The Reality of Being in Christ
By Elton Foster
To profess that I am in
Christ is one thing, but to know that Christ is where I dwell, is another. Over
230 times, the New Testament gives overwhelming evidence of this present
reality. As I have stated in other writings; the Church (which is made up of
many people) is the physical, spiritual and glorious body of Christ. The church
clothed in the glory of Christ, is the fullness of Him that comes to be
revealed. The purpose of the Church is not just to be a political power or
another organized institution. It is designed to grow up in Him, for the glory
of God Almighty, and to manifest that glory in the earth. It is this writer's
deepest longing to be a part of what it was destined for.
It is important that each of us get our minds and our hearts on what we
are, and not on where we go on Sunday mornings. It is not my heart to forsake
the gathering of the saints, but the building that I am speaking about is the
one that most believers are ignorant of. It is imperative that our
understanding be stirred up; that we don't just go to a church building, but
that we are the church, the body of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is more than just
to assemble in a weekly gathering; it's being drawn together in the knowledge
and fellowship of Him. It is gathering unto Him for the greatest manifestation
that the heavens and the earth have ever seen! This is that, unto which the
church was destined.
In this article, I want to share with you this truth; the reality of being in
Christ. The conclusion of what I have to say; is seeing Him as you and I have
never seen Him before. It is you and I coming to an understanding by the Spirit
of God that we've never experienced. If we would give our hearts over to God
and truly embrace the reality of His life in us; we will never be the same
again. This is a life changing revelation, and a life changing reality. It is
the WORD of God being revealed in you; and that WORD, is none other than the
person of Jesus Christ, who is Himself; the glory of God the Father.
Let us consider this truth: You and I have been, by the Spirit of God, placed
into Christ. We are not outside as those who are attached to Him, we are
actually in Him. In theological circles, if something is stated more than three
times in the bible, it is considered doctrine. Don't you think we have a
responsibility to search this out? We should make it our prayer to God; to
waken our minds to this reality, because when this truth begins to take a hold
of our spirits, the knowledge and revelation of it become more real. You see,
there is a place in the eternal that or physical eyes have not seen, that our
ears have not heard. The typical response of most people would be something
like this: "oh yes, that's over there in streets of gold". No, it is
a place that only the Spirit hath revealed" A place that the Father hath
prepared for those who love Him. The carnal man and the natural heart can't
perceive it, but only the Spirit of God will reveal it to those who love Him.
Jesus said He went to prepare it and Paul also declared it in the
scriptures.
1 Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written; Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love Him".
So what is it that God has prepared for us? He has taken us out of sin, the
world and the earth, out of bondage to the law, out of the realm of spiritual
darkness, out of the old creation; and He has placed us in His Son! He has
placed us in the secret place of the Most High God; and he that dwells in this
secret place, who stands there in this revelation, shall abide under the wings
of the Almighty. This place; that the Father has disclosed to the Church, is
not a geographical location, it is a person. In other words, we have been taken
out of the old man (Adam) and have been placed in the "New Man"
(Jesus). It is more real than any building (the earthly tabernacle) made with
hands; it is the permanent dwelling place of God.
When this reality becomes so real in your spirit, this world does not literally
have to pass away. Yet, we hear these doctrines of escapism being taught within
the church all the time. It has also seeped its way into our prayers and
worship. Do you remember an old gospel song: "I'll fly away, oh glory,
I'll fly away"? This attitude of waiting to be taken out of the earth
needs to be abandoned and expelled. The truth is; we have been taken out and
have been placed into Christ, our heavenly dwelling.
Just imagine a day when all believers have the eyes of their heart
enlightened and awaken to this understanding. I cannot even fathom the
repercussions of it; but when the church begins to manifest this reality, and
begins to speak out from here; our world and lives will not ever be the same.
As long as we sit back waiting to go to heaven and continue in our carnal way
of thinking: "I'm just on the earth doing the best I can", then we
will always be fighting away at the storm and not understanding the fullness of
our great salvation.
The scriptures are overwhelming in its testimony; they tell us that we are in
Christ. We quote them all the time; "For in Him we live, and move and have
our being." Where? In Him! Can we now begin to see, that our salvation is
not just getting out of sin; but that salvation is getting into Him! We need to
see that salvation brings us into a relationship. Jesus said: "I'll come
and I'll receive YOU unto MYSELF." And this is not talking about the
rapture!-not in John 14. Please read the rest of the chapter. John explains
that the Spirit of Truth, the comforter is going to come, and in that day you
will know something.
John
I'm talking about something that has already taken place, and yet most
believers are absolutely in the dark concerning it. So what do we do? We love
God, we know that we are saved, we know that we indwelt by the Spirit and
manifest evidence of it; but we don't know were in Christ, because we also
manifest evidence of that. Our prayer life and worship reflect it as though we
are outside of Him. We sit, waiting in anticipation for something that has been
fully consummated; reaching up to bring Him down or reaching down to bring Him
up, when in fact we dwell in every inch of His being.
Do we really understand the scriptures when they say: "IN HIM WE LIVE AND
MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING"? Many of us try to juggle all the different
aspects of our lives; it is quite common for us to get our pens out and
prioritize each one. Job life verses home life verses church life with vacation
and so on and pretty soon we understand that it is just pointless to have all
these multiple lives.
God's priority is eliminating everything, but Christ! He is showing you
this-look I've taken you out of all this, you don't have a job life, a
church life, a home life; you just have a Christ life". He doesn't
care if you are in a church building, in a bungalow, or even a saw mill; you
only have one life now. We don't have all these lives to try and
prioritize. God only has one son; he is not confused about the situation. He
said; "Thou art my Son, my only begotten Son." The Father is not
confused at all; He's just got One Son and He has put you and me, into that
Son! He does not know us separately from Him, He knows us as being in Him. He
knows us as the Body of His Son. It is the Father's desire to impart to us this
knowledge by the Holy Spirit; that we need to let Jesus have the preeminence.
That is the only word that the Father understands- PREEMINENCE! Look at the
next verse:
Colossians 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of
all creation."
Who is this?
This is the Lord Jesus Christ that I am talking about. Who do we dwell in? Oh,
the mystery of mysteries!
"For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in the
earth, visible, invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities,
powers, all things were created by Him for Him. And He is before all things and
by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the Body, the Church, who is
the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things HE MIGHT HAVE
THE PREEMINENCE."
Not that He might be prioritized and make a long list, but in all things He
might have preeminence. "For it pleased God that in Him should all
fullness dwell. You have now been made complete in Him! To say complete, is
also to say: "it is finished"! Why? That he may be the whole of it
and the sum of every part. Where do the scriptures say that? It says that
"He may be all and in all". God produced that at the very beginning;
when He desired to put every son in Christ and Christ in every son. So
throw away all your lists of priorities and understand that we have only one
life. We are His Body and nothing else but His Body!
The Church is not a bunch of scattered out individuals and denominational schisms, not in God's sight; maybe in ours, but that's because we're lacking the truth. When we see this TRUTH as it is in Him, there will be no division in this Body at all, because there is no division in Christ. It is very important that we look beyond the flesh, beyond our individual identity and see the Person that we are. That Person is Christ. We see that the body is one, but we will only see this when see the ONE that the Body is. This is not a matter of theology, but of divine truth. (Comments RKM: See Issues After 70 AD about “Church”.)