Since my
last post I have been looking at the term being ‘in Christ’. It is somewhat of
a vague term, what does it actually mean to be in Christ? Let’s take a look at that.
2 Corinthians 5: 17-18 [CEV]
17
Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and
everything is new.
18 God has done it all! He sent
Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of
making peace between himself and others.
The Key
phrase I find in these passages is ‘God has done it all’. We enter into rest from striving and from attempting
to curry God’s favor. Nothing we can do
can put us in a better position with God than the position Jesus has put us in. It is merely a need for us to receive it and
to reckon that position as our own. For example, if I offered you
a $20.00 bill and declared “It’s yours” and I placed it on a table in front of
you, you may express gratitude and thanks
that you now have a $20.00 bill, and you may walk away from the table and go about
your daily business. If you were approached by someone who asks if you received a $20.00 bill from Steve, you would say “yes, It's on the table, and it is mine” But in
reality you haven’t reckoned it to be yours, you haven’t picked it up and put
it in your pocket. So it is with being ‘in
Christ’ we reckon Him to be ours by ‘reaching for Him and putting Him in our
pocket’ so to say, or by ‘putting on Christ like we put on our clothes’ we reckon
Him to be ours.
Galatians
3:27-29 [KNOX]
27
All you who have been baptized in Christ’s name have put on the person of
Christ; 28 no more Jew or Gentile, no more slave and freeman, no
more male and female; you are all one person in Jesus Christ. 29 And
if you belong to Christ, then you are indeed Abraham’s children; the promised
inheritance is yours.
I see
salvation as a free gift that God imparts, He draws us by His love and we
respond (that is the reckoning part).
Each person responds in a different way.
But one thing stands firm regarding salvation as stated above in 2 Corinthians 5:18 “God has done it all!...” When we reckon the gift to be ours it is
the indwelling or abiding Christ that comes to live within us that affirms that we are God's children.
It sounds
almost crazy from a natural perspective that we can actually ask Christ to inhabit our mind and bodies and
display his strength and actions through us.
In some ways that sounds like a science fiction movie plot where we
become the host for some foreign alien entity. I
know that this is what this may seem like, but there are vast differences
between stories of alien entities taking control of our lives and the creator
of the universe desiring to live in and through us.
Our creator has always desired to be a part of His creation so that He could live in and among His creation. Our enemy (Satan) has corrupted God’s plan since the creation of man on the earth. Notice that I said ‘our enemy’ and not ‘God’s enemy’. Satan is a created being, as man is a created being. How is Satan our enemy? He does one thing very well, he is a master counterfeiter. He brings counterfeits to us which look like God’s ways but actually are not from God at all. Satan’s most effective tactic is deception.
Our creator has always desired to be a part of His creation so that He could live in and among His creation. Our enemy (Satan) has corrupted God’s plan since the creation of man on the earth. Notice that I said ‘our enemy’ and not ‘God’s enemy’. Satan is a created being, as man is a created being. How is Satan our enemy? He does one thing very well, he is a master counterfeiter. He brings counterfeits to us which look like God’s ways but actually are not from God at all. Satan’s most effective tactic is deception.
But instead of spending time discussing Satan's tactics, Jesus wants us to focus in on the genuine article.
Matthew
6:33 (NIRV)
33
“But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those
things will also be given to you.
It has been
said that the most effective way you train a person to detect counterfeit
currency is to let a person spend unfettered time around genuine currency
examining and studying it, then when they come across a counterfeit they can
recognize it immediately. As we put on Christ daily, we are in Chirst, and we acknowledge our lack
and our inability to please God in our own efforts no matter what they are. As we put on our clothing, so we put on
Christ, and it is His strength and presence working in and through our minds and bodies. This way we recognize the truth is in us and
we can stand firm as His grace empowers us, and His love fills us as we withstand our enemy. Christ is the real deal.
Philippians 2:13 (GWT)
13 It is God who
produces in you the desires and actions that please him.
God doesn't just give you His love, He becomes love that can fill your life.
The same can be said of salvation, salvation is a person, in the form of Jesus Christ.
Jesus doesn't just bring salvation, He becomes salvation to all that will believe.
God doesn't just give you His love, He becomes love that can fill your life.
The same can be said of salvation, salvation is a person, in the form of Jesus Christ.
Jesus doesn't just bring salvation, He becomes salvation to all that will believe.
Click the arrow in the center to play song
Christ in me
By Gary Garcia
Christ in me is to live, to die is to gain
Christ in me is to live, to die is to gain
He's my King, He's my song,
He's my life, He's my joy
He's my strength, He's my sword,
He's my peace, He's my Lord
©1976 Maranatha! Music (ASCAP) (Admin. by The Copyright
Company)
The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.
Guitar Tabs Click Here
The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.
Guitar Tabs Click Here
No comments:
Post a Comment