The Christian Life In Christ

When many people think about Christianity, they think it is all about good behavior. They think as long as they are a good person, they are a Christian. That is not what Christianity is about.

The Bible mentions the word ‘Christian’ three times but the phrase ‘in Christ’ is mentioned over 70 times. Two out of the three times it was used in the Bible was from the secular world. The word Christian is not Gods’ Word for you. God’s statement and definition of your is ‘in Christ’. First you get in Christ, then when you are in Christ, spend time with Him so you can be like Christ. Christianity is not trying to be with Jesus so one day you can get into Jesus; it is being in Jesus so that I can be with Jesus to be like Him. This is not a play on words but a game changing understanding which the Gospel reveals to us.

As God placed Adam in the Garden, He put us into Christ. Share on X

Jesus doesn’t just relate to Christians; Jesus is in Christians and Christians are in Jesus (Acts 9). God is not somebody I try to connect to but someone I live in. This is not us being God but being in Jesus. That is why Paul’s revelation is so powerful. Paul never preached the commandments; he preached Christ. You can change everything about your life and apply good principles but the core of who you are never changes until you get Jesus.

Our Purpose Is In Christ

In Acts 17, when Paul addressed a crowd of pagans, he told them God created us within boundaries for our existence on earth and time within these boundaries so that people would seek Him. You and I have a purpose, which is to seek God but He is not far from us. Paul says we are in Him. God created everyone with a purpose. We can’t decide our purpose; we discover it.

There are people without God who are trying to get to God. That is not a Christian. Christians are in Christ. I want you to get this understanding. Christians are not with Christ to be in Christ, we are in Christ so that we are with Him. This is the game changer.

We are in a culture today that is confused about what it means to be a believer. Many Christians also have worldly views of what it means to be a Christian which hinders their intimacy with God.

God Takes Us Out of Adam and Puts Us Into Christ

Genesis 2:15, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”

God did not create birds until He had created the air. He did not create fish before He created water or man before He created the earth and the garden. God always creates an environment and element, then He creates living beings to live in them. The garden of Eden was more than just a beautiful orchard; it was a point of convergence between God’s spiritual and earthly family to the point they sometimes overlapped.

In Genesis 3, when the serpent shows up talking, Eve did not run. I think that was not the first time Adam and Eve encountered spiritual beings in the garden. Adam lived in the garden and lived off the garden but through deception and sin, Adam got kicked out of the garden. All of Adam’s children were born outside the garden. That means every descendant of Adam came outside of the element of God’s presence. The proof of this is that you know you have a natural inclination within you to do bad. Since then, God’s plan was to bring us back into His presence, not in the garden but through Jesus Christ, (John 15:1-6).

Before God can get you into Christ, He has to get you out of Adam. You cannot be in Jesus until you exit Adam. How God takes us out of Adam is He sends Jesus Christ to die for our sins, paying the debt we had from Adam. On the cross, God takes the old me that I inherited from Adam, crucifies it with Christ.

The Process of Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection

Romans 6:6, “Knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

We get into Adam through birth and only by death can we be taken out of Adam. Thanks to Christ, we don’t have to die physically to be taken out of Adam because Galatians 2:20 says we were crucified with Christ.

Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”.

Every dead person has to be buried. We are buried with Christ through baptism. Some people got baptised in Christ without knowing that they died. They are still living as though they are not dead.

1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.

In Jesus’ death, I died to this old race. Through the baptism, I am buried and as Jesus rose from the gave, I am born again with Him. I am not stuck between these two points.

The process by which God takes us out of Adam and into Christ is the process of crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Share on X

The Gift of Christ

1 Corinthians 1:30, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

We are in Christ because of God. Jesus gives us access to new life today. All that God has for us is not really in us but in Christ. Our goal is to get everybody from Adam to Christ. Salvation is not a gift like a phone or an item, it is more like a wedding invitation. You are not accepting Christ to get salvation. You accept Christ so you can leave Adam. In Christ is salvation.

1 John 5:11-12, “This is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God doe hot have life.”

It does not say he who has the life has the Son. The Gospel is not about falling in love with escaping hell but falling in love with Jesus.

When you think of salvation as something that God gives you and you have to guard it like a possession, you will always live in fear of losing it. The gift of God is not just salvation; it is Jesus.

The Gospel is God taking you from darkness and placing you in His son and in His Son is eternal life, wisdom, not just escaping hell and going to Heaven but living in the presence of the living God. In His Son, you bear fruit, talk to God and draw near Him. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Romans 8:1).

All you have to do to benefit from the blessings is believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus is not a truth; He is the truth. Jesus is not just a teacher; He is God. God says He will credit that faith and account it to righteousness.

You and I are like a lightbulb. A lightbulb has everything it needs to shine if only it will be placed in the right socket. In Christ, we can do everything but without Jesus we can do nothing. God wants you to be in love with Jesus. Be in Christ, then you have salvation, righteousness and everything you need. Jesus Himself tells us to abide in Him. I do not ask if you profess Christianity but do you possess it; are you abiding in Christ?

Everyone who abides prays, but not everyone who prays abides. Share on X

God’s Blessings Are Not In The Believer But In Christ

Jesus is not our supplement; He is our Source. Jesus is vital to my existence. Without Jesus, I am nothing. All the blessings God provides for a believer are not in the believer but in Christ.

To abide in Jesus means to stay where we have been placed. Jesus does not tell us to struggle to get into Him but simply to remain in Him. We don’t pray to get into Christ but because we are in Christ. We are not praying to connect with God but from a connection that we already have in Him. Prayer doesn’t draw me nearer to God; it makes me more aware of His nearness. Prayer doesn’t bring you closer – Jesus does and you pray out of that closeness.

Instead of praying, "Lord Jesus, help me to live for You", we pray, "Lord Jesus, live Your life through me". Share on X

Jesus warns in John 15 that you can be attached as a branch, yet not abide in Christ and bear fruit. If you feel like you are attached but not abiding or like you left the Lord, I want you to know your place is still waiting for you. Jesus still says come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest and peace. Jesus is not offering escapism but an entrance into a new family – the family of God. He wants you to experience freedom from the power of sin and new life today. Jesus loves you.

Sermon by Vladimir Savchuk; Blog By Edward Gardiner

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