Being in Christ
Philippians 1:1-1:11
Introduction-
Philippians 1:1-1:11
Today we start a series “Living for Christ” and taking it from the book of Philippians.
Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Philippi a thank you letter for their support of the gospel of Christ and to encourage the church to stand firm in the face of persecution and trials of life.
If you are interested in living for Christ and being a follower of Christ, Paul shows us what we need to know and how we need to act to be able to do that.
Paul tells us in (v3) that in his prayers he is lifting up the church and is encouraged that they are partners with him in the ministry of the gospel.
Christian joy is not dependent upon favorable circumstances or outward success.
Paul lives that out by encouraging the people of God even though at the time he is in prison under strict guard and possibly facing death for his faith.
Two thoughts run deep in this passage-
(1) The joy available to believers
(2) The confidence that He(God) who begun a good work in you will carry it onto completion until the day of Jesus.
Paul has joy even though he is imprisoned, even though things are not going the way that he would like.
Godly joy is more than a feeling, or present mood or circumstance. It is grounded “in Christ” and being found faithful doing the things that God desires in our lives.
Paul was in prison, but was still joyful and still spreading the gospel of Christ
Believers struggle because they don’t understand that weather we are living the dream or facing trouble, we are to be joyful and we are to be faithful to God.
If you are only joyful when everything is going your way, you are going to live a good portion of your life below what God intended for you.
Paul started that church in Philippi, lead most of them to the Lord Himself, and was happy that they were partnering with him in the gospel.
He was happy that they were making progress in their lives.
There are so many fair weather Christians that believe as long as everything is well, they will serve God…when things get tough, they blame God, and if it lasts too long they walk away from God.
Believers have joy in the Lord.
It is not based upon circumstances but on a relationship with the Lord.
Joy comes from God- the only way we can “count it all joy” when we are going through life trials is when the source of our joy is God.
Listen to this verse again and let it sink in-
“I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he (God) who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul’s confidence is not in Christianity, but in the God-ness of God, who is trustworthy, able to finish the work that he begun.
Look to the one next to you and say – God is not finished with me yet!
Look to the other side and say- He is not done with you yet either!
The source of Paul’s confidence is the faithfulness of God.
He is confident that what God started, he will complete. (Amen)
God will not abandon us at any point of our journey unless we want to walk away.
Humans are great starters, but often bad finishers.
Jesus Christ working in our lives will complete what He started, in spite of hung ups, bad decisions, sins, circumstances.
He tells us to finish the race, finish strong because He knows we find it hard to be faithful, to be committed, and live a life for the long haul.
I have a two point message this morning
(1) Jesus tells us to be “in Christ”. We need to know what that means.
(2) Jesus tells us that Christ needs to dwell “in You” You in Christ, and Christ in you!
It is Paul’s prayer for the church and everyone of us today.
(9) “And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness, that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.”
I. What does it mean to be in Christ?
Galatians 3:26-28
“In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jews or Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus.”
Paul reminds us of our new identity since we placed our faith in Jesus Christ
• To be baptized into Christ means they were identified with Christ, having left their old sinful lives and fully embracing the new life in Christ.
Luke 9:23-
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow him.”
When we respond to the Holy Spirit’s drawing, He baptizes us into the family of God.
We are to be in Christ- it is different than just knowing about Christ.
Romans 8:1
“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 3:3-
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
God is perfect justice
He cannot over look sin, sin has to be paid for.
All the wrath of sin was poured out on His Son Jesus.
When Jesus took our place on the cross, He suffered the punishment for our sin. His last words were “it is finished.”
What was finished? Not His life, He rose three days later.
What was finished on the cross was God’s plan to redeem His fallen world.
When Jesus said it is finished, He successfully paid the debt for mankind.
To be in Christ- means we have accepted His sacrifice as payment for our sins.
Every sin, bad thought, we cannot save ourselves.
In our sinful nature, we are enemies of God, but when we accept His sacrifice on our behalf. He wipes the account clean.
He exchanges our sins for His perfect sinless life and we become children of God.
A divine exchange takes place at the cross! Our sin nature for His perfect nature.
2 Corinthians 5:17-
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come.”
Somebody say Amen!
To be in Christ means God no longer sees our imperfections but sees the righteousness of His Son.
All of the promises of God are in Christ Jesus
The peace of God is in Christ Jesus.
God changing your life is in Christ Jesus.
Redemption and heaven is in Christ Jesus.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life is in Christ Jesus
II. Christ must dwell in you
To have Christ dwell in you- you have to be a believer! (explain)
The power of God will draw us to himself if you let Him, but for Christ to dwell in you, you have to be a believer.
“All those united to Adam in the first humanity die, all those united to Christ in the new humanity will live again.” Amen.
Man was born with the sin nature and is lost without a savior
Christ paid the debt, and eternity with Him rest’s on wither you accept His sacrifice.
We live by faith in Christ Jesus and allow God to dwell in us- you have to invite Him into your life.
Rev. 3:20-
“I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and open the door, I will come in, and eat with him, and he with me.”
You invite him into your life, He does not force Himself on anybody
You don’t want to serve and love him now, He will not force you to speed eternity with Him. In fact, He will insist that you get your wish.
But if you want Christ in your life, He will empower you to live the life that He has promised to believers.
Muhammad does not indwell Muslims.
Buddha does not inhabit anyone.
Col. 1:27-
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Galatians 2:20-
“I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
When we ask Christ to be Lord and savior and allow Him into our life-
He desires for us to be conformed to the image of His Son.
The heart and core of Christianity is the fact that we accept Jesus as Lord and we invite Him to empower us to live the life that is pleasing to Him
We serve a God that is alive and desires to be active in our life.
Christ lives in us only to the degree we allow the Holy Spirit to lead our lives. It is one of the big reasons that most Christians struggle. We do not allow Christ to lead our lives, all of our life.
No shelters, no hidden doors.
As a believer, we have the power of God inside us, helping us to stand firm when this world is falling apart.
We are to be in Christ and Christ is to dwell within us. (repeat)
I’m getting ready to close, more about the power of God working in our lives in the next few weeks.
Apostle Paul draws us to the fact that the purpose of the work that he was confident of was that what God starts in our life He desires to finish. The Scripture says “until the day of Christ Jesus.” Until Christ returns or we go home to be with the Lord first.
That is being in Christ! The question this morning is do you love the Lord? Do you have a hunger for His Word? Do you desire to please Him? If the answer is yes, You are in Christ and Christ is in you. He has begun a good work in you and He desires to finish.
What are the marks of a true conversion? Jonathon Edwards argues that a sign of conversion is a change of affection. All believers have a God-implanted love for Christ.
Peter says 1 Peter 1:8
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
What about you this morning? The biggest decision we ever make is wither we will turn our lives to Christ or not and eternity hinges on our decision. What about you this morning? What do you say?
