In Christ: Behind the Veil

Intro:

Intro:

How many of you have ever really noticed how many times the NT uses the terms, “in Christ”, “in Him”, “in whom?” The overwhelming majority of these are located in the Pauline writings. It is in Christ that God has placed us. To be in Christ is to have your life hidden in Him. Paul said in For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. God has so hidden us in Christ in order that we can escape God’s wrath on sin, and receive all He has prepared and intended for us.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

What Does Being In Christ Look Like?

While the NT enumerates some 40 blessings by our position in Christ, I want to only focus on three of them; the last one being the most pertinent. In fact, the first two are for the purpose of the last one.

In Christ we are Redeemed

To be in Christ means to be a son of God.

Redemption means God has purchased us. Redeem is to buy back, which He did in Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NASB95

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Gal 3:26-29

Though son may seem gender specific; it is also contextually used in reference to the children of God.

Evidence for this is found in v. 28 where Paul states there is neither male nor female. In other words, there is no gender specificity in Christ. Paul’s point here is that if we are in Christ, then we are children of God.

God placed us in Christ when we believed in order that He could bring about His full and complete will and destiny for us.

Ephesians 1:5 NASB95

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

In Christ We Are Reborn

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB95

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Now as born again children of God, we are given an inheritance.

Hold on and we will explain more about the purpose of the new birth in a bit.

Ephesians 1:5 NASB95

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

Ephesians 1:5 NASB95

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

“Predestined” (Gr. προοριζω) he had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would bring us to himself as his sons; this is why He placed us “in Christ.”

“Predestined” (Gr. προοριζω) he had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would bring us to himself as his sons; this is why He placed us “in Christ.”

What is predestined and foreordained is God choosing to make us His own possession. We are His inheritance.

We are His inheritance.

The NET Bible translates v. 11 - In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will.

We are predestined to sonship, which is accomplished through being placed “in Him.”

In Christ We Are Restored

We are restored to the place of fellowship.

Fellowship w/ the Father is what our inheritance is!

“Inheritance” in v. 11 is passive and better understood as the NET has it.

We don’t need anything but God; I don’t want to inherit the earth, or eternal life, or the kingdom if God’s not in it.

Our inheritance is the restoration of what we lost in the garden.

God didn’t create man to live separately and subsequently from Him; He created us to share in His nature and thus intimately fellowship w/ Him.

There is no such thing as true fellowship apart from similitude; in other words we have to be like Him to have fellowship w/ Him and this is where the new birth comes in.

Moses had to put the veil over his face b/c the Israelites could not look upon it b/c of the glory of God.

It was b/c of hardness of heart that they could not look upon Moses face; they refused to believe and trust God.

The OT tabernacle was divided; the holy place and the holy of holies.

God wanted to fellowship w/ man but b/c of God’s holiness He couldn’t b/c man was no longer like Him; man had become corrupt.

Through a system of laws and sacrifices God made a way to begin restoring fellowship w/ man.

The veil was placed there so that God could receive man’s expiation for sins w/ out man being destroyed by the holiness of God.

For true fellowship to be restored, man had to become like God again (which would require a new birth).

Jesus made this possible when as a man He went behind the veil to offer His own blood as an eternal sacrifice.

Thus the veil was torn and the way into the presence of the Father made open.

However, the only way in is through Christ, to be in Him.