WHEN CHRIST DWELLS WITHIN
If you have ever wondered what the ideal state of being would be for a person, there are many possibilities including good health, having peace of mind, possessing great wealth and so on. Surely, these are rare to have and bring immense value, but nothing would approach the state of having God Himself dwell within man. Because if that were to happen, the perfection, the surpassing accomplishments and the fullness that God alone can bring to a person would become attainable. From being an ordinary person, you go on to living an extra-ordinary life.
The field of genetic engineering is quite astonishing. Select genes that confer advantages to the host are incorporated into the genetic structure by bioengineering techniques. Once the process is perfected what is produced is a host with superior capabilities, far beyond what the genetic makeup of the host would otherwise be capable of. This is no different from aspiring to have God living within man. Much like there are significant hurdles with genetic engineering to make it successful, having God come to dwell within man is no easy task because of the incompatibility between the sinful man and the sinless God.
When Jesus gave himself up on the cross, taking on the sins of the world, it was God’s ultimate initiative of love to reach out to man and provide him with an avenue that would bridge the gap between God and man. Being sinless, Jesus went to the cross and paid for the sins of man, that by his death we would be forgiven and found, having an access to the presence of God. There is no other way for man to bridge this gap. The apostle Paul describes this further,
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
It is a combination of God’s strength and man’s faith that makes it possible for this process to start and take effect. It is a mysterious combination of God’s sovereignty to save man and man’s decision to submit to Christ that brings union with God. Being able to comprehend the extent of God’s love is critical to appreciate this union and grow in it. By using the term ‘love’, Paul goes beyond feelings to the very nature of God, which permeates through all of creation and holds all things together. Consummation of this union is when man is filled to the measure of all fullness of God as Christ lives within and out of him.
If fullness of life were available, would you not take it?
