Celebrating Christ in us
Philippians 3: 7 - 8 NKJV
I recently spent some time with a few brothers whom I have not had the company of for quite awhile. For me, it is always good to reconnect with brothers in the faith. However, as we talked there was definately something missing. It seems that Jesus wasn't invited to this gathering. Don't get me wrong, we definately talked about Christ Jesus and how it was that He died to save us from ourselves and how we today proclaim things in His very name, but we were missing the real Christ. See, Jesus is not simply sitting in heaven at the Fathers side seperated from us for the remainder of our time here on this clod of dirt we call earth. Yet this has been the prevailing thought in christian circles for far too long. We are told that we need to be more like Jesus, act more like Jesus and strive to know Jesus. All of this gives one the impression that Christ is seperate from ourselves and that our lives are but a struggle to finaly one day attain union with Him. Nothing could be more untrue. Yes, Jesus became sin on our behalf to shoulder that burden for us {2 Corinthians 5:21}. However, like someone who walks into a movie halfway through, we're missing the rest of the story. Jesus did not simply vanish from us upon His resurection. No, something far better happened on that glorious morning which may change our entire outlook of easter from now on. For I believe that or celebration of this occasion should not be one of a celebration of a life seperate from Christ...but of our lives IN HIM. For this is the truth of Christ Jesus today.
3Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it happened, as they were bgreatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6“He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7“saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”8And they remembered His words.
Luke 24: 3 - 8 NKJV
For those who still feel that they need to be more like Jesus I will ask this question...why do you seek the living among the dead? The apostle Pauls words in Galations 2 assure us that it is not we who live, but that Christ lives in us {Galations 2:20}. Paul does not tell us that we need to be more like Christ. He does not encourage us to work that much harder to know Him. No, Paul tells us that Jesus lives IN US. Maybe it's just me, but I trust the words of the apostle Paul over any pastor any day. So I guess the next time I hear a pulpit pounder tell me that I need to be more like Jesus I should make mention of Galations 2:20.
I should also mention that I had the opportunity recently to be in the company of a few brothers as we came together to celebrate Christ Jesus in us. As I write this I can almost hear a collective gasp from christian leaders far and wide. Christ Jesus in sinful man? Heracy! Perhaps this is why the Christ in us school of teaching has been put on the back burner for so long. So, can Jesus live on in sinful man? Are we indeed still sinners saved by grace? Think about this before you rattle off your answer. Did not Jesus Himself perish on that cross that our sins would be wiped clean? That is all sins past, present and future. So the truth is that we no longer carry the sinful man label which we once did. As Paul tells us in Romans 6, we are now dead to that sin which once haunted us. We are no longer slaves to our own sins {Romans 6:6}. So, can Christ Jesus live in sinful man? Perhaps not, but since my own sins have been covered I trust in my heart that He lives in me.
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
~Scott~
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