In Christ

www.bible.com/72/jhn.15.4.hcsb

This enigmatic statement had gotten a lot of attention in scholarly circles, or more precisely, by those trying to closely define the meaning of these two simple words. Yet the more we understand about Christ, the more mysterious this phrase becomes.

Christ is God. In fact, Christ is the second person of God (and that offers us a great deal to ponder by itself). Christ’s particular role is to redeem humanity from sin by suffering the wrath of God in our place so that we could receive His righteousness, and so be covered by His blood. Because Christ has become our Savior (yes, become, because there was a time that He was not, a monkey wrench in the immutability of God), He is also Lord and Mediator between God and saved humans. As you can see, just to talk about who Jesus is can become complicated quickly.

So then to be “in Christ” to remain in Him as He remains in us, and to make this a quality of our relationship with Him as a believer requires from us some careful meditation. For this is a prerequisite of fruit-bearing. So let me simplify this a little bit.

To be in Christ is to spend time following, imitating, studying His words and work, meditating on His promises, and even experiencing His presence, since He is the Living Christ. He is a Living presence, and as Christians, we are told to be present in Him. So that means we ought to spend some time in prayer, just talking and listening, even in silence, just being in His presence. Sounds a little mystical, I know, and I am not comfortable with mystical. But the pause to the outside world and the quiet time spent just spending time in Him, in His word, in prayer with Him can be what He’s calling us to here. I encourage you to spend that time just being with Jesus. Let Him abide in you, as you abide with Him.

God bless you today!