The Indwelling Presence of Christ
(Christ lives in me)
Text:
Galatians 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
1)Question-
What does it mean “I am crucified with Christ”?
Answer-
In God’s eyes, when Jesus died, every Believer died
Romans 6: 3-5
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
a. At salvation, we were baptized into the death
of Jesus Christ
b. Because we were buried with him, we will be
raised up from the dead like he was by the glory
of the Father.
c. Because we were planted together in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also be raised in the
likeness of his resurrection:
2)Question-
What does it mean “Christ liveth in me”?
Answer-
To be a Christian is to have Christ in you.
If he is not there, then you are not a Christian
Christ lives in a Christian in a two-fold way
1st -When an individual believes on the Lord Jesus; proclaims him as Saviour and Lord; the very Essence of Christ’s nature is joined unto him
· The nature of Christ is added to the nature of
Adam that we were born with
· By giving us his nature, his mind, his desires,
Christ lives in a Christian
2nd - is by the Holy Spirit
· Some say it’s the Holy Spirit we have in us and
not Christ.
· Yes the Holy Spirit brought the nature, the mind,
and the desires of Christ to us-
· But He and the Father, and the Son; all share the
same nature, the same mind, and the same desires
(These three are one)
The Holy Spirit Literally dwells in a Believer
a. The Holy Spirit will manifest the presence of
Christ in us
b. So while Jesus sits on the throne with the
Father, He also lives in a believer
Let’s look at the scripture again
Galatians 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
3)Question-
What does it mean “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God”
Answer-
I live by the faith of the Son of God, not by faith in the Son of God,
But by “the faith of the Son of God”
· Jesus is the one who furnishes the faith and
enables us to live and act as a Son of God
· Every man is given the measure of faith
This is the ability to believe and trust God
· The more we see our selves crucified with Christ,
the more his faith will work through us
The Indwelling Presence of Christ cont.
Look at this scripture-
Romans 6:1-11 (NIV)
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
· Christ was crucified for our sins
· We were crucified with him so we could be free of
sin and be united with him
· We should count ourselves dead to sin, alive unto
God
Colossians 2:12-15
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
· We were buried with Him, now we live because of
Him
