The mystery in a nutshell

I remember the excitement of the first time that I discovered that Christ was in me; the absolute fulfillment of knowing that there was no distance between us. That day God became to me, more that a philosophical concept; more than a religious being that I tried to get closer to, but He became to me the very essence of who I am; the God who chose me as His dwelling. God whispered to me .”..it is no longer you who live, but it is I, Christ, living in you; and the life that you now live in the flesh, you live by my faith..” Gal 2:20. I remember running to a mirror and leaning closer, looking deeply into my own eyes and saying “I can see You, Jesus – You are right there – in me.”

That awareness of Christ’s indwelling generated an inexhaustible energy within me to share Him with others also. I began sharing Christ with whomever and whatever stood still long enough to hear me. Naturally my classmates at school were the first to hear and see. From there it grew to neighbours and strangers. The witness I bore then and bear now is without any religious obligation; it is the fellowship that I enjoy with the Father that compels me to communicate. 1 John 1:3. I had absolutely no desire to simply change people’s opinions to agree with me, neither did I have any motivation to have them join my religious organization. NO! It was the reality of Christ in me that drove me to make others aware of the wealth that was within their reach also.

Many experiences can lose their thrill after a while, but the awareness of God’s indwelling only grows in its appeal and intensity.

What qualifies you to share Christ?
Speaking from the reality of an awareness of your union with Christ; the reality of a living relationship with Him, is irresistible and it is all the qualification you will ever need. Many of the disciples Jesus chose were illiterate! And the few who learned to write, did not bother putting anything on record until decades after His death and resurrection. The simple reason for this is that Christ in them was a reality of much greater importance to them than systematic theology.

Act 4:13 Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.

Your qualification to share Christ has nothing to do with your education or social status – it has everything to do with your contact with Jesus.

Paul, the one apostle that could boast of his education and human qualifications had this to say about it:

Phi 3:7 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash–along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ.
Phi 3:8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant–dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ

I can’t really improve on that – read it again. If you have studied much and know the scriptures better than most you should maybe read it one more time.

Our confident appeal.
You see, if our appeal was to the intellect of man, then by all means get as much education and degrees as possible. And don’t stop with theology – psychology, sociology and philosophy could be very handy as well.

Or maybe our appeal should be to man’s natural desires. Then by all means you should make your Sunday services as entertaining as possible; make your message as un-offensive as possible and hope that your good looks and professional appearance draw some people into attending another meeting.

But if we desire to communicate the gospel of Christ, our communication needs to extend far beyond these superficial, shallow levels and stir up the spirit of man.

2Co 3:5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God;
2Co 3:6 who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive.

Our aim is the spirit, not the head. The only person able to teach us this skill of hitting the target of the heart is God Himself.

2Co 4:2 but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

Nothing has greater authority and ability to awaken the conscience of man, than another man walking in the truth; enjoying the reality of fellowship with God. No institution can teach you that. No one else can be intimate with God on your behalf – there is only one person capable of bringing you into the awareness of your union with Christ … and that’s you, simply yielding to Christ in you and believing what He says concerning you and Him.

2Co 4:6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

If we look to any of our own characteristics as a basis for our qualification to share Christ, we miss the point. It is not the clay pot that makes the treasure inside valuable; it is the treasure inside that makes the clay pot valuable. This message carries within itself an authority that is undeniable. It’s when our appreciation of the treasure becomes dim that we try to decorate the pot. It’s when we take our focus off the message of ‘Christ in you’, that we become concerned with presenting the ‘pot’ – the container -  in a slick, appealing way. What a joy to discover that our confidence is not based on our own ability to communicate, but on God’s ability to reveal himself – it is the content of this gospel that carries the faith of God and sets the tone for the faith response of those who hear.

2 Pet1:5 (Mirror Translation) Now that the stage is set to display life’s excellence, imagine the extreme devotion and focus of a conductor of music; (epichoregeo, epi, preposition, + chorus, chorus or choir or orchestra, + ago, to lead as a shepherd leads his sheep) how he would diligently acquaint himself with every individual voice in the choir, as well as the contribution of every specific instrument, to follow the precise music represented in every note in order to give maximum credit to the original composition; this is exactly what it means to exhibit the divine character. Before a performance the first violinist will give the exact note for every instrument to be finely tuned to that note, in the same way the faith of God gives that exact pitch. You are the choir conductor of your own life; study the full content of faith; you will find virtue there, and within virtue faith-inspired knowledge will voice its contribution. (There is a level of understanding that can only be accessed by faith. Heb.11:3, “by faith we understand that the ages were framed by the Word of God…)

This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. (Col 1:26-29 MSG)

Christ is in you! What more do you need? There is nothing more! All that can be done is to appreciate more, the reality of Christ in you!