Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

How could Paul rejoice in prison?

Colossians 1:25

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—

Colossians 1:2• To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful

brothers and sisters in Christ:

“In Christ”• 83 (Paul’s Epistles)• 12 (Colossians)

“In Christ”

• Salvation• Holy• Righteous• Fit for heaven

If being saved is the panicle of Christianity …

why aren’t we beamed up to heaven as soon as we are saved?

Colossians 1:10• “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord

and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,”

Colossians 1:25

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—

Colossians 1:26

the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.

Colossians 1:27

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is

Colossians 1:27

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

John 14:23• Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey

my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Christ In You!• Why is Paul rejoicing in prison?

Christ In You!• Why is Paul rejoicing in prison?

Not intellectuallyNot sentimentallyNot hypotheticallyBut, actually

Colossians 3:11• Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or

uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Christ In You!

Christian

Galatians 2:20• I have been crucified with Christ and I no

longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

“Most Christians in our churches understand that Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins---they believed that and came to Christ because of that---but that is where most of them stop. Relatively few, it seems, ever go on to grasp the fact that Jesus died for them that he might live in them. It is his life in them that is the source of power, change and deliverance, and the ability to resist temptation. That is how loneliness is met and Companionship provided. It is not enough to know that Christ died in order that we might go to heaven. We are also to know, understand, and practice Christ actually living in us now!” – Dr. Ray Stedman

“it will take Jesus Christ, not His teachings, not His preaching, not His sublime example, not the beautiful life that He lived, not the doctrines that He [taught]. It will take Jesus Christ Himself, a person, to be a Christian. The Lord Jesus died upon the cross, not just to get you out of hell and into heaven. He died upon the cross to get God out of heaven into you. Actually calling the shots. Actually controlling what you do with your hands. Actually controlling where you go with your feet. Actually controlling what you say with your lips. Actually controlling what you think with your mind. Actually controlling the decisions that you make. That is the measure in which you're saved. -Major Ian Thomas

“In Christ” “Christ In You”• Salvation• Holy• Righteous• Fit for heaven

• Sanctification• Live holy• Live right• Bring heaven down

Colossians 1:28-29

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

We Have a Choice• To go on living as though Jesus isn't in us

We Have a Choice• To go on living as though Jesus isn't in us• To go on feeling lonely

We Have a Choice• To go on living as though Jesus isn't in us• To go on feeling lonely • To go on fighting sin as Lone Ranger.

We Have a Choice• To go on living as though Jesus isn't in us• To go on feeling lonely • To go on fighting sin as Lone Ranger.• To go on in our own strength & intellect

We Have a Choice• To go on living as though Jesus isn't in us• To go on feeling lonely • To go on fighting sin as Lone Ranger.• To go on in our own strength & intellect • or as Jesus said to Thomas, "stop doubting

and believe".

Not a Christian yet?

Romans 8:9-10 • 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh

but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

Christ In You!

Before it became a mighty oak, the mighty oak lived within the acorn.Before it became a beautiful flower, the flower lived within the seed,Before we became like God, Christ lived within me.

1 John 4:4• You, dear children, are from God and have

overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.