS is the image which we see each and every day when we look into that mirror.  Not ourselves as we have known, but the image of Jesus looking back upon us.  And so, it is in this respect that we ourselves no longer exist.  It is but Christ Jesus, only He exists... in us.  One cannot take a good look into Pauls words in Galations 2:20 and not see this truth which he was trying to explain.  It is no longer I who live...but CHRIST lives in me.  This is our true image.  It is in this very image of Christ Jesus that we live, breathe and have our being each and every day.  Whatever it is we experience, we experience as Jesus who is in us.  So perhaps I can cut the young idol worshipper a bit of slack if he truly indeed knew the truth of Christ.  Of course, this would fly in the face of the teachings of the institutional catholic church.  He may even be facing excommunication for his radical beliefs.

~Scott~