What Does it Mean to be In Christ?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Have you ever noticed the way we talk about our favorite teams? We talk as though we are the ones on the field or court, even if we were just sitting in the stands. No matter if you’re saying “We won!” or “We lost,” it’s a “we,” not a “they.” School is over, so we’re not going to dive too deep into the grammar here (you can thank us later!), but the way we talk has meaning. When you love a team, their victories are your victories, even if you didn’t have anything to do with it!
That has a little bit to show us about this concept in the bible called union with Christ. It sounds complicated, and in some way it is (whole books have been written about it!), but in essence it’s pretty simple. If you are a Christian, you are in Jesus, so everything that is His, is yours.
This phrasing sounds a little funny to us at first, because in our culture we often say we have Jesus in our hearts. That’s not wrong at all, but a better way to say it is that you are in Jesus, completely covered in His righteousness and love. You are a new creation! When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your mistakes and sins, He sees Jesus’ perfection. What an amazing thing!
This union has everything to do with what Jesus has done for us, and nothing to do with what we have done for Him. We haven’t played in the game, but we have the win on our record. The best news is, it doesn’t depend on you, and it can’t be taken away!
Because Jesus lived a perfect life and then died to take the punishment for our sins, God can look at you and say, “This is my [daughter,] chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” (Matthew 3:17 MSG) We have everything worth having in the world, because we are in Jesus. Because of Him, we have won!