identity in Christ

God is not keeping you on the outside.

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11Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.

We must understand that the Gospel has its roots in the Bible; and by that I mean specifically the Old Testament as the testimony of God’s work with Israel for the blessing of all the nations. God chose to make a people for himself, Israel, from those who were not a people in order to bless all the nations. From the Scriptures we see the great grace of God to choose and to make the way of holiness available to Israel. Jesus, according to these Scriptures, was born, lived, crucified, buried, and raised on the third day in order to open the way of holiness “once and for all” for Israel and for the Gentiles who were “far” from God. Now in Christ we have been included. We who are not Jewish have been “brought near.”

What was the Gentile condition before Christ? We were outsiders. We were people without a family that mattered. We were apart from Christ. We were excluded from citizenship with the people of Israel. We did not know the covenant promises God had made. We lived without God and without hope. But now God has made a new covenant for the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ and we have been brought near to God.

The Gospel of Jesus declares that something has changed! You have been brought near to God through the blood of Christ! God is not keeping you on the outside.

Graced by God’s kindness.

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5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.   Ephesians 2:5-9

Incomparable, immeasurable, riches of His grace.

This is what God is showing to you. Together with all those who have received Jesus as Lord, we have become evidence of God’s grace. He is a gracious God. He is a kind God too! He intends to show kindness shown to us over and over from now through eternity with Him. This is what He has accomplished through Jesus the Messiah.

God is kind.

Its possible that each of us wrapped “god” up in a distorted idea of who God is. Each one of us has a view that left to itself is inadequate and not quite true. For you, we might call it, “god-according-to-(name).” But the Gospel of Jesus is always seeking to reframe our view of God because everything changes for us when we see Him as He intends—even our understanding of ourselves.

Paul is writing to the Ephesians and he reminds them: now and in the future,  God, is going to show you the “immeasurable riches of His grace;” He is going to show it to you with kindness! Kindness — now that’s a different view of power in action! God’s power is shown to us in undeserved, unmerited, unwarranted kindness all derived from the elevation of Jesus the Crucified to the throne of God as Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Take a seat… with Jesus.

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4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7

Here is an aspect of our identity in Christ that may seem far out! But, this is what is being pictured here: God treating you with the greatest honour available to us—to be seated with Jesus!

The typical image of a servant is that a servant is “waiting tables.” The servant serves at a banquet. The servant may not even open his or her mouth if they are approaching the throne.  So the picture here is of immense honour and care being taken by God towards all of us who are in Christ.  At baptism we use the phrase, “buried with Jesus in baptism and raised to walk in new life.”  But here the picture is that we have been raised not just to new life, but also to a new status with the King Jesus who has been raised. Now, because of God’s mercy toward us In Christ, we have the honour of being seated with Him in heaven. Mercy is not merited. God has graced us with more than we can imagine!

Why? Because, God loves you! Because, God is rich in mercy. Because, God desires to show “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward” you!

What an awesome God we serve!

We were also chosen.

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11Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.  Ephesians 1:11

God has included you in His plans. That’s incredible isn’t it? One of the words used here is “predestined.” It means that God has been been working something out that He had in mind a long time ago. God has been working out how to include you in the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He has been working out how to include you in the knowledge of His grace, truth, and love. Now that you have received Jesus, you are not just coasting along in life according to fate. Nor are you simply the master of your own destiny. Now in Christ you are free to live with the incredible knowledge of your worth to Him. You are His! So go ahead, make a decision, risk to reach out, risk to let the reality of Jesus in your life be known to others!

God chose you in advance… of anything you have done, said, dreamt, thought, or wished for. God chose you in advance… of anything that has happened to you to that challenges the truth in this world. God chose you in advance to be with Him through the work of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord!

We have every spiritual blessing.

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2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.  Ephesians 1:3-6 NLT

 

The description of what God has done for us because we are united with Jesus Christ encourages me. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He has loved us. He has chosen us. He has adopted us. He has poured out His grace on us.

Wow! Definitely this knowledge generates worship. Paul says, “So we praise God!”

Tapping into the spiritual blessings we have in Christ begins with knowing they are there. We are not just drilling down to find water without knowing what is below the surface. We know that in the depths of getting to know Jesus there is grace and peace. When my heart is so uneasy within me, its time to drill down into Jesus by considering again, “Who is Jesus? and “Who I am in Him?”