The Mystery of Christ Within
Everyone loves a good story, and almost everyone enjoys a good mystery. We are challenged to analyze the clues, cut through the deception, and solve the problem. A good mystery always presents a case where the reader or viewer knows that there's something else going on that does not immediately meet the eye. There's something hidden - perhaps we'll never be able to figure it out.
Besides the fabricated mysteries in novels and TV shows, there are real mysteries in life. There are some things we just can't figure out. There are mysteries in nature, and mysteries in outer space.
Think of all the money we spend trying to unravel some of these mysteries. This year, the budget for NASA is nearly $15.5 billion. (Of course this doesn't sound so bad when we also realize that our national budget for pet-related sales in the United States is double that, $31 billion, the same amount we spend on tobacco products.)
There are also mysteries within our own bodies. One of the hot topics today is the prevalence of obesity in America. For some people this is a simple problem - people eat too much and exercise too little. However, more thoughtful people have come to the conclusion that it's more complex than that. The fact is, last year, medical expenditures related to obesity amounted to over $75 billion.
There are also mysteries related to our relationships with ourselves and other people. Husbands say, "I just can't figure her out"; wives say, "I've given up a long time ago." Each of us, as the Bible says, are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14), and the result is mystery - things we don't understand about ourselves or each other.
Beyond the mysteries in the world that we can see and study, there is God.
Paul claims that the mystery has now been revealed (Ephesians 3:2-6), but he is only referring to the Gospel; certainly Paul would not say that there is now no mystery with God.
For example, there is the mystery of the Trinity, the mystery of election and free will, and the mystery of the end times and the coming of the Lord - to name just a few.
In what we call the great "love" chapter, Paul admitted, "now we see through a glass, darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12) - for the present there remains mystery.
However, the one example of mystery we're going to deal with is related to Communion - whenever we partake of the bread and wine, we are doing something that symbolizes a mystery.
This is perhaps what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." (John 6:56)
No, this doesn't mean, as some churches teach, that the bread and wine are transformed into the actual flesh and blood of Jesus. It is merely symbolic. The mystery is the part about being "in Christ." The same idea is conveyed elsewhere in John as well as in Paul's letters:
When Jesus promised that His Father would send the Holy Spirit, He added, "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." (John 14:20)
In the very next chapter when Jesus gave His notable teaching about the vine and the branches, He said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4,5)
There is a wonderful promise given in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
And Paul reiterated this same theme when he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
In addition, there are several other verses which convey the idea of this mystical union between the believer and Christ.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1,2)
Later in the same chapter, Paul continues, "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:10,11)
"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." (I Corinthians 1:30)
"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. " (I Corinthians 15:21,22)
And there's this favorite line from Paul, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! " (II Corinthians 5:17)
"To them [the saints] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
Near the end of the New Testament, Peter chimes in with this closing instruction, "Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (I Peter 5:14)
All of this adds up to this one important doctrine - believers in Christ are "in" Christ, and Christ is "in" them - and this is a mystery.
A parallel of this can be found in the Biblical concept of marriage. It was stated this way at the very beginning, and later reiterated by both Jesus and Paul: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31)
What does this mean, two become one? Certainly it's not just about sexual intercourse, but about a mystical union between a man and a woman, a uniting of heart and soul as well as body. There is a connection, a bonding, a togetherness in marriage that cannot be fully explained, but it is experienced by married couples everywhere.
In a similar way, when we accept Jesus to be our Savior and Lord, we become united with Him in a spiritual and mystical way.
Now when we looked at the Scriptures that talk about this union with Christ, we noticed that some verses indicated that I am "in Christ," and some, Christ is "in me." In the opening of John 14, Jesus said it both ways, "you dwell in me, and I dwell in you."
A possible way to look at it is this. If you dive into the pool, you will be in the water. It is all around you, no part of you is outside the water. If at the same time you could drink deeply so that you are also filled up inside by the water, then the water would be in you. (Of course the problem with this is that only your lungs will fill up, and you will drown!) However, if you could fill up all the cavities of your body with water, then you could say I am in the water and the water is in me. Spiritually, this is what happens when Christ is in us and we are in Christ. Not only is He all around us, but we are filled up with Him. This same idea is realized in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - we are both immersed in the Spirit and filled by the Spirit.
Do you remember the hymn "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus," by Samuel Trevor Francis? It opens with these lines,
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love--
Leading onward, leading homeward, to Thy glorious rest above!
And, we would add, "and in me, is the current of Thy love."
What do you think would be some of the expected results if it were true that we were in Christ and Christ in us?
On the outside, we would feel comforted and protected by the awareness of His constant presence.
On the inside, we would feel as Christ feels, desire as Christ desires, love as Christ loves, and - get this - we would become sinless as He is sinless.
This last one is the stickler.
When there's theological talk about the "mystery," it often leads to the subject of "mysticism," which according to the common definition "is the direct intuition or experience of God . . . a mystic is a person . . . whose religion and life are centered, not merely on an accepted belief or practice, but on that which the person regards as first hand personal knowledge." (Evelyn Underhill in "Mystics of the Church")
When an historical list of Christian Mystics is provided, the name of George Fox comes up - he was the founder of the Quakers, also known as the "Society of Friends," now mostly known for their silent worship services and strong commitment to pacifism. In "File Two" of his Journal, covering the period of his ministry from 1647-1649, there's an interesting comment about some "professors" (of Christianity) whom Fox encountered in the towns of Duckenfield and Manchester. He noted that while some were convinced of the "Lord's teaching," ". . . the professors were all in a rage, all pleading for sin and imperfection; and could not endure to hear talk of perfection, and of a holy and sinless life." In other words, on one side were those who believed that only when we get to heaven will we be free from sin, but the other side, namely George Fox, believed that with Christ living within, one could indeed become free from the domination of sin, and live a holy life.
So this is the mystery. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." No, this is not a submerging of the human into the divine so as to lose the distinction of each, as taught by eastern religions and new age teachings - I continue to be myself, and God continues to be Himself.
But I am totally surrounded by Him, and His Spirit dwells within. How does it work? I don't know - that's the mystery. My responsibility is not to figure it out, to solve the mystery, but to simply believe it, and then act on that belief, living each day with the awareness of His presence and in His power, acting and speaking in a way that is good and righteous.
