Just some thoughts……
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
And so it is.
The Bible has many pictures to illustrate God’s great truths.
Jesus said in John 15:
“I am the vine, you are the branches…… Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me…… for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 14:20 -- ……I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
How are we in Christ and Christ in us?
See the vine. See the branch. We are joined to Christ just as the branch is joined to the vine. We are in Christ just as the branch is in the vine. And the life and nature and the working of Christ are in us just as the life, nature and working of the vine are in the branch.
1 Cor. 6:17 -- But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
The branch rests in the vine, trusts in the vine and waits on the vine to provide it with everything it needs for its fruit bearing and life. It has no self life. It is fully surrendered to unceasingly receive and be filled with the fullness of the vine.
So must we.
Ps. 145:15-16 -- The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Matt. 6:26 -- Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
Mat. 6:28-29 -- ……Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
2 Peter 1:3-4 -- ……His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
John 1:16 -- For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
Eph. 3:19 -- ……that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
1 Peter 5:10-11 -- ……the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.
Ps. 37:7 -- Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Ps. 25:3 -- Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
The union is crucial. It cannot be severed. A branch broken off from the vine withers away. So will we be if we do not abide in Christ.
John 15:6 -- If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Another picture comes into mind.
It is in the story of the healing of a woman who had a haemorrhage for twelve years told in Mark 5:25-34.
This is the scripture from the NASB:
25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
These are my thoughts ---
The Lord Jesus has obtained this for us:
2 Cor. 5:21 -- He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This is our salvation. But this is not outwardly imputed to us.
Ps. 51:6 (KJV) -- Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
This must be made real in us by a new birth, by being a new creation in Christ, and, by Christ dwelling in us.
John 3:3,5 -- Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God……unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Ezek. 36:26-27,36 –- Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances……I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.
Eph. 3:17,19 -- ……that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith……that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
The woman said, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”
The word translated “touch” is Strongs NT 681 meaning “to fasten to, lay hold of”.
Phil. 3:12 -- …… that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
She had to fasten to Him, lay hold of Him. It was His garments she sought to lay hold of.
His garments represent His righteousness and His salvation. It was His garments of righteousness and salvation she had to lay hold of and be clothed with.
Isa. 61:10 -- I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness……
Truth is: Christ HIMSELF is our righteousness and our salvation
Isa. 12:2 -- "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation."
1 Cor. 1:30 -- But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
Therefore, it is Christ Himself we must lay hold of. It is Christ Himself we must be clothed with.
Gal. 3:26-27 -- For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus…… have clothed yourselves with Christ.
How can we be clothed with Christ?
We are clothed with Christ when we are baptized into Him.
Gal. 3:27 -- For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
What is meant by “baptized into Christ”?
The word “baptized” is transliterated from Greek word “baptizo”.
HELPS Word-studies defines it as “to immerse (literally, ‘dip under’)”.
Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary gives this definition:
“Baptizo, ‘to baptize,’ primarily a frequentative form of bapto, ‘to dip,’ was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another, etc. Plutarchus uses it of the drawing wine by dipping the cup into the bowl.”
My comment:
In the dyeing of the garment:
(1) The garment is immersed in the dye
(2) The dye saturates (or fills) the garment
In the drawing of wine by dipping the cup into the bowl:
(1) The cup is immersed in the wine in the bowl
(2) The wine in the bowl fills the cup.
Therefore, by the above definitions, when we are baptized into Christ:
(1) We are immersed in Christ i.e. IN CHRIST
(2) Christ fills us i.e. CHRIST IN US.
Baptism/immersion in Jesus’ name is synonymous with baptism/immersion into Christ. Baptism/immersion in Jesus’ name is simply “you in Me (I AM) and I AM in you” (John 14:20).
Ex. 3:13-14 –- ……Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'
John 8:58 (YLT) – Jesus said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham's coming -- I am;'
Scripture:
John 17:6,11,21,23,26 -- I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world……Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are……that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us……I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity……and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
(Note “in Him” i.e. IN CHRIST, in following scripture.)
Eph. 1:6 (KJV) – To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph. 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Eph. 1:10-11 – In Him also we have obtained an inheritance……
Col. 2:9-10 -- For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete……
Col. 3:10-11 -- …… put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
Eph. 3:17,19 -- ……that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith……that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
By baptism/immersion into Christ, the old fallen creation of “flesh and blood” passes away.
John 3:6 -- That which is born of the flesh is flesh……
1 Cor. 15:50 -- Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
John 3:3 -- Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
All of us who have been baptized/immersed into Christ Jesus have been baptized/immersed into His death (Rom. 6:3).
Gal. 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ……
2 Cor. 5:17 - ……old things are passed away……
Comment:
My own life (which is doomed to death – 1 Cor. 15:22), nature (which is enmity to God and unable to subject itself to God’s laws – Rom. 8:7)), power and resources (which are ineffectual – John 15:5), wisdom (which is foolishness – 1 Cor. 1:20), righteousness (which is like a filthy garment – Isa. 64:6), glory (which falls short of the glory of God – Rom. 3:23), etc., etc. have all been crucified with Christ. They are dead and gone.
Gal. 2:20 -- I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live……
And by baptism/immersion into Christ, a new creation in Christ Jesus comes into being.
Rev. 21:5 -- Behold, I make all things new.
2 Cor. 5:17 -- Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being.
Gal. 3:26-27 -- For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus……
John 1:12-13 -- ……children of God……born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Gal. 2:20 -- I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
Rom. 6:4 -- We therefore were buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
Comment:
I am now baptised/immersed in and filled with Christ’s life, Christ’s love, Christ’s nature, Christ’s power, Christ’s wisdom, Christ’s righteousness, Christ’s holiness, Christ’s redemption, Christ’s peace, Christ’s joy, Christ’s comfort, Christ’s healing, Christ’s provisions, etc., etc.
Christ, I AM now dwells in me.
And the One in me is GOD.
How great is our salvation!
Hallelujah!
How are we baptized/immersed into Christ?
It is God who baptizes/immerses us into Christ by grace through faith.
1 Cor. 1:30 -- But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
Eph. 2:8-10 -- For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Rom. 3:22 -- even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;
The role of the Holy Spirit:
Christ is the One who baptizes/immerses believers in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).
And it is through the agency of the Holy Spirit indwelling us that we experientially know Christ in us and we in Him.
John 14:15-16,20 (KJV) -- If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever……At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Comment:
The word translated “know” is Greek word ginosko, Strongs NT 1097, defined in HELPS Word-studies as “properly, to know, especially through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance). 1097 /ginṓskō (‘experientially know’) is used for example in Lk 1:34, ‘And Mary [a virgin] said to the angel, “How will this be since I do not know (1097 /ginṓskō = sexual intimacy) a man?"’”
1 Cor. 2:9-10 -- THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
2 Cor. 2:12 -- Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
Christ lives in us when we keep His word.
John 14:23 -- Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make a home with him.
Obedience is the obedience of love and of faith in Jesus’ name.
Phil. 3:9 -- ……the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
Rom. 1:5 -- through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,
John 1:12 (YLT) -- but as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to become sons of God -- to those believing in his name,
1 John 3:23 -- This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
The woman was pressing on for this prize: “……I will get well (Mark 5:28).”
The word translated “get well” is Strongs NT 4982 which is defined in HELPS Word-studies as: “properly, deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).”
The prize of our salvation is to be cleansed from our sins and be filled with the holiness and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are justified in order that we may be glorified.
Rom. 8:30 -- ……these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
2 Thess. 2:14 -- It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Phil. 3:8 -- ……that I may gain Christ,
Ps. 21:-5 –-
His glory is great through Your salvation,
Splendor and majesty You place upon him.
For You make him most blessed forever;
You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.
Col. 1:27 -- ……Christ in you, the hope of glory.
A crowd was pressing in on Jesus but the power only went forth from Him to the one who laid hold of His righteousness by faith (Mark 5:30-31).
Mark 5:34 -- And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well (margin note: Lit. saved you); go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
The physical touch is a picture of the laying hold of Christ by faith.
Our righteousness is through faith in Christ, and comes from God on the basis of faith (Phil. 3:9).
2 Thess. 2:13 -- ……God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
Christ is the Truth. Faith is in the truth which is Christ Himself. And salvation is in the truth which is Christ Himself.
John 14:6 -- Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
The glory of our salvation is in our oneness with Christ. That is: in our baptism/immersion in Jesus, which is, we IN CHRIST and CHRIST IN US.
John 17:22-23 –-
NASB:
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity……
Young’s Literal Translation:
And I, the glory that thou hast given to me, have given to them, that they may be one as we are one; I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be perfected into one……
TOWARD THE MARK
Col. 1:26-27 -- ……the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ((((( Christ in you ))))), the hope of glory.
Phil. 3:12 –- Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Phil. 3:14 (KJV) -- I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God ((((( in Christ Jesus ))))).
THE LORD IS HERE
2 Cor. 6:16 –- For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them, and will walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people."
This is pictured in the temple Solomon built for God’s name:
1 Kings 8:29 -- that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, 'My name shall be there,' to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.
In times of need and for blessings, the people were to look to this temple where God’s name was and make their prayer and confess God’s name (1 Kings 8:28 – 53).
Comment:
Everything I need for life and holiness are in Christ, in His name.
The riches of Christ are unfathomable (Eph. 3:8).
And I can pray for all things in Jesus’ name, that is, in Him.
John 14:13-14 -- Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
2 Cor. 1:20 -- For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
But I must be in Christ and Christ in me to draw all the riches of Christ into me. Without this vital union with the Lord Jesus (i.e. baptism/immersion into Him), there is no way for the riches of Christ to flow into me.
John 15:7 -- If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
1 John 3:22-24 –
……whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Comment:
When we believe in the name of Jesus and love one another, we are in Christ and Christ is in us. When we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we have access to and can pray for all the riches in His name.
NO OTHER NAME
Acts 4:12 -- "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other
name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Christ, I AM.
Nothing else is. All else are lies. All else perish.
John 8:24 (Jubilee Bible 2000) -- ……for if ye do not believe that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.
1 John 5:11-12 -- And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Ps. 25:2 -- O my God, in You I trust.
1 John 5:20 -- ……we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Ps. 20:7-8 –-
Some boast in chariots and some in horses,
But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.
They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.
Ps. 20:5 –-
We will sing for joy over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
Ps.33:21-22 –
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in (margin note: Or, waited for) You.
Eph. 3:20-21 (NIV) -- Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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Jade
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