God works

The Gospel is about what God does through His Son. It is done “in Him” and “through Him.” Consequently, it is referred to that “in Him” we receive all this.

“If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation: the former things passed away, behold, they are become new. But all this is from God, who reconciles us to Himself through Christ.”
2Cor 5,17-18

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.”
2Cor 5,19

Here lies the core of the Good News: God is working. It is “of God”, and “through Christ”. Therefore, it is now “in Christ.” He does it. And that contrasts with what I do or can do.

Of course, only one aspect is highlighted here. It does not mean that my deeds have no significance, but in terms of God’s work, what He accomplished in Christ is simply unbeatable. What God Himself has made, I cannot add to that myself. The Bible does not require that either. The focus in this statement is on God, and let us please leave ourselves out of it.

Impact on the attitude of faith

There is this attitude of faith that always puts the person, the feeling, the momentary state of mind in the foreground. This may be pious self-indulgence, or it may be misdirection through defective teaching. It can be fostered by a poor self-image, or solidified by repressive community structures. Those who are unsure whether God loves them, whether He really saves them, see themselves as the center of attention and not God’s work. It is irrelevant how this image came to be, or what sustains it. It would be much more important to get back to God’s grace and what He intends to do with us and this world.

Here is the good news: God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself! This is tantamount to liberation. It is liberating that He worked before you and I were even in this world, and that He already reconciled you to Himself then! I don’t have to reconcile him. However, I can respond to this good news. Faith and trust start there.

The grace of God

God shows us grace in Christ. This is now the starting point.

But become kind to one another and inwardly benevolent, showing mercy to one another, as God also shows mercy to you in Christ!
Eph 4:32

God looks at us in Christ. If this is true, why do I bother myself with false piety? It is much healthier, and much closer to the Word, if we simply begin to thank God for what He has done and will do. Those who are liberated should not pretend that they are still trapped. We should not get stuck in our own shortcomings, but align ourselves with Him and – reconciled in the meantime – set out on the path to true freedom of faith.

Those who are liberated should not pretend that they continue to be trapped.

The apostle Paul, who has already been quoted here a few times, has repeatedly spoken of our faith property in this sense. Where do we find that? It is in Christ. There, no one can harm it. After all, it is not about what I do, but about what has already been done by Him. This created a new situation before God. Although I myself am still in my shortcomings, I am already viewed differently by God. I am looked upon by Him in Christ.

That changes everything.

“In Christ” and “In the Lord”

Of course, very practical questions of everyday life remain. When Paul speaks about the way of life, he names it with another expression. Our walk of life is not in Christ, but “in the Lord” (Eph. 4:1).

But God’s salvation, his fundamental and comprehensive yes to us, is only guaranteed “in Christ”. The foundation is one thing, how we deal with it is something else. It has nothing to do with our lifestyle to begin with, even if we can decide to live a grateful life every day. Let’s listen to him speak at length about the fundamentals of the Gospel:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the midst of the superhuman in Christ, even as He chose us in Him before the casting down of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before His face.

In love He predestined us for Himself to the state of sonship through Christ Jesus, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which graces us in the Beloved.

In Him we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace, which He makes overflow in us. (In all wisdom and prudence He makes known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, that He set Himself forth in Him for an administration of the completion of the terms, to raise up in Christ the universe: both that in the heavens and that on earth).

In Him also the lot has fallen upon us who are predestined, according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we may be to the praise of His glory, who have a former expectation in Christ.

In Him also are you who hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation – in Him also are you who believe, sealed with the Spirit of promise, the holy one (which is a deposit of our lot until the redemption of the one assigned to us) to the praise of His glory.”
Eph 1:3-14

The whole certainty of the gospel does not lie in anything like our faith, or in following certain precepts. All the certainty and all the power of the Gospel lies in the fact that God brought this about “in Christ.” We should choose this as a firm foundation for our own confidence. We may learn to see ourselves as God sees us, namely “in Christ”.

We may learn to see ourselves as God sees us, namely “in Christ”.

Deepening

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