By David Moss
Imagine for a moment I have a new Bible and I put a penny in it. The Bible sits on my desk at home. Where is the penny? It’s on my desk. Why? Because it is in the Bible and the Bible is on the desk.
Suppose I give the Bible to you now. You say ‘thank you very much’ (hopefully) and take the Bible to your house. Where is the penny now? It is at your house. Why? Because the penny is in the Bible which is at your house.
Now suppose you fly to France for a conference and you take the Bible with you. On the airplane, where is the penny? On the airplane. Why? Because it is in the Bible which is on the airplane. Now in France, where is the penny? It’s in France. Why? Because it is in the Bible which is in France.
So wherever the Bible goes and whatever happens to the Bible, the penny will also go and experience the same happenings. Why? Because the penny is IN the Bible.
WE ARE IN CHRIST LIKE THE PENNY IS IN THE BIBLE
This example can really help us understand spiritual truth of what has happened to us spiritually when we believed in Christ and were born again.
At salvation, the Holy Spirit of God baptized (placed) us into Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27. We are now IN Christ forever so that now, we as believers, are IN Christ.
Understand that this is an ETERNAL salvation which means that our place in Christ is forever in the future, but also forever in the past! The word eternal means no beginning and no end. In the spiritual world, there are no time constraints, so being IN Christ means in the eternal, spiritual realm, we are in Him, whether in time it’s 4000 BC or 2500 AD.
Knowing you are in Christ now eternally. Let’s look at a few examples to see this from Scripture as related to the penny in the Bible.
When Jesus was crucified on the cross 2000 years ago, where were you? Well you weren’t born yet! Ha. Right, but, in the eternal realm, you are in Christ, remember?
So if you are in Christ, and Christ was crucified on the cross 2000 years ago, what happened to you? You also were crucified on the cross too. Why? Because you are in Him. Proof? Galatians 2:20- “I have been crucified with Christ…”. Romans 6:6- “our old self was crucified with Him..”
When Jesus had been sentenced to be crucified, and He was carrying His cross, where were you? Carrying your cross as well. Why? Because eternally you are in Him. Like Christ, we too who have believed in Him and are in Him, have carried our cross to Calvary where we too were crucified with Him in Him. Do we carry our cross daily now? Only if Jesus carries His cross daily now! And He does NOT because He is not going to die again. Romans 6:9. If Jesus isn’t carrying His cross now, then neither are we. Why not? Because we are in Him and His experiences are our experiences.
When Jesus was buried and raised from the dead, where were you? Being buried and raised with Him. Why? Because you are in Him. Colossians 2:12, Ephesians 2:6.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, and sat down at the Father’s right hand, what happened to you? You ascended into heaven with Him and are seated there with Him. Why? Because you are in Him. Proof? Ephesians 2:6- “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”
Ok how about a difficult one…. Before God created the heavens and earth as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2, where were you? In Him. Even before anything existed? Yes. Proof? Ephesians 1:4 “For he chose us IN HIM BEFORE the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Wow. See how we are in Him eternally?
The same would go for the future judgment. On judgement day, Christ will be judging the world and even angels. So will we (1 Corinthians 6:2,3). Why? Because Jesus will be and we are in Him.
So can you see that IN Christ, everything that has happened to Jesus and everything that He has gone through, we have gone through it with Him, in Him as well; just like the penny in the Bible.
Not only are our experiences the same, so is His heart and character. Why? Because we are in Him and He is in us. Is Jesus Holy? Yes. Then so are we. Is Jesus blameless? Yes. Then so are we. Colossians 1:22. In Him is every spiritual blessing and since we are in Him, we have every spiritual blessing as a result. Ephesians 1:3. In Him is forgiveness of sins. Since we are in Him, we too have complete forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7. And so on. Marvelous grace!
CHRIST IS IN US AS WELL!!
But wait! There’s more!
Not only this, but Christ is in us as well; which means that whatever happens to us, also happens to Him. Wherever we go, He goes too. Colossians 1:27.
So when you get that promotion and you rejoice, He also rejoices with you in you. When an earthly relationship breaks up, He goes through the sorrow of that with you and in you as well. When your child or grandchild is born, He too looks in wonder at that new born baby with you. When you have that life threatening surgery, He is going through it with you and in you.
When you laugh hysterically at that funny movie or show, He is there with you laughing with you as well, enjoying the moment together. When your child hit that homerun in the ball game or brought home a great report card, Christ is in you hooping, hollering and giving high fives with you.
This is the heart of relationship; two becoming one, going through life together and whatever happens to one, happens to the other. We are never apart from each other. We are joined together with Christ forever and ever! 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 7:4.
Understanding our eternal oneness with Christ really makes a difference in knowing and understanding spiritual truths; truths that set us free in Him.