In Christ, Part 5 - Lifted Up Above It All

It's time to realize who we are in Christ. We've been children for far too long now...living lives that are way below God's plans for us. I believe He's calling us to fully utilize the covenant and the promises that Jesus shed His blood to give us. If we're going to do everything that God called us to do, then we must remember who He made us to be!

Living Out Christ's Conquest

If you've never read Romans 8:31-39 before, it's a must-read for every believer! It is a clear description of a believer who's become fully assured that God is no longer angry with them! In this passage, there isn't a hint of insecurity, fear, or timidity in the Christian's relationship with God. This is how we should live.....fully convinced of Christ's finished work for us, and living out His conquest in our own lives.

In verse 35, Paul lists seven enemies that try to overcome God's love for us by separating us from it. These are the seven attacks that will target your confidence and convince you that God isn't on your side anymore:

Tribulation (literally "pressure")

Stress

Persecution (human opposition to you because of your faith)

Lack of Food

Lack of Clothing

Dangerous Situations

Human Attack

As he spoke of all these things, Paul said, "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" Evidently, that's exactly what they're all trying to do...to pull you away from your confidence that God loves you. And yet, look at His answer  in verse 37: "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

This isn't a "Que sera sera" statement. A lot of Christians read this as if he were saying "Whatever happens, happens. And there's nothing you can do about it except remember that God loves you through it all." No, Paul is giving you the answer to all of them! We can conquer all of these things because of the love that God has for us.

We're not intended to live underneath the pressures and problems of this life. Yes, I know that we still encounter these...even more so after we're saved! But we don't have to be overcome by them. The love of God gives us the victory over them. Because of that, they don't overcome us...we overcome them!

1 Corinthians 2:14 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."

From this point forward, you can always expect to have the victory over the enemies in your life.

In Christ, we can live as conquerors.

An Heir Of God

Romans 8:17 "and if [you are] children, then [you are] heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

Read that first phrase carefully....it's not just saying that you've inherited God's stuff! Being a joint-heir with Christ doesn't mean you split the Father's possessions fifty-fifty with Jesus. No, this verse is clearly saying that you're an heir of God! No what He has...but who He is! You've inherited God! This understanding makes it easier to see the meaning of the second phrase, "a joint heir with Christ." By inheritance, you have inherited as much God in You and the Messiah had in Himself!

How can this be possible? It's simple - Galatians 4:7 makes it clear. "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

I'm sure you know that "Christ" is not a name, but a title. Literally, Christ means "Anointed". Do you know what made Jesus "the Anointed One?" It was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! Jesus lived His earthly life as a Man anointed with the Holy Spirit. This made Him "the Christ."

This same Holy Spirit now indwells us! Through that same anointing (Christ), we are heirs of God! This truth lifts up the believer to a whole different level in life. Look again back to Romans 8:17, and see where this teaching takes us..."that we also may be glorified together."

This inheritance of "God in us" is designed to glorify us, together with Jesus!

Me? Glorified?

It's uncomfortable for believers to talk about themselves being glorified. But God doesn't shy away from it. This was His goal when He united us with Christ. He wanted His son to be glorified...and His plan was to glorify us with Him! In fact, Paul tells us that this glorification is the reason that God works everything together for our good.

Romans 8:28-29 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

[Side note...you can see here that God never intended Jesus to unique in the supernatural way He lived His earthly life. He was intended to be the example of the way we should live.]

Verse 30 - "Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

Have you been predestined? 

Have you been called?

Have you been justified?

Then why would you back away from the truth that you have been glorified together with Christ?

In fact, this is how God Himself is glorified...when His kids are exalted. Take a look at 2 Thessalonians 1:12 "...that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God..." God gave us his grace to glorify us, in order that He could be glorified in us.

Paul experienced this firsthand. Apparently there was a weakness in Paul's nature that He called a "thorn in the flesh." In 2 Corinthians 12:7, he called this thing "a messenger of Satan" - given in an attempt to keep Paul from being "exalted above measure." Satan didn't want Paul to be lifted up and glorified together with Christ...so he attacked Paul with this weakness to try and keep Him contained.

What was God's answer to this? 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." God's grace shattered that weakness Paul experienced and exalted Him with Christ. Later on, he wrote, "...the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory."

This is what God wants to do with you!

In Christ, you can live in a victorious position.

In Christ, you have the same access to "God-inside" as Jesus did

In Christ, you have been glorified...exalted together with Him!