[Pastor Ralph]

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

[pickledilly]

Let's say I'm like a box of cake mix. A bunch of raw ingredients assembled by someone in a neat little box. But I will forever sit as an unfulfilled promise of delicious cake unless the key components that will make me "come alive" are incorporated into me. When the fresh egg, water, and oil are integrated into who I am, then I have the full complement of ingredients necessary to reach my full potential and become a cake. They cannot just be dumped in on top; they must be mixed in thoroughly.

This simplistic word picture came to mind in considering this concept of being incorporated "in Christ". Just like a dry and lifeless cake mix becomes an entirely different substance when specific elements are blended in, I became a newly enlivened and fluid creation when the Holy Spirit of the Living God came to dwell in me and brought with Him an entirely new nature and set of properties. The addition of this new, living ingredient recreated me into something that can never again be what it was before.

Who I was became fully enveloped in who Christ is. With every choice I make to allow my "batter" to be stirred and beaten, more and more of His nature is integrated throughout. Christ in me, and I in Him. As I submit to His refining heat, more and more of me is being transformed into His creation of perfected "cake", the full character of The One who is Life. Without His presence and work in me, incorporated as part of who I am, no changes would be possible.

One implication for me is that there is no real life apart from Him. My existence would be dry, unfulfilled, meaningless, and eventually unusable. But with the Spirit of Christ fully blended into every thought, word, and deed, my life is changed to flow with the divine energies of grace and forgiveness and mercy and love. It will rise to unimagined heights of holiness and blessing and power and victory. And it will become a yummy nourishment that is meant to be shared with others (not sit on a lovely cake plate looking quite beautiful, but ultimately wasted to staleness).

Christ has poured His own pure life-filled character into me and He is now part of who I am. Or more accurately, as I consistently choose Him over myself, He is all I am to be! I am no longer who I was before. Another implication for me is if there are no changes in how I used to think and what I desire and what I love and what I do, then I need to examine the reality of my resistence to integration with Christ, whether in my salvation (truly transformed in receiving Christ as Savior, or just went through some rituals) or in my sanctification (becoming more and more like Christ). The ultimate goal in this earthly life is for people to see more and more of Christ when they observe my life, and less and less of me as I live in His nature instead of my old one. My part is to straighten out my concept of who I now am and live like it!

[KathyK]

Pastor Ralph, on Aug 24 2006, 08:47 PM, said:

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

I have stepped in Him...so I am clothed by Him, covered in Him, protected by Him and what I look like on the outside...is like Him. What people see is Him.

It is important to remain in Him, because if I step outside of Him, and sin, then I misrespresent Him. Then what people see will not be Him and I have grieved God more than in just the sin.

[Sgt_Z_Squad]

Q1a.) (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ?

I think the definition of Danker puts it in proper context. Those that have entered into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ have submitted their lives to Him. I am under the influence and control of the Holy Spirit that indwells in me. Jesus tells us: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me; you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Q1b.)What are the implications of this for your life?

I can do nothing without out Christ in my life. All my worldly accomplishments are nothing. Just chaff blown in the wind. Burned up in the fire. But in Christ, I am an heir. "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17)

[jules]

It means to me that I am not alone. I am under His protection. Everything I am and do is a part of Him. As for what it means for my life...beyond the obvious answers ( things I should do and say as a result of being in Him) i am left with an overwhelming feeling of my short comings...mostly in the area of remembering what my position is. Remembering every day to align myself to the fact that I belong to Him, that He has an interest in me. I think if I paused long enough at the beginning of my day to remind myself who I belong to.. where I live, than I would have an easier time at accomplishing the how to of living.

[winevine03]

It means to me that Jesus IS life, and I can live this life that IS HIM, in Him, because He has chosen me to to. I draw my strength THROUGH HIM, because I have no strength of my own apart from Him.

[steve ring]

Pastor Ralph, on Aug 24 2006, 09:47 PM, said:

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

To me this mean that I am part of Him. Because He chose to be part of me, He is in me. The way I look, act and treat others is a direct reflection of Him. I am Him. It can also be looked at in the opposite He is in me. Once I took Him into me heart and life He entered me. Because of His grace and love He became one with me. Life is all kinds of different now that this happened. Thing's are happening that before He joined me, or I joined him, that never would have happened before and in a whole new way. Before I came to Him I had a hard time staying on the straight and narrow, In fact it was more like short and wide. I had a bad drug problem and until I almost died I never would or could "see the light", but then I did. Now life is so much better with Him. And it's not hard staying straight.

[JCSupSvc]

Quote

What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

We are intertwined, I am no longer the sinful person I was, but am now part of Jesus, and he is part of me. One body. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20

How I live, every act, every thought, every word, must be done in a manner that would glorify God. I am no longer my own, I belong to God and therefore must do his will.

John

[Ken7]

The analogy is to live in a family. I “live” as part of my family. They give me vitality and blessing. I do the same for them hopefully. The abiding nature of all my relations is part of who I am and how I grow. We are in Christ – abiding, or growing in that spiritual relationship. Each gives us an opportunity to be transformed if you will. Gods Word does transform us, if we allow it. In both cases we are faced with choices in how we respond and how we grow.

The implication is a heavy one for me. Summarized; if we have been called into a specific area of ministry and didn’t respond to Jesus Christ as we should – Oh My…

I am not saying each person has, It honestly deserves some serious thought however.

[KBB]

I like that, Kathy....clothed by Him & covered by Him. I think about being inside a robe or something like that.

/kbb

KathyK, on Sep 16 2006, 01:33 PM, said:

I have stepped in Him...so I am clothed by Him, covered in Him, protected by Him and what I look like on the outside...is like Him. What people see is Him.

It is important to remain in Him, because if I step outside of Him, and sin, then I misrespresent Him. Then what people see will not be Him and I have grieved God more than in just the sin.

What impacts me is that when I sin, I hurt a part of Him since I'm in Him. It's like if my tooth hurts, I'm keenly aware of it because it's in me. I see the same with Christ. It makes me more sensitive to how I conduct my affairs because I do not want to bring him pain.

/kbb


Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

[lbidler]

To be incorporated into Christ means I am in Him and He is in me. His Spirit dwells in me--in my soul, in my actions, in my thoughts. It is why it is important that I walk with Him in everything I do. When people look at me if I am right with Christ, they will see Him and I can then be a testament to His goodness, His love, His mercy, His forgiveness.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?
[font="Tahoma"]What I believe to be "in Christ" should prove evident in the life I live.
I walk with Christ, I talk with Christ, I live with Christ, I sleep, dream, drive, eat, dance, laugh, cry, etc....All things I do, Everything I do, I do with Christ.
I try to mimic the examples of Christ by trying to follow his examples. Of course, this is not an always easy to do.
I use the analogy "What would Jesus Do" when I'm facing difficult times.
I speak with him in prayer, I speak to him constantly no matter where I am and I seek to learn more about him each and everyday seeking to know more about him and what he expects of me. So that I can learn to be more like Christ in all I do. Of course Christ was and is perfect and I by no means will ever be, but I can get as good as he allows me to be.
Christ came and he left the guidelines needed for all to live a life of Christ. Paul also teaches us how to use those guidelines. It also took away the excuse that God doesn't understand man on earth because he came down to earth to show us the way.[/font]

[Eudora]

What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ?

God the Father, predestined that He would rebirth His chosen, His elect, through Jesus Christ who redeemed us back to God, through the power of resurrection where we, by God’s design and propose were called into His will and purpose to be filled and joined into His family by the Holy Spirit.

This is in effect, God’s mysterious plan, unfolded at the moment of resurrection. God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world. He then sent His only begotten Son who died for us while we were still sinners. God begat Jesus from the grave and the depths of hell, raised Him up to be seated at His right hand. Upon rebirth, we are regenerated with God’s favor by the power of the Holy Spirit which brings us the benefits of salvation and sets us apart for God’s service.

Born again into the spiritual birth, into the family of God. God joined our spirit with His. All of this, according to the pleasure of His will. The act of predestination was due simply to God's sovereign will. His will was fulfilled when His Son Jesus Christ came to earth and fulfilled the action of God’s will.

"God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. This does not affirm that God chose some individuals and rejected others, but that before the world was, before there was Jew or Gentile, God chose to have a people for himself, the whole church of Christ, a covenant people confined to no one earthly race."

What are the implications of this for my life?

To confess (Greek word: homologeo hom-ol-og-eh'-o, which means assent, i.e. covenant, acknowledge -- con-(pro-)fess, confession is made, give thanks, promise, )

with my mouth that Jesus is my savior, which means to have a covenant with my Father through a personal relationship. To strive to achieve holiness by diligently being obedient to His statutes, His law and His will for my life, knowing that my salvation is sealed by His Spirit which is alive inside of me.

To seek His purpose and to fulfil His destination of love to all creation while my life has breath here on earth, in preparation for life eternal where we will all come into the knowledge of what we have right here and now. The foretaste of His Glory. To pray that His desire be fulfilled and His desire is that not one would perish.

To have a close connection and be involved with the natural and the supernatural realms by prayer and supplication. Standing firm, while delightfully watching His divine plan for His most treasured creation unfold. To abide in Him as He abides in me and doing all of this by following the leading of The Holy Spirit, to seek my part in God’s Story.

[Gail Francis]

[font=Courier New][size=4]

Pastor Ralph, on Aug 24 2006, 08:47 PM, said:

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

Well, to be a part of Him, live our lives for Him, and Praise Him for all things and for giving His life up for our sins, to be joined to Him with all of our selves. To be focused on Him with all, and think, eat sleep, work, what ever, where ever we are.


We should give all of ourselves to Him, not just part of time or part of us.

[Kay71]

"In Christ" means to me that I am connected to him. I should take him into account each time I make a decision.

[highcalling]

In christ to me mean He works through me and we are connected working as one. I implicate it by my conduct the way I talk, act, show love. Everything I try and do must show Christ in me.

[Jezemeg]

[font="Impact"] [color="#663366"][size=3]To be 'in Christ' with me has become a way of life. You see I am severely disabled and yet, despite doctor's promising me I'd either be dead by now, or in a high level care facility unable to move more than my eyes, I still live in my own unit, still do street and online ministry, and am now completing a Bachelor of Church Ministry. Yet I could do none of this if I'd not surrendered all of my life over to Christ, and if God was not in agreement with what I am doing. In fact I've quickly learnt to discern when I am working by my own strength, even though it may seem to be 'good works', it may not be in agreement with what God requires. It is during these times that I experience exhaustion, when suddenly I lose my ability to do even the simplest of tasks.

Fortunately these days, I've realised my mistakes of the past and these periods are becoming fewer. To sum up, to me to be 'in Christ' provides me with the ability and stamina to carry out the ministry to which God has called me.[/font][/color][/size]

[Helenmm]

[size=2]This is the great and ultimate miracle, to be incorporated into Christ Jesus, to be invested with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, to be chosen before the foundation of the world, to be considered holy and without blame before Him in love, to be adopted into the Godhead, the family of my Creator Himself. I mean, what more could I possibly want? I can't even begin to imagine what I already have! I walk as a princess on the face of this earth, knowing that my future is not here but in Heaven with Yeshua, my redeemer prince. My heart is totally satisfied and refreshed because I am in love with the totally faithful One who will never abandon me. I am secure I have work to do - the works that He has prepared for us to walk in - but I am secure. The authority of the Name of Jesus enables me to command dominion over all things practical and spiritual. Everything that I can see in the heavenlies is mine for the asking. All I have to do is open my eyes and ears. Jesus offers me a purpose for living - as God said to Joshua, "everywhere you set your feet is yours". I cannot imagine what more I could possibly ask. But above all, being in love with Jesus is the great and wonderful thing.[/size]

[size=2]The implications of this for my life are innumerable. One of them is that my life is not my own because it is so tied up in Yeshua. My beloved is everything to me and my joy and peace are in delighting Him, for He delights me irrationally! All logic is abandoned in my love for Him, and yet there is nothing so logical as this. My faith in the things of earth decreases every day as my understanding of Him increases. Daily He excites me as I walk with Him. The things of earth simply invite me to prayer as I bring the distresses to Yeshua. I was never designed to cope with them, and Yeshua already has. All I have to do is to speak the truth in love. After that, it's "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord." What a wonderful life! How totally stressless it is to do acts of kindness in love and to speak the truth in love, making sure that Idon't worry about anything for that is His province! What energy He has for doing loving and gentle things and what joy to be energised this way! That is my greatest challenge - "speaking the truth in love". Jesus was not always popular for doing this. At times things have to be said that cause ructions and it is a challenge to speak them in love, but to do so is powerful. I praise Yeshua!

[johnd]

Pastor Ralph, on Aug 25 2006, 02:47 AM, said:

Q1. (Ephesians 1:3) What does it mean to you to be "in Christ" -- incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for your life?

To be "in Christ" means that Jesus is central to everything in my life. In my relationship with God I place all my priorities under Jesus's control.

[JustJeff]

To me, being in Christ is that we are one. We are as much part of Him as He us. By being incorporated by Him He has merged us with Himself. By His Word and by His Holy Spirit both He and the Father abide in us and we are one.
By consuming His Word, being led by the Holy Spirit my life is changed. I am no longer the scoundrel that I once was so the implications are extreme. Everything that mattered most is now trivial compared to what counts now; faith, hope and love.