By Theodore Epp

      Colossians 1:21-29

      On the surface, the emphasis of "Christ in you" (Col. 1:27) may not seem so important. But when we grasp the significance of this great truth, our thinking about Christ and ourselves will be changed, and even our prayer life will be changed.

      I well remember when I was a young preacher and my father had grasped the glorious truth of "Christ in you." Those were good words to me, but I did not see the importance in them that my father did.

      But one of the red-letter days of my life was when God opened my inner eyes and ears to understand what it really is to be in Christ and to have Him in me.

      I then experienced a change in my outlook on life in general and in my prayer life in particular. I experienced a new insight and a new understanding of what it means to be able to say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20).

      The Lord Jesus Christ, who walked on this earth and who is now at the Father's right hand, must not only be a leader or teacher to us.

      It is not enough that He came, lived, died and rose again; He must be personally received as Saviour, at which time He will take up personal residence in our heart.

      And as we study the Scriptures to learn more about Him and apply the truths to our lives, He will be formed in us.

      An intellectual acceptance of the facts of Christ's person and work is not sufficient for what we need and want. We certainly need to know those facts, but we must go beyond those facts to place our faith in Him as Saviour and to daily experience His living power in us.

      This is the thrust of the Book of Colossians, and that is why I think it is so important.

      "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).