Galations 2: 20 NKJV
I was watching some overrated reality show the other night, which in itself is bad enough. However, it seemed like a good way to kill time. Somehow, the restaraunt critic host of the show made the off the cuff comment that he could remember the exact day of his first baptism. Now, I'm not sure if this guy was looking to get his show axed, but talking christianity on network tv is a good way to do just that. So, I got to thinking if I could recall the exact day of my own baptism...I've had two. I vaguely recall bits of each one, which may or may not refelct just how importantly I viewed each. Can I really recall that day I first met Jesus? I'm thinking not. Yes, some may be thinking as they read this that it would be impossible for me, a sinful man, to ever come face to face with Christ Jesus. To these people I would say...don't take everything your pastor says as gospel. Yes, I have come face to face with Christ. In fact, it is He who now lives through me {Galations 2:20}. So it is that everything I will ever do, experience and feel I do as Christ who is in me. Yet, good luck trying to get me to recall the exact day I came to that realization of Christ in me. The difference between that revelation of Christ in us and, say, our own baptism is that that baptism is a pretty concrete physical act. Now, did Christ experience that baptism through me? I have no doubt that He has been a big part of me for some time now. However, like I said, I am just hard pressed to recall the exact timing of my so called conversion into that world of the Spirit of Christ. I think of the apostle Paul, who certainly had no doubt in his own heart that the Spirit of Christ lived on through him. Did Paul recall that exact moment where he realized the indwelling presence of Christ, not really. However, Paul realized something even more important. Paul knew that, unlike a baptism, our own realization of Christ in us may go unnoticed for a time. So it was that he knew that it is only by Gods timing that we come to that realization {Galations 1: 15-16}.
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
I remember a conversation I had with a friend some time ago on this topic. He recalled looking into the mirror one morning and thinking to himself that he was indeed looking at Jesus. The point is that even for a good christian man such as my friend, the knowledge of Christ in him was something gradual in his life. I'm guessing that this was his way of telling me that one day I would come to that very same realization. One day I too would meet Jesus. Well, I can definately say that I now know the truth of Christ in me. Now, does that mean I live each and every day in the knowledge of that revelation? Well, I have my moments. I like to tell people that knowing Christ in us is really a tough thing to wrap our minds around. Indeed, it is the mystery among the gentiles {Colossions 1:27}. That is, Christ in us, the hope of glory. In our own group we have been meeting and digesting this truth of Jesus in us for more than a few years. Every now and then someone new will join us and I will see that glazed look in their eyes as they try to comprehend what I've struggled to come to grips with myself. Hey, dude, I've been there. For me these days it's more about reinforcing what I already know. That as I live, Christ lives. Something I often think of is the phrase "the man in the mirror." Who is it that I see when I look in that mirror? Well, no matter what I'm thinking at the time has no bearing on that truth of Christ in me. I could be having one of my lowest days of the week, Jesus is still standing there looking back at me. That realization isn't just reserved for me or the righteous. No, the truth of Christ is there for all to enjoy...the day you meet Jesus.
15But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
Galations 1: 15 - 16 NKJV
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment