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Christianity is us entering into the life of Jesus Christ, not Him entering into our lives.

 

I found that tucked away in the Notes app on my iPad.
I haven’t got a clue what I was reading two months ago that prompted it.
But the concept has generated recurring lightening bolts that flashed ultra bright in my thoughts all day long.
Like my neighbor’s barking dog, I’ve been hearing it over and over since morning.

 

If the phrase, Paradigm Shift, can be applied to spiritual insight and understanding, then I think it happened to me today.

 

When one conceptual view replaces another, that’s a Paradigm Shift.

 

Does Jesus come into our lives, or do we, at the moment of salvation, enter into His life?

 

I asked Jesus into my heart, into my life, over 40 years ago.
I think describing my own salvation experience in that way, with those words, leaves the impression that Jesus Christ has entered into my life.
But is that what happens at salvation?
Could it just as truly be said that we enter into His life?

What do you think?

 

Here are several Scripture quotations that came to mind.
Read them and meditate on them.

 

 

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:3 (ESV)

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
Colossians 3:1 (The Message)

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
Colossians 3:4  (The Message)

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
Colossians 1:13

And this is the testimony:  that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:11

Here are two favorite verses that declare that Jesus lives in us.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27

 

We know that the Holy Spirit indwells our bodies, but is that in order that we might participate in the life of Christ, or so that He can participate in our lives?

Are there other verses or passages you know that shed light on this?

 

I’m returning to this post after many hours of thought today.

 

This is important because if Jesus has come into my life, it leaves me vulnerable to thinking that I’m still at the center of the equation.
I now have His help in living MY life.  His Divine resources available to me when circumstances in my life are too much to handle.

But, if I have entered into His life, then He holds the place of prominence.
I’m the satellite orbiting Him as the center and becoming part of what He is doing not the other way around.  I have the joy and privilege of participating in His plans and purposes.

 

Have I got the wrong end of the stick?  Is this just semantics?  Do you feel this could have a significant influence on how we think about our lives?  Would this determine our frame of reference for decision making?

It might bring clarity to think about the Apostle Paul instead of yourself.  Did Jesus enter Paul’s life, or did Paul enter into Jesus’ life?

Let’s talk 😉

Levi & Don I’m hoping you’ll both weigh in on this.