The Daily Word of Righteousness

God in Christ in Us

In whom [Christ] all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

(Ephesians 2:21,22)

One of the principal purposes of God in the Christian Church is the construction of an eternal dwelling place for Himself. It is difficult for the Lord to come into a satisfying relationship with His creatures. The Body of Christ, which is the Temple of God, removes that difficulty by becoming the hand and heart of God extended to people everywhere.

God walked in the garden of Eden until the other two inhabitants sinned, causing a curse to be placed on the entire earth.

The Presence of the Lord God of Heaven on Mount Sinai struck terror into the heart of the church in the wilderness as that awful Word of judgment, the Ten Commandments, was handed down.

When the Fire of Sinai dwelled among people as Jesus of Nazareth, both Israel and the Gentiles rejected Him. They plucked His beard, mocked Him, beat Him, and crowned Him with thorns—the thundering God of Sinai!

The all-wise God understands the inability of men and women to receive Him gladly and confidently. Therefore God is constructing on the Lord Jesus Christ an eternal Temple. The Temple of God is His eternal place of rest, His home among mankind. It is the living, visible expression and revelation of the invisible, supremely holy God.

Christ Himself is the eternal House of God. God the Father finds His rest only in Christ, never in any human being apart from Christ.

No man has seen God at any time. Christ, who dwells eternally in God, has come to reveal the Father to us.

There were several occasions before the coming of Christ when God appeared to men. Some of those occasions are described in the Old Testament. In every instance it was Christ or the Angel of the Lord who appeared. No human being ever has seen God the Father (John 1:18).

Christ is the Divine Word of God, the Expression of all that God Is. When we see Christ we see the Father.

God is a Spirit, not a human being. God requires the shedding of innocent blood in order to appease His sense of violated justice. We understand by this that God is different from us.

Christ was born of a woman. Therefore we can establish a relationship with Him and make progress in coming to know Him. It is the good pleasure of Christ to reveal God to us.

God desires that the Incarnation, the Divine Expression, be magnified so that every person on the earth may have access to Himself. Therefore God is multiplying Christ; for God will dwell only in Christ. Christ is the House of God.

God is magnifying and multiplying Christ by creating the Body of Christ. As Christ is being formed in the members of His Body, Christ is being magnified and multiplied and God in Him.

It is not Christ-likeness being formed in us that is so crucial to the purpose of God, it is that Christ is being formed in us. Christ is the true Vine. We are not additional vines, we are branches growing out from the one true Vine.

As Christ is being formed in the members of His Body He comes through the Spirit and dwells in those transformed members. As Christ comes and dwells in the members, God dwells in Christ in the members. He who has the Son has the Father also. (from Christ in You)