Sap - Friday April 06, 2012
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
The key to the Christian life is summarized in two Biblical phrases: "in Christ" and "Christ in us." They are two aspects of our faith.
"In Christ" signifies our new identity, our new humanity, as the apostle Paul explained to the church at Corinth in the verse above.
"Christ in us" is the key to our hope for transformation: "To them [to the saints, Colossians 1:26] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27 NIV, italics added).
Jesus talked about this in John 15. Jesus is the true Vine, and we are the branches. The key is for each branch to be "in the Vine" for a branch is nothing apart from the Vine. But also the Vine must be in the branch for the "sap" to flow through the branch that it may bear fruit.
So, too, God has placed us in Christ and set us free from the "old man" (Paul's term for the whole human race in Adam): "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19 NIV). We are not only in Christ, Christ is in us as well, through the Holy Spirit: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:2). It is through the Spirit of life that the life of Christ flows in us and through us. This is how we are made holy.
Submitted by:
Doug Brown
Lee's Summit Community Church
Lee's Summit, Missouri
One-Year Reading Plan:
Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20
Luke 11:37-12:7
Psalms 78:1-31
Proverbs 12:19-20
[Read
Online]
© 2024 Great Commission Association of Churches, Inc All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Online Bible Services provided by
The Bible Gateway (TM) a service of
Gospel
Communications Network.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.