When I teach and counsel, I often ask, “Why did Jesus come to live in you?” Then, I pause to let them think or answer. The responses often include these: “To save me. To get me into heaven. To forgive me. To serve Him.” While all of those are true, two higher reasons are stated simply below.
Jesus Christ came to live in us to experience Him and to express Him.
To experience Jesus Christ in us means we have moved beyond the mere fact that He is in us. We are growing to understand that we are in an interactive love relationship with Him. We often sense His presence and His love within. Then, we can’t help but express Him to the people He puts in our lives.
Take a look at these two Scriptures that explain this to us.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 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. Ephesians 3:16-18
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
Please notice that in the first Scripture, the Holy Spirit strengthens us so Christ will live interactively in us through faith, well beyond just a fact. In the last one, it’s clear that we live by faith in Christ to live through us.
This is so simple yet, at the same time, profound.
Make both of those Scriptures your daily prayer this week.
