Do you realize what happened in you when you became a believer in Jesus? Believing in Jesus is much more than a ticket to heaven. Believing in Jesus is the beginning of a new life, it is Christ in you. It is a mystery that God himself dwells in us. “To them 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, NIV84)
Jesus came, fully God and fully man. He was God with us. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NIV84) He came and because He came, through faith, we become children of God. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12–13, NIV84)
Christ in us transforms us and gives us a new nature. It is no longer us, but Christ. “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, NIV84)
This was the heart cry of Jesus that we would become one with Him. “”My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20–23, NIV84) The glory of God is given to us. Jesus, God Himself, is one with us.
Jesus never changes. His purpose, His power, His life, dwells in us. To the extent that we surrender and obey Jesus, we will become transformed to be like Jesus. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV84)
The life of God is revealed by the life of Jesus. “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:10–12, NIV84) Jesus, surrendered to His Father, spoke and acted. “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.” (John 12:49, NIV84) Jesus fully God and fully man demonstrated the power of God indwelling in a fully surrendered life. Jesus spoke the words of God with power and authority. Jesus lived the words of God. Jesus did the acts of God.
Jesus called us to live as He did. Jesus said that our actions would reflect our faith. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12–14, NIV84)
Notice the words. Anyone. Anyone who has faith, anyone who chooses to believe and follow Jesus, anyone can live a transformed life. How do we believe? We choose to believe. We choose to follow Jesus by faith. We choose to let Jesus rule by faith. It is a simple, Yes Jesus, like a child. “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”” (Luke 18:17, NIV84)
When God indwells in us, all things are possible. “” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”” (Mark 9:23, NIV84)
It was the desire of Jesus that we would live as He did. Jesus wanted us to speak the Words of God and do the acts of God. Jesus expected that we would do even greater things. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12–14, NIV84)
Jesus promised that He would do whatever we asked in his name. What did Jesus do here on the earth? That is a good indication of what He still wants to do. He healed all the sick who came to Him. He preached the Word. He taught the hungry. He brought hope and life wherever He went. He cast out demons and established the Kingdom of God. Signs, wonders and miracles were a part of his ministry. Jesus told his disciples to do the same. “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:7–8, NIV84) Jesus expected to work powerfully with those who believe. “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”” (Mark 16:15–18, NIV84)
Paul understood that it was Christ in him. Paul, living a life surrendered to Christ, did extra-ordinary things. Paul saw Jesus work through Paul in the same way Jesus worked on the earth. Paul believed. Paul yielded. Paul worked. “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:29, NIV84) The word labor speaks of “the most tense or strenuous effort, e.g., of the soldier in battle, or the exertions of messengers or manual workers .It is the strenuous wrestling of the hero”. Vol. 3: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (828). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
To see the fullness of the power of God, we must work at our surrender. We must work at our obedience. We must work at cooperating with the Holy Spirit. We labor and God works through us. And yet, we labor, but it is God who labors in us. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10, NIV84)
We should expect that the signs, wonders and miracles that accompanied Jesus, Paul, the disciples, the early church should also accompany us. We however must surrender to God. The greater our surrender, the more God is able to work in us. The promise of God is true that whatever we ask in His name, He will do. God does not lie.
I choose today to believe God. I choose to obey. I choose to surrender. I choose to become transformed. I choose to believe that Jesus will work in me and through me to transform me and the world around me. I choose to proclaim wherever I am that the Kingdom of God is at hand, because the Kingdom of God is established in me.
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