God is Homeless
Why does He want to live in us?
Because He loves us! God the Father loves sinful, fallen people to such an extent that He sent His only begotten Son to shed His blood for our sins (John 3:16). This was according to His eternal purpose, and was a crucial accomplishment of His plan.
When Christ rose from among the dead, He became the life-giving Spirit (1Corinthians 15:45) to impart life into His believers. When we believe into Him, He enters into our spirit, and we are joined to Him as the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, we become one spirit with Him (1Corinthians 6:17). Our spirit is made alive and resurrected with Him. Eventually, our soulish body will become a spiritual body in resurrection, just like His (Philippians 3:21) In other words, God wants to live in us, so that we can become like God in His life and nature, but not in the Godhead (John 1:12-13; 2 Peter 1:4). This is His eternal purpose.
Where can He dwell in us?
Christ makes His home in our heart (Ephesians 3:17). Our heart is made up of all the parts of our soul—mind, emotion, and will—plus our conscience, the main part of our human spirit. These are the inward parts of our being. Christ comes into our spirit by making us alive, and this is how we receive Him.
After this, we should allow Him to spread into every part of our heart. Since our heart is the center of our inward being, when Christ makes His home in our heart, He controls our entire being, and supplies and strengthens every inward part with Himself.
How can you let Him in?
Christ became the life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit dispenses God with His life into His believers. Hence the Bible says: “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12). Man obtains a physical life through his first birth. When we receive God’s life through Christ, we experience a second birth, called “regeneration”. “God … has regenerated us … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). “Unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). We can let Christ in by calling on His wonderful name, “O Lord Jesus!”—“For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Once you call on His name, not only will you be saved, but you will enter into the enjoyment of the Lord’s riches, for He is rich to all who call on His name (Romans 10:12).
When can this happen?
Right now! You do not need to wait. Pray something like this, and God will come into your heart:
“Lord Jesus! I am a sinner. I need You. Take away my sin. Come into my spirit. Fill me that I may have the life of God. I receive You right now as my Saviour and life. I give myself to you. I ask this in Your name, Amen!”
Prayer, reading the Bible, and meeting with other Christians are three ways that help us to grow in the divine life and in the knowledge of the truth.
Written by E.C.