In Christ…

 

A favourite verse of many Christians is Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” However, there are others that I prefer, like: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” or even: “As many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.” (Col 3:3, Gal 3:27)

Before giving you the reason why, let me tell you a story.

Jesus had gone to pay visit to a relatively wealthy Christian. Extremely happy and deeply touched by this divine visit, the guy specially prepared the guest room for Him and made sure He had everything He could need. Deep down in his mind, he knew he had scored really high! However, thieves visited the house that night and left with various items. The next day, the host could not believe his eyes. Stunned, he asked the Lord how it was possible that thieves were able to enter the house with Him around. Furthermore, he wanted to know why Jesus had let them to get away with this act. Jesus replied: "I'm not at home."

The guy said: "Ok, I understand. This night, sleep in my room and I will sleep in the guest room." Jesus accepted the offer without any argument. Remember, He is a perfect gentleman.

That night, the same scenario was repeated and followed with same questions and answer: "I'm not at home."

The guy was now really angry. "What more is it that you want? I have given you my own room. I never thought I could be a victim of burglary with YOU around. Did You not say in YOUR WORD that..."

Jesus let him throw everything he had on his chest and gently said again, "I'm not at home."

The guy began to reflect and suddenly something seemed to click. He got up, took his house and car keys and came back to the Lord saying: “Here are the keys; the car, the house, everything is Yours. Only I have nowhere to sleep tonight, Will you kindly accommodate me?”

"Gladly," replied the Lord; "Take the master bedroom, I will sleep in the lounge."

That night, the bandits who seemed to have found the right address came back to rob the house. When they showed up, Jesus went to open the door and said: "I am the Master of the house, what do you want?" The thugs fell backwards with fright, then got up and scampered off, never to return.

The next day Jesus asked his former host how he had slept. "Oh, very well; like an angel. The night was calm: the thieves did not come."

Jesus said, "On the contrary, they did come; but they ran away as soon as I opened the door. You will never have trouble with them again." You can easily imagine the guy’s joy and relief.

I heard this illustration 6 or 7 years ago. I cannot remember who said it; it could have been during a sermon on consecration, but I am not even certain of that. Anyway, I have never forgotten the image and it has been of great help to me and to others since then.

I love this story for several reasons; however, today it will help me to better explain why I’d rather put on Christ and have my life hidden in Him than simply know that if He is in me, I can hope for glory.

"Christ in you, the hope of glory."Christ in you... This reminds me of the first situation of the host of Jesus. He had Christ in his house and thus, was hoping to enjoy peace, joy, prosperity etc. In short, I'm sure that when he received Jesus, he thought that as long as the Lord stayed in his home, he could rest in peace: his happiness was assured. But as we have seen, his expectations were somehow disappointed.

“…Your life is hidden with Christ in God” and “As many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ” on the contrary, make me to think of the final condition of that man. Christ was no longer at his home i.e. ‘‘in’’ him, but he was now the one who was in Christ. It was he who was now living hidden in Christ and not Christ who lived hidden in him.

If an object is plunged and submersed in water, it would have only water all around it and the object will be thus, ‘’hidden or contained’’ in water. Similarly, if we have truly been baptized in Christ i.e. plunged, immersed and submerged in Him, then we should be drowned in Him and His ‘‘substance’’ must be all around us, just like water surrounds and covers whatever is plunged in it. That’s why the apostle can say, "You have put on Christ"; because Christ has become like a garment that entirely covers us, and into which we are hidden.

If Christ is in us, it is already good; but it is not enough because we can still allow ourselves a lot of individualities. From time-to-time (if not often), we may even forget that He is there and may therefore act as if we had never opened the door of our hearts to Him. However, if our life is hidden in His, if we have put Him on, if we are really IN CHRIST, then it will be impossible for us to live a life independent of Him. We will inhale the Christ all the time, think what He thinks, say what He says and do what He does as He Himself only does what He sees the Father do. We, ‘IN Christ’ and Christ in God, so we in God; and there are only benefits to be in Christ. Indeed, “…For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him” to which I prefer the French version that says: “…You have everything in full in Him.” (Col 2:9-10)

Hidden IN Him, living IN Him, we live in the fullness of deity and that’s why we can have EVERYTHING in that position and condition. We have EVERYTHING not only because we bathe in the fullness; but also because it is now impossible for us to desire anything else than what He desires. Indeed, living and hidden in Him, our emotions, sensations, actions and desires are necessarily His: we move together. Has He not said: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also” ? (Jn 12:26) In those days, servants and slaves lived with their masters. They didn’t have to worry about their food, their protection, their wedding and so on. They simply stayed where their lord was, always ready to serve him. Those who were not there are either been sent on a mission by their master or were on the run. The servant of Christ lives in Christ, follows Christ because He is One with Him anyway, can do nothing apart from Him and cannot just start craving for the Rolls Royce to which Christ, His Master is not even thinking about.

''Christ in us'' or ''We in Christ''? There is so much that can be said on this; but if you have understood the picture behind the story, you have understood what I –lengthily- tried to share with you today.

As far as I am concerned, ''Christ in us'' or ''We in Christ'' are two levels of spiritual maturity. But it is IN CHRIST that all our veils are lifted and taken away (2Cor 3:14); it is IN CHRIST that heavenly and earthly things are united (Eph 1:10) and it is only IN CHRIST that we are finally a new creation and that everything really becomes new.

 

Have a wonderblessed week IN HIM !