God sees you in Adam or in Christ

What does it mean to be "in Adam" ?

To be in Adam is to share in all that Adam was and did. By nature we were all in Adam—separated from God and slaves of sin and Satan. How terrible!

But here is some wonderful news. When we were born again, God put us in Christ. We could not do this ourselves, but God did it for us. We are now IN CHRIST.

How did we get into Christ? God put us there! The Bible says,

"But of Him [of God] you are in Christ Jesus..." I Corinthians 1:30

What does it mean to be "in Christ" ?

To be in Christ is to share in all that Christ is and all that He did. The Bible says that God has "blessed us with all spiritual blessings. . . IN CHRIST." We are going to consider some of the blessings that are ours because we are in Christ.

..we are forgiven

Because we are in Christ, God has forgiven us of every sin. The Bible says,

"IN WHOM we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:14

...we are justified

What does it mean to be justified? It means to be declared righteous. How are we justified before God? We are justified IN CHRIST. The Lord Jesus was perfectly righteous, and now God sees us righteous in Him. He took our sins that we might have His righteousness. The Bible says,

"For He [God] has made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM." 2 Corinthians 5:21

..we are made near to God

As sinners we were separated from God and afraid to come into His presence. But now, in Christ Jesus, we can come boldly into God's presence because the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. The Bible says,

"But now IN CHRIST JESUS you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

...we are accepted by God

Before we were saved, we were enemies of God. Now we are accepted by Him as His own dear children. Why are we accepted by God? Because we are IN CHRIST! The Bible says,

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted IN THE BELOVED[in Christ]." Ephesians 1:6

...we are made holy

God has a new name for believers. He calls believers "saints in Christ Jesus." The word "saint" means "holy one." In God's sight, every believer is a saint in Christ.

In ourselves we are not holy, but God sees us in Christ. When we stand before God, we stand in the holiness of Christ. We are "holy IN CHRIST."

...we are sealed

We are God's children and our destination is Heaven. God has put us in Christ and has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. The Bible says,

". . .IN WHOM also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Ephesians 1:13

...we are complete

Everything we need to live the Christian life is ours in Christ. We are complete in Him. The Bible says,

"For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete IN HIM...." Colossians 2:9, 10

As God's children, we are no longer in Adam. We are now IN CHRIST.

When life seems FUTILE, remember you are FERTILE

God, grant me the Serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the Courage to change the one I can, and the Wisdom to know it's me.

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...

Noah was a drunk.

Abraham was too old.

Isaac was a daydreamer.

Jacob was a liar.

Leah was ugly.

Moses had a stuttering problem plus he was a murderer.

Gideon was cowardly.

Samson was a HE-man with a distinct SHE-weakness.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Samuel was a little kid.

Jeremiah was a complaining prophet.

David at one time was an adulterous murderer.

Elijah was depressed and suicidal.

Isaiah preached naked.

Jonah ran from God.

Naomi was a widow.

Job went bankrupt.

Amos was an illiterate.

John the Baptist ate bugs.

Peter denied Christ.

The Disciples fell asleep while praying.

Martha worried about everything.

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.

Zaccheus was too small.

Lydia was a busy business lady.

Paul was a Jewish religious bigot.

Timothy had an ulcer...AND

LAZARUS WAS DEAD

No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential.

The Light Of The World

         Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself. Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green. She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick. She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire. "No, no!!" she cried, "Aaaaagghhh! Don't burn me, please!" But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow.

To her surprise, the room filled with light. She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself.

Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. "Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die," she mused. And that's exactly what she did.

God created you and I to produce light in a dark world. Like that little candle, we all can produce the same amount of light, no matter how small we are or what color we might be. But we can't produce light until we receive it from an outside source. That source is Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

The Ultimate Prodigal

"Jesus is like the prodigal son ready to return to His Father's house

For is not Christ the true prodigal?
Thirty years ago He left His Father's eternal mansion and went off into the foreign country of this world and began to spend Himself,
dispensing with infinite prodigality the divine riches of power and wisdom,
and bestowing with heavenly liberality the divine gifts of pardon and mercy.
And so now He sets back on the road to His Father's house.".