Article by John Piper, Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org
Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking what it means to be in Christ. United to Christ. Bound to Christ. If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you.
Thirteen Stupendous Realities
1. In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9).
2. In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
3. In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39).
4. In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. In Christwe have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).
5. In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. “For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are Yes for you.”
6. In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26).
7. In Christ Jesus you have been seated in the heavenly places even while he lived on earth. “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).
8. In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are Yes for you. “All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
9. In Christ Jesus you are being sanctified and made holy. “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
10. In Christ Jesus everything you really need will be supplied. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
11. In Christ Jesus the peace of God will guard your heart and mind. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
12. In Christ Jesus you have eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
13. And in Christ Jesus you will be raised from the dead at the coming of the Lord. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). All those united to Adam in the first humanity die. All those united to Christ in the new humanity rise to live again.
Faith and God’s Sovereign Work
How do we get into Christ?
“Union with Christ is the ground of everlasting joy, and it is free.”
At the unconscious and decisive level, it is God’s sovereign work: “From God are you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30, my translation).
But at the conscious level of our own action, it is through faith. Christ dwells in our hearts “through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). The life we live in union with his death and life we “live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). We are united in his death and resurrection “through faith” (Colossians 2:12).
This is a wonderful truth. Union with Christ is the ground of everlasting joy, and it is free.