Do you not know yourself? That Jesus Christ is in you?

Examine yourselves [as to] whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you are disqualified.  2 Co 13:5

I remember when I was a waiter in Tulsa, OK, when I was attending bible college, that a fellow waiter who knew I was a Christian (but was not one himself) showed me a piece of paper that said, “God lives in me.” I said to him, “No He doesn’t, He lives in me,” and I quoted to him what Paul said to the Christians in Colosse: “… Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col 1:27

Look what Jesus says in Jn 14:

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. – Jhn 14:23

And there are numerous other scriptures that confirm this fact, that Christ lives in the believer.

But many Christians do not know this, that Christ lives in them; or if they do know it, they only know it in a theological sense and not in a practical, real-world sense.  They may acknowledge the truth of this teaching, but it has no play in their everyday lives.

Look at what Paul said in our title passage, “Do you not know yourselves…?”  Well, do you? The fact is that unless someone teaches you about yourself then you DO NOT know yourself.  This is true concerning our spirit, soul, and body.  For example, how did you know you had a heart? And how do you know that it pumps your blood? Where you born with that knowledge? No, you were taught it. Maybe you could hear your heartbeat, but certainly you didn’t know what it was and what it did. The same is true with spiritual things.

There are many things that you need to know about your spiritual self and that is why we have the bible. One very important thing that we as Christians need to know about ourselves is that Jesus Christ lives in us!

Since the beginning of time God has desired to be with His people that He created. In the garden of Eden He would come down in the cool of the day to visit with Adam.  To the Israelites He would come to visit them in the physical temple that Moses had built. But not until after the time of Jesus did God actually come to make his home in us! Look at what Paul says:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? – 1 Cr 3:16

God doesn’t come to visit you anymore, He lives in you! He has moved into your heart and made His home there, He has called it His holy temple. Glory to God!

When I married Katrina, I no longer had to call her up on the phone, or go to her house to visit her. No, she lived with me. If I would have gone up to her parents house I would not have found her. If I would have called her old house number she would not have answered.  We are no longer two separate people with our own lives.  Our lives are now so entwined together that there is nothing that each of us do without both of us being involved in it together in some way, and there is nothing that happens to us that doesn’t effect both of us, good or bad, in some way.  We have become one flesh.  Even so, with God we have become one spirit:

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit [with Him]. – 1Cr 6:17 NKJV

My flesh is entwined with my wife, but my spirit with the Lord.  We have become one spirit! Amen!  This should give you an idea of how much God should be involved in your everyday lives. This should also give us an idea of how much is given to us.

When my wife married me she became equal owner to everything I posses (which wasn’t much…).  Even so, when we are joined to the Lord we become equal owner to everything He possesses (which is much!). When my wife married me, she knew that she could count on me to protect and provide for her in every way possible.  Even so, when we become one with the Lord we know that he will protect us and provide for us in every way.

There is only one difference in this comparison.  The only difference is that a fleshly relationship is physical and our spiritual relationship is spiritual.  And because of that, faith must be used in order to receive physical benefits from a spiritual relationship.  Otherwise we will not experience any of the benefits that are promised us.

The Church at Corinth had a lot of problems. Two times he asks them the same question: Don’t you know that God lives in you? I think the reason for that is that Paul knew that if the Corinthians could grab a hold of that truth then a lot of their problems would be worked out.  The same is true for us today.  Grab a hold of the truth that Christ lives on the inside of you. Meditate on that and think about it.  I think that it will do you a lot of good. Amen.