Christ in me

“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…” 1Cor. 1:2

I have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, but I continue to strive to become more sanctified. I am a saint, but I will never be saintly enough. In fact, I am quite unhappy with the progress that I have been making as a saint. Unfortunately, sometimes I don’t even look or act like a saint.

I need to behold the face of Jesus more often, for I don’t have any light in and of myself; all I have is a dim reflection of his bright countenance.

I need to practice more diligently the precious reality of “Christ in me.”

I was in Christ when he was hanging on the cross, even though it took place about two thousand years before I was born. Time and space matter very little in this case. I was united with Jesus when he died and was one with him when he rose again. I am one with him in the heavenly realms despite the fact that I am flesh and blood. These are the realities of which we are hardly aware.

Nothing is more real than the reality that Christ is in me and I am in Christ. Unless we abide by this truth, the truth will not set us free. We still live in bondage for lack of knowledge of Christ.

I have been sanctified, and there is nothing I can do to make myself more sanctified or saintly. We are either sanctified or we are not. It’s a matter of us being either guilty or not guilty, and there is not a gray area in between. We walked out from the prison of our psychotic self-consciousness and self-absorption after we were set free. Are we experiencing the freedom of being a free man?

It’s the reality of “Christ in me” that makes this freedom real. This liberty in Jesus is so real and solid that we can actually touch and taste it in our daily lives. Christ is nearer to us than our heartbeat and more intimate to us than each breath we take, yet we often lead our lives in such a way as if he doesn’t even exist.

I don’t have to become more sanctified to see him; all I need is to sharpen my inner vision. I don’t have to become more saintly to hear from him; all I need to do is to tune my ears to match his frequency and to alter the rhythm of my heart to harmonize with his melody. I only cloud my vision when I sin, but Christ is still ever so near.

Let me not search for you up and down the world; let me not look for you in the ever-changing scene of various circumstances; let me not try to find you in life’s joy and sorrow; let me rather enter into my own heart where Christ sits on his throne. What Christ yearns for us to do is to return to where he is, and never depart.