Through the Mud March 3, 2015

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.  Romans 8:9-11 ESV

My heart was broken this morning when I fully grasped the depth of these verses.  

For years I understood (though not completely) the idea of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  After conversion, the Holy Spirit resides in each believer.  Its purposes are many: comfort, guidance, intercession, etc.  

I have also long understood, but not fully grasped, the concept of the Trinity:  One God, manifest in three distinct forms.

Since the Holy Spirit and Jesus are one and the Holy Spirit indwells each Christian, therefore, Jesus resides in each Christian. It was at this point a sad realization came to mind.  Every time I have sinned since accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, I have included Jesus Christ in that sin.

I drug his purity through sexual sin.  I stained His robe with unabated anger.  I tainted His holiness with drunkenness.  Yes, these actions grieve the Spirit and displease God, but because of the indwelling relationship that exists after salvation my sin drug Perfection through the mud, mire, and filth of my sin.  He who "knew no sin" (2 Corin. 5:21) was forced to be present for each disobedient act, impure thought, crass joke, and angry utterance of my life after salvation.  

At a local coffee shop called the Mud House, there is a series of photographs where the employees are dressed in all white in front of a white background  Someone off camera has thrown mud at them.  The mud is in their hair, on their faces, and splattered on their clothing.  This is exactly what my sin has done to the perfection that is Jesus Christ.  My sin is mud thrown on the white purity of His Holiness.

But even through all my mud slinging, all my debauchery, all my denial of His presence in my life, His presence remains constant, His forgiveness complete, and His love steadfast.  What a wonderful God we serve.