Catholic Priest, Henri Nouwen once wrote:
“One of the great tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.” —Henri Nouwen
The “too good to be true” TRUTH about the Gospel is this reality:
When we trust Jesus, everything true of Jesus becomes true of me! His life, death, resurrection, and victory become mine!
Theologically, it’s called the doctrine of “incorporation” or “union with Christ.”
The phrase the NT uses over and over again to describe this miracle and reality is that believers are “in Christ.” (See passages like Romans 6:11, 23; 8:1, 39; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 4, 30; Ephesians 1:3, 9, 12, 13; 2:1, 6, 7, 10, 13 and many, many more.)
N.T. Wright describes the miracle of being “IN CHRIST” like this:
“…Paul, almost relentlessly, sees that everything the one God has done He has done in and through Jesus the Messiah.
“In particular, he has acted for us ‘in him’. When Paul speaks of us as being ‘in Christ’…the center of what he means is that, as in some Jewish thought, the king represents his people, so that what happens to him happens to them, and what is true of him is true of them.
“Think of David fighting Goliath (1 Samuel 17). David was representing Israel; he had already been anointed as king, and it wasn’t long after his victory before people realized that he was the one who would lead Israel into God’s future.
“So with us: Jesus has won the decisive victory over the oldest and darkest enemy of all, and if we are ‘in him’, ‘in the king’, ‘in Christ’, we shall discover step by step what that means.” —N.T. Wright [1]
Wow!
David’s VICTORY Became Israel’s VICTORY!
Think for a moment about the implications of David’s victory over Goliath.
According to John Mark Comer[2], David’s hometown was the next village just down the road from where David’s battle with Goliath and Israel’s victory over the Philistines played out.
If David had lost that battle, David’s Dad, mom, village, and relatives would have probably been wiped out. But David’s VICTORY became Israel’s VICTORY! David’s FREEDOM became Israel’s FREEDOM!
That’s exactly what happened to you and me through Jesus’ death, burial, victorious resurrection, and ascension!
JESUS’ VICTORY BECAME OUR VICTORY!
When Jesus triumphed over Satan, sin, death, hell, and the grave, His victory was our victory!
Because He won, we won and will win!
Because He lives, we can live and will live!
We are “IN CHRIST!”
EPHESIANS 1 contains one of the most amazing statements about this truth in all the NT. The first chapter contains an incredibly long run-on sentence where Paul unpacks one reality after another that has become TRUE about you and me because of JESUS!
Read it.
Meditate on it!
Memorize it!
This is the truth about YOU!
It’s the truth about ME.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED US in the heavenly realms with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN CHRIST.” —Ephesians 1:3 NIV
According to Ephesians 1, over everything and anything the evil one may whisper in your heart and mind — because of JESUS — because you are IN CHRIST — this is the TRUTH ABOUT YOU:
- You have been BLESSED with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING (v 3)!
- You have been CHOSEN IN HIM before the world began (v 4)!
- You have been chosen to be HOLY and BLAMELESS (v 4)!
- You have been PREDESTINED for ADOPTION (v 5)! (Adoption means that before you ever CHOSE GOD, He CHOSE YOU! You “grew” in God’s HEART, not just in your mother’s womb.)
- You are a person who brings God PLEASURE (v 5). You make God smile (Zephaniah 3:17).
- You are not an accident! You are a result of God’s predetermined WILL (v 5).
- Your very existence is “to the PRAISE of HIS GLORIOUS GRACE” (v 6). Your existence as a child in the family of God brings glory and praise to God for His amazing grace!
- You are REDEEMED — bought back — with the precious blood of Jesus (v 7)! That’s how much YOU MATTER to the heart of God!
- You are FORGIVEN (v 7)! Your sin has been cleansed by His precious blood!
- You are RICH in God’s extravagant GRACE (v 7)!
- You are WISE (v 8)! (You didn’t know that about you, did you? It’s true! All because of Jesus! Lean into that wisdom today.)
- You are UNDERSTANDING (v 8)!
- You have INSIGHT into the MYSTERY of HIS WILL (v 9).
- You are a person who brings God PLEASURE (V 9). This is the second time Paul has mentioned that fact (v 5). He wants you to know deep down that you bring joy to the heart of your Father.
- You have a PURPOSE (v 9).
- You have been CHOSEN (v 11). Again, this is the second time Paul has mentioned this reality (v 4). Paul wants you to know that you are NOT an accident!
- You are PREDESTINED to be part of God’s PLAN (v 11). (See v 5.)
- You are a person with PURPOSE (v 11). You, yes YOU, have a PURPOSE.
- You have been created, redeemed, forgiven, and set free for the PRAISE OF HIS GLORY (v 12).
- You are INCLUDED IN CHRIST (v 13). Maybe you’ve felt like an outsider. But you are the ultimate INSIDER because YOU are INCLUDED IN CHRIST! The KING HIMSELF considers you part of His royal entourage.
- You are SAVED! The gospel is the gospel of “YOUR SALVATION” (v 13).
- You have been SEALED with the promised HOLY SPIRIT (v 13).
- You have an INHERITANCE (v 14).
- You have been REDEEMED and you are destined for ultimate REDEMPTION (v 14).
- You are God’s POSSESSION!
- You have been created TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY (v 14). This is the second time he’s mentioned that reality (v 6). Just the fact that you exist and have been redeemed BRINGS GOD GREAT GLORY!
This is the TRUTH ABOUT YOU!
And, this is just the first fourteen verses of Ephesians 1! There’s more! So much more!
At some point, we all have to determine and decide what and who we will choose to listen to and believe when it comes to our identity and the truth about who we are.
The only person who has the right to define us
is the one who created us.
We should never say anything about ourselves
that God hasn’t said and doesn’t say in His Word.
Don’t forget WHO YOU ARE.
Regardless of how you feel or the lies the evil one may whisper, this is the TRUTH ABOUT YOU.
When we trust Jesus, everything true of Jesus becomes true of me! His life, death, resurrection, and victory become mine!
[1] N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 6.
[2] John Mark Comer, Identity | Discovering Your Identity and Calling E2 (Revamped), John Mark Comer Teachings Audio Podcast, https://redcircle.com/shows/8348d458-b87c-4c2e-af25-08feaf0c3ebf/episodes/ffc5a034-cd98-41e2-8d61-7bd43d73ae3f