Devotional Thoughts for Christians***
“Now it is God who establishes us with you in Christ. He has also anointed us.”
(2 Corinthians 1:21, NIV)
When a person comes to Christ in faith and receives Him as Lord and Savior, something marvelous takes place. God places that person in Christ.
This is not merely a change of belief or behavior—it is a change of position. We are no longer standing before God in our own merit, weakness, or failure. We are now found in His Son.
The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes this wonderful truth. Consider these verses:
- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
- “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” (Galatians 3:26)
- “In Him we have redemption through His blood.” (Ephesians 1:7)
- “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
These verses reveal that our identity, acceptance, security, and blessings are all found in Christ. God no longer sees us as we once were. He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His Son.
Paul also spoke of the complementary truth in Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Christian life rests upon these two pillars: we are in Christ, and Christ is in us.
A simple illustration helps make this clear. Imagine placing a sheet of paper inside a Bible. Wherever the Bible goes, the paper goes. If the Bible is mailed to another country, the paper arrives there too. If the Bible is carried across a river, the paper crosses as well. The paper is identified with the Bible because it is inside it.
In the same way, God has placed us in Christ. When Christ died, our old life was judged with Him. When Christ was buried, our old identity was buried. When Christ rose again, we were raised to new life in Him. Where He is today, seated in victory and acceptance before the Father, we are represented in Him. Therefore, the Bible says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)
What security this brings to the believer!
Our standing before God does not depend on our fluctuating feelings or imperfect performance. It rests upon our union with Christ. We are hidden in Him, accepted in Him, and forever established in Him. If only you believed in this simple spiritual truth and held on to it daily, your life would take on a different dimension from the ordinary.
Pause to Reflect:
God has not asked you to establish yourself. He has established you in Christ. Your confidence is not found in how firmly you hold onto Him but in the fact that God has placed you in His Son and continues to hold you there by His grace.
Parting Thought:
The greatest truth about a Christian is not what he does for Christ, but where God has placed him—in Christ. And what is true of Christ before the Father has become the believer’s standing before God.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for placing me in Christ and making me a new creation. Help me to live each day in the confidence of who I am in Him. When I feel weak, remind me that my security rests not in myself but in Your Son.
Teach me to rejoice in this wonderful union and to walk worthy of the calling I have received. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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