CHRIST-IN-YOU VERITIES

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). 

Before you were born again, God, your heavenly Father, had prepared good works in advance for you to do them on earth. To be able to walk in the good works that were prepared in advance for you, he recreated you in Christ Jesus and put his glory inside you. You must put the glory out for all to see and give praise to the Father. This is what the Christ-In-You Verities are about. They teach, guide, inspire, encourage and motivate you to put the glory out for all to see and give praise to the Father.

What does the term Christ-In-You Verities mean?

The term Christ-In-You Verities refers the system of doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. They explain to you what glory is, who glory is, where glory is, and how glory is, so that you will be able to understand and demonstrate a glorious life on earth, that is, to be able to put out glory in your world to the glory of God, the Father. The glory that you put out in your world is to be delightful and desirable by all. 

What is glory?

Glory is all that pertains to, or belongs to God. They include his being, his ways, even his acts. 

The Jews understood that Jehovah was Israel's glory. They revered the ark of the covenant so much because through it they perceived that Jehovah was present among them, and so glory was upon them. Then the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant from them through war. 

News of the ark having been captured broke out in Israel. Out of shock, Phinehas' wife, who had been pregnant, suddenly gave birth to a male child prematurely. The child was named Ichabod because the glory had departed from Israel, they thought. 

Who is glory?

God himself, and all that pertains to him, or belongs to him, is glory. 

The New Testament teaches that God manifested in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. 

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16 NIV). 

One deep thing to note here is that even heaven, where God has his abode, is glory. All that pertains to, or belongs to him, is glory. 

According to the New Testament, glory came to abide in the world in the person of Jesus Christ. The ark of the covenant indicated Jehovah's presence among the nation Israel, but in Christ Jesus, Jehovah manifested himself to the world in person. Paul calls this mystery. In fact, we understand this only by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, otherwise, it would not make sense to us too. 

In the Old Testament, Jehovah manifested himself by means of light, pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, and ultimately, by his Shekinah. However, in the New Testament, Jehovah manifested himself physically and visibly in the person of Jesus Christ. He was God's glory in the world. But this is not the best news yet. 

The Holy Spirit as God's glory in man

My favourite part of the Christ-In-You Verities is that Jehovah manifests himself to the world now in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is God's glory in the world now, just as Christ was God's glory in the world then. 

Previously, Jehovah manifested himself bodily in the person of his only Son Jesus Christ. But now and everyday, He manifests himself spiritually in the person of the Holy Spirit. 

Where is glory now? 

Today, glory is in man. Not just any man but the new man created in Christ Jesus to walk in good works which were prepared in advance for him to walk in them. 

Jehovah is pleased to make his abode in man, filling up man with his glory, making man complete. The Holy Spirit is God's perfect solution to the shortcomings of man. Do you have any shortcomings? The Holy Spirit fills you up.

Before his coming, you were like every other man—short of the glory of God. But upon his indwelling, you have become a new breed of human being—full of the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is God's glory in man. 

He lives in you

Where is God? God lives inside man—the new man. He lives in you as the spring of eternal life. You draw vigour for every good work through the riches that constantly flow from him. 

The Christian must be a hard drinker. Not drinker of intoxicating wine but drinker of the glorious riches that flow from the spring of life. What riches can you draw from the spring that is inside you? You can draw divine health, divine wealth, spiritual songs, spiritual publications, vocational skills, intellectual prowess, communication skills, interpersonal skills for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, among others. Think of any good thing. You can draw them from the spring of life that is in you. 

How is glory?

Today, something is glorious if and only if it bears from the Holy Spirit since he is the Spirit of glory. 

Jesus said, "A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit (John 3:6 GNT). 

The spiritual birth is the origin of glory. Any person who is born of the Holy Spirit is born in glory and must grow up in glory to do glorious works. We discern glory through the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of glory. 

Manifestations of Glory 

Glory as radiance

Glory means radiance. But radiance in light of the glorious gospel is not only about physical beauty and attractiveness of the body, or bright lights and physical decoration of the environment. More importantly, radiance is about God's people glowing with a sense of being loved and cared for—beaming with happiness. 

Something is glorious if it fills others with a sense of being loved and cared for, making them beam with happiness. 

Jesus is working on the church to present her to himself as a glorious bride. Glorious bride means radiant bride, that is, a bride glowing with a sense of being loved and cared for—beaming with happiness. Husbands ought to treat their wives in this manner just as Christ treats the church in this manner.

Glory as spotlessness

Glory also means spotlessness. Something is glorious if it has no blemishes. Blemishes are spots or stains or wrinkles on a clean white garment. The Christian is wearing righteousness as a clean white garment. This means that you are made to be righteous, that is, spotless. Therefore you must not stain your clean white garment with anything that is not right to do in the eyes of God. You are able to be spotless because the Spirit of glory that lives in you trains you to live a spotless life. 

Some Christians confess, "I am the righteousness of God", but they put a dark halo around anything that is called godliness. This ought not to be so. Righteousness is a doing word or an action word, and it shows a state of being. 

Glory as innocence

Something is glorious if it cannot be proven guilty of any wrong. Jesus said, 

"Which one of you can prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, then why do you not believe me?

(John 8:46 GNT).

You may be accused of doing wrong, but scripture teaches that you cannot be proven guilty of wrongdoing.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1 NIV).

This means that the Christian is eternally justified through faith in Christ Jesus. You stand innocent in any spiritual trial on account of your trust for Christ Jesus. 

Glory as beauty

Glory means beauty or splendour. God's glory has the quality of being beautiful. Beautiful in the sense of affording so much delight and pleasure. This is why the Christian who understands the glory of God creates a beautiful persona around him or her.

The hallmark of beauty is that it is desirable by all. If something is beautiful, it is first of all delightful, then it is desirable. Nobody can deny beauty. When God fully manifests himself in the world, nobody can deny him. Jesus was not received by all because he did not manifest the glory of his deity to everyone in the world, for the glory of God is desirable by all. 

Glory as praise

Last but not least, glory means praise. Since glory is beautiful, delightful and desirable by all, it leaves great joy and satisfaction in the heart of everyone who sees it and enjoys it. Everyone that beholds glory rejoices, celebrates and praises the glory. You are called and filled with glory to make all see and give praise to your heavenly Father who has made you so. You must not live a life short of marvel and praise for God.  

 

To conclude this session of verities, I leave you with a scripture. Jesus said,

 

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7 KJV).

The word expedient means suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended. It also means beneficial in the short term. 

What benefits are in the Holy Spirit that made Jesus say that he has to go back to heaven for your own good? What makes Jesus' departure suitable for you? 

In my view, his departure was suitable for you in the sense that the Holy Spirit had to come and dwell in you with unsearchable riches of his glory. Unsearchable means untraceable, hence unfinishable. I am still searching for my own glorious riches in the scriptures, and I want you to be searching for yours likewise.

#TruthHaven