Monday, December 18, 2006

"... that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ..."

Reading Ephesians 3:14-21

If the riches of God are intended, above all else, to strengthen the inner being, here is how it is done. God comes into the closest possible proximity to us when Jesus enters our lives. The way in which he is able to "dwell" in our hearts is a mystery that has not been explained to us. Jesus makes himself present within us and reveals to us the nature of God as personal, loving, holy, and powerful. This is nothing like "the force" of Star Wars fame. This is the person of Jesus and there is no dark side of him that empowers evil as readily as it empowers good. Jesus is present in us as a person and as a source of relationship that removes the sense of the universe as being empty and hostile. It is in Jesus that we are reconciled to God and through whom we find hope in the world.

All this comes about "through faith." Faith is about apprehending what cannot be physically grasped, about seeing what is invisible. Faith is a special gift of sight into the world of God.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see... By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." (Heb. 11:1,3)

Faith is not wish, but being sure. Faith is not 'hope so' but 'hope' in the form of a deep inner certainty. Faith is not irrational but is understanding. Faith is rooted in the existence of God, in his revelation, in the communication of truth by His Spirit, and is made available to us on the basis of Jesus' work of redemption at the cross. It is when we come to believe in Him that he enters into this special relationship with us and comes to "dwell in our hearts."

"They will call him Immanuel - which means, 'God with us'."

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