CHRIST IN US

 

Christ In Us! Him, We Preach

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Colossians 1:27-29

           In Jesus Christ, the greater One who lives in us by the Holy Spirit, is all our hope and our riches.  As a result, we can be assured of Christ in us. Be assured of who we are in Christ. Be assured of His power working on our behalf.  Although God does not always show His abilities,  He is working behind the scenes and things are working out as He has planned. It may not be our plan but it is His. For His word is true:

The LORD knows the days of the upright,  And their inheritance shall be forever.  They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,  And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish;  And the enemies of the LORD,  Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.  Into smoke they shall vanish away.

The wicked borrows and does not repay,  But the righteous shows mercy and gives.  For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,  But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,  And He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;  For the LORD upholds him with His hand.  I have been young, and now am old;  Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,    Nor his descendants begging bread.  He is ever merciful, and lends;  And his descendants are blessed.

Depart from evil, and do good;  And dwell forevermore.  For the LORD loves justice,  And does not forsake His saints;  They are preserved forever,  Butt the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.  The righteous shall inherit the land,  And dwell in it forever. Psalm 37:18-29

There are two sides to the character and nature of God. One side is that He knows and loves the upright, who shows mercy and give generously to others.  But the other side is the same Lord dislikes the wicked who do not show mercy and are not givers. As a result they are His enemies and are cursed by Him.   Hence God’s true ones must depart from evil, and do good for the Lord who loves justice will not forsake His saints. But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.  While the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.  So men have a choice as to whether they are righteous or wicked?

Now the fact that God considers some righteous and others wicked and treats them differently is not some imaginative figure of speech but a reality which God makes in due season.  For He is the Lord about whom embittered and hurt Hannah stated from her experience:

"My heart rejoices in the LORD;  My horn is exalted in the LORD.  I smile at my enemies,  Because I rejoice in Your salvation. "No one is holy like the LORD,  For there is none besides You,  Nor is there any rock like our God. "Talk no more so very proudly;  Let no arrogance come from your mouth,  For the LORD is the God of knowledge;  And by Him actions are weighed.

"The bows of the mighty men are broken,  And those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,  And the hungry have ceased to hunger.  Even the barren has borne seven,  And she who has many children has become feeble.

"The LORD kills and makes alive;  He brings down to the grave and brings up.  The LORD makes poor and makes rich;  He brings low and lifts up.  He raises the poor from the dust  And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,  To set them among princes  And make them inherit the throne of glory.

"For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S,  And He has set the world upon them.  He will guard the feet of His saints,  But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.  "For by strength no man shall prevail.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;  From heaven He will thunder  against them.  The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.  "He will give strength to His king,  And exalt the horn of His anointed." 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah's miracle son, Samuel, was anointed, raised up and exalted and he literally replaced as Judge over Israel Eli, the high priest whose sons robbed and raped the people in the House of God. For God’s word records:

Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 'Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?

 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'

"Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 'And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

'But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

 'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 'Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.

'And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread." ' " 1 Samuel 2:27-36

God does these kinds of negative things even in the current time of life. He kills and makes alive.  He brings down to the grave and brings up.  He makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap. He brings down the proud and arrogant ones.  But God’s true righteous ones can trust Him to carry and sustain them through the trials and testing of life. What He has done for others He will do for them. Their fortunes are all in His precious hands. He holds their life essence in the palm of His hand. They have entrusted all to Him and He will not let them down nor let them go. The road of life is open and wide and vast before them. The beauty of the earth is theirs. He has promised all to them and they can literally stake their very life on it.  As a result, they do not have to be concerned about the bleak circumstances are before them sometimes. They lie about who He really is. He is he Creator, the Rainbow Maker, the Promise Keeper, the Way Maker, the Redeemer and Friend to all who trust in Him. He keeps His  Promises and they can expect Him  to do it because He is doing it. The road for them is full of promise because they have  trusted in Him who is their Creator and now lives inside of them. Hence Apostle Paul wrote from his heart and experience about the faithfulness and goodness of our God of all comfort and said:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.

Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,  who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,  you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

We do not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. We trust in the great Deliverer who loves to deliver His people. The Deliverer about which the Psalmist stated:

I will love You, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;  My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;  My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;  So shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3

Blessed be the LORD my Rock,  Who trains my hands for war,  And my fingers for battle-  My lovingkindness and my fortress,  My high tower and my deliverer,  My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,  Who subdues my people under me.  LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?  Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?  Man is like a breath;  His days are like a passing shadow. Psalm 144:1-4

The God of all comfort and the Great Deliverer is our God and He lives inside of us. He knows and understands all that we are going through and what we are facing. He the God of all power is more than enough to handle any problem and meet any need which His children bring to Him.  He is the Way-maker of this present age and He is moving upon the children of His  Womb. They are His true birth children and He is  bringing a rapid change to them that they will not believe for it’s greatness and it’s ferocity. They will either enter in or cease to exist very rapidly. Those who rejoice with Him will enter in. He awaits their response even though He knows it before hand. He will be very pleased to see their faithfulness in action and not just in words.