Dwight Edwards
Pastor of Grace Bible Church in College
Station, Texas
Hear the words again: You are
in Christ Jesus. As believers we no
longer have the option of thinking of ourselves as separate from Him. We’re wholly swallowed up in Him.
What frees us from the paralyzing grip
of inferiority and inadequacy is not the power of positive thinking, but the
power of this united identity with Christ.
What we experience is not better self-esteem, but genuine
Christ-esteem. We humbly enjoy our new
identity and thank God for it. Yet we
glory not in it, but in the Lord who gave it.
When we trust Christ for salvation, we
become inseparably united with Christ in four dimensions of His existence.
First, we become united with Him in His
death on the cross two thousand years ago.
This is what Paul meant in saying, “I have been crucified with Christ,”
(Galatians 2:20). You also died on that cross at Calvary. Do you find this difficult to
comprehend? It’s not difficult; it’s impossible. But we don’t have to wholly understand it to
experience it. We simply need to trust
that we’ve shared in Christ’s death, because God says so. Our
death on the cross with Christ is what sets us
free from sin’s power and dominion over us.
But while we’ve died to sin, nowhere
does Scripture say that sin has died to us.
The fundamental meaning of death is “separation.” Because of our death with Christ we’ve become
separated from sin’s power, although that power is in no way extinguished.
We’re also united with Christ in His
burial – “buried with Him in baptism,” as Paul expresses it (Romans 6:4). God has buried the old you with His Son. We’re no longer who we used to be. Let
those words sink deeply into your soul. God’s way of dealing with our past is
not recovery, but burial. This is why
the “fix what is wrong” model is inherently flawed. God has no intention of
fixing what He has buried.
The third dimension is our union with
Christ’s resurrection. “You were raised with Christ,” Paul states (Romans 6:4,
8-9). We’re inseparably united to the same power that raised Christ from the
dead. We now are who we never were.
Every believer is a walking miracle, the scene of resurrection power. This is
why Paul says, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Whatever God calls us to in this life is to
be carried out in reliance upon the Lord’s grave-busting power, a power that’s
always present.
The fourth dimension is our union with Christ’s present
life. “It is no longer I who live,” Paul
writes (Galatians 2:20), “but Christ
lives in me.” We’re united with One
who not only has a perfectly stellar past but also a perfectly stellar
present. Christ didn’t stop living for
God after He was resurrected and ascended…”He always lives to make intercession
for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Christ right
now is living as fully and working as passionately for His Father’s glory as
ever. This fully engaged Christ now
dwells within us. Our life is not trying
to “live for” Christ; our life is Christ
Himself.
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Costume jewelry is essentially
worthless metal covered with an attractive coating. Many believers see
themselves in that way – sinners through and through, yet covered by the
blood of Christ. Tarnished silver is a
much truer image of who we are after conversion. While we’re covered by the infinite
righteousness of Christ, we’re also new creations in Christ (silver) clothed
in an earth suit that is sin-saturated (tarnished). The new you isn’t a
sinner but rather a saint who struggles with the tarnish of sin. |