IN CHRIST (2)

The blessing of eternal life in heaven comes to us for one reason: Jesus died for our sins (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). The price has been paid. To be in Christ means to be a part of him. All who belong to Jesus are one with him (1 Corinthians 6:17). He is our federal head, and we are “in Christ” if we belong to him. We are his, and he is ours. In him, we have redemption through his blood (Ephesians 1:7). Union with Christ is the answer to every spiritual question.

If we are in Christ, then what is true of him is true of us. His life is our life. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. His ascension is our ascension. We are in Christ where all spiritual blessings are found (Ephesians 1:3). In Christ we are united with him in every way.

What are the ramifications of this? It means, if we will think about it often and deliberately, that when the Father considers us and our ways, it is Jesus he has in mind. That is obviously an act of choice on the part of God, for we know that he has not forgotten who we are or what we have done. What it means is this: He has chosen, on the basis of his overwhelming grace and mercy, to count us as though we, like Jesus, had never sinned. Another way of considering the matter is that God has taken the righteousness of Christ and has given that to us. It is ours. We didn’t achieve it; we didn’t earn it. He has given it to us. If we are in Christ, what is true of him is true of us.

God is not interested in how good we can be on our own. He is interested in how much of his Son’s power we allow to flow through us and how much we become like his Son (Romans 8:29).

God has determined that we be changed into Christ’s image. This happens in our lives as we consider Jesus and his perfection, keeping our faith in him and what he has done (2 Corinthians 3:18). The image of Christ in all its perfection and glory arises within us as we continually yield more and more to the “new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). The old man reflected the image of the world in all its horror and ugliness. But in Christ, all is made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Make it your number one priority each day to spend time in fellowship with God, asking him to make you more like his Son, always considering in faith what it means to be “in Christ.”

Dewayne Dunaway