“In Christ” isn’t simply a belief system . . .

 

“God . . . has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3.

Many people believe that one’s religious preference is irrelevant because all religions eventually lead to the same spiritual destination. However, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) His claim cannot be ignored. The entire NT supports and explains it. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

The devotional for today says Christianity isn’t simply a belief system—it’s a whole new identity. Being united with Christ changes who I am because I am “in Christ” something like putting a piece of paper between the pages of a book; that paper is ‘in the book.’ Yet that is hardly adequate to explain what God has done in redeeming His people.

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

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. (Romans 8:9)

The phrase “in Christ” occurs thirteen times in Ephesians. The first verse addresses this letter to those who are faithful in Christ. The third verse says we are blessed in Christ. Verse 9 says God’s purposes are set forth in Him and 12 declares that those who hope in Christ bring praise to Him.

God’s power is revealed in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, yet the startling truth is that we have also been raised up and seated in heavenly places with Him! How can that be? I’m still here, as are many who hope in Him. This must be understood in terms of status not location, eternity not time. That is, the eternal God declares that from His perspective, I am already there with Jesus. He has united me with His Son “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

For the present location and time, I am here with things to do: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

How did God do that? He says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” and that both Jews and Gentiles are heirs in this union. God’s promises are ours because we are in Christ and that happens when we believe  the gospel. It is a faith thing on our part, but according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore we say, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Being “in Christ” is spiritual reality that affects the way we live. Galatians 2:20 declares, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This new life comes with new thoughts, new ways of living. For instance:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29–32)

Before Christ came into my life, I was in bondage to my sinful I-wants, spiritually dead, and without hope. Then Jesus arrived and I became a new creation. God reconciled me to Himself. He also gave me the ministry of reconciliation; that is, telling others that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them . . . .” He took my sin, died for it, and gave me His righteousness. I had much to learn about mind renewal and transformation and now realize this is a life-long process, but also realize that in Christ I am His child, an heir of God, and eternally secure. As MacArthur says, what He is, I am. What He has, I have. Where He is, I am.

My response? I’m to “let my light shine before others, so that they may see my good works and give glory to my Father who is in heaven.” For that, I pray for a shiny life today and a deeper understanding of the reality of being in Christ.

MORE: Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17–19, Ephesians.

 

God is God — where is my focus?

Exodus 11:1–12:20; Job 29; Luke 14; 1 Corinthians 15

After weeks, perhaps months, of experiencing plagues from the hand of God through Moses, Egyptian Pharaoh was ready to let God’s people go from his sight and their slavery. The Egyptian people also had enough. Their crops and livestock had been destroyed and their lives totally disrupted. For all this, these verses are astonishing:

The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. (Exodus 11:1–3)

Sociologists try to figure out why this should happen. Most of them forget that God can intervene. He can turn the hearts and minds of people. This happened in Egypt and has happened in other parts of the world when massive revival transforms hundreds of people. It is happening right now in the state of Tennessee. One Christian news channel quotes a pastor who said, "People were getting serious about dealing with personal sin and people were coming to Christ for salvation. 30-year feuds were made right, relationships have been restored, and many masks have been removed. People made public confessions of sin, bitterness, and laziness about their involvement in God's kingdom activity."

One of our pastors would say, “Only God” as he knows the reality of God’s power. However, many sociologists find such change in people inconceivable because they believe in closed systems where people have definable reasons for doing what they do and they don’t change very much. Yet God can graciously intervene. He can change people and make them “favorably disposed” to the preaching of the Gospel. I agree, for He did it to me.

There is a question about the power of God to change lives. Why isn’t everyone transformed? Why do many people say NO to God? Could it be that they realize that salvation may be freely available but there is a cost to following Jesus? Up front, that cost could be the reason that people whom God has drawn toward His Son begin to back away. Up front, to them that cost seems very high:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26–33)

At the time Jesus called me, I did not hear Him asking me to count the cost. I jumped right in only to later find out that being a Christian meant giving my entire life to Jesus. By then, I loved Him so much that it did not seem difficult.

Saying NO to God does not change the love of God or the power of God. It just means those who say it will miss out on experiencing the wonder of His grace and power.

APPLY: Disobedience on my part is a choice. It does not change the power of God; it only means I lose opportunities to see Him at work. He is alive and well, whether I focus on that or on the futility of my own life. Giving up that focus on Jesus is costly? I don’t think so!