Who Jesus is to us now? For $500

This is 1 of 4 blog posts on the misunderstandings of Jesus.  I’m focussing on who Jesus is to us today.  Often times people focus on one aspect of Jesus and that single revelation defines him for that person.  Instead of talking about what he is not I want to focus on a few things that he is.

The phrase “in Christ” is specifically used 77 times in the NT.  Most people gloss over this and think it means to be around Jesus…or just to be a “Christian”.  I believe the phrase is the single most important phrase in Christianity.   Here is why:

Jesus is our Right Standing (righteousness) with the Father:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ… For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Ephesians 2:18 “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

Jesus is in perfect right standing with the Father.  His physical body is seated right next to the Father in the true Holy of Holies as our High Priest in Heaven.  Jesus is in the constant presence of the Father and the Father is completely pleased with him. 

Well…good for him.  What does that have to do with us mere mortals?

We are inside of Jesus.  We get to enjoy all the benefits of being “in Christ” and the primary benefit is the reconciliation.  The Father is just as pleased with us as he is with Jesus, simply because we are in Christ.  We can experience the total pleasure of the Father vicariously through Jesus.  Jesus earned this position and we simply enjoy it through his and the Fathers unmerited favor.

When we sin in our body it doesn’t change the simple truth that our spirit is one with Christ and in the pleasure of the Father.  Our resurrected spirit is a new creation inside of Jesus.  Resting in Jesus is in some ways like resting in an airplane.  In an airplane we simply enjoy the power of flight and the presence of sky and clouds.  It is by no power of our own that we are elevated 45,000 feet above the earth.  It is all about what you are inside of.  The Lord is the vehicle for our spirit to be in the presence and pleasure of the Father.

Jesus is seated in Heavenly Places:

Ephesians 2:4-6  “But God, .. hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus”

Most Church attendees have never heard this verse before.  Those who came across it while reading most likely didn’t know what to do with it if they even caught it, but WOW what a verse!  Could it be more clear?  God has caused us to be seated in Heaven.  Not in our one little chairs but in Christ.  As you read this you are currently seated at the right hand of the Father inside of Jesus (if you’re in him).  Just let that sink in.  Close your eyes and picture yourself there.

Think about how that changes everything.  Every time you’ve prayed and pictured God way up in Heaven wondering if he heard you, you were sitting next to him.  Every time you were consumed with your flesh or your fear wondering where God is, He was just sitting there enjoying you in his son.  Set your mind in the spirit and enjoy life and peace and all good things that are available to you in. 

Jesus is the Ark:

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10  “…serve the living and true God;  and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

Jesus is our “Noah’s Ark.”  We are currently living in the age of grace.  During this period of time it is our commission to bring as many people into the ark as possible.  There are many motivations to get inside this ark of Christ.  The reconciliation is priority and the best means to bring people into Christ.  But there is an eminent judgment coming.  The door to this ark is currently wide open for any to enter. 

Even if a person enters Christ through fear of the judgment he will take them.  They may never enjoy the real benefits of being in him because of ignorance while in these bodies.  However, some day we will all know and enjoy him when he is revealed in all his glory, not to us but in us:

Romans 8:18  “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Colossians 1:26 -27  “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints … which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”