IF CHRIST IS IN YOU - PART 6

TUESDAY 20 AUGUST 2024

For the born again Christian, the death of Christ in the body - served as a way of escape or liberation from the consequences of sin and eternal condemnation; a sacrificial death, which is the basis of our justification and righteousness. More below!

Reference: Romans 8:9-10 New International Version (NIV)

"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness."

The Bible says, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 NIV). When Jesus came in human flesh, mortal men beheld His glory. Question: Can mortal eyes really behold the brightness of the divine glory"? It still means that no mere mortal can approach or behold the presence of God's glory except the Lord Jesus Christ is made known unto them and in them. To that effect, Pauline epistolary expression reads, "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2nd Corinthians 3:16-18 ESV).

Indeed, blessed is the condition of the godly, because the Lord Jesus Christ is the glorified image of the Spirit in him. With unveiled faces here implies - without blurry or dim spiritual vision in every aspect of emergence. Paying a "beholding" attention to the unfolding glory of God with unveiled face - is a process that modulates the level of Christ's informative and impactful image that gets represented in our recreated spirit. Got it? The glory that comes from the Lord - is shared from the power of our spiritual perception - across the auditory and other sensory modalities in our Christian walk. This is why we are being progressively transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. So the Spirit doesn't just give us life because of righteousness, He equally reveals the glory of divine nature and origin in us, which is a function of His internal workings, as we fix our gaze on the Word.

In my conclusive statement in relation to this topic, let me remind you again that, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11 NIV). Here the Scripture shows the remarkable connotation - in respect to the consequence of your body being subject to death because of sin, and the different nature of the effects of the Spirit of God living in that body. If the Spirit of God truly lives in your body, there should be a great difference, which is to give life to your mortal body, just like Jesus' body that was subjected to death as a result of sins of all mankind, was raised from the dead, by the Spirit of God. Shalom!

Scripture Reading  - John 1:12-13; James 1:18; John 3:5-8; 1 John 3:9.

Guided Prayer:

Dear Father in heaven, I thank you for Christ's atoning sacrifice which was the full payment for the sins of mankind. I'm grateful because it has the supreme ability to destroy the power of sin and to grant eternal hope to anyone who believes in Christ Jesus. I testify that I have the Spirit of Christ, denoting that I belong to Christ. My heartfelt gratitude knows no bound because of the immense love you've showered on me in Christ, plus the gift of righteousness at work in me. Thank you for the reality of subjection of my spirit, soul and body to the governing influence of the Holy Spirit, which yields tremendous level of life and peace, in Jesus' Name, Amen!