Expressing Christ 3/8
What Else is in Christ?
Colossians 1:19 proclaims that “God was pleased to have all [God’s] fullness dwell in [Christ], and Colossians 2:9–10 goes on to declare that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” (NIV)
Similarly, John 3:14–15 says that “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (NIV)
The fullness of the Lord Jesus must include eternal Life because God is the Source of Life. His Life is the only eternal Life there is. What is eternal has no beginning and no end, and therefore eternal Life is the kind of Life only God has. This is the Life in which we find ourselves living and moving and existing, as Acts 17:28 points out.
1 Timothy 1:12–14 shows us more things to be found in Christ Jesus. There, Paul says, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Strength, mercy, grace, faith and self-giving agape’ Love are all found in the Lord Jesus. Consequently, these are also part of the new environment in which we find ourselves.
2 Timothy 2:1 encourages us about the grace to be found in the Lord Jesus. It says, “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
In Christ we find grace. Hebrews 4:16 expands on this saying, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Where is God’s throne? Well, it’s in the place where God lives. Where does God live? I’ll let Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16, answer. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (NIV)
Where you are, there is strength, grace, mercy, faith, self-giving Love, and eternal Life. Where you are there is never ending supply like streams of living water flowing from you. This is Christ in you, the hope of glory and a beacon of Light in the valley of the shadow of death.
