THE BIG PICTURE

As tempting as it is to plunge immediately into discussing particular aspects of our life in Christ, it is probably wise to begin by getting a big picture of what such a life entails. If I’ve learned anything from my years of teaching it is the value of having an overview of a topic before getting immersed in its details. Disorientation and imbalance almost always arise if you don’t.

As I see it, living in Christ can’t be limited to one or two activities like praying, Bible reading and going to church. It’s a way of existing, a new kind of life. God made us capable of knowing him and with the intention that we should live our life in him in an interactive fellowship of love and personal responsibility. After our first parents rebelled our race lost that privilege and became separated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18). The story of the Bible is the story of God restoring that fellowship with us in Christ. It’s not done directly with us as individuals but through a mediator, a go-between, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5).

The eternal Son, the second Person of the Godhead, was chosen and appointed to that role in the counsels of the Trinity in eternity (1 Peter 1:20). In order to restore humankind to God it was ordained that he should take upon himself our nature (without surrendering his divinity), meet all the requirements of the law (which God required of us but no human was ever able to do), and then make legal satisfaction for our sin (through his death on the cross). Having done this, the incarnate Son returned to be with his Father where he now ever “lives unto God” (Romans 6:10).

But our restoration didn’t take place automatically the moment the Lord Jesus completed his work on earth. It happens only we are drawn to him through his Word and Spirit. Through humble reliance (faith), we are brought into a personal relationship with him that is unique. It is so close that it can only be depicted through images. It is likened to the union between a husband and a wife, between members and the head of a body, between branches and a vine, and between stones and a building (Ephesians 5:25-33; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13; John 15:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4,5). It is a relationship that is personal, intimate and permanent, and sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to live within all who belong to Christ (Ephesians 1:13).

Such is the bond that is established between us and the Lord Jesus that, in a very real sense, we lose our independent identity. We are no longer our own but belong to him (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Titus 2:14). While our personality is not submerged in his, we nevertheless exist for him. That’s what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

That’s what “living in Christ” is about. It’s a new kind of life with many dimensions to it. And it is that new life that we want to explore together in the days and weeks ahead.