We are awakening to that marvelous truth, that Christ is not in the heavens only, nor the atmosphere only, but Christ is in you.

John G. Lake

The American Church must get out of the rut of just having believers make Jesus an accessory to their lives. Jesus is to be our everything, and we need to live realizing the truth that He is in us!
Colossians 1:27 (AMPC) says, “To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory.”.
The church is called to be an Ecclesia of people who live as though Christ is truly in them! The world needs to see a united body of believers who truly live as though Jesus is truly in them, and reflecting His light through their lives to the lost!
Religion will just make you warm a pew once or twice a week, but a true living relationship with Him will make you live as a new person identified in the reality of being a new creation in Him!

But following the only true and steadfast Teacher, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.

Irenaeus of Lyons

The Early Church believed it was essential for believers to go on from glory to glory, growing continually in being more like Christ. It is not through dead works but resting in everything Jesus accomplished 2,000 years ago that was established before the foundation of the world.

1 John 3:2 (YLT)

“beloved, now, children of God are we, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be, and we have known that if he may be manifested, like him we shall be, because we shall see him as he is;”

Colossians 1:27 (NASB)

“to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

You cannot grow in Christ-likeness by a bunch of works and your own strength! Many in the name of Christianity are trying to change for the better, with good intentions, yet they are doing it without truly resting in Jesus Christ. Resting in Jesus means living by faith knowing God has started a work in you for His Glory and that He will complete it!

Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

It is one thing to know the Word of God by knowledge, but it is another thing to have a relationship with the Living Word. Don’t rush through the Word of God, sit and meditate upon it daily. When you do this the Word of God will become alive in you, and you will grow in conforming to the image of Jesus.

Our destiny in Christ is to walk in greater levels of sonship.

The Apostle Paul walked in sonship, for he spoke about this in Romans 8:14-15 (ESV), “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””.

The Apostle Paul told the Church of Corinth, which was very carnal, that if you are born again then you are a “new creation” in Christ. Mainstream Christianity has not even scratched the surface of what it truly means to be identified in the reality of being a new creation. Too often we want to mentally ascend what Salvation means, however, there is so much more than just mentally ascending the complete work of Christ.

Everything we go through in life is an experience, we experience pain, joy, sorrow, happiness, and love (to name a few). If these are experiences and if God is love, then being born again is an experience because Salvation is the work of God, it is an encounter with Him and being placed back into union and right-standing with Him.

The greater levels of sonship mean a greater level of Christ-like character and conforming to His Image for His Glory. The world needs to and is waiting to see an Eklessia of people who live this life as their identity as Christ in them being unveiled through their very lives and identity.

Paul continues in Romans 8:19 (LSB), “For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”.

This is best summed up in Colossians 1:27 (MSG), “This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. GOD WANTED EVERYONE, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. THE MYSTERY, IN A NUTSHELL, IS JUST THIS: CHRIST IS IN YOU, so, therefore, you can look forward to SHARING IN GOD’S GLORY. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. TO BE MATURE IS TO BE BASIC. CHRIST! NO MORE, NO LESS. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.”.

Every part of the believer’s existence is to be rooted in Christ Jesus!