We have seen that God, by His great mercy, with grace, through faith has offered to us salvation through the precious blood of Jesus. We have seen that this same Jesus bore the beatings on His body that were due us, in which we have forgiveness of all sins, great and small. We have seen that through the stripes that Jesus received He has secured our healings, if not all healing, then most certainly that of all things of a spiritual nature. Now let us look at who we are IN Jesus. This, of course, is now referring to only those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The first thing I want to tackle is that our life is now bound up in Him. The following passage I find to be truly dynamic. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 2:4-6) It tells us of the love of God which reaches down to us, making us more than just mere mortals who have escaped punishment. We find that we are found “in Christ Jesus” and made to sit together in Him “in heavenly places”. This sounds wonderful to me, for it is not just a statement of what we shall be after our lives on this earth, but how we are perceived by the Father even now. Yes, even now, we who have believed and have received Jesus into our lives are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

This is only magnified when we read the first chapter, verses 20-23 which says of Christ, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” I hope you’re picking up on some of this. There’s just so much that it is hard to contain it, much less get it out in some kind of reasonable, understandable fashion, other than that which has already been captured in God’s Word. For that reason I ask diligently of you that you study God’s Word, and do so in all prayer and supplication. For God will hide truths from you, even now, that He wishes to share later, at a time when you shall need them most.

Nevertheless, let us look at what it says of Christ that we may understand what God is saying of us. First, Jesus was raised from the dead. Do not think for a minute that this is a minor thing, or something that can be debated. For if Jesus has not been raised from the dead then we are lost. Look at what it is saying. Jesus was raised from the dead. In the second chapter it says that we are also “raised up together” and has done so “in Christ Jesus”. Where then is our salvation if Jesus is NOT raised up from the dead? For if He has not been raised from the dead, then we shall also not be “quickened” unto God and raised up to be seated at His right hand. If Jesus has not been raised up from the dead and we truly are in Christ, then we are entombed forever. Yet that is not the case, for the Word of God is true and does not lie. Jesus HAS been raised from the dead. Not only that, but He is, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” How wonderful this is. Only the living can have power over the living, but Jesus has power over ALL things, anything with a name, even things such as fear, depression, anger, cancer, diabetes, etc. His NAME alone is above all other names. Not only that, but for all times. As it says, “not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” The most beautiful part, the part that gives us an even greater glimpse into the love of God is this, “and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” For Jesus is the Head of the Body, His church, which God has said now lives IN HIM. If then we live in Jesus and if then Jesus is over all things, we see that He has place all things below His church, giving them authority and power, “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

I want you to do something for me. Take any of the letters that Paul and the other apostles wrote. Read through it and tell me if God does not teach this, if God does not show us that our life is bound up in Jesus. I have chosen this portion from Ephesians because of how it speaks to me personally. Yet I challenge you to find another epistle, another letter in the New Testament that does not point to our life being bound up in the life of Christ. There are verses from Romans, another book I love, which I have left out because of space. And if you wish to do yourself a favor, look at the number of times Paul and the other apostles refer to “in Him”, “in Christ”, “in Jesus” or some equally pointed IN verse depicting our lives in Jesus. It is astounding.