Abide in Christ — Identified With Him

We have been brought into a new and special relationship and life in Christ. Colossians 2 describes how Christ supplies everything our spirit and soul needs.

Colossians 2:6 TPT In the same way you received Jesus our Lord and Messiah by faith, continue your journey of faith, progressing further into your union with Him!

Colossians 2:7 TPT Your spiritual roots go deeply into His life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to Him!

Colossians 2:9-10 NLT For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.

Colossians 2:13-14 NLT You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us.

Colossians 2:14-15 NLT He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.

Many believers accept Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer but fail to experience the fullness of new life available by abiding in Him.

There is unspeakable joy in daily dwelling in the presence of the King of Kings! The Lord has provided much more for us than freedom from our past sins. We rejoice that He forgave all our sins, but He has provided something more by giving us new life in Christ. The urgency of entering and dwelling in this is increasing and intensifying. God has not simply saved us from our sins just so we can feel better about ourselves. God saved us so we can be united to Him as we were meant to be.  God has called you to be a part of something BIG!

He has called you to be joined and identified with Him.

God has called you to be involved with Christ in His life and work. There is nothing more fulfilling, rewarding, and exciting than being part of what God is doing! He has made it possible for you to be both identified with Him and to be part of His life and ministry.

Galatians 2:20 NIV84 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Identification with Christ accomplishes two things.

Everything that is mine belongs to Christ and everything that belongs to Christ is mine. This is the joy of abiding in Christ. As long as we abide in Him, we are co-partakers.

We are very familiar with the demands of our lives.

We know all about our needs and weaknesses. We need rest, renewal, and refreshing. We need food, clothing, and many other things to be satisfied and content. Sometimes we feel like a dry grape on the vine. We are surrounded with many trials and temptations. We are made aware of our need, sickness, pain, and death.

Our new life in Christ brings dramatic changes.

We begin receiving the multiplied blessings that belong to Christ. We are redeemed and cleansed and made to be partakers of His righteousness and holiness. His peace, joy and love flood our soul. We are given His life, victory and power. The fellowship He enjoys with the Father is made available to us so that we may boldly come into the Father’s presence to find grace and mercy to help.

As a result of our connection with Christ, the Holy Spirit gives life that is characterized by a profound sense of identification with Christ.

The first step in identification comes from the action God has taken.

God freely provided us with a Priest and Redeemer. In Ezekiel, God said, “I looked for someone to rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30

This was a low point for man.

When God found NO ONE to arise and redeem us, in grace and mercy He stepped in. God spoke to Isaiah the prophet and said, “I looked, but there was no one to intervene to help the oppressed. So I stepped in and My own right arm brought salvation,” (Isaiah 63 4-5). Your redemption and salvation is totally of God. This is totally an act of God’s grace and mercy.

Ephesians 2:8 NKJV For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

God has done more for you than you think or can imagine.

God the Father thought it. God the Son bought it on the cross. God the Holy Spirit brought it into our lives. God has taken us unto Himself and has identified us with His Son, Jesus Christ. God has chosen us and filled us with His Spirit and has given us newness of life. We cannot depend on the work of the flesh.

We must allow God to take first place in our lives.

Learn to listen for Him and quickly obey Him. Learn to depend fully on Him. Everything we need comes from the bounty of His grace and power.

Romans 8:3 NKJV For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…

What the Law could not do, God did in Christ. We could not become like Him without His help. Can a person be born of their own choice? We did not choose our parents or the time of our birth. Neither is regeneration our idea.

God chose to bring us out of the condemnation of sin.

He chose us for His own.

Now we must abide in Him.

Abide in Christ as your redemption, righteousness, and life. Abide in Christ as your sanctification, joy and peace. Abide in Christ!

Philippians 3:8 NKJV Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

Philippians 3:9-10 NKJV that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…

We cannot afford to miss this.

Galatians 2:20 NKJV I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Our old life has been crucified with Christ and we have been brought into new life in Christ and yet we live.

Our daily lives, especially where we live, are where we face challenges and where we need to identify with Him.

Every day we must learn to live in Him, move in Him, and have our being in Him. This is where we must learn to cast on Him our worry, fear and anxiety. We must cast on Him our burden, sin, and need. We must learn to draw from Him strength and life.

How can we do this?

This does not happen because you know it is possible. We must live and experience the truth in order to know it. We are called to follow first, then to know the Lord. We seldom know how, when, or why before we live and move on the strength of God’s promise. We trust in His faithfulness and yield to the Holy Spirit and then we come to know His power.

It is after we yield to the Spirit’s work within that we begin to know the Spirit’s power.

So, we obey when we are weak and surrender to Him when we do not feel. In our weakness, He is made strong. When you are connected, He is working in you even when you do not recognize His presence and power. This is our portion in Christ. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is your daily portion. Take time in prayer and worship to dwell at the footstool of the throne of God and the Lamb. This is where you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. His holy anointing comes from Him alone. He is ready to do something great in you right now.