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
Where do you live? Where do you call home? If we had asked the apostle Paul where he lived, he likely would have said that he lived “in Christ.”
From the day that Paul, aka Saul of Tarsus, was apprehended by the love of Christ, he could not stop talking and writing about life “in Christ.” Paul uses this cherished phrase 165 times in his letters, including variations such as in “Christ Jesus”, “in Christ Jesus our Lord”, “in the Lord”, “in the Lord Jesus”, “in the Lord Jesus Christ”, “in him”, “in whom”, “in Jesus”, “in the beloved”, and “in the one who strengthens me.”
Paul is captivated by the believer’s intimate, enduring oneness with Christ. It is the fulfillment of Christ’s pre-Pentecost promise, “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). It is little wonder that Paul exuberantly says, “For me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).
The wondrous phrase “in Christ” is synonymous in the New Testament for being a Christian. Every believer lives life in this sphere of existence, set forth in today’s scripture: “So if anyone is IN CHRIST, there is a new creation.” Here is a new creation; a new home; a new mode of being. In God’s marvelous mathematics, He makes 1+1 = 1. The moment a person places trust in Christ Jesus that person is one with Christ. Christ’s history becomes our history as we are joined with Him in His death (Romans 6:3), His resurrected life (Romans 6:4), and at the Father’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20). We live our lives “in Christ”!
Imagine placing a letter “in” an envelope and mailing the envelope. Anyplace that envelope is sent, the letter “in” it goes. So that is true of our lives “in Christ.” As you are “in Christ” so today Christ is facing with you all that you are facing. He shares with you your challenges and opportunities. He rejoices as you rejoice, and weeps as you weep. Christ is your very life, as He was for Paul. You are not trying to live for God today, but actually experiencing Christ living in and through you as you yield to Him.
“Loving Father, we pray that by your Holy Spirit living within us, that you would open our minds and hearts to the wondrous reality of life “in Christ”. As you, Father, are one with the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teach us that you have made us one with you. Raise us today to an ever growing awareness of the marvelous dimension of our home “in Christ,” for our eternal good and for Your glory. Amen.”
A fellow traveler,
Tim
