In Father, In Jesus, In
Holy Spirit, In Me, In You
John 14:20 - Jesus' words: "In that day you
will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you".
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 reading.
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. We know Him as Jesus our Messiah.
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:
"I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive; for it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you" (John 14:16-17).
"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).
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; Hebrews 13:12)
• 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 ..
But
there is something Jesus wants us to do, in fact, He commands it. Once we
belong to Him, Jesus desires that we are baptised in the Holy Spirit.
John
Baptist told the people about this and it was reported in all four Gospels, and in Jesus' words in Acts:
"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
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
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 absolutely put them out of the game. 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 "eighty-six" him with Scripture, reminding him how clearly the Bible reinforces our "in Christ" position, AND that Satan has much less power and influence than he tries to tell us that he has! This is what Jesus did, in the wilderness, when Satan tempted Him (See Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4). (If my children were reading this, they may well say "ha ha" at this point!)
Bless
you, bless us all. Amen
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"In" is now podcast on Spotify under PsalmsOfJohn
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Praise Jesus. Amen.
