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).
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Theodore Epp (1907 - 1985)
Theodore H. Epp, a graduate of Southwestern Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, was the founding director of the Back to the Bible Broadcast. He began his ministry as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, where he received his first taste of radio preaching. He moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to establish the Back to the Bible Broadcast, and the first program was heard on May 1, 1939, on a small local station.He served as General Director for the broadcast until his retirement from on-air radio speaking in 1984. He continued to serve the ministry as well as perform other speaking engagements until his death in 1985.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Under Epp's direction, the broadcasts were also noted for music by the Back to the Bible Choir and quartet. Several popular recordings were made by the choir in the 1940s and 1950s. Back to the Bible also had a weekly youth program, featuring a youth choir and serialized adventures with a Christian theme. Both the music and youth program have since been discontinued. Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
Epp was born in Oraibi, Arizona, the son of Russian Mennonite immigrants. His parents were missionaries to the Hopi Indians there. After graduating from Oklahoma Bible Academy, Epp attended Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now, Biola University), Epp received a ThM degree in 1932 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.