Several places in Scripture
refer to believers being
“In Christ”
(1 Peter 5:14; Philippians 1:1; Romans 8:1). Colossians 3:3
gives a little more insight:
For you have died,
and YOUR LIFE is
hidden with Christ in God.
When we come to Christ as broken sinners,
He exchanges our sin for
His righteousness
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
Through repentance
and acceptance
of
Jesus’ death on our behalf,
we are even called His children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26).
God no longer
sees our imperfections;
He sees the righteousness
of
His own Son instead
(Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 8:12).
Because we
Are In Christ, God sees
Christ’s righteousness covering us.
Only “in Christ” is our sin
debt cancelled,
our relationship with God
restored, and our eternity secured
(John 3:16–18; 20:31). In Christ,
God sees me
as
Anew Creation
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is
Anew
Creation
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
We have Peace with God
and are
counted as righteous before Him
(verses 17–21).
Rather than seeing my sin,
God sees the righteousness of
His Son.
He sees me as justified,
redeemed, sanctified, even
glorified
(see Romans 8:30).
In Ephesians 1:3–14
we learn some of the ways
God sees us in Christ.
God
has blessed us in Christ with
every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”
We are equipped with
all we need.
We are chosen
To
Be holy
and blameless before God
We are seen
as
Holy and blameless because
WE
Are IN Christ
(cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18). Ephesians 1:5 tells us that,
in Christ, we have been predestined
for
adoption as sons
through
Jesus Christ
This means
God sees YOU as HIS child:)
(cf. John 1:12–13).
This is to the
Praise
Of Gods Glorious Grace,
with which he
Has Blessed us In the Beloved”
(Ephesians 1:6)
In Christ, God
sees YOU in love,
and
He lavishes upon
us
His abundant Gifts
and the
“riches of his grace”
God sees YOU in Christ
as an
inheritor of heavenly riches
(Ephesians 1:11; cf. Romans 8:17).
In Christ, God sees us as His own, forever.
He has sealed me with the
Holy Spirit
As a
guarantee of our inheritance
until
we acquire possession of it,
to the
praise of his glory
(Ephesians 1:13–14)
God Sees US as His handiwork
(Psalm 139:13–16; cf. Ephesians 2:10); as His friend (James 2:23);
and as a
Chosen one, Holy and Beloved
(Colossians 3:12)
He sees me as “dead to sin” (Romans 6:11) but
Raised with Christ
(Colossians 3:1);
As a Temple of the
Holy Spirit
(1 Corinthians 3:16);
as a living stone placed by a
Master Builder
(1 Peter 2:5);
as part of “a chosen people, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
God’s special possession” (verse 9); and as one of the
“foreigners and exiles”
in this world
God sees us as part of His flock:
“He is our God and we are the people
of his pasture,
The flock under his care”
(Psalm 95:7)
Many passages of Scripture communicate
That Jesus Christ
lives within
those who Trust Him
for
salvation
(2 Corinthians 13:5).
While this is an astonishing
truth,
it isn’t easy to grasp.
Not only is
Jesus Christ alive
today, but
through
God’s Holy Spirit
called the
Spirit of Christ”
in Romans 8:9--
He lives and dwells within
every child of God.
The life of Christ
in us
is our hope of eternal glory
The apostle Paul called
the indwelling of Christ a great mystery:
“To them God has chosen to make
known among the Gentiles
The glorious Riches
of
This mystery,
which is
CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE of GLORY
(Colossians 1:27).
Paul often
spoke of Christ taking up residence
in the hearts of those
who accept Him as Lord and Savior.
When he prayed for the believers in Ephesus,
Paul longed for
their faith to deepen so that
Christ would be
at home in their hearts:
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make
his home in your hearts
as you
trust in him
Your roots will grow down
into
God’s love and keep you strong”
(Ephesians 3:16–17, NLT)
When a person believes in Jesus,
he or she is
united to Christ,
first in His death and then in
the
newness of His resurrection
LIFE
The apostle Paul said, “
I have been crucified with Christ and
I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body,
I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me”
(Galatians 2:20).
Paul explained to the church in Rome,
“For we died and were buried
with
Christ by baptism.
And just as Christ was raised from the dead
by
the glorious power of the Father,
now we also
may live new lives. Since we have been
united with him
in his death, we will
also be
raised to life as he was
(Romans 6:4–5, NLT)
Our old selves
full of rebellion, sin, and unbelief
died with Christ,
who paid the penalty for
our sins on the cross.
Through our union with Christ
in His death,
we are made alive by God’s Spirit
to walk in the newness of life
because we have been made
right with God
(Romans 8:10).
Our lives become a
vehicle
to display the life of Christ:
“For God, who said,
‘Let light shine out of darkness,’
made his light shine in our hearts
to give us the light
of the knowledge of God’s glory
displayed in the
face of Christ
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this
all-surpassing power
is from God
and not from us
We are hard pressed on every side,
but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down,
but not destroyed.
We always carry around
in our body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus
may also
be revealed in our body”
(2 Corinthians 4:6–10; see also Galatians 1:15–16).
In our ordinary human condition of weakness,
we are but jars of clay holding a priceless treasure--
the life of Christ in us.
The challenges we face, the persecution, trials, hardship, and suffering we endure, serve to pour out the all-surpassing power of God and reveal the life of Jesus Christ to those around us.
We can rest assured that we will
not be overcome in all these afflictions
because we have the
treasure of Jesus Christ living in us.
In 2 Corinthians 2:15,
Paul likened the lives
of those who share
The gospel
To a Christ-like fragrance
rising up to God”
and “
The pleasing aroma of Christ
among those
who are being saved and those who are perishing”
With Christ in us,
as
we spread the good news
of
salvation in Jesus,
we diffuse His fragrance
to a lost and dying world
In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul states,
Do you not know that your bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you,
whom you have received from God?
You are not your own.
After we receive Jesus as Lord, He becomes our master.
When Jesus enters us, He goes from room to room.
In the library of our minds,
Christ sorts through
the garbage, cleaning out the worthless trash.
In the kitchen,
he deals with our unhealthy appetites and sinful desires.
At the dining room table, He serves us
the bread of life to satisfy our hungry souls and
pours living water for us to drink
and never be thirsty again.
Through dark hallways and closets, Jesus uncovers
all the places where sin hides.
He works His way
through every nook and cranny
until
His love,
mercy, forgiveness, and grace
have filled every space.
This allegory presents a
beautiful picture
of what it means to have Christ in us.