This morning I was privileged to participate in group devotions — in Greek! We studied the first fifteen verses of Ephesians with plenty of parsing, computer programs, and grammatical analysis.
However, the Greek is very much like the English (what a relief!). In both languages, the most repeated phrase is “in Christ.”
I was trying to figure out why this is such a prevalent phrase. “In” is such a boring preposition — nothing like “into” or “according to.” Yet Paul teaches about the Christian’s position “in Christ” like it is a big deal.
And then I got this insight. To me, “in Christ” is boring because I think of being “in Christ” like being “in” a room. When I say “I am in” a particular room, I have stated truth, but nothing exciting.
But Christ is not a room, not a spatial concept. Christ is the power of God. What if we thought about living “in Christ” like living “in” a powerful force? At first I thought of living “in” a hurricane. To say “I am in” a hurricane” is not a boring fact — it would sum up everything about me. When a person is in a hurricane, everything about their life is controlled by the story. To be “in Christ” is choosing to let Christ control everything about me.
But, I don’t like the image of a hurricane — too short-term, and too destructive. So what if we thought about being “in Christ” like being “in a stream?” We are still controlled by the stream, but not destroyed. In fact, it is taking us to a great destination. As we surrender the direction of our life to the force of the stream, that force frees us up to float along, to make minor adjustments, and to enjoy those going downstream with us.
We are “in Christ” and we should live as “in Christ” persons. Are we allowing Christ to carry us to his grand destination?