Summer 1996
Life in the Son
Hattie Hammond

"In the beginning, God created the heaven
and the earth" Gen 1:1.

Think what it might have been like to have witnessed this creation in the beginning when it was unmarred by sin, when there was no curse and God called it "good." And to have seen man as he had been freshly formed by the hand of God, and totally receiving his life from God.

After he transgressed, man had physical life, but no spiritual life; nor could he, apart from God. There was only one possible way that God could bring us back to that life in the Godhead. Jesus must come to pay the penalty for sin upon the cross and redeem us to Himself. Then in resurrection life, Christ Himself must come and live in us. This is the only way for us to again partake of the life that is in God.

Jesus came to show us that if we would become dependent upon Him, as He depended upon His heavenly Father, and if we would draw our life from Him, as He drew His life from God, we would never again be defeated. As He overcame and was victorious by trusting His Father, so we also may overcome.

Jesus lived the life in the flesh that He desires us to live, in the power of the Holy Spirit. He desires to be more than just our Saviour from sin. His resurrection life is intended to be more than merely a proof of our justification. It is to have value and purpose now. There is a "quickening" concerning His resurrection life that will impart life to us.

Many Christians remain dissatisfied because to them, Jesus ascended to the Father, where He remains separated from their present spiritual lives. Therefore many live an up and down Christian life, not experiencing the victory they should, asking, "Is there something more than this?"

We are called to be conformed to the image of Jesus. The secret to attaining this is in these words, "Christ liveth in me."

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself
for me" Gal 2:20.

Apart from Christ, there is no victory. Apart from the life that He lives in us, this victory eludes us. Of ourselves, we can do nothing, except by recognizing that "Christ liveth in me."

If I desire Christ to live in me, I must lay my life down, that He might live His life in me. My desires must be swallowed up by His desire. Only then will I be able to allow Jesus to dwell in the very roots of my being and control my every faculty. This is where He longs to live.

This is not an imaginary experience - this Christ that lives within us. An egg has life in it, but as long as the egg is left to itself, it will never be more than an egg. There are those who are yet "a sinner saved by grace." There is a little of the life of the Jesus within them, but it is just a germ. That life has never taken on the form, "Christ liveth in me."

When an egg is placed in the proper heat, the life within that egg takes on form and grows until all that was there is gone, and a new life takes its place. The yoke and egg white can no longer be found. When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part is done away. This is what it means for Christ to live in us.

Our flesh should be nothing more than a covering for the Christ who lives within. Self is dethroned and no longer reigns. The old self that kept me defeated is gone and now I have a new life, "Christ liveth in me."

When Jesus fills us, He fills our vision; there is no attraction to the world. Obedience governs our hearts, and humility, our lives. Because we are filled with Him, we can truly say, "For me to live is Christ."

Are you willing to let your self life go, and invite Jesus to live within? Will you say, "from this day, by the grace of God, it shall be no longer I, but Christ in me."