Understanding Our Position in Christ - thectp.org

1 Session 3 Understanding Our Position in Christ Believers Are in Christ 1. The New Te stam ent make s it ve ry cle ar t hat t ru e fo l-low er s of J esu s ar e p osit ion ed in Ch ri st. The phra se in Christ ap pear s ninety-five times in the New Am erican Standard translation of the Bible. At least twenty-five of th os e o ccur r ence s ref e r to our Position in Christ . The phras e in Ch rist is a p red ominant theme that runs throughout the N ew T estam ent. F rom R omans to 1 P ete r, the ap ostle s us ed this phra se to e xplain the po sition of the believe r thr ough the sh ed blood o f the Lo rd J esus Christ .

2 The f ollowing vers es allude to who w e a r e in Christ : Ev en so consider y our se lves to be dead t o sin, but alive to G od in Chri s t Jesus (Rom. 6:11). But thanks b e to G od, who always leads us in triumph in C h r i s t, and manifests through us the sw e et a rom a of the knowledge o f Him in This se ss ion cov ers : The truth that believer s are in Christ The pr ogr es sive nature of biblical covenants and how they re-stor e what Adam lost How the pr ogr es sive re storation of the co vena nts culminate in our p osition of being in Christ This se ss ion cor re spo nds to: Chapters 7-8 o f Unde rst anding Your Inhe ritance in Christ book Session 3 of Und er standing Your Inhe ritanc e in Christ CD s 37 38 Understanding Your Inheritance in Christ ev ery place (2 C or.)

3 2:1 4). Ther ef or e if anyone is in Christ , he is a new c reatur e; the old things passed aw ay; b ehold, new things have c ome (2 Co r. 5:17). He mad e Him who kne w no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might becom e the righteousnes s of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Ev en though the phras e in Christ is used f r eque ntly in the New T esta-ment and is on e of th e mo st pow e rful blessings o f New C ov enant liv-ing, many have a difficult time grasping its mea ning. To fully understand the blessings that are o urs as partak e rs of th e New Co venant, it is ess ential that we understa nd this conc ept.

4 Understanding our cov enant relationship with God is the key that unlocks th e r ev elation of what it means to be in Christ . Restoring What Adam Lost 1. God created man to be blessed by fulfilling a great purpose for Him. As God finished His w o r k o f cr eation, He de clared that ev er ything that He had made was v ery good. From the G ene sis acco unt, four clea r purpo se s fo r God s p eople ar e evident. The y a re: 1) Repr es ent the image o f G od ( Gen. 1:26-27); 2) Fellowship with God f or ev er ( Gen. 3:8); 3) A dvance the kingdom of God ( Gen. 1:28); and 4) Fre ely enjoy ev e ry blessing of the gard en (Gen.

5 2:16). God had initiated a wonderful plan for man. Ma n was to b e His r epr e-sentative upon the ea r th, to b e His f riend, t o hav e f ellowship with Him, to partne r with him, to tak e dominion over the ea rth, and to b e richly blessed fo r all eternity. 2. When Ad am sin ned , God s pu rpo ses f or m an wer e tem p ora ri ly abo rted. The s erp ent dec eived Adam and Eve, the y ate the forbidden fruit, and In t his s ess io n, we a re g oin g to look at s ever al b ibl ica l c ove-nant s in an atte mpt to und er sta nd wh at it me an s to b e in Chr ist.

6 Und er sta ndi n g th e pr ogr es siv e nat ure of t hes e bi bl ica l coven ant s h el ps us u nder sta nd w hat it m ean s t o b e in Ch ri st and the mig hty b le ss ing s th at are av a il ab l e to u s th rou gh o ur posit ion i n H im. 39 sin entered the w o rld. As a r esult, Adam and E ve w e re cast out o f the garden and God s pur-pos es fo r mankind wer e tempo ra rily abort ed. But God was n ot finished with man. 3. Afte r m an fe ll i nto si n , Go d b eg an a w ork o f pr ogr es siv e r esto rat ion. Through His c ov enants, G od is re sto ring all that Adam lost.

7 Mo r e spe-cifically, it is through th e p rog re ssiv e nature o f the c ov enants that G od is rest oring ev er y asp ec t of His o riginal purpose s f or man. For example, through t he N ew C ov enant, God has r est or ed His f our original purpos es fo r ma nkind. As w e a r e d eclared ho ly, righteous, and blameless in Christ through the N ew Co ven ant, our new po sition of being in right standing with God is r es toring us back into the image of God . When Je sus cut the N ew C ov enant, the v eil sepa rating man fro m G od w as t orn, giving us fr e e ac ce ss to th e thr one of G od, and opening the way f o r an intimate relationship with Jesus.

8 With the c oming of Je s us, the kingdom of Go d has c ome and the Lo rd has given us the authority to advance the kingdom of God and t o tak e d ominion o ve r the ea rth. Finally, God has blesse d us for all eternity with eve ry spiritual blessing, with prospe rity, f re ed om, and h ealth. How ev e r, G od didn t st art His pr oc es s of re sto ration by g oing directly fro m the Gard en o f Ed e n to the N ew C ov enant. H e has p rog re ssively re sto red His purpos es throughout history; first, through the Old Testa-ment c ov enants, and finally, with the New Co ve nant. If we skip the Old Te s tament co venants, w e miss sev e ral ess ential comp onents o f God s p rog re ssive r est oration, and ther eby, miss th e re velation of many rich blessings contained in Old Te stament c ov e-nants that are our s in Christ .

9 The Progressive Nature of the Covenants 1. There a re n ine m ajo r bib lic al cove na nts r ec orde d i n Scr iptu re. The Ed enic Cov enant (G en. 1-2) was mad e with Adam and E ve be fo re sin enter ed the wo rld and outlines G od s o riginal purpose and goal f or the human rac e. The Adamic C ov enant (Gen. 3) wa s mad e aft er Adam and Ev e sinned and pre sents the s e eds of God s r edemptive plan for man. The N oahic Cov enant w as made with Noah aft er th e flood ( Gen . 6-9) and r ee stablishes God s purp os e fo r cr eation and is the f oundation upon which the Abrahamic cov enant is built. Understanding Our Position in Christ 39 40 Understanding Your Inheritance in Christ The Ab rahamic Cov ena nt (Gen.)

10 12-22) p romis ed the land of Canaan as an ete rnal inheritance to his desc endents an d great blessings upon all who partake of this cov enant. The M osaic (Old) Cove nant (Ex. 19-40) expa nds upon the co venant made with Abraham, identifying requirements of th e La w and se rving as a sch oolmaste r t o bring people to Christ The Palestinian (Land) Cov enant (Deut. 27-33) re ve als in detail the blessings and cur se s of the c ov enant made in the Abrahamic C ov e-nant. The Da vidic Cov enant (2 Sam. 7; P s. 89; P s. 1 32) guarantee s the ev-erlasting throne and kingdom o f his se ed.