Are YOU "in Him?"

Mankind has everlasting rest for their souls when there is unity in relation to Christ. The restlessness and disgrace caused by sin dominates the life who does not know Christ as they are overpowered by unrighteousness. There is a yearning; a thirst of the human soul for perfection in everything, but the surrounding and the flesh resists. Until Christ fills everything, and shines upon the hidden areas of the human heart, progress is inconceivable. God created a good world, but sin by man and woman had marred the good creation bringing both of them into subjection. God refuses to abandon the work of his hands and is relentlessly making things right. Christ is the mediator, God’s own son sent to earth to finish the Father’s work. 

"It is through him that one blessing flows after another."

 It is because of his faithfulness in dying on the cross that mankind is loved by God. The faithfulness of Christ is the only way mankind can be pleasing to God. Without Christ, there is restlessness; there is no direction for mankind, no light to make things clear. Christ makes an invitation to all. He says, “come to me and drink,” he says, “abide in me.” It is an invitation to be filled, to be “in him.”

One of the depictions of being “in Christ” described in Scripture is the identification of death and life with him. It is the recognizing that by believing in the Son, a new heart has been given, a heart of flesh. We must understand being “in Christ” is not merely a concept but a position; a real, new position as opposed to the subjugated, former restless way of life. 

 Here are other ways that Scripture describes being “in Christ” as related to the discussion. In 1 and 2 Corinthians, believers receive grace in Christ and are a new creation in Christ. In Philippians, God supplies all our needs in Christ. In Galatians, believers are justified in Christ. In Ephesians, we have every spiritual blessing of heaven in Christ Jesus and have forgiveness of sins in Christ. In Colossians, we will be presented to God perfect in Christ. In the book of Romans, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is eternal life in Christ Jesus, and there is no separation from the love of God in Christ. Lastly, also in Romans, our redemption is in Christ, and we are one body together with fellow believers in Christ Jesus. Scripture gives the description of what it means to be “in Christ” as a list of blessings and grace given by God alone, and a fresh order of relationship between God and those who follow him.

            As a position then, to be “in Christ” has many trickling implications because it is describing the relationship between believers and Christ Jesus. It affects not just the individual believer but also the body of believers who worship God. For the individual believer, the significance includes walking in accordance with the grace received; meaning it is overall an issue of an identity. The believer is no longer walking according to the flesh but walking in the new way of life provided through Christ Jesus. The believer is no longer marked by sin but has been redeemed and marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. There is now a restored image, a renewed image given to the believer. To be “in Christ” is to put off the old person, and live in the new manner and way of life that is in Christ Jesus. 

Lewis Sperry Chafer writes in He That is Spiritual, “Walking by means of the Spirit is simply walking by a definite reliance upon the ability and power of the One who indwells.” 

For the believer to be “in Christ” means walking in according to the new identity and grace given. Just as being “in Christ” is a change of position for the individual believer, it is also a position of new relationship for the life of the church. When the parts of the body are made well, the body also functions well together. The body of believers being “in Christ” symbolizes a new identity for the life of the church. This new identity is characterized by benefits of being in Christ. True community is present where there is genuine care for all types of people, and no one is neglected. Burdens and blessings are shared, while needs are met. Within the body of believers, the power of Christ is seen in the hands, as well as the eye. The whole body functions well together. Being “in Christ” is concerned with identity formation for the individual believer just as the identity development of the life of the church. Both are intertwined seeking God to make the single person new, and also the surrounding and everyone else new. 

It is a cry for fellowship to be restored between God, all mankind, and his creation.

            Being “in Christ” is significant for the life of the believer and for the life of the Church. It is important because it is concerned with identity, and identity is the foundation where actions proceed. In the former way of life, mankind was bound to sin and all the passions and desires of the flesh. It was the corruption of identity therefore every action ensued from a corrupted heart. Believers now have a new heart and new identity in Christ Jesus; therefore there is a new foundation from where actions will spring from. Jesus says in John 6:38 that whoever believes in him, springs of living water will flow from within him, and John comments he was speaking of the Spirit which would be given. Praise God! Christ gives his Spirit to those who come to him and drink, that from their hearts that have been made new, there would be rivers flowing from within them. The actions they would do from then on would come from the pure heart that he has given them. Then, the believer could love others, show kindness and compassion, have joy and peace, be gentle and patient, and be clothed in righteousness, and guard their hearts.

            The significance for the life of the church to be “in Christ” is along the same understanding for the individual. It is the body of believers learning who they are, and living it to the glory of the One who redeemed them. It is so that the life of Christ will be enriched in the life of the people, and everyone will grow to the full maturity of Christ. It is the church having union in relationship with God and with one another. It is because Christ died on the cross acting faithfully to the divine will that life is possible. That is why it is “in him” and not anybody else! Amen! He is the mediator between God and mankind. Mankind now, not only can thirst for the perfection of all things but can see Christ and his fullness and come to him to receive him and know him.

Go to him, sit at the well, and drink of him. Brother, Sister, drink and eat, for He is the bread of life. Those who come to him will never go hungry and those who believe in him will never be thirsty.

Kingsley

Passiō

When I was a freshman in college I realized that when circumstances were well, that was when I spent time with the Lord less. I didn't need him then, I was able to hold my own. By God’s grace I had grown to hate that thought of myself by then. But then I began to continuously pray for God to do absolutely anything to me so that I will always have to depend on him. And I meant anything.

I read stories of how different people had been paralyzed and had been stricken with illness but only trusted God the more. I wanted that unshaken faith. That faith which lives in this world solely for God’s glory but knows that this world is not all there is. Illnesses did not frighten me. I assured myself that anything to bring me to a humble state would only glorify the Lord tremendously. 

Years later, I found myself reading a story of a woman who prayed the same prayer centuries ago and was stricken with a deadly illness which left her nearly dead on her bed day by day. It did not scare me at first, but I began to realize the severity of the prayer I had been praying. “Is this what I want?, umm, God might really answer it,” I told myself. 

My prayer has changed a little from those days. Heartbreaks are part of this world because of the fall. I want to live a blessed life all the time! But trials are going to come. God should not keep all of them away from me if he loves and wants me to become like Christ. My suffering in any aspect is my fellowship (identification) with Christ and his gospel (Philippians 1:29). My prayer is now: “Lord, have your way with me and in me, but give me the joy and strength to endure and persevere through anything.” 

And there is a joy in the midst of every suffering. It is always hard to see from the outside because every suffering is VERY real, but if we could see it the way God saw Joseph sold into slavery by his own brothers, Moses abandoned in a basket on the Nile, and the way God saw Christ on the cross, we could see what it leads to. At the end of the day, at the end of anything that happens while I am here on this earth, I’d rather have fellowship with God, the Maker of the heavens and earth. That trumps everything! Oswald Chambers writes, “If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”




Kingsley

 

Rules, Relationship, and a Religion.

One common Christian bumper-sticker expression says: "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship with God." Also, another popularized phrase printed on shirts states: "Jesus > Religion." I recognize the understanding in which those expressions came forth. I think they are good. I do think that followers of Christ are called Christians because they are in a loving relationship with God. The relationship is the means through which believers are continuously conformed into the image of Christ. The platform of the movements was basically to discard the notion of Christianity being about heartless and empty rituals trying to reach God. It is biblical to reject any worship that comes from stiff-necked and calloused hearts. The Old and New Testament teaches directly against callous commitment to the Lord of heaven and earth (Is. 29:13 & Matt. 15). So, it is completely reasonable even more, agreeable, that these common expressions want to stress the relational significance of Christianity. The next concern is about the individualistic attachments those expressions might have. Yes, God does call individuals into a personal relationship with him, but it is always in the midst of a community. It is in community that the salvation relationship is worked out. Therefore our personal relationship with God includes our relationship with others in the community. 1 John 4:21 declares, "The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also."


But that is not all that I am getting at here.


There is also the expression that Christianity is not about rules, but about a relationship. Again, this phrase is expressing the idea that being a Christian is not a detached ritualistic endeavor of attempting to walk in a straight line. Also agreeable, since at the core of the good news is the truth that without God's mercy, grace, and love alone, we will all be doomed! But also, that statement though understandable, neglects that there are rules to a relationship. Relationships demand communication, it requires love and faithfulness. For the believer, a relationship with God requires keeping with his commands in obedience. Rules is not the beginning point of a relationship, love is. For the believer, rules primarily displays that God is interested in the details of our lives. It demonstrates that God is passionate about where our affections goes to. He is interested in what we worship. God deeply cares and loves those who seek him! Rules then is somewhat of a good thing.

Maybe we shouldn't be looking out to "bumper-stickerize" Christianity. I think we elevate an aspect or a specific doctrine of the faith when we claim the Christian faith to be encompassed in a simple phrase. It is not that it is wrong, it's because it is incomplete.

But again, that is not all that I am getting at here.


Christianity is a religion. We have neglected the idea of it for a while to make the faith seem not to be like other religions. I am aware of the understanding of religion as man trying to reach God. The Old and New Testament proclaim that God reaches down and engages with his creation to reveal his will and plan. We have received the highest form of his revelation in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps what all the bumper stickers were trying to get away from is the heartless, man trying to get to God religion. That is not true religion. Jonathan Edwards writes in his Religious Affections, "God in his word greatly insists that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and that our hearts be engaged vigorously in our religion." He goes on to write, "If we are not earnest in our religion, and if our wills and inclinations are not strongly exercised, we are nothing. The importance of religion is so great that no halfhearted exercise will suffice." True religion springs forth from the heart of flesh and new spirit that God gives to his children. In that true religion, the Spirit of God empowers us to live a life of love that extends to others in the community. Our hearts become moved to worship God, communicating with him, and offering him all our adoration and praise. True religion stems from various affections displayed in numerous stories in the Bible. According to Edwards, true religion is placed in the affections of holy fear, hope in God and his promises, love, holy desire, joy, religious sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal. According to James, the brother of Jesus, "Religion that God, our father accepts as pure and faultless is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27)

The main point I am trying to get across is that God calling individuals to himself is a demonstration of love since all human hearts are restless till they find rest in God. Therefore worshiping God becomes an affection that God provides, and then enables believers to continue to live in a loving relationship with him and with others. True Christian religion realizes the grace of God that washes clean even the worst of sinners. And me, one of sinners, humbly receive the heart of flesh and the new spirit He gives freely and offer my whole heart to Him in worship!

Kingsley

Oh What A Wonderful, Wonderful Day!

 A day I will never forget!


The summer of 2002 was the first year that I can remember my heart being open to hear the gospel. Both of my parents were Christians. We were a Christian family when we were in Africa. And also, we attended church every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when we moved to the States. I played drums and went to Sunday School. I knew all the trivia's and could open my Bible to any book in the New and Old Testament within seconds. Understand I enjoyed going to church  and I would say it was very thrilling, but at that point in life, I did not realize I was sinner. In June of 2002, I went to Camp of the Hills in Temple, TX, and everything changed that week.

That week my life began to change. Let me tell you about it.

I had been given the opportunity to attend the camp through a community Bible study group for kids, and I took advantage of it excited to be leaving my parents and sister for a whole week. I hopped on the charter bus after Dad dropped me off at the church with a small bag filled with a few shirts and shorts. I wasn't at that time well adjusted to American culture so I sat quietly to myself and watched the Christian movies being shown on the television. When it came time for lunch, I realized all the other kids were excited at the ham and cheese sandwiches that the leaders were passing out. But the only food that was familiar to me was the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that had become dear  to me at school because of my reluctance to eat what I perceived as nasty American food. I was excited about going to camp but really nervous about not knowing anybody. This was only three years after arriving from Ghana so you can imagine that I was dealing with bullies at school and in the neighborhood who were making fun of the way I dressed and the way I talked and so forth (funny story, one of them is actually one of my best friends now). And to top it all off, I arrived at camp with mid-thigh jean shorts, (please, don't laugh at me too), and a yellow shirt with horses in front of it. (Okay, you can laugh at me.) Also, my stomach was poking out because by this time, I was introduced to various delicious American foods such as donuts, ice cream, and pop-tarts. Everyone at camp came with their friends and I came with ... well, me, an easy target for bullies. (If your imagination takes you to a national geographic scene of a pride of lions preying on a lone gazelle, that is a very precise depiction of the situation).


It is such a joy to me right now as I write this to realize that through all those times, God was working in my life. He knew exactly who I was, he knew my situation. He knew how I was scared, how I was embarrassed, he also knew the person I would become today. Now I realize that I was Gods' all along, I just had to confess my rebellion against him and realize that he was merciful. I belong to him. My life is not my own.

During the Thursday night of the week at the camp, the camp portrayed the crucifixion of Jesus, his passion. At this camp, they actually whipped the gentleman playing Jesus who happened to be one of my counselors. I remember this day and this event very vividly. At that moment, it seemed God was tugging at my heart, and he was pulling heavily. I could not help myself so I began to sob. With each whip on the back of the man who was playing Jesus, I felt it. As if God was telling me something. I wasn't crying because they were whipping a man. Nor was I crying that the man was my counselor. Rather, at that moment, I realized that I was a sinner and needed the forgiveness of Christ Jesus. This kid from Africa who had come to camp as an escape from home really came because God was going to begin something in his life that he would continue to complete. I stood there weeping, and with each whip, I felt a devastating stab to my heart. I walked away from the scene into the woods to avoid embarrassment from my peers and continued to weep, trying to understand what was happening to me. Another counselor of mine who was playing Judas Iscariot (his part was now finished) came and got me from the woods. He put his arms around me, and told me that God was doing something in my life, and that he was going to bring me back to the scene because I needed to see all that Jesus did for me. He put his arms around me and we walked back to the scene. And with each whip, I heard the pain and felt the pain of Jesus on my behalf. I wanted it to stop. I saw him crushed. I saw him humiliated. I saw him oppressed and afflicted. I saw the blood dripping from the wounds on his back. The play progressed onto the cross scene and I sat down on a rock at the bottom of this hill looking up at this guy who was playing Jesus, and I realized that what the guy who was playing Jesus was going through was in no capacity compared to what Jesus suffered through for the transgressions, sins, of the world.


Back at the cabin that night, it was very quiet as all the guys also realized that what we witnessed that day was something we would all never forget. That night, the counselors led the cabin in a prayer to receive Jesus. When I got home from the camp that Saturday, I had difficulty understanding what exactly happened that Thursday sunset. What was the Lord trying to tell me? Was I not going to sin anymore because I repeated a prayer to receive Jesus? Was I only going to be able to do good from then on? No more bad Kingsley? Well, it did not end up all smooth and groovy after that summer. As I look back now, I see that day to be more of a starting point of God making me realize how he had set me apart and had redeemed me. Years and years after that summer, God continuously showered his grace upon my life. A truth from the Bible is that God is merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love. His compassion never fails. In Jeremiah 3:12-13, he says to a faithless people, "I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, ... I will not be angry forever, only acknowledge your guilt - you have rebelled against the LORD your God... you have not obeyed me."

Psalms 103: 8-18 also says:

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

Oh what a wonderful, wonderful day indeed! The day when heaven came down and filled my soul! When God's love was revealed to me, and I realized that I was a sinner. I did not have my life all together because he is the one who cleanses sins. Even in my imperfections, God does not treat me as my sins deserve! Praise God! God is still working in my life as he is in the world. God works in marvelous and glorious ways. Let your heart be open to him for him to transform you into the image of his Son, Christ Jesus. Our sins are washed away!