In studying the book of Ephesians, we can divide the six chapters
into three segments, the first, we will call SIT(chapters 1-3); the
second, we will call WALK (chapters 4-5); and the third, we will call
STAND (chapter 6). SIT signifies our position in Christ, indicating that
we do absolutely nothing to be in Christ, just as we exert no energy
sitting down on a chair. WALK signifies our daily walk in Christ,
showing us the things required of us in Christ. STAND signifies our call
to warfare against the forces of the enemy deployed to oppose us in
Christ.
Having said this, it is important that we take time to understand
what it really means for us to be in Christ, because when it is not
known, we tend not to grasp the enormity of what it means to be in
Christ. In its simplest form, it means to be clothed in Christ, or
better yet, to be enveloped in Christ. Being in Christ is an organic
union with Christ that is total, we in Him and He in us. When we are in
Christ, our merits cease to be the basis of our acceptance by God. God
receives us based on what Christ accomplished on the cross. This also
should not be mistaken to mean that God shuts His eyes to the wrongs we
commit because we are in Christ. In fact, because He loves us, He will
chaseten us when we do wrong. The book of Ephesians provides us with the
clearest description of what it means to be positioned IN Christ. Each
time we see the term, IN Him, we are being shown a particular benefit of
our union with Christ. So in these series of articles, our focus will
be to see what the bible says that we are, and what we have IN Christ.
One interesting thing to note is that all that we are and have in Christ
are expressed in the past tense. They are not going to happen in the
future, they already happened, and it is ours.
BLESSED IN HIM: (Ephesians 1:3). God emptied His blessings available
to mankind in Christ. He has nothing to offer anyone outside of Christ,
yet we see that His sun shines on everyone, and His rain falls on both
the just and the unjust. This is what is called God's common grace by
which He sustains all life on earth. But these should not be understood
as being equivalent to spiritual blessings, which are available only to
those in Christ. This distinction is vital because some people who have
the abundance of God's common graces here on earth are wont to mistake
this for spiritual blessings.
In Adam, I was under a curse, but this has changed. I am now in
Christ where there is no curse, because He was made a curse for my sake,
so that the blessings of Abraham might be mine. Praise God!
CHOSEN IN HIM: (Ephesians 1:4). It is interesting to note that Israel
was chosen in Abraham, the friend of God, but we are chosen in Christ,
the Son of God. The bible makes clear that God chose Israel for Himself,
and if this is true, how much then are we chosen for Him who are chosen
in His Son, by the purchase of His blood which He shed on the cross for
us.
Before I came to Christ, I was set aside for destruction, but in
Christ, God has chosen me for Himself. Hallelujah!!! But what does it
mean to be chosen in Christ? Does it mean that God decided before the
foundation of the world that some people will be saved, called chosen,
and others will be lost? This idea, if it is true, will make so many
passages of scripture unrealistic. For example, if God chose before hand
those who He wants to be saved, what will be the basis of John 3:16
which makes salvation available to anyone who will believe that God gave
His only begotten Son, because He loved the world, not that He loved
some people in the world whom He has chosen. The truth is that God chose
a plan for the salvation of the world, and that plan is centered on His
only begotten Son. All who accept this plan divine plan of salvation
are called the chosen in Christ.
Toni
