No doubt, you’ve seen the current trend in Christian t-shirts and art that declare, “God says I am . . .” If you wear the shirt, hopefully, at least some of those characteristics are visible in your life. Some of them, you may be diligently working to form in your life. Either way, it can be a good ice breaker for conversations with others about the Lord.
I have never seen a shirt or work of art that declares, “God says I am just a worm with wings!” That kind of thinking is completely opposite of what God has declared about anyone who has placed their trust and confidence in Him. When we trust Christ, the language of the New Testament is that we are “in Christ”. Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges” (The Message)!
We have been changed from sinner to saint. If you are in Christ, you are a saint! This is the stunning and oftentimes unbelievable part of our relationship with God in Christ. Most of us do not receive this teaching with any kind of strength when we become babes in Christ. We do not receive strong discipleship training so that we begin to immediately live the truth that has taken place. Instead, we flounder trying to firmly establish our new relationship as a deeply lived reality.
“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV)!
The simple phrase “in Christ” is the most significant and life-giving reality of our new birth. We are “in Christ.” This phrase, “in Christ,” “in him,” “in the Lord,” occurs 164 times in the writings of Paul. (Variations do occur between modern translations.) It is a phrase unique to the writings of Paul. In fact, scholars today believe that it is Paul who coins this as a new expression, as a new way of helping believers to understand their transformed relationship with God.
In the book of Romans, we find the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17 further spelled out.
· Romans 6:4; in Christ, we walk in newness of life.
· Romans 6:6; in Christ, our “old self” was crucified; the body of sin is done away with; we are no longer slaves to sin.
· Romans 6:12; in Christ, we must no longer allow sin to control or reign in our bodies.
· Romans 8:1; in Christ, we are no longer condemned.
In Colossians 3, Paul helps us to understand that we have “taken off our old self.” Think again of the pupa, the cocoon stage of the emerging butterfly. It is the old self that has been shed. In the place of our old self, we are now clothed “with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator” (3:10, NRSV).
In the introduction to the book of Ephesians, Paul richly describes our life “in Christ.” Here’s a sample.
· Ephesians 1:3; in Christ we are “blessed with every spiritual blessing.”
· Ephesians 1:4; in Christ, we are chosen to be holy and blameless before God.
· Ephesians 1:7; in Christ, we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of our trespasses.
· Ephesians 1:8; in Christ, we know the mysteries of God’s will.
· Ephesians 1:11; in Christ we have an inheritance.
Repeatedly, the nucleus of Paul’s writing confirms the spiritual truth of the new birth. We are in Christ.
James Stewart, in his book, A Man in Christ, gives helpful commentary.
Just as it might be said that the human body is in the atmosphere which surrounds it on every side, and yet that atmosphere is also within it, filling it and vitalizing it, so it may be said of the Christian soul that it both exists in the Spirit and has the Spirit within it. Here then, is the key to the phrase, “in Christ.” Christ is the redeemed man’s [person’s] new environment (157).
You are not (no longer) who you once were. You are not a worm with wings! Day by day, get rid of your old way of thinking, and replace it with the truth. I am in Christ. I am a saint!
SELAH: Pause for a while and think about these things.
Suggested Spiritual Discipline to Develop Spiritual Intimacy with God
Meditation on the Word of God is one of the ways we remove the stinking thinking from the evil one from our mind to replace it with Truth. As we meditate on the Word, we read the text repeatedly. Perhaps we read it so many times, we begin to memorize it. We place ourselves in the text. We stop to realize that these are God’s personal words to us. They are instructive. They are corrective. They are life-giving. They are to be plugged in to our life and switched to the “on” position. God’s life-giving words become our way of thinking and living.
Here are two passages from Philippians 4 you may find helpful as you work the truth of being “in Christ” into every fiber of your being. Both are from the Amplified Bible, 2015.
IN CHRIST, I can/will/strive to. . . .
Philippians 4: 4 – 9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. 8 Finally, [b]believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]. 9 The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.
ONLY IN CHRIST!
Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]
