Abiding in Christ and Christ in You

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

He comes to us when we come to Him!

Hebrews 4:14–16 NKJV

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He comes to us when we welcome Him to come!

His coming back to us is not just a return in the future. It is an increasing return of His presence in our lives every day.

We are not just waiting for Jesus to return. We are embracing His manifest presence each and every day.

He is our salvation in every situation we face in this world.

Hebrews 9:27–28 NKJV

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

2Cor. 5:14-17; Titus 2:11-14 (One died – all died - Rom. 5:15; 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3)

The judgment that has been given to those who come to Him is a judgment of mercy.

His now coming into our lives is a coming for salvation

We lose our lives to find them in Christ.

We laid our old life down to find a new life in Christ.

We died in Christ, so the life we now live is by faith in Christ.

This enables us to see Jesus for who He is.

He is the way, the truth, and the life!

John 14:1–3 NKJV

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

All we have to do is come to Him and see Him.

His appearing in our hearts is a testimony to His death upon the cross.

It is a judgment of mercy for all who believe.

His mercy is new every day and it frees us from every sin.

It frees us from being disconnected from God in any way.

This is the place of our death in Christ so that we might find our true life in Christ.

After this, there is a continual coming of Christ for salvation in our lives.

There is no doubt a maturation to a culmination of this reality, but we can embrace His coming presence after our first encounter with His judgment of mercy in our lives.

Jesus came for us to live in this second and eternal reality of life!

It is a second coming for salvation!

Jesus gave this truth to his disciples, who were about to know His judgment of mercy and the return of His presence not just in the bodily form of Jesus, but in the form of the body of Christ.

They would soon know what it is to be a dwelling place of God in the earth. Not just a place of God being with them, but in them, upon them, and with them at all times.

God In, God Upon, God With Jn. 14:26; Lk. 24:49; Rev. 3:20, 21

In, Upon, With

John 14:28–31 NKJV

28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

In this account of Jesus and His disciples, Jesus was about to enact the fulfillment of His first coming so that He could enact the reality of His second coming for His disciples. That would be the testimony of His true salvation in their lives and in the lives of men and women from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation in the world.

When He said, “Arise, let us go from here”; He wasn’t just talking about physically going from the supper to the cross. He was talking about entering the fulfillment of the purpose for which He came.

He didn’t come for judgment; He came for salvation. He made a way for God’s judgment to be a judgment of mercy for all who come to Him to receive it so that He could come to them for salvation in their world.

He wanted to move into every neighborhood, not just a region in the Middle East. He came so that all would know what it is to be a dwelling place of God in the earth.

Connected Strands in Scripture:

Way, Truth, Life Jn. 14:6

Righteousness, Peace, Joy Rom. 14:17

Presence In, Presence Upon, Presence With Jn. 14:26

God In, God Upon, God With Jn. 14:26; Lk. 24:49; Rev. 3:20, 21

Identity, Testimony, Purpose Eph. 1:18-22

Live, Move, Have Your Being Acts 17:28

Activation, Facilitation, Release Eph. 5:22-31

Life, Breath, All Things Acts 17:25

Passover - Lk. 22:14-22, Pentecost – Acts 2:1-4, Tabernacles – Zech. 14:16-21

Cross/Resurrection – Holy Spirit/Church – Firstfruit Church (A.D. 70)

Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father Jn. 14:23

Blood of the Lamb, Word of Your Testimony, Loving - Even to Death Rev. 12:11

God, You Are My God, I Am a God Person, We Live Together

Power, Throne, Authority Rev. 13:2

Spirit, Soul, Body 1 Thes. 5:23

God Cares for You, God’s There for You, God Fights for You

Plant the Heavens, Establish the Earth, Reign From Zion Isa. 51:16

Outer Court, Holy Place, Holy of Holies Heb. 8:1-6

Born of the Spirit ,Submerged in Holy Spirit, Reigning by Grace

Justified by Faith, Peace With God, Access to Grace Rom. 5:1, 2

Faith to Believing, Grace to Receiving, Glory to Being Rom. 5:1, 2

Justified by His Blood, Empowered by Grace, Saved by His Life Rom. 5:9, 10

Reconciled, Receiving Reconciliation, Saved by His Life Rom. 5:10

Gift of Righteousness, Abundance of Grace, Reign In Life Rom. 5:7; Rom. 6:5-14

Stands at Door Knocking, Open Door – Abide With, Reign In Life Rev. 3:20, 21

Jesus is the Way

Righteousness – What does Jesus say is righteous, not what do I judge as right? Or what do I judge as wrong?

Jesus is the Truth

Peace - The truth is as it is in heaven – What is true in heaven? This is not my opinion, but the testimony of Jesus in my life.

Jesus is the life

Joy – How am I fulfilling the Father’s purpose in this? This is not merely my dream or vision, but the dream and vision of God in Christ and as Christ.

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