“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:27
Years ago, the Scottish evangelist Dr. John S. Logan was at a meeting of pastors where Watchman Nee (1903-1972), the saintly Chinese evangelist, was present. Logan gave the following account of the impression Nee left upon that gathering of ministers: “After speaking, Watchman Nee was fielding questions from the crowd, and one pastor asked if he could define holiness. Nee said, ‘It is the Spirit of Christ in me, plus …’ and he began to move around the room placing his hands on each pastor in succession and saying, ‘the Spirit of Christ in you, plus the Spirit of Christ in you, plus the Spirit of Christ in you, plus …”
“The pastors,” Dr. Logan said, “were all nodding in consent. Holiness is personal in its reformation of our character into the increasing likeness of the character of Christ, plus it has a definite relational dimension—primarily in how we react and respond to one another.
“When Nee had moved all around the room and arrived back on the platform, the pastors were ready for the next question, but Nee was not finished, yet.
“He then proceeded around the room again, saying, ‘Less the self in me, less the self in you, less the self in you, less the self in you, less the self in you …’”
God is calling each disciple of the Christ to be increasingly transformed into his Son’s likeness (see 2 Cor. 3:18). It is one thing to be in Christ; it is quite another to live out the implications of Christ living in me.
The Lord Jesus Christ indwells every believer in the person of the Holy Spirit, and as we grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, we will reflect more and more of Christ and less and less of self—by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Is this your desire and aspiration?
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”!
Reprinted from . . .
Renewed by the Spirit: 365 Daily Meditations
by Ralph I. Tilley
copyright © 2016 Ralph I. Tilley
– paperback and Kindle editions available at Amazon.com –
