In

In Father, In Jesus, In Holy Spirit, In Me, In You

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

Some years ago I started to see the many Bible verses which talked about God being in me, and me being in God. I do not remember preachers or teachers bringing this forward .. just a quiet recognition from my own Bible studies.

I always thought that Adam and Eve had a really good thing going in the very early part of the Creation, you know, before the Fall. They lived in a glorious garden in what I am sure was a really great marriage, (after all, it was God Himself who put them together). They helped God to name all the "kinds" He had created and all the many, many species within each "kind", and even got to walk and talk with God, in the garden at the end of each day! Such a lovely thought .. hanging out with God almighty, the God of all creation! (My wife, Trish, is a brilliant and enthusiastic gardener so we live in a place nearly as gorgeous as that first couple, so I have a real sense of how lovely it was. We also walk and talk with God! How wonderful that is!)

But this being "in" that I found in my Bible, is so much more than Adam's and Eve's experience. A really radical concept. It is to do with our spirit being the main part of us, greater than our soul or our body. I see it in a similar way as when I add milk and honey to my mug of tea. I now have a brew where one cannot distinguish the different inputs but, instead, have something new and better and sweeter too. Recently I was told that I am a sweet guy! Thank you Lord! People used to point out how disenchanted, angry and inflexible I was .. Definitely I am much better, in every way, with Jesus added to me, and Father God, and Holy Spirit! How rich my spirit has become, and my life.

I have long understood that Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection made it possible for God and humankind to be fully re-united for the first time since the Fall (Ephesians 1:9-10), and that this is where all humankind are headed (2 Peter 3:9,13), perhaps not in my lifetime but certainly I will see it from my place in Heaven.

After the Fall God cast Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden, they became outcasts (a very sad word), and He even posted ".. cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life", to prevent their return (Genesis 3:23-24). Then Jesus cast Himself in, with us on Earth, to rescue, redeem and save us. He cast Himself  in .. what an amazing and costly thing for God to do .. yet He did do it as the only way to pay for all our sin and redeem us for Himself ..

Surely all this in-ness is a part of the "every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), part of the "glorious inheritance" (Ephesians 1:18) that is promised for all Jesus' people.

Here are some of the very clear, and very striking Bible verses I have added to my "In Father, In Son" list on my laptop.

Jesus' words:

"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Counsellor, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener), that He may abide with you forever - The Spirit of Truth; the world cannot accept Him because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you constantly and will be in you" (John 14:16-17 Amplified).

"Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father.  But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father" (John 10:37-38).

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4). "Abide" means "live"; our position is that we live in Jesus!

"My prayer is .. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21).

And Paul's words:

" .. you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

So this is where our righteousness comes from, and our wisdom and our growing sanctification, it is all Jesus! we don't have to rely on ourselves .. praise you Lord!

"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 Amplified).

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (Colossians 2:6-7).

Overwhelmed By Love

As I ponder these many Scripture verses I am overwhelmed by how I am so very beloved of God .. God chose me, a disinterested sinner whom He had created in my mother's womb all those years ago. For each one of us, this was a sovereign choosing, we had no virtue and played no part in it. Then God showered us with gifts beyond price:

•  We were chosen in Christ before the Creation of the World (Ephesians 1:4)

•  It was God's pleasure to "predestine us for adoption to sonship" (so, whether we are a man or a woman we are fully included in God's inheritance, just like the first-born son in Bible times) "through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:4-5)

•  We are saved by Jesus' work, we were redeemed and washed clean through His blood (Ephesians 1:7, Romans 10:9-10)

•  We are established by God in Christ ".. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

•  We are blessed, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3); "every", this means that there are no spiritual blessing that we do not have!

This "in" study is very exciting! All the blessings were simply given to us, some were given before we were born ..

In And On

But there is something Jesus wants us to do, in fact, He commands it. Once we belong to Him we are to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

John Baptist told the people about this and it was reported in all four Gospels:

"John answered them all, 'I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire'" (Luke 3:16; see also Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 1:5,8).

“Baptise" means "to immerse", so we are immersed in water for our believers' baptism and then are immersed in Holy Spirit to be, in a sense, completed .. filled with Holy Spirit and fire (Acts 2:4).

Three of the Old Testament prophets declared this future pouring out of God's Spirit on His people (Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 2:28-29). From this we know that this was eternally planned.

When it was coming to the time when Jesus would ascend to Heaven He told His disciples not to act yet, but to wait until: ".. you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Acts chapter 2 concludes with a description of how these new Christians were able to live; they were a tightly grouped, strong, generous, sharing and loving community; all their needs were met; they prayed and worshiped and were filled with joy. When the Pilgrims first arrived in America they appear to have followed this powerful and free way of living with Jesus at the centre. For years there was no sickness and no fighting among them, until they started to claim land and other things as their own. It seems that humankind still has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing to do in Jesus ..

This baptism in the Holy Spirit brings "fire" and "power" into our lives .. it enables us to "..  do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:6,10), to live closely with Jesus and with our Christian brothers and sisters and to be ".. Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20) in the world.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit comes after our salvation, our justification and redemption, when all the amazing and glorious "in" things are added to us and we are brought into Jesus' family and Kingdom. Sometimes this "second baptism" happens immediately and for others it happens later. Please read Acts chapter 2; Jesus had left His followers and ascended to Heaven. The confused, frightened, bereft disciples were completely transformed by this baptism. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, became a giant for Jesus and immediately gave a powerful sermon. Then in Acts chapter 3 he and John, with one word and Jesus' power, healed ".. a man who was lame from birth" (Acts 3:1-10). The whole book of Acts is one of the greatest adventure stories I have ever read!

Baptism in Holy Spirit completes us in Jesus. All we need then is to cleave to Jesus (John 6:29, Acts 11:23 Amplified), share our love, allow time in Scripture, fellowship and prayer, so we can continually grow, and to persevere when things seem not to be going well, and be grateful (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and ".. he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

" .. God has chosen to make known .. the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Amen.

PS: The words "in Christ" appear 86 times in the NIV New Testament. During my childhood it was understood that to "eighty-six" a person was to put them out of the game with a severe blow, like a bash on the head with a stick, (not that we ever did anything that savage!) Whilst working on this piece it occurred to me that we Christians have yet another great tool to put Satan in his place, we can symbolically "eighty-six" him with Scripture, reminding him how thoroughly the Scriptures reinforce our "in Christ" position, and that Satan has much less power and influence than he tries to kid us that he has! (If one of my children was writing this, they may well add "ha ha" at this point!)

Bless you ..

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Praise Jesus. Amen.