Spring 1989
In Christ

Much spiritual loss has occurred through our not understanding one of the pillar truths of the salvation which we have experienced. This pillar, which is expressed by these two words, "In Him," puts life and strength into every part of our redemption.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth IN HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life" John3:16.

The first step to Salvation is to "Believe upon Jesus Christ." There are those who desire to be saved, but do not understand what is meant by believing. These may intellectually believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and believe the teachings of the Gospel, yet not be saved.

These two words, "In Him" tells us that we do not receive eternal life apart from Christ. Eternal life is not given to us in the sense that we carry it away with us as a personal possession, apart from Him.

This lack of understanding exists within many Christians, though it may be unconsciously. The Word of God tells us that life is in the Son. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" I John 5:12. Not only is life in the Son, but in order to receive it, we must be placed "in Him" through faith. We were put into Him in God's thought and plan, when Jesus hung upon the Cross of Calvary. By faith we must step into this place.

It is a staggering thought that all of the human race was shut up in Christ on the Cross. This did not take place in His life, but rather in His death upon the cross so every man would die in Him. Jesus paid the penalty for every sin and transgression of every sinner. Through His atonement, provision was made for every man to be saved, whether he accepts it or not.

God took all of the uncleanness and sin, all that was brought into the world by the fall of man, together with the human race, which contained this uncleanness, and as it were, shut them up in the Son of His love. They were all dealt with and put out of the way when He died.

This plan for our redemption was not hastily made at the time of Adams disobedience. It was not as though God had other plans which Satan turned aside by causing man's fall. He did not change His purposes in order to take care of the evil which was brought upon mankind at that time. Before the foundation of the world, God's plan was formed and hidden within Himself. At that time, He placed us, our sinful nature and all of our sins, into Christ, that we might be redeemed from sin and death. "He chose us IN HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him "Eph 1:4.

What confidence it causes within us, and how our hearts swell with joy and rest, when the Lord quickens these eternal facts to us. Before the world was made, our God planned for us and chose us! Not only did He put those who are now His children into Christ, but He put every human being into Him as He hung upon the Cross; that "He by the grace of God should taste death for every man"(Heb 2:9). Before sin entered the world, God provided an uttermost Salvation, whereby all might have eternal life through faith in Jesus and His redemptive work upon the Cross. Though He finished it upon Calvary for every man, it is only through faith that this work becomes effectual to each individual.

Jesus became sin for us, that "we might become the righteousness of God in Him." When the blow of God's wrath struck our precious Saviour as He hung upon the Cross, every sinner was dealt with, together with every sin and transgression of mankind; also the sin principle, or evil nature, from which all of these came. By faith, it is made a complete, effectual work unto us, as soon as we believe unto Salvation.

We cannot understand how God could do this marvelous work, even though we may believe it intellectually. We cannot know how He could call Christ "the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world," when from a human standpoint He died thousands of years afterward. We cannot comprehend how we could be in Him before this world was made, and how our sins and transgressions could be dealt with thousands of years before we were born. Human understanding and knowledge cannot fathom God's thoughts and workings, for His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts, "As the heaven sare higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

This is where our faith begins. We must believe that which we cannot understand. If we could understand it, there would be no need for faith. This is what is meant by believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ and being saved. It is to believe that God dealt with us and our sin in Christ; that we were in Him and died as to our sinful nature, just as truly as if we had hung upon the Cross and died in our own person. God has set us free from all of the results of the fall of man, and lifted us up "in Christ" into a place and privileges, which man never had before the fall. By living faith we must enter into this place to which God has called us. We must believe all that God has told us concerning the riches which He has put "in Christ" for us.

When we do this, God, by the in-working of the strength of His might, "which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead," makes the death of the sinful nature operative in us; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. God makes our death and our resurrection in Christ real, and we are translated out of darkness, into light. We are taken out of Adam and put into Christ. The sinful nature is taken out of us, and in its place God plants the divine nature of His Son. Henceforth, God only sees us in Christ. This is the beginning of our identification with Christ, which relation never ceases, but should become more real, powerful, and fruitful day by day. This is the basis of our approach to God, He sees us "in Christ" because He has put us in Him. He has purposed that this should be as real to us as it is to Him.

Not only does this apply to our first approach to God by faith, through which we are born again and become new creatures; it applies to every thing which God has provided for us in this marvelous Salvation. By faith, it becomes operative at each step of our onward journey.

It is comforting and encouraging to know that we need no longer believe in a vague, indefinite way. We may know what our faith is anchored to, a real transaction which God wrought out for us long ago. It makes the path clear when we know that all that pertains to Salvation and Eternal life has been put" in Christ." Everything we need for spirit, soul, and body has been provided. Even more than we can ask or think.