In Christ: Know It, Live It - 7 (What does it mean to be IN CHRIST?)

What does it mean to be "in Christ"? The Apostle uses that phrase around 15x in his Ephesians letter alone. It must be IMPORTANT!

To be "in Christ" means that by faith God has joined us to Christ in a real, organic, living union. It means that all that Christ is and that Christ has accomplished has become ours. What he has done is counted as done for us. The beautiful biblical picture of this is Jesus' allegory in John 15 of the Vine and the branches. HE is the Vine, the life giving source of all...WE are the branches, the dependent, life receiving extensions of His fruit-bearing. Apart from Him we can do nothing in the way of bearing fruit that has eternal character (John 15:5). All that God the Father has chosen from eternity to give to us comes to us IN CHRIST. It is always HIS MERIT, HIS WORTH that is counted ours that allows us to receive spiritual blessings.

A personal illustration of this:

• When I pastored in Texas years ago there was a man in our church who oversaw the finances for the sports program of a large, well-known university. He had many responsibilities in addition to his CPA-type work. But along with the responsibilities came some perks. And so, on a couple of occasions I accompanied him to sporting events: Division I basketball and football. One Saturday I went with my friend to a football game at the Houston Astrodome. We had no tickets...didn't need them. When we arrived at the Astrodome we did not go in the regular entrance...no...we went to a side door reserved for VIPs! We entered the door and proceeded down the hall to a special room...a room reserved for VIP guests to lounge and EAT FREE FOOD! I could get used to this really quickly! All around me were important looking people. Up and down the hallways walked young men at least 7 or 8' tall, weighing 400-500 lbs...well, actually they were college football players, and they LOOKED that way to me! No one asked me what I was doing there. No one asked me for an ID. They just treated me like I BELONGED there. Before long we went into the Dome where the game would be played. Where would our seats be? 50 yard line front row seats? Not today! We did not go into the stands. We walked right onto the field! We stood right on the sideline of the field, with the team, AS THE GAME WAS BEING PLAYED! Now, if you have never been to a major college football game and stood on the sideline of the field, you might not realize that IT IS A DANGEROUS place. 6'6"- 300 lb men running as fast as a small truck, chasing each other, trying to absolutely destroy the guy with the ball. Occasionally, the action would move towards our sideline position. When that happens, there is only one thing to do...RUN!
• Well, here's the point of all this: the VIP status that I enjoyed that fall Saturday in Houston was ALL BECAUSE OF WHO I WAS WITH. You might say I was IN my friend that day. We were like one (and you can be SURE I stayed close to him all the time!). I was treated like HE deserved to be treated. He had earned the position...I enjoyed the privilege.

And so it is with being "in Christ." The merit is His. The privileges are Ours...because we are united with Him by faith. And so is the Father's plan, that all His glorious riches will be ours in His Beloved (Ephesians 1:6 end).

Therefore, we MUST never forget the nature and reality of our union with Christ and we must give our all each day, moment by moment, to STAY CLOSE TO HIM, abiding in Him by faith, by immersion in His Word, by fellowship with other branches, by believing prayer, and by joyful, amazed worship.

Are YOU "in Christ"?