"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27)
Just the other night a brother of mine, from a men’s Christian group that I’m apart of was talking about the day he realized the Christian life is not a “difficult, drudgery, painful, etc” life of “doing everything possible to just NOT SIN!” of fighting day in and day out to “resist” sin. But it IS a life of finally coming to the realization that a “DEATH” has occurred (and I advocate that a formal certificate should be made) and a “LIFE” has come (and a birth certificate should be made). Because Paul does say “For the death he died [Christ] he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:10-11). Now this is where the grasping of our true “IDENTITY” comes into play. When we come finally to the reality that it is NO LONGER us who live in these shells we call a body, but it is LITERALLY Christ “in us”. THIS mindset, this truth, this revelation, WILL impact how we live and why we live in this life. That we “REST” in the abiding of the True Vine (Christ) and we, as a simple branch, “allow” His life force to nourish us daily (John 15:4), through prayer, confession, His Word, worship, fellowship, etc. NOT that we will never sin or be perfect in this life. BUT, we will EXPERIENCE the reality of CHRIST IN US and it will create hope, joy, and purpose each day we remind ourselves of this truth. That we are “children of God” born from God and we have an “ever-present Helper” Ps. 46:1 (the Holy Spirit in us) who meets us, hears us, helps us, and loves us, and strengthens us to live victorious lives. So, encourage one another, remind one another, pray for one another…….and stand firm!
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 