Living in Christ

Everything we need is found in Jesus Christ. 

It’s not found in the world, for the world is passing away. It’s not found in ourselves, for our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). It’s not found in money, nor in what money can buy. It’s not found in people or relationships. 

All we need is found only in Christ.

The phrase “in Christ” is used over 200 times in the New Testament. It’s used over 160 times by Paul. We need to know what it means to be in Christ in order to be healthy and successful Christians.

Christ fundamentally changes us. He gives us a new nature and identity. We become new people in Christ, and old things pass away. Who are we now? We are who God says we are, not who the devil or the world says we are. We will only know who we really are by the word of God. We need God’s word to renew our minds and give us accurate information about who we are in Christ. There’s no point in believing lies about ourselves. The devil will lie and put us down. We need the truth of God’s word to set us free from these lies so we can live out our new identity in Christ.

Jesus Christ is a person (God-in-the-flesh) who walked the streets of Palestine 2,000 years ago. But Christ is not just a person; he’s a place. We need to be inside him. A person can be inside Christ or outside of Christ. Jesus told his people to remain in him. We need to live in the spiritual place of Christ.

We become a part of Christ when we are born again. We are baptized into Christ, and we become part of his body. Christ is a many-membered body (1 Corinthians 12:12). The moment we were born again, God put us into Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

When we are in Christ, God sees us in Christ. He looks at us as if we are covered by Christ. When we are in Christ, God accepts us, because the blood of Jesus covers and protects us. When we are in Christ, the devil is afraid of us, because we have spiritual authority in Christ. We can cast out demons in the name of Jesus and use his name effectively when we are in Christ.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Romans 8:1). As we walk in the Spirit, we will remain in Christ.

We are seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Heaven is a spiritual place, and we are located in heaven when we are in Christ. Our spirits are in heavenly places in Christ, even though our bodies are upon the earth. We are to live out from our position in the heavens, not from a place of worldliness.

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Our spiritual inheritance is in Christ, and all spiritual resources we need are found in Christ. In Christ, we have all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

All good things are found in Christ. We must seek these things (Colossians 3:1). These are heavenly things, far above the things of the earth. We need to use diligence in order to seek and find these things. Let’s rise up spiritually and see things in Christ, in heaven. Let’s not just live lives that are mired in the flesh and in the world.

Our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). In Christ is life, and apart from Christ is death. Our life is hid in Christ, which means it is unknown by the world. We know this life by the Holy Spirit as God reveals this life to us. We are drawing on a hidden spiritual life that the world knows nothing about, and this will cause us to live above the world. We are to live by faith, drawing on supernatural resources.

In Christ are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Christ is the word of God, which means he is the communication of God to us. Christ is wisdom – he tells us what to do. We don’t need advice or counsel from A.I. or from worldly people, we need wisdom from God. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. The world through its own wisdom does not know God. No one can truly know God apart from Jesus. All true wisdom begins with Christ.

In Christ is all true knowledge. God gives us perfect information. The false knowledge of the world contradicts the Bible. People believe something is true for years, but then they find out it is false. Children are often taught lies in school, and then schools teach the opposite “facts” a decade later. What’s the point of believing this false knowledge in the first place? This just produces confusion and bondage. We need true knowledge from God, and this is only found in Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

True wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. The world has no access to this true knowledge because they don’t have the Holy Spirit. We can only know things in Christ by the Holy Spirit, as God reveals these things to us.

We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). Christ makes us complete because he connects us to God. We are made to be in a relationship with God, and our souls are created to be indwelt by God. Until we know God, we are incomplete. Christ makes us whole and gives us all that we truly need. If we have any lack, the solution is Christ. All problems can be resolved by Jesus Christ. 

It is possible for Christians to live inside Christ or to not remain in Christ. Jesus tells his people to abide in him. We need to live in the Spirit, and then we will remain in Christ. We must keep his word. Christ is the word of God, and as we keep the word, we will abide in him and he will abide in us. 

We should meet regularly to break bread with the saints of God in a Biblical church. Breaking bread is important to abide in Christ. If there is no Biblical church where you are located, don’t join a false church that does not line up with the standards of the Bible. Pray, and God will help you find like-minded people at the right time.

When we abide in Christ, the spiritual sap of God’s life will flow into us and cause us to bear fruit. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. But in and with him, all things are possible.