THE DIVINE INDWELLING.
"But wilt thou my guest be,
In this poor heart of mine?
Thy guest! Is this for me?
In that pure heart of Thine!"
"Ye in Me, and I in you" (Joh_14:20), is a deep and mysterious saying, yet one of the most precious truths in Revelation. Let us look briefly at-
I. The Unfolding of this Doctrine. The revelation grows and intensifies as the ages pass, from the Garden of Eden to the Paradise above.
1. God in the Garden (Gen_3:8). Calling in mercy on a self-ruined man.
2. God in the Bush (Exo_3:4). Seeking to prepare a deliverer for His people, and also declaring that "I am come down to deliver" (v. 8).
3. God in the Pillar (Exo_14:24). Judging the Egyptians and guiding His redeemed ones in the wilderness.
4. God in the Tabernacle (Exo_40:34-35). Filling it with His glory and communing with His people (Exo_25:22)
5. God in the Temple (2Ch_7:1-3). As the Lord of hosts and the defender of His people as a nation.
6. God in Christ (2Co_5:19). Reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses. "God manifest in the flesh" (1Ti_3:16). Surely this is grace upon grace, yet this is not all.
7. God in You (1Co_6:19). Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you (1Co_3:16). God in you that ye might be witnesses for Him. This is God’s final revelation to the ungodly world. Chosen "that we should show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light" (1Pe_2:9).
II. The Nature of this Indwelling.
1. Christ is Formed in us by the Holy Ghost (Gal_4:19). As the Divine Spirit overshadowed Mary, so that Jesus the Saviour was begotten within her; by the same Spirit is He formed and revealed in us (Gal_1:16).
2. Christ is in us as the Father was in Him. "I in them, and Thou in Me" (Joh_17:23). The Spirit of the Father dwelt in Him.
3. He is in us as the Sap is in the Vine (Joh_15:4). The source of life and fruitfulness (Eph_3:16-17).
III. The Results of this Indwelling.
1. A Life of Faith. "Christ liveth in me, and I live in faith, which is in the Son of God" (Gal_2:20, R. V. ).
2. A Life of Well-pleasing. "God worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Php_2:13). We are not sufficient of ourselves even to think (2Co_3:5). God in us by His Spirit so moving on our will that we delight to do His will, finding our pleasure in pleasing God (Heb_13:20-21).
3. A Life of Victory. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1Jn_4:4). The spirit of Antichrist is in the world moving the ungodly to will and to do of his pleasure; but the Spirit of God is in you, able to make you more than conquerors (Rom_8:37). He that wrought effectually in Peter and was mighty in Paul (Gal_2:8), the same may be effectual in us for the glory of His own Name (Col_1:29).
Autor: James Smith