As we said in the previous message, there are three crucial points to Paul’s ministry. The first of these, which we shall consider in this message, is Christ living within us. The other two we shall cover in subsequent messages.
That Christ should live in us was purposed and planned by God in eternity. According to Ephesians 3, in eternity past God planned to work Himself into His chosen people. His eternal purpose is to have a people with Him as life. God will be within them and they will be one with Him. This people will be the Body of Christ to express God Himself in Christ. First they are the church and eventually the New Jerusalem.
The Bible tells us that in eternity past there was only God. Then He purposed to have a Body for Christ. For this He created the universe and then man, the center of the universe. Man, Genesis 1:26 tells us, was made in a specific way. He was made in God’s image and according to His likeness. Why was it that God made man in His own form? It was because God intended that one day He would enter man to make man His container, with Himself as the content. From the very beginning, then, from the time of man’s creation, the preparation was made for man to contain God.
Romans 9:20-21 says that man is a vessel. The purpose of a vessel is to contain something. Man is not called an instrument. He was not made to do something, the way a hammer can be used to hit a nail. When the Lord talked to Ananias about Paul, He said, “He is a chosen vessel unto me” (Acts 9:15). Paul was not chosen to be an instrument to finish a work. He was chosen to be a vessel to contain God in Christ, even to the distant parts of the earth.
Later, Paul himself used this same word. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). We are only an earthen vessel, but within us is the treasure. The treasure is the Triune God. It is Christ Jesus. It is the all-inclusive Spirit. Paul was the leading vessel, the pattern vessel. When Christians study the Bible, they may be impressed with how much work Paul accomplished. In a sense Paul did accomplish a tremendous work. His work, however, was to contain the Lord and then bring the Lord to others; it was not to do a work as such. Wherever he went, he ministered the Lord to people, not in the way of working but rather by containing Him and then sharing Him. He was a vessel containing the Lord and bringing the Lord to others.
“It pleased God,” Paul tells of the time of his conversion, “to reveal His Son in me” (Gal. 1:15-16). God was pleased to do this one thing: to reveal His Son in Paul. Before God called him, Saul was already a chosen vessel, but he was empty. Even so, he was occupied by the religion of his fathers. His being was full of the law and the traditions. He thought highly of himself. Peter he may have considered an ignorant fisherman from Galilee. But he himself was filled with the law of Moses and the traditions of his people. Much of the day he was no doubt thinking about God and considering how to serve Him. Yet he was void of God, empty, even while being so occupied by the law. He was being misused, usurped, by what was not God’s purpose.
God does not want a people who are religious or even sinless. Saul considered himself blameless, yet he was void of Christ. He was zealous for God, yet God was not in him. God’s eternal purpose is not to gain a people who will keep the law. He is after a people who are full of Christ.
While Saul was empty, yet so occupied, this dear Lord came, not only to save him, but especially to fill him. On the way to Damascus the Lord called him by name. When Saul replied, “Who art thou, Lord?” the Lord entered into him. It was enough for him to say “Lord.” If you want to take a picture with a camera, you simply activate the shutter. With a touch the light gets in and the picture is taken. The moment Saul called “Lord,” the shutter opened, even without his realizing it, and the Lord Jesus came in.
You may wonder if Paul was referring to the time of his conversion when he says, “It pleased God...to reveal His Son in me.” This is clear from the context: “When it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the nations, immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood” (Gal. 1:15-16). Was there any other juncture in Paul’s life when God revealed His Son in Paul? To me it is clear that this was the time God revealed His Son to him. This camera had been shut for years. He would not open up, though God as the heavenly light was watching and waiting. Then the Lord came and asked Saul why he was persecuting Him. As soon as the word “Lord” came out in Saul’s reply, the shutter was activated and the Son of God was revealed in him. Of course, it was not till later that he realized what had happened.
This is our own story too. When we repented and believed, we may have prayed, “Lord, I am sinful. Have mercy on me and save me.” We had no intention of receiving the Lord into us. Our prayer was for the Lord to forgive us and save us, to take care of our troubles. We did not realize when we called “Lord” that we activated the shutter. It took a few days perhaps before we discovered that Somebody was inside us. Before calling on His name, we were alone. Now, however, we find there is Someone in us, not only with us, but in us! Is this not our experience? Especially do we find this is so if we feel like doing something that pertains to the old life. Suppose, for example, we feel like going to a movie. Another One within us says, “I don’t feel good about this.” While we are saying, “It would be fun to go to a movie,” Someone else within is saying, “Better not go!” Who is this One? It is the Son of God revealed in us. He was revealed in us while we were unaware. Aware or not, He came in! Now we cannot get rid of Him. The more we call on Him, whether positively or negatively, the more we become involved with Him. We may say, “Lord, I have had enough of You. Leave me alone. At least give me this weekend for myself. I have something to do.” The more we talk to Him this way, the more He bothers us. It is better not to call! If we want to avoid “trouble,” we had better not talk to Him! This may help, but I doubt it! Jesus is no longer just a man. He is the ascended Christ. He is the ascended Lord. He is also the all-inclusive Spirit. When we call His name, we get the Person. To call “Jesus” is to activate the shutter. The heavenly light comes in.
Suppose, to use an example, I need one of you. As soon as I call your name, you come. But suppose I do not want you to come. I do not want to have you around. Then it is better simply not to mention your name. If I keep saying, “So-and-so, So-and-so, I do not want you here. Go away, So-and-so, and leave me alone!” it is likely you will stay around.
The Lord is real and living. He is present and near. When we call, “Lord!” He comes at once. I have learned to apply this lesson in preaching the gospel. People may argue and resist what we say, but if we want to win them, the best way is to induce them to call “Lord Jesus.”
At the beginning of this message I have listed the verses in Paul’s writings that mention Christ living in us. Paul tells us that while he was deep in zeal for religion and the law, the Lord Himself came. From the moment the Lord called him, “Saul, Saul...,” he could not get away. It was then that Christ was revealed into him (Gal. 1:13-16).