“Come into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus.” Many of us will remember singing these words in Sunday School or elsewhere. The words may seem simple, and without deep kingdom revelations, but how about the last part? “Come in today, come in to stay.”
Many have forgotten the simplicity of this truth. Jesus Christ came into our hearts to continuously dwell there. It is time for all of us to remember, and believe this! Many of us have walked through valleys of despair and major over whelming problems, however, next we climbed the mountains of glory. Them we came crashing down to another bout of defeat and despondency. There is hope! CHRIST LIVES IN US NOW, and will REMAIN! Yes!!! Even in the deep and dark valleys of life, HE REMAINS, perhaps hidden, but always there.
We must clearly understand that only the Kingdom of God, in the person of The King, has rule in our lives. Colossians 1:12-14 reads, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” NAU
ESSENTIAL FACTS:
1. The Father QUALIFIED us - nothing you or I could do, then or now.
2. He RESCUED us from the AUTHORITY of darkness. Satan, or demons have NO right over us! Christ HAS set us free once and for all! So why the fear?
3. Our Father TRANSFERRED us. Where? Into the present Kingdom of His Son.
4. In this Kingdom we have REDEMPTION and FORGIVENESS.
We must never forget that there was nothing we could do. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us. “But by HIS DOING you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,” GOD DID IT! He placed us IN Christ, who is WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS, SANCTIFICATION AND REDEMPTION. This is all the doing of our loving Father.
We may say that all of this is wonderful, but life isn’t so simple. That depends on who is living in you. One of my favorite Scriptures is found in Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. NAU
MORE ESSENTIAL FACTS:
1. I am (the old ego nature) crucified with Christ. Our old Adamic nature DIED.
2. It is no longer I who lives. Someone is living, but NOT the old man.
3. Now a new life - CHRIST. Never forget this! CHRIST LIVES IN US!
4. The real new “I” is CHRIST IN ME. We haves a new nature. HIS nature.
5. Now we live differently. We live by FAITH that is “IN” - Greek “en” the Son of God. This is faith that is RESIDENT in Him. Not our faith, it is HIS faith! True faith is always at REST. No more struggle. You don’t have to work it up, because it is not our faith, but HIS FAITH. No confessing, no claiming, just REST.
For many years I have told people that they don’t need to live the “Christian life.” You read it correctly. STOP TRYING TO LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE. You CANNOT do it, as it IS IMPOSSIBLE. When we have had our fill of “ups and downs,” legalistic rules of “do’s and don’ts,” then we can come to the end of our own fruitless efforts. The truth becomes alive. We are NOT under law but GRACE. Then the struggle will end. YES! He “came into your heart to stay.” The ONLY One who can live the Christian life is, CHRIST IN YOU.
Now let us review these facts again using Romans 6:6-11 for confirmation.
Vs 6 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”
NOTICE that WE DIED. The DEAD can’t do anything!
Vs 7 “for he who has died is FREED FROM SIN.”
We are FREE. So why live in bondage? The only One who has rights to you is God. You are GOD’S property, not some demons! You ARE the TEMPLE OF GOD, which is HOLY!
Vs 8 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,”
We died! We LIVE with Christ!
Vs 9 “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.”
When He died, we died. When He was buried, were we. Our new Master is Christ!
Vs 10 “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
OUR LIFE PURPOSE IS TO GLORIFY GOD and NOT SELF.
Vs 11 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
The Greek word used for consider is, logizoma [Strong’s #3049] It has the meaning of doing math. 1 + 1= 2. 5 X 5= 25. Nothing will change this. You can’t say that 1 +1= 3. It isn’t possible. So we must reckon based upon truth. Christ died - We died. He was buried - We were buried. He arose - We arose. He ascended to the Father’s right hand - We ascended and are SEATED in heavenly places. See Ephesians 2:5-6.
There are times we may not FEEL like we are saved or living a victorious life. We may feel guilt over our past. Romans 8:1-2 tells us, “Therefore there is NOW NO CONDEMNATION for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” The NEB puts it this way, “The conclusion of the matter is this: there is no condemnation for those who are united with Christ Jesus, because in Christ Jesus the life-giving law of the Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Remember GOD PUT US IN CHRIST!
ESSENTIAL TRUTHS:
1. NO condemnation. Why? We are IN Christ.
2. We are living under the new LAW OF LIFE.
3. Christ has set us FREE from Sin and Death.
Romans Eight begins with NO CONDEMNATION ends with NO SEPARATION and there is NO DEFEAT in between. This is the glorious walk of the sons of God. The following chorus is one that I learned in the early 1960's.
The Lord is our strength, and the joy of our salvation,
The Lord is our light, we shall not walk in darkness,
The Lord is our life, our glory and high calling,
The Lord is our all in all.
The Lord is our peace, our only hope of righteousness,
The Lord is our rest, we shall struggle no more,
The Lord is our rock, our fortress and strong tower,
The Lord is our all in all.
Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21, “For me to live IS CHRIST and to die is gain.” He didn’t fear death, demons, or persecution. He knew that, “Absent from the body” meant, “to be HOME with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) He knew that to live, was living the CHRIST LIFE, and when it was time to leave his physical body, he had a SPIRITUAL BODY to put on.([2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
Paul’s commission, unlike the Twelve Apostles, was to ALL peoples regardless of race, creed, culture, or position. (Colossians 3:11) The Pauline teachings are those that belong to the New Testament/Covenant, to the church, the called out ones, the body of Christ, whereas the ministry of Jesus Christ was to the Jew. The Gospels are actually teachings given under the Old Covenant dispensation. Even as we understand the prophecy and truths of the Old Testament by the New Testament, and not the reverse, we must realize truth to the Church is of a higher revelation.
Consider the glorious truth of this verse. Colossians 1:27 “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Williams - the hope of glorification) This word “mystery” has the idea of that which was hidden being revealed NOW for ALL to see, as it wasn’t before. This was no longer for a select group - Jews only, it was FOR ALL! The truth was, CHRIST IN, AND AMONG ALL! How we need to understand that Christ is for ALL. Not just our select few. We limit the plans and purposes of God by our refusal to see that Christ died for ALL, not just for us super saints. 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as IN Adam all die, so also in Christ ALL will be made alive.” Fact: We ALL died in Adam. Fact: In Christ ALL are vivified - made alive.
Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” (Deity is a better word than the awkward “Godhead” some archaic translations use.) In Christ Jesus GOD LIVED. DEITY found it’s expression in an earthen body. We may say that in Christ was the DNA of God the Father.
Now, look at verse 10, “and IN HIM you have been MADE COMPLETE, and He is the head over all rule and authority;” Complete is from the Greek word “pleroo’ - Strong’s #4137 - meaning, to be made full.
Beloved within every child of God there is the DNA of God. All mankind has the seed of God in part as part of His creation. IN CHRIST is the fullness. It is God’s purpose to bring all into full manifestation as the sons of God. There is no excuse not to mature in Christ because it is not based upon doing such good things as Bible reading, prayer, and good works, etc. It is based upon the LIVING CHRIST WITHIN.
“When Christ, who is OUR LIFE, is REVEALED, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4) What does this mean? Going to heaven? No! It means that Christ will become such a reality in us that the glory of His presence, His person, His character will shine forth in our lives. But how can this be? Because He lives within.
Our prayer is, “Even so come Lord Jesus! Come in your people. Grant the life of the glorious Christ within to so fill our personal earth, that the expression of Christ in his body will fill the whole earth. The earth is yours, and you have not surrendered your sovereignty. You use all things to work out your purposes. Even now cause your saints to reign in the glory that you purposed in eternity past. Amen!
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)