He Before Me

 

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

Truly knowing Jesus can be a bit confusing.  First off and most importantly, there is the hundreds of years of church narrative which we continually need to dig through in order to get to the crux of who it is that Jesus really is.  Even then, those old mainstream church ideas nag at us making us wonder if Jesus could really be who He claims to be.  So, who exactly is Jesus?  Well, for most of the human race, Jesus is one of the most influential men to have ever walked the earth.  Whenever we think of kindness, grace and love we often think of Jesus.  Indeed, Jesus IS all of these things, and much more.  Yet there all too often seems to be a disconnect between Christ and we who believe in God.  Like it or not, the fact remains that when we see Jesus, we see the Father as well {Johns Account 14:7-9, Johns Account 14:20, Johns Account 17:21}.  When we look upon the Father, we see the Son as well.  I get that.  But how is it that I can come to be in Jesus as the writings of John claim?  Perhaps the apostle Paul was on to something when he wrote of the indwelling Christ in him {Paul To The Galatians 2:20, Paul To The Romans 6:8}.  It is Paul who speaks to the believer being IN Christ Jesus.  This is where it gets confusing for many believers.  How is it that we can accept the truth that it is Jesus who dwells within our physical body?  As part of battling the old church mantra, we often get tripped up over the fact that we, as sinful beings, could not possibly be a host to Christ.  But here the words of Paul may shed some light on our situation.  Paul proclaims with confidence that "With Christ have I been crucified" {Pual To The Galatians 2:20}.  Paul understood that the man he once was, that sinner the church continues to remind us of, had been put to death with Jesus on the cross.  What remained in him, was Jesus.  Paul was confident enough to proclaim the purpose of his life, that to live is Christ {Paul To The Philippians 1:21}.  I realize how confusing that this might seem because I've been there.  My own journey of coming to know Christ has forced me to overcome more than a few things which I formerly understood to be true.  First and foremost is the fact that I, as an individual, no longer exist.  And you thought that knowing Jesus would be easy?  

There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside me" {Isaiah 45:5}.

No Independent Self ~ Norman P. Grubb 

It turns out that there is some truth behind that old adage, "Get over yourself!"  When a good friend first spoke this truth to me I was dumbfounded.  What I had been taught to believe about Jesus had been tossed aside.  Jesus was not my judge, but my dearest life companion.  My sins no longer prevented Him from dwelling in me {Paul To The Romans 6:10}.  Now, most well meaning Christians understand that Jesus gave Himself that our sins would be wiped away from the sight of the Lord {Paul To The Corinthians(2) 5:21}.  However, they continue to worry about their sin in a post crucifixion era.  I have a coworker who admits that he believes in the sin cleansing death of Jesus, but at the same time worries about his day to day sins.  This, of course, is a hamster wheel we will NEVER get off of.  That is, unless we know and trust in who Jesus truly is.  I have a favorite saying which asks how many times should Jesus be crucified before we are satisfied that we are truly free.  The truth is, Jesus provided for the cleansing of our sin that He would be our life.  I believe that we have had the Father in us from birth {Genesis 1:27}.  It is the Father who breathed into us the breath of life {Genisis 2:7}.  One could make the argument that with His death Jesus was reclaiming what was rightfully His, that being the children of God the Father.  The truth is, I had to die that HE remain in me.  Jesus in the Father, I in Christ and Christ in me.  

~Scott~