Greater Is He

During the conference this weekend, the speaker at one point said "Greater is he who is in me, than he who is in the world!" That's a common Christian saying. It's from 1 John 4:4 -

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (KJV)

So according to this, the greater one is the one (God) that is in you (Dan), rather than the one (the Antichrist) that is in the world (the system that seeks desires apart from God). That's a pretty good saying. God is bigger than Satan/the Devil/the Antichrist/the Evil one. But, for me that's not really an impactful statement. It's pretty much common sense. If you believe in God and you believe in the Devil, obviously God is stronger than the Devil. I don't question that. Satan doesn't really scare me, because God is so much more powerful than him, there really is no comparison.

Now when I heard the speaker say this phrase it made me think of it in a different light. This isn't how it's quoted in the scriptures, but the spirit of it is deeply rooted in scripture.

I imagined it as if Jesus was saying to me, "Greater is he who is in me, than he who is in the world."

From this perspective Jesus is saying, "He (Dan) who is in me (Jesus) is in a better position than he (someone against Jesus) who is in the world (the system that seeks desires apart from God)." So rather than asking Jesus into your heart, I would rather ask Jesus if I can come into his heart. I want to live in Jesus, with other Christians, rather than look at it as though Jesus is in my heart.

And it reminds me that if I choose to live in the world, with the mentality of those who do not seek God, than I will not be experiencing full life or power.

John 15:4 - Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (NIV)

Oh hey, I guess Jesus was saying both. Live in me, dwell in me, remain in me, and I will live in you, dwell in you, and remain in you. Yeah, that's a good relationship I think.

Greater is he who is in me, than he who is in the world.