Who Lives Inside You?

“So, Mommy,” said the six-year-old boy, “It’s like this—Jesus lives inside me, and God lives inside my sister, and the Holy Spirit lives inside my little brother, right? But then who lives inside you and Daddy?”

Rankin Wilbourne shares this thought-provoking conversation between his son and wife in his book Union with Christ, when his son was wrapping his head around a central mystery of the Christian faith. How are followers of Christ united to Him? How can we be connected to God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit? What difference does this make?

To answer the last question, quite simply it makes all the difference. That God would dwell in His followers through the Holy Spirit means He can change us from being cranky to loving, from selfish to outward looking, from bitter to forgiving. He moves from within us to make us more like Jesus. His work of change can feel slow, but we can trust that He’s birthing the new self within, which is made in His image. He’s producing within us the fruit of the Spirit—those qualities of love, patience, peace, joy, and self-control, to name a few.

A Riveting After-Dinner Talk

After their last supper together, Jesus gives a fascinating after-dinner talk with His disciples about being united with Him (John 14). Judas leaves the table in a hurry as he goes to betray Jesus, Satan having filled him, while Jesus offers a different vision of life, one filled with the Spirit. But first He acknowledges that He has to leave, a thought that makes His friends grieve. Jesus comforts them, saying He’ll prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. 

His friends try to figure out what He means. Thomas states the obvious—they don’t know where He’s going, so how can they know the way there? Jesus answers with another mind-bending statement: He’s the way, the truth, and the life. And not only that, but “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:5–6). Philip, still trying to understand, asks Him to show them the Father and that will be enough (v. 8).

I wonder if Jesus becomes a bit frustrated here. He’s been with them for such a long time and still they don’t understand that if they’ve seen Him, they’ve seen the Father? After all, He and the Father are connected: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? . . . Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (vv. 10–11).

Jesus doesn’t leave it there. Not only is He in the Father and the Father in Him, but the Father will send an advocate to be with His followers forever, the Holy Spirit (which He did at Pentecost). God the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Spirit—extend their own circle of love to their followers, as Jesus promises: “Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (vv. 19–20).

This statement, “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you,” is one of the clearest expressions of union with Christ in the gospels. Later when Jesus prays to the Father for His disciples, He makes a similarly succinct statement: “I in them and you in me” (17:23). 

Another Lives Within

Jesus extended this amazing gift of union with Him not only to His friends that night, but also to us. We, however, sometimes forget that when we follow Jesus, we’re united with Him. To help me call this union to mind, I’ve come across a simple practice—an unobtrusive placing of my hand on my heart. With this physical act, I focus on the truth that “Another lives within me,” as a mentor used to phrase it. When we’re stressed, we can calm ourselves by breathing deeply and considering Christ’s presence within. We can do the same when we feel we’re going to blow up in anger or overflow with annoyance or when we’re aching with hurt and pain. Affirming that Christ lives within returns our attention to our identity as children of God, dearly loved. 

That’s the difference union with Christ makes in our life—He gives us peace and joy when we face turmoil and trouble; He fills us with compassion and love for those we encounter; He gives us wisdom to understand complex issues and problems. The way He dwells within us changes us day by day and we become more like Jesus, from the inside out. 

Written by Amy Boucher Pye. Used by permission of the author. Click here to connect with Amy.