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
A whole lot of people have difficulty living the truth of Christ. What is it that the Jesus life looks like? Well, Jesus Himself speaks to this in the book of John. It is here where He proclaims that He is not only in the Father, but in us as well {Johns Account 14:20}. Wait, Jesus in me? Absolutely, and the scriptures speak to this very truth. The apostle Paul speaks to having been "Crucified with Christ," and that "Living in me is Christ" {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. The question was posed this week by a good friend, is it indeed Jesus who lives in us, or the spirit? In answer to this question, I first looked into Who Jesus truly is. We're told that the Father is in spirit {Johns Account 4:24}. I believe that this is how we need to look upon Jesus as well. Yes, we recall Jesus in the flesh, born of a woman {Paul to the Galatians 4:4}. Yet we also see that Jesus was in the beginning with God {Johns Account 1:1-4}. My own belief is that the reality of Christ Jesus is that He remains as the Father is, in the spirit. He has spoken to the fact that He is one with the Father {Johns Account 10:30}. Therefore, we can assume that He and the Father are indeed in their spirit identity. This is who Jesus is. For that reason, I believe that it is indeed Christ in Whom I live my own life. This is our union life which Jesus speaks of in the book of John {Johns Account 14:20}. So it is that the true reality of Jesus, in His spirit, is what we now live our lives in. It is true that Jesus shares in the same divine nature as the Father. If this were not so, He would not have identified Himself with Him as being one with the Father. But Jesus has also declared that we share in His spirit reality as well. We know this through our union life in He and the Father. I have sometimes referred to my own identity as a reflection of who I am inside. In reality, I AM that very image of Christ who is in me. Paul speaks to our being transformed into His image "Even as from the Lord, the spirit" {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3:18}. This is who we are in Christ.
Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lord's glory, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the spirit
Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3: 18, Concordant New Testament
One of the first obstacles I faced in my own understanding of my life in Christ was that reality of my own identity. Who am I really? Well, I know that I was created in the likeness of God the Father {Genesis 1:27}. What is the "Likeness" of God? Is God in the flesh as we often perceive ourselves to be? We know that Jesus was indeed born of the flesh as an "only-begotten of the Father"{Johns Account 1:14}. If we were created in the likeness of God, then He sees us as He sees Himself, in spirit. In our physical mindset, it is often difficult to understand that our true identity does not lie with the flesh, but the spirit. This is the difficulty I faced in discovering my own identity in Jesus. We see the flesh and we immediately think of sin and evil. For its part, the mainstream church has done its best to perpetuate this lie. If God has created me in His own likeness, is there any part of me that is evil? Remember, I am that very image of the Father, created in His likeness. What part of God is wicked? The lie that the flesh is evil and wicked is a lie spoken by those in the mainstream church. These are the same folks who speak the separation theology that it is our own sin which prevents us from a close, intimate relationship with God. That's simply nonsense. Paul speaks to the truth of Christ Jesus dying to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. That is, our sin past, present and future. There is some belief that our flesh, created by God, is neutral in nature. That is, it is often subject to suggestions good or bad. Yet that is a discussion for another day. Living the Jesus life is understanding that we live our lives in His true identity. That is, we live our lives within the spirit of Christ.
~Scott~
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