The Basics of Being ChristianSample

What does it mean to be in Christ?

Up front, it’s important to acknowledge that there are a number of aspects of our faith that we are really difficult to understand fully, but we can learn to understand them truly.

Being in Christ is one of these things. While it’s easy to imagine a baby kangaroo being “in” it’s mom’s pouch, it’s not quite so easy to fully wrap our minds around what it means to be “in” Christ.

Author Dane Ortlund paints a picture of what it means to be in Christ by asking us to imagine that we were an onion. The outer peel of our onion represents all the things that are a part of us that don’t matter as much, like the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, and the restaurants we like. The next peel represents the things that are a little bit more important, such as where we grew up, what our childhood was like, and our personality type. The next layer is our relationships. After that is what we believe about the world and the truths that we hold closest to us—truths about the nature of God, what it means to be human, and what happens when we die. If we keep peeling away layer after layer until we get to the very core of the onion, what will we find? We are united to Christ. That is the deepest part of who we are. The very core of a Christian is oneness with Jesus.

Pastor James Stewart said it this way: “Christ is the redeemed man’s new environment. He has been lifted out of the cramping restrictions of his earthly lot into a totally different sphere, the sphere of Christ. He has been transplanted into a new soil and a new climate, and both soil and climate are Christ. His spirit is breathing a nobler element. He is moving on a loftier plane.”

The Apostle Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Paul is telling us that when we are united to Jesus, we become a new creation. Who we were is stripped away so that we can become who we were always meant to be. And Paul is telling us that when we are united to Jesus through faith, we enter into new creation.

When Jesus announced His mission, He didn’t say, “Believe in me so you can go to Heaven when you die!”

He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 NIV

Notice the difference? When Jesus stepped onto the stage of history, He was bringing Heaven with Him. Heaven isn’t just some far away place in the sky. Heaven is the realm where God rules. Heaven is God’sKingdom. It’s a Kingdom that is now and not yet. It’s here in part right now, but it is not yet here in full. That will not take place until Jesus returns to make all things new. But, entrance to God’s Kingdom, that realm we call Heaven, the New Creation, has been made available to anyone in the here and now in Christ.

Being in Christ means becoming a new creation and entering into the new creation. This is, after all, so much of the focus of the Bible. Don’t worry, we’re going to wait to dive into that until tomorrow. For now, take some time to reflect on the questions below.

Consider: How would you describe what it means to be “in Christ” to someone else? How have you changed since becoming a Christian? What has that process been like?