YOU ARE IN CHRIST; CHRIST IS IN US AND THROUGH US

YOU ARE IN CHRIST; CHRIST IS IN US AND THROUGH US

“For in Him we live, and move, and have our BEING...”(Acts 17:28)

As a believer we have discovered a Life, the eternal zoe Life of God without beginning or end, that Jesus came to give to US abundantly; "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). It is a Life originating in Christ, lived in Christ and ultimately consummated in Christ... the IN-Christed Life.

Much of our entering into and manifesting the In-Christed Life has to do with the renewing of our minds (Rom.12:2), “For as he thinketh in his heart, so IS he...”(Prov.23:7). With that in mind, let us consider some Scriptures that speak of the progression of the In-Christed Life.

CALLED in Christ -

Romans 8:29-30 speaks of our being CALLED; “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son... them He also CALLED: and whom He CALLED, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” The word translated as called is kaleho in Greek, meaning to call forth. It is from kelyouo, which means to incite by word. The Father foreknew us, foreordained us, and by His words spoke our calling into our being.

CHOSEN in Christ -

“He CHOSE us- actually picked us out for Himself as His own- in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world...” (Ephesians 1:4 Amplified Bible)

“for many be called, but few CHOSEN.”(Matthew 20:16)... “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have CHOSEN you, and ordained you...”(John 15:16)

To bring clarity on this subject, let us consider a progression in the seedbed of Genesis 1:26-27:

CALLED - “God SAID, Let us make man...” God speaking His purpose

CHOSEN - “in Our image and likeness” - God choosing what kind of man to make

CREATED - “so God created” - God bringing to manifest that which He had called and chosen.

“For in Him we live, and move, and have our BEING...”(Acts 17:28).

This is why many are called, but few are chosen... it is not that the Father is out to exclude anybody. It is that many choose to live in the deception of the soulish psyche life, rather than the Christ Life. Thus few are chosen because the man the Father has chosen is the Christ-Man, Christ IN you the hope of glory. We are CHOSEN in Christ!

CREATED in Christ -

“For we are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath BEFORE ordained that we should walk in them.”(Ephesians 2:10) To bring clarity, let us examine a spiritual principle at work:

CONSECRATED in Christ -

We are set apart, consecrated as priests unto God after the order of Melchizedek, and this consecration is only possible IN Christ. "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3) The life of Melchizedek was without beginning or ending of days, eternal Life... and that is the Life Jesus Christ came to give to us abundantly. This is the Life that is consecrated unto God, for it is His very Life in Christ manifesting through us.

CRUCIFIED in Christ -

Only something dead can be resurrected. “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”(Colossians 3:3) “Knowing this, that our old man IS crucified WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed...”(Romans 6:6) Some are trying to ‘die daily” by effort and sacrifice... this may sound noble, but it leads to a deadly form of pride - false humility. We must RECKON ourselves dead, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:11), however to ‘die daily” by effort and sacrifice will lead to pride. When Paul penned those words, he literally faced physical death on a daily basis because of his message and the culture he lived in. Dead things don’t need to die daily, they’re already dead. Dying daily puts the focus on OUR sacrifice and denies the power of the cross. Jesus said “...if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.(John 12:32). It wasn’t just one Man on the cross, YOU were there also IN Christ. When He died, you died... it didn’t stop there though.

CONTINUE in Christ -

When He was resurrected, you were resurrected... or rather, the Christ Life within you was resurrected. Adam was not resurrected, he was dealt with ONCE and for all, for Jesus Christ was the LAST Adam. This is why Paul says “...nevertheless I LIVE, yet not I, but Christ lives IN me.”(Galatians 2:20) “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall CONTINUE in the Son, and in the Father.”(I John 2:24-25) We are to continue in Christ, in that which we heard from the beginning - the destiny that He spoke into us before He even formed us.

CONSUMMATED in Christ -

“Making known to us the mystery of His will- of His plan, of His purpose. And it is this: In accordance with His good pleasure which He had previously purposed and set forth IN HIM, He planned for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and CONSUMMATE them IN Christ...”(Ephesians 1:9-10 Amplified Bible)

* We WILL see the fulfillment of Genesis 1:26-28; a many-membered MAN (male and female) in the image and likeness of God, filling the earth and subduing it...

* We WILL see the fulfillment of Ephesians 4:13 “...that WE might arrive at mature manhood, the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection.”

* We WILL see the ‘teleios’ Perfect Many-membered Man, the Second Man...

* We WILL see the manifestation of mature ‘huios’ Sons of God...

Most of this progression is actually PAST tense-

CALLED

CHOSEN

CREATED

CONSECRATED

CRUCIFIED

and then there’s-

CONTINUING

CONSUMMATION

It’s really a matter of becoming who we ALREADY ARE in Spirit, in Christ... bringing that finished work to manifestation in our individual and corporate Life. Let us press on to the ‘mark’ of manifesting the Life of Christ in the world, “because as He IS, so are WE in this world.”(1 John 4:17).

ITS ALL ABOUT JESUS

Why is this a problem? Their fascination with such sensational phenomena has distracted them from their one and only true Source, Jesus Christ.

Holding fast to the Head from whom all the body, nourished and knit together . . . grows with an increase that is from God (2:19).

This is serious, for only by abiding in Christ and holding fast to Him,experiencing the fullness of salvation and arriving at spiritual maturity.

Suggestions For Not Losing Our Focus

Keep Jesus at the center. Don’t seek an experience, seek Him.

A woman came to William Seymour at the Azusa Street Mission and asked him to pray that she would get the tongues. He replied, “Now see here, Sister Sadie, don’t you go seeking tongues. Seek Jesus. He is the One.”

Stay humble. Don’t allow spiritual experiences to become a basis for pride. Avoid an elitist attitude. After observing the collapse of several powerful, front-line ministers because of pride, Gordon Lindsay exhorted, “As one rises higher and higher in spiritual blessing and power, he must ever seek to become lower and lower and lower.”

2 Thessalonians 1:10 it says “when he shall come to be glorified IN His saints and admired IN all those who believe in that day”. It is Christ in you, your hope of Glory. “When he shall come to be glorified in His saints and be admired in all them who believe in that day”. sings, “I’ll be part of that first resurrection, I’ll be changed from the creature that I am”.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us”. Its going to be God who receives the glory. When they see you, when they come over, when they bow to a people, they are going to be confessing this, Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

They will know its not you, they will know that it’s a new creation, a new man. There are only two men walking around on earth, one is called Adam, the other Christ.

Jesus said in Matthew 13:43 “the day is come when the righteous shall shine like the sun”. Where is that light? Its inside of us. Christ, the light of the world. Christ in you, your hope of glory.

A PATTERN SON

Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15 says “this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern”.

We’ve been talking about Christ in you, your hope of glory. Christ coming forth in his people, Christ being seen on the earth, and it says in

Isaiah 60:1 “arise shine for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, for behold the darkness (sinfulness, mans ways) will cover the earth and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee”.

That’s why Jesus came, he came to save sinners, sure, but another was so He could bring many sons to glory. He came to bring a people in full redemption back to God.

Jesus called them the overcomers, to him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne even as I overcame and am seated with my father in His throne. That’s the call we have in Christ, when we receive Jesus Christ into our lives, we have the potential to become a fully matured son of God, as we grow up, someone who looks like their Father.

God wants to deal with you, to change you, He wants you to grow up, God wants you to be like Him. The Christ Life is God’s Life lived through us. It will never end, never die, and neither will you. It’s Christ IN you, your hope of Glory.