Before we can unpack the wonderful blessings of the first chapter of the Book of Ephesians, we need to understand the phrase, "in Christ". [Side note: one of my favorite songs is by a group called Big Daddy Weave called, "In Christ". I'll wait while you give it a listen.]
That song has some great wisdom including these lyrics, "In Christ I can do all things / In Christ I mount up on eagle's wings / In Christ I wait for a great reward / That I have in store / In Christ I have His righteousness / In Christ I have what I confess / In Christ I don't worry about all the rest / Cause everything I need to be is in Christ."
But what does that mean, to be in Christ?
On a foundational level Paul is talking about our identity. It's so easy in today's world to lose, morph or manipulate who we are in our desire to project what we want others to believe about ourselves. In fact, we can even fool ourselves sometimes with our own narrative. Yet the question remains, who are we at our core? The Bible clearly teaches that if we are Christ followers, the core of who we are is Him.
Maybe some of these verses will help clarify this idea:
"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith." (Galatians 3:26)
"For in Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11)
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
"It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
If we are "in Christ" the verses above tell us we are forgiven, we have access to His wisdom, we are alive and free through Him, we have life and move and exist, and we are His children. That is a very small dive into what God means when He informs us of the unprecedented privilege we have to be blessed to be in Christ and to be a child of the King.
But also notice what God didn't say forms the basis for our identity, Not our appearance, social standing, careers, jobs, financial standing, our talents, personalities, or our level of education. Not our friends, our ambition, our intelligence, our possessions, our houses, our influence and power, nor our family, our spouses or our children. None of these things form the true identity of who we are. Because for a Christ follower, at the core of who we are is Christ. All that we are, all that we have, all that we will ever be, is dependent upon us remaining in Christ.
I invite you to return next week as we continue our study of the book of Ephesians, "The Founding Document of The Church."
