July 22

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” —1 CORINTHIANS 12:13

God not only has plans for this world, but in this world. Every new day brings an outworking of the purposes and plans of God, but how are they accomplished? The remarkable answer is that His plans are primarily accomplished through ordinary people.

As Christians, we share in the outworking of those plans by virtue of being ‘in Christ’. Two things take  place simultaneously when a person becomes a Christian. Christ comes to live in that person and that person comes to live in Christ. We understand on the basis of repentance and faith, Christ comes to live in us by His Holy Spirit, but it is equally important to understand what it means for us to be ‘in Christ’.

Before we became Christians, we were spiritually dead, separated from the life of God. After becoming Christians, we received the resurrected life of Christ to indwell us, and become spiritually alive. With Christ living in us, we now become members of one corporate body, the church of which Christ is the Head. He is our source of power, but severed from Christ, there is no spiritual life or power. The emphasis of ‘Christ in us’ is not just that we have life, but we now have power. Christ in us gives power, but ourselves in Christ gives purpose. Christ in us gives resources, but ourselves in Christ gives responsibilities. Christ in us is personal, but ourselves in Christ is corporate. 

This union with Christ is such that the church is described as being His body, the actual physical being through which His life and purposes continue to be expressed and accomplished. As Christians, we became the instruments by which God does His work on earth. In addition, we have an inheritance in Christ, which is Christ Himself, and the unlimited resources that come with being in Him. 

Christ also has an inheritance in us. On the Day of Pentecost, not only did the disciples receive the life of Christ to indwell them, but Christ received a new body; new hands to work with, new feet to walk with, new lips to speak with and new hearts to love with. This was  the effect of Pentecost, God’s creation of a new body, consisting of every believer that is the vehicle through which the life, character, activity and purposes of Jesus Christ are manifested.

PRAYER: I pray, Lord, that my life becomes strongly and deeply indwelt by your Spirit, so that You will use me for your work in this world. Thank You, Lord.   

TO REFLECT UPON: Do I consider myself an active participant in God’s agenda?