The Presence Within

After published my previous blog titled "The Gift of Presence," I thought about some things I left unsaid. These thoughts prompted me to write this blog titled "The Presence Within."

The birth of Jesus was God's gift of His living presence to our world. According to John 1:14, the eternal Word which was with God and was God became flesh and dwelt among us.

When we speak about the gift of God's presence to us through the birth of His Son, we need to take another step and comtemplate how we experience the presence of God. Is God's presence an external or internal presence? Do we observe God's presence by watching what He does or do we experience His presence from within as He dwells in our hearts and lives? I believe that it is important for God's presence to be an internal presence that we experience rather than an external presence that we simply observe.

There is a wonderful story associated with the birth of Christ recorded in Luke's gospel. We find this story in Luke 2:25-35. It tells us about a man named Simeon who is described as just and devout. He was a person of faith who was faithfully waiting for "the Consolation of Israel." The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ. The Lord's Christ was the promised Messiah. He was the one who would fulfill the promise made to King David that one of his descendants would occupy God's throne forever.

At some point after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary brought Christ into the Temple to fulfill the custom of the law. Simeon was there.

He took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to your word; For my eyes have seen your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. (Luke 2:28-32 NKJV)

God rewarded Simeon for his many years of faith in the promises of God that He would send the Messiah to Israel to be the Savior for all people. Before his death he was able to hold this child in his arms and pronounce a blessing.

For Simeon this was much more than a mere observation of Christ. It was a validation of His faith in God's promises. Simeon had believed for many years; now he saw. What joy must have flooded Simeon's heart as he beheld the One he knew to be God's Messiah!

After Simeon pronounced his blessing, he uttered some words of prophecy concerning Jesus. "Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against. (Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed'" (Luke 2:34,35 NKJV).

Simeon's prophecy was pointing to the cross and the suffering that Jesus would endure to fulfill the mission for which He came into our world. When Jesus did die on the cross and was raised back to life, one of His disciples named Thomas struggled to believe."The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe'" (John 20:25 NKJV).

What a contrast Simeon and Thomas are! Simeon believed and then he saw. Thomas saw and then he believed. Later Jesus came to Thomas and showed him the nail prints in His hands and the wound in His side. Only then did Thomas believe. "Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29 NKJV).

These should be precious words to every believers. None of us see Jesus in the flesh though we will see Him one day face to face in heaven. Though we cannot observe His physical body as Thomas did, we can Him through the eyes of faith and actually experience His presence within. When Jesus comes in, He cleanses, forgives and abides.

The presence of the living Christ in the lives of believers has the potential to impact our world in a wonderful way.

Paul wrote about the impact that the presence of Christ in the lives of believers can have in our world in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

What glorious and challenging words these are! Through the presence of Christ within, we can be a glorious presence of life in our world. Our world today is staggering and gagging on the awful stench of death, corruption and decay. This is what the world without the presence of Christ always emits and the only thing it can render.

As believer give off the aroma of the life giving presence of Christ, we will bring the life and presence of Christ to a lost and dying world.

Thank God for the gift of His presence. Thank God even more that His presence can be the presence within for every one who receives Him. "And this is the testimony: that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11,12 NKJV).

The presence of Christ within changes the individual and the presence of Christ within shared with others can change our world.

Dear God, Let it be!