Col 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
We as children of God live in a time of great light and revelation.
The wonderful and marvelous Holy Ghost has revealed unto us the powerful meaning of the work of Jesus Christ that took place upon the cross.
Revelation has been brought to many concerning the incredible blessings that are involved in being in Christ because of His great work on the cross and yet in the midst of bountiful teachings and blessings concerning the victory of Christ at the cross, many children of God still do not understand the important aspects of His work as it pertains to us.
And that revelation is being in Christ.
Here is the reality of being in Christ, being in Christ is the only foundation upon which true holiness and righteousness can be attained.
Eph 4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Without this foundation we rely only on our flesh, on our church, in our goodness, we rely on our deeds to produce within us some kind, some form of holiness within ourselves.
But the truth of the word of God is that the righteousness of man is as filthy rags and true holiness can be only attained through knowing the riches of God in Jesus Christ.
And we being in Him makes us holy
For if the first fruit is holy then the lump is holy and if the root is holy then the branches are holy as well.
Rom 11:16
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Look at
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
In this place of holiness through Christ and being in Christ, grace begins to teach us how to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world that we live in.
Grace teaches us how to deny ungodliness, worldly lusts, carnality and attitudes of the flesh.
This teaching can not be attained by any kind of works; it can not be attained through the flesh, through the church, seminars or conferences it can only be taught by the grace of God.
What I desire in this writing is for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes concerning the incredible blessings and privileges of being in Christ.
Let me show you something,
Isa 42:1-4
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Who is this one that God upholds and delights in?
The answer is found in
Matt 3:16-17
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
The Hebrew word for well pleased is delight and what God is saying is that His soul delights in His Son Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Old Testament untold numbers of sheep and cattle and goats we’re offered to God as a sacrifice, rivers of blood flowed for centuries from the slaughter of these animals and yet none of these brought pleasure and delight to the Lord.
Heb 10:4-7
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
NOW LOOK AT VERSE 7
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to do what no animal sacrifice could ever do
LOOK AT VERSE 5 AGAIN,
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
God almighty prepared a physical body for Jesus Christ here on this earth that would provide the final perfect sacrifice, in other words God abased himself for you and for me, He encased himself in a human womb and He took on our nature so we could take on His.
He gave up the riches of heaven to become poor like us so that we could become rich like Him
What was the plan for the redemption of fallen man, what was the plan to reconcile fallen and sinful man back into the graces of Almighty God
God was to send forth His Son as a deliverer, after His Son would be crucified, after He would die and be buried, He would rise from the dead and stand before God in all His glory and He would be the one that we would recognize as the only mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ
1 Tim 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
So Christ would be the one and only sacrificial lamb and it would be Him who would gather up in Himself all who have been severed and would reconcile man back to the Father through His blood.
1 Pet 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Now follow me again to,
Heb 10:5
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
When the Lord said a body thou hast prepared for me, He not only was speaking about a physical body that would be the Pascal lamb, the perfect sacrifice, but He was also speaking about a spiritual body that was being prepared and it would be a body that would consist of every one who would believe in Him
Eph 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
VERSE 22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
THERE IS ONE BODY
Eph 4:4
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 5:30
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Hear me,
There is a physical man in heaven and He is Jesus Christ, the begotten Son of Almighty God but by the world He is not seen physically.
Here are the facts,
We are members of the body of Christ here on earth; the only Jesus this world will ever see is going to be through us until He returns,
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of a new humanity.
The first Adam fell and plunged the entire human race into sin and separation from Almighty God, the second Adam came to bring reconciliation back to the father and begin a new humanity.
Col 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
So in this place of being in Him, in this place of being reconciled back to the Father and walking in this new humanity, how is it possible to stand before an Almighty God and be holy.
I believe this question is pondered and asked more than any other question how is it possible to stand in the presence of a holy God, how it is possible to stand in the presence of a holy God and be ye holy as He is holy.
I know from experience that we as children of God are constantly trying to win approval, constantly striving to be good; constantly searching for things that will please God and the same things that we search for are the same things that Israel searched for in the Old Testament.
Listen to,
Micah 6:6
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Listen to the cry of God’s people,
How shall I come before the Lord, with what shall I bow before Him,
Shall I come with burnt offerings, shall I bring a calf that is a year old,
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?
Will the Lord be pleased with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my first born for my transgression, shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.
Their question was very valid,
They wanted to know how they as frail human beings could ever approach God, how they could ever please God and be accepted by that same God.
And the same answer over and over and over again in scripture is God telling man,
I will not accept your sacrifices, I will not accept your good works, I will not accept your promises or your morally good deeds, for none of these things are acceptable in My sight.
No fleshly thing will ever please Him; no sacrifice outside of His Son will ever please Him,
Nothing will ever please the Father but His Son and only those in His Son will be acceptable to the Father because they have been gathered by Him.
SO HOW ARE WE ACCEPTED
Eph 1:6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
He has made us accepted in the beloved and we are only accepted as we are in the beloved.
Claim whatever church you want to claim, belong to whatever church you want to belong to but the fact is this
You are only accepted by God the Father as you are accepted in the beloved.
1 Pet 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Phil 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
You want good works to count, they only count and bring forth results from being in Him.
Eph 1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Notice the scripture
EVEN IN HIM;
Eph 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We have access by one spirit unto the Father.
You do not have to tell me but I already know the thoughts that many of you have had at one time or another and there communication goes something like this, how can I stand before God with all of my failures, all my sins, how can I stand before God and Him find pleasure in me.
How can I ever please Him, how will I ever be accepted by Him, I’ve made promises that I have not kept, I have failed in so attempts to please Him,
Every time that I believe that I am making progress something happens and I take one step forward and two steps back.
These are the thoughts that all of us have had and these are the thoughts that keep many of us bound.
God does not want your sacrifices or good works outside of His Son
He is only pleased in His Son and has chosen you from the foundation of the world to be wed to Him.
Listen to the word of God,
Isa 42:1
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Who is the servant in whom I delight?
It is the Lord Jesus Christ
Who is the body of the Christ?
We are.
How can God dislike His own flesh, if He delights in His Son?
He delights in his wife, in His bride
Listen to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ
John 17:10
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
VERSE:26
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Listen to Jesus in,
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Tell me beloved,
How hard are you striving to please God, do you go through times where you are very pleased with what you are doing and feel that you are a delight to Him and then at other times you feel as if you are displeasing Him.
Beloved you had better get the facts straight,
The fact is that God’s pleasure in you has nothing to do with your strivings, your intensity or your good intentions or actions.
God’s pleasure in you has to it with His Son and your faith in what His Son has done.
It’s called like precious faith.
2 Pet 1:1
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
What is like precious faith?
It is a focused faith that is centered and focused on one principle
If you wish to stand holy before the Father you must stand on holy ground and that holy ground is in Christ.
Heb 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
This is an issue of faith and believing.
And when we move away from the foundational doctrine of being accepted by God by being in Christ we depart from the Lord,
When we doubt and disbelieve that which is foundational we stand in a place of confusion and uncertainty
The flesh, the law, religion, it’s all a part of spiritual bondage.
The evidence of faith is rest,
Heb 4:3
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
VERSE:10
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
The only way that you can bring your striving, sweating, troubled soul into peace is to convince yourself that you are in Christ and it is in Him that you are accepted of the Father and pleasing to Him.
Regardless of whether you are up or down, regardless of whether you feel like it or not, if you are in Christ then you are accepted of the Father and you sit in heavenly places and the only thing left is for you to convince you’re self of that revelation.
CHRIST IN YOU