No Longer An Orphan – In Christ, You Are Filled with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Jesus told His disciples that all of the Law is summed up with this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself”. In the Upper Room, Jesus tells the disciples something similar: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Peter loved Jesus. But Peter’s pre-resurrection love was rooted in his outward man. It was a love rooted in the need to be valued, valuable, and relevant. In the end Peter could not really trust Jesus, depend upon Jesus with his whole personality, or walk in His commandments and promises. After pledging his undying devotion to Jesus, he denied Him three times. When the storm hit, Peter folded. Why? Because, I think, Peter was trying to do these things in his power. I cannot love Jesus, trust Jesus, depend upon Jesus, or love my enemies in my power. I must do these things by drawing on the life of Jesus in me. No part of the life Jesus commands me to live – the receiving part or the giving part – can happen without Christ in me and me in Christ.
What about faith? It begins with my faith in Jesus. I need to believe that Jesus is who He says He is before I will give up my faith in the things of the world that give me my value. And that requires the Holy Spirit (e.g. Peter at Caesarea Philippi) for my eyes to be opened. But that is not enough – I can ‘believe’ that Jesus is the Messiah and continue to live my self-centered life apart from Him. I need to totally trust the promises of Jesus. Promises like “and surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age” can turn anxiety and fear into hope and joy. And this part of ‘faith in Jesus’ requires the indwelling the Holy Spirit.
I need faith in Jesus, and then the faith of Jesus – one of the manifestations of Jesus living in me. These are two different things. I have the faith of Jesus when Jesus lives in me, which is my life in the Kingdom of God. When He lives in me I have His faith, His joy, His hope, His power, and His life. Although these belong to and define Him, in a mysterious way they become part of who I am also.
How can I have hope and peace in a violent, evil, and apostate world? Because it is not my hope and my peace, it is His hope and peace in me—“my peace I leave you” and “the peace of God . . . will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.
How can I trust and depend upon God when my life is filled with defeat and pain. Because it is Jesus’ trust of the Father in me.
How can I be joyful in a world filled with despair? Because it is not my joy, it is His joy me – “the joy of the Lord is my strength”.
And how can I have faith in Jesus when tragedy hits, threatening to drain all of my faith away? It is not just my faith in Jesus. It is the faith of Jesus in me.
“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” (Galatians 2: 20 KJV).
I cannot be righteous or holy in my own power. That is OK, because it is the righteousness of Jesus in me. “Man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2: 16 KJV), although I am commanded to seek that righteousness – “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.”
“And to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3: 9 KJV).
How do we have the power to heal diseases doctors say are incurable? Because it is His power flowing through us when he is in us and we are in Him. Paul tells us, “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1: 28, 29 NIV).
My life in Christ and His life in me make all of these things possible – “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me . . . I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17: 22, 23; 26 NIV).
Summing all of this up, Paul wrote these amazing words:
“For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form . . . And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life. In Christ you too are filled with the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and reach full spiritual stature” (Colossians 2: 9, 10 AMP).
How do we become the man or woman who, like Peter, has the indwelling Holy Spirit — filled with the Godhead — and the faith, power, hope, joy, and peace of Jesus? Peter tells us in his sermon:
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children who are far off”.
Repent! These are Kingdom words, spoken by a Kingdom man, operating in the true faith that was Jesus’ parting gift to Peter. Without repentance we will continue finding our value in the things of the world, even though we tell Jesus how much we love Him. Without repentance, no matter how good and ‘holy’ we look outwardly, we will continue to live in the kingdom of the world, where it is not possible to receive the indwelling Holy Spirit or be ‘in Christ’.
I believe Peter remembered Jesus’ words to the disciples in the Upper room the night He was arrested, “Trust in God. Trust also in Me”. There is a profound promise embedded in these words. A promise that is the foundation of all of our joy, peace, hope, and freedom – the promise of the abundant life – not necessarily a life of prosperity, but a life connected to Him. A promise, like all the promises of Jesus, that we can only wholeheartedly believe in and depend upon through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; Christ in us. And He is trustworthy. He will never leave us or forsake us, no matter what life throws at us.
What a breathtaking gift. Think about it! And then ask Him this question, “Lord, how do you want me to use this gift today to release your Kingdom, bringing You glory, in this crazy, violent, and hurting world?” His answer to each of us will probably be different. But one part of His answer will be same for all: whatever He calls us to do, it will involve love — not my love, but His love flowing through me.
Seeking His call,
John