Scripture reading: John 17:9-23
The Word of God is a great mystery which none of us can claim to fully understand, but more and more the Lord is revealing to us deeper things pertaining to Himself. As we draw closer to the light, we can see clearer and clearer some of the things which were hidden in the past.
The Word of God functions on many different dimensions and we relate to Him according to where we are in God. There are four basic planes upon which our understanding can reach. But beyond these, the planes of the function of the Word are within the spiritual and beyond the veil. Our Lord spoke to Nicodemus that if he could not understand natural things, how would he be able to understand spiritual things. We can easily understand the things on the flat plane, the horizontal plane. But on the vertical plane, there is both height and depth. On the vertical height plane we understand that God is above us, that the realm of heaven is above our realm, and that there are things too high for us. On the depth plane, we have to be in Christ to get deeper in God, therefore, the IN CHRIST situation is a whole new realm of human experience. This experience is beyond the Christ-in-us experience. This position is us-in-Christ as described by our Lord Himself in His prayer to the Father:
John 17:21, That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
The dimension of being IN CHRIST is the place of being overshadowed by Him in all things. When Christ becomes the Head of the believer, then the believer becomes a part of His body. Many believers claim to be in the body of Christ without having Christ as their head in their actual day-to-day life, which we will describe as a fourth dimension living. In order that we might fully understand this thought, allow me to show you by scriptural references the difference between the Christian who is IN CHRIST and the one who is not.
John 17:23, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
All those who are in Christ are one. This is the only solid united in the world. They do not have to know each other nor do they have to join any organization because they are joined of the Spirit and will never move one against the other. At present, the world does not know this. The world will classify Christians in one mistaken bundle and do not yet recognize that there is a vast difference between those who are in Christ and those who are not. If we are to be specific, then we must recognize that in the church there is an Outer Court, a Holy Place, and a Holy of Holies. (Note: For a more detailed description of these three areas in the Tabernacle of Moses, please read The Pattern.) The Christians in the Holy of Holies are those who are covered by the Shadow of the Almighty, who not only have Christ in them, but are themselves spirit, soul, and body – in Christ. Those who are in the Holy Place are the ones in the realm of the gifts of the Spirit, who have not yet made the supreme sacrifice of the offering up of their soul nature upon the Altar of Incense. This means that total death has not yet occurred in the soul of the believer, which hinders the life of Christ coming forth.
The Holy Place is the place of the soul. It is also the place where Christ enters into the believer’s soul through the ministration of the Holy Ghost. Previous to this, the believer had the Blood of Jesus in his soul, which gave him life. We call it the born-again experience. He was dead in trespasses and sins, and the Blood of Jesus Christ quickened him and brought him life. The next experience of baptism into the death of Christ is designed to bring him into the life of Christ. So, while the Outer Court represents death, the Holy Place represents life. This Life of Christ in the believer is designed of God to lead him through the two stages of the Holy Place: to experience union with Christ in the Lampstand operation, and to feed on Christ and His body, depicted by the Table of Shewbread. The next and final experience of the Holy Place is the offering which God demands before the believer can enter the Holy of Holies and find rest under the shadow of the Almighty. This offering is the most prized possession of a human person – his soul. When this sovereign act is accomplished, the believer loses all his rights. He loses his nationality, his pride, his ancestral endowments, his carnal identity as male or female, and he knows nothing but Christ and His crucifixion.
Galatians 3:27-28, For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
The baptism into Christ mentioned in Galatians 3:27 definitely could not be speaking of baptism in water; neither could it be speaking of anything humanly accomplished. In I Corinthians 12:13 we are told that we are baptized into Christ by the Holy Ghost. This baptism makes us a part of Christ, which part we call His body. The average Christian might read the above passage and think that it gives him or her license to get up and minister in the congregation, but this passage is written for those who are IN CHRIST and cannot be applied otherwise.
We must conclude that being IN CHRIST means that one is in that Fourth Dimension mentioned in Ephesians 3:18 as the depth of Christ.
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 1-3)
Thought for today: In order for an individual to be in the body of Christ, Christ must be their head in their actual day-to-day life.
Sonlight Devotional 