“Christ in you.” This is a mystery, yet this is how Paul describes the Colossian church and all who have put their faith in Christ. But what does it mean? Spurgeon shines a light on this in his 1883 sermon of the same name.
“The gospel is the grand secret: the mystery of mysteries,” Spurgeon opens. As children of God, we receive Christ, God who became man for our sake. We do not just receive knowledge of Christ, a blessing from Him, or a word from Him. Such things are glorious but fall short of the true gift: Christ Himself. “We rejoice in Christ and nothing else but Christ: Christ and no priestcraft; Christ and no philosophy; Christ and no modern thought; Christ and no human perfection. Christ, the whole of Christ, and nothing else but Christ: here lies the mystery of the gospel of the grace of God.”
To compound this mystery further is the way in which one receives Christ: through the simple act of faith. No heroic feat is needed, no standard of righteousness is required, no sin is to be overcome; salvation is by faith and faith alone. “If you are such a poor believer that you can hardly think of assurance or confidence, yet if you do trust the Lord, as surely as the sun comes in by a narrow crack, so will Christ come into your soul by the smallest opening of true faith.” That God allows us to be heirs of the infinite Christ through faith alone is a wonder that we will ponder for all eternity.
Excerpt:
Wherefore comfort yourselves with this word, Christ in you means you in glory, as sure as God lives. There is no question about that. Go your ways and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and let men see who it is that lives in you. Let Jesus speak through your mouth, and weep through your eyes, and smile through your face: let him work with your hands and walk with your feet, and be tender with your heart. Let him seek sinners through you; let him comfort saints through you; until the day break and the shadows flee away.
Read the rest of the sermon here.