Reflections on “In Christ Jesus”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph 1:3-6)

Father, how wonderful and overwhelming are all the many splendid things that you declare from your word! If you did not reveal them, I would never imagine them. You bless me through every single thing you’ve purposed in Jesus Christ, your son! You chose me in him. I participate in your divine work in his life. You adopted me by means of your son. He is the ground from which my son-ship exists. You freely and fully love your son, and you abundantly pour out your grace to me through him whom you love! You, Father, bless me with every spiritual blessing. I am—in truth—holy and blameless in your sight, not because of my worth or merit but because your decision and because of your son. All this, and so much more, to the praise of the glory of your grace! Father, I praise you and thank you for this divine work considered and secured before ever there was a world. In love you predestined my relationship with you through Jesus Christ. On account of the good pleasure of your will, and your love for your son, I experience and understand all these things little by little as the days and years advance. A time will come when I finally leave this earth all tired and worn, and I will then be more infused with life than ever I could on earth conceive. I will finally be with you; the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have life, love and all spiritual blessings! May I never think or say I am not sufficiently loved!

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’” (Heb 2:10-13)

Lord Jesus, suffering was your way. Why? I do not pretend to adequately understand. But in the wisdom of God, your Father, He knew that through suffering you would be complete, reach your designed purpose and end, and you would be best set apart for the work He intended for you: the God-man; Mediator of the new covenant. As I reflect on the Ephesians passages above, I understand that I am with you. My identity is termed “in Christ.” Hebrews 2 tells me that we are one: sanctified, set apart. I hear your song of praise, trusting, understanding my being given by the Father to you, thinking even of John 10 and how you say that you and the Father are one! Lord Jesus, the Father has done so much in and through you, and I am with you in those works. I seem to be the passive beneficiary of His actions with you. I could never achieve such a position on my own. I would never conceive it. May I never account such blessings as mere earthly trinkets that I squander along life’s road and which leads to eventual loss and ruin. I am glad that you are not ashamed to call me one of your brethren! You must see me as the Father does. That you do is clear. Yet, you understand me as I am, for you know my nature. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your love for the Father and your willingness to suffer and bring many to sons to glory! I rejoice that you have declared His name to me. I am glad we are all of one! Of those given to you by your Father, God, you lose not one. (Jn 6:39, 10:28)


“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Gal 4:4-6)

Father, you purposed the adoption. I am one of your adopted children. I have no doubts about this relationship. At the appointed time, you sent forth your son to liberate and clear the way to life; to you. You sent him, and he came down. You sent not an angel, but your son. The work you designed and purposed could not be accomplished by an angel. You desired your son to be glorified and his image to be manifest through eternity as that comes forward in the lives of those you adopted in him. This is that relationship that you predetermined to be. Lord Jesus, in you this work was obtained. I understand that as a result of my actual adoption as a child of the Father, I share your voice of testimony regarding the Father. You are His son. You know him. You came from Him and returned to Him. Then, He sent Your Spirit into the hearts of all those who have been and ever will be adopted through you to Him. While you walked the earth, your spirit directed you to always be moving toward Him and to live in conscious awareness of Him. His testimony was that He was pleased with you. May that be also my experience, as your spirit in my heart overtakes all other spirits (those of self, sin, demonic or worldly passions), so that He from whom my life is now derived would be my chief desire and end. Father, you sent your son and you sent the Spirit of your son. Not only do you see me in Christ, but you hear me in Christ. I share his spirit. I send up his cry, “Abba Father!”

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God . . . For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren . . . nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:16-19, 29, 39)

My Father, the collection of scriptures assembled above that I have prayed through are like successive waves of the sea rolling ashore. Each one lands its message and truth on the shore of my mind and heart. You gave me the Spirit of your son. The Holy Spirit impress upon me that I am your child. I have that witness. But you have purposed that I understand and experience more. You make it known to me that I am an heir with your son in all that you purposed to accomplish through him. He rules and inherits. I do not understand all this, but I believe it. As your child, adopted in Christ Jesus, you have predetermined that what happens in my life works to shape and bring forth your son’s likeness in my life. That must be a divine work! Sin too wants to master me. Conformity to its image is an effortless decent. Your work to conform me to the image of your son is a mighty work! A glorious work! A heavenly work! I am no longer defined by who I am in Adam. Nor do I bear the image of the devil. I am your child, and I am being transformed to reflect the image of your son! You desire what is glorious in him to be manifest among those many brethren. Father, Lord Jesus, let me always remember that your love is the environment of my existence. You have purposed that I would, in Christ, live before you in love; now and forever. Nothing of earth, or any other created dimension, can alter this fact!

My God, as I close, it is abundantly clear that You love me. This is so, certainly because I am “in Christ,” but also shown to me in other various ways related to experience. It is also clear that I have not been abandoned, and I am not alone, regardless of what my inner thoughts and imaginations want me to believe, or what the voices of the world try to convince me of to the contrary. They lie. And God, you are trustworthy. I am to rest in you and your goodness always. The world cannot know these things, and if the world hears them they scoff in disbelief. But those who are your children in Christ Jesus, Father, these know; for you have given them the Spirit of your son in their hearts. The Holy Spirit witnesses to us also. That testimony is firm. Thank you for your wonderful works in Christ Jesus and for the witness of these things from your word by which my mind, my heart, and my life are strengthened and your name exalted. Amen