by Jim Gordon
It can be hard accepting the fact that God lives within us. For years we were taught God is in heaven and if we follow the commandments and do good things, one day we will go to heaven and live with him face to face. We have an image of God sitting on a throne in heaven and we are far, far away down on earth.
Pastors will tell us that God will show up now and then at a special meeting, or when a special service is planned and the Spirit will fall upon us. Yet we know that God is with us all the time and the Spirit fell on the human race two thousand years ago.
The more I read, I am finding that we really have the whole thing backwards.
The Old Covenant has been fulfilled in Christ and we are living under a New Covenant. We no longer have to try to be good enough. The law was a tutor that led us to Christ, but now that Christ has come and restored fellowship between God and people we no longer need a tutor. We are free from the law and we are children of God through the gift of his grace.
Jesus came to live among us and show us the love of God. When Jesus left, he said he would send us the Spirit. God has now come to live within us. Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we have the mind of Christ. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one with God, just as he and the Father are one.
Sounds to me that we are missing the main point. We do not have to wait to die and go to heaven to enjoy kingdom living. We do not have to wait to be united with the Father. We no longer need to look to a human guide, teacher or preacher. We have the living, powerful, perfect Word of God living inside us who is the Spirit of Jesus.
There is nothing wrong with listening to others, getting their thoughts and ideas and being encouraged by other believers, but we do not need to rely on other humans. We have the Spirit within us, teaching us and guiding us in the way he has for us.
We do not have to look up in the sky and speak words to some far-away place and wonder if God is listening. We can turn our thoughts inward and realize the Spirit is right there within us, listening, loving us and ready to teach us as we begin to hear his voice from within.
We are all at different stages along the path we walk with him, and we need to remember none of us have it all figured out. We so often want to fight and argue from the understanding we currently have without realizing that we have not reached completion. There is more the Spirit wants to teach us as we become ready to accept it.
For my wife and me, we have changed a lot over the past few years but we realize we have not come to perfection. We will continue to change over the next few years also. So why argue over doctrine, interpretations and beliefs as if we had it all figured out and everyone else is wrong. We all have more to learn as we walk with the Spirit each day.
We should come to accept each other where we are currently, realizing what we know and believe today will more likely change as we continue to walk under the guidance of the Spirit. We can love each other, learn from one another and accept each other as we are, just like Jesus loves and accepts us just as we are.
We should be looking deep within ourselves, listening for the voice and guidance of the Spirit rather than putting all hope in others, and to those we think are more spiritual because they have been trained, educated and paid to do so. Remember, we are all kings and priests and have the same Spirit within us. Each of us are equal and important parts of the body with Christ as the head. His Church is not a building, not a denomination but people.
This is not saying we are all God, but the Spirit lives within us and we are one with our Father. It would do us all good to start focusing on this fact rather than what we have been taught in the past, that being one with God is a future event after we die. Kingdom living is now. Listening to the Spirit, being taught by him and living day by day in communion with the Father is a reality that we all need to realize is happening now.
Very good posting, and I agree, only God’s people will have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. For it was only given to those who became born-again.
The rest of the unbelieving world, well we just need to be the living Testimony of what the Lord has done for us, and how He saved us from our sins. And the Lord will bring in those who do not believe, then they also shall have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
Praise the Lord, for His Glorious Mercies!
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Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to comment.
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“We do not have to wait to die and go to heaven to enjoy kingdom living.” Total agreement. If the early church had not placed God in the heavens, and then assumed that was God’s kingdom, then we might have discovered this sooner. But it’s much easier to accept that you don’t have to do anything to enter the kingdom except believe what the preacher of choice says you have to believe. Sometimes ushering the kingdom into our individual worlds is hard work, like a woman who mixed yeast into 100 pounds of dough. My book “The Kingdom of Heaven Begins Today” (on Amazon) explains that the phrase itself was a colloquial way of saying “the development of a perfect order where all things are working together in equity and harmony.” It’s amazing how much this makes all the parables easier to understand, it explains why the “violent take it by force,” and more.
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Thank you, that is so true. I will have to check out your book also. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.
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Great Post. There are so many implications if we come to understand Jesus’ teaching emphasized kingdom living begins now and not after death. Wasn’t Jesus more about quality of life beginning now rather than quantity of life after death. Again, so much food for thought from what you have written. Thanks.
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I agree with you. Jesus is for living with him now and living by his example of how to treat others. It is more than just looking to a time in the future. Thanks for the kind words.
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Thanks for this reminder, Jim. Not always easy in the midst of the rush of life to quieten our souls to listen to the voice of His Spirit within, but something we so need to train ourselves to do, and I’m thinking that it’s something we can learn better in fellowship with others helping and encouraging us on our path of spiritual growth.
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Thank you Jem. So true on fellowship with others. Forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together means to me we need one another for friendship and fellowship. It is not so much an assembling in an organized service because true fellowship does not happen there. It is a normal way of living day by day getting to know our brothers and sisters in Christ, encouraging one another and supporting one another. Thanks for the comment.
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