Abiding in Christ — Victorious
When you became a partaker of Christ, God gave you the necessary equipment to protect you and cause you to rise victorious, (Ephesians 6:13). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you and He gives your mortal bodies life and victory.
Have you ever felt that you just came up against a wall that was hindering your forward progress?
The children of Israel came up against one of those kinds of walls when they crossed over into the promised land. One of the first things they encountered was the great walls of Jericho. Everything about Jericho spoke of an impossibility and unbreakable difficulty. When they first encountered it, they were not sure what to do. God gave Joshua the spirit of a conqueror and after Israel walked around the walls of Jericho, those mighty walls fell down.
We are told in Ephesians 6 that our walk with God is to be filled with victory and resurrection life. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is working in you. Since the Holy Spirit is working mightily within you, you have been claimed by God to represent Christ. You are not like the other people in the world who aimlessly take in every whelm and frivolous activity. God has chosen you to bear the nature and measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. For that reason you must make every effort to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Press on into and become a partaker of Christ and His victories.
Hebrews 3:14 NKJV For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
Pay close attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying. To maintain the victory Christ has achieved, we must hold firmly to “our confidence” in Christ. Your confidence in Christ is the fruit of your connection with Him.
You have become a partaker of Christ. This fact lifts you up into the life of victory that is in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of life that raised Christ from the dead is working within you. When Joshua and Israel crossed over the Jordan River and immediately confronted the walls of Jericho, God reminded them that the promises given to Moses were still in effect. You need to know that the victory that Christ gained and the Spirit that worked in Him has been invested in you. None of the power of the Spirit of Life has been lost. You have been made a partaker of Christ and everything that that means. Because you are connected to Him, hold firmly to the confidence that has produced your new life and faith. Strengthen yourself in the Lord and the power of His might. Pay attention to how you acquired the victory that is in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-5 NKJV But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ephesians 2:6 NKJV and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
God is so rich in His mercy and as a result of it and His great and intense love for us, He made us alive together in our connection with Christ. He did this even when we were dead in our shortcomings and trespasses. He gave us the very same life and Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. The same Spirit of life that quickened Jesus when He was dead in the grave has been given to you. By His Own favor and mercy, God delivered us from the kingdom and power of darkness and death and made us partakers of Christ’s victory and new life. He reached down into our destruction, sickness and weakness and raised us up together with Christ and made us partakers together with Him. Did you hear that? You have been quickened with the very same resurrection life that raised Christ from the dead. His life and victory has been invested in you.
John 15:4 NKJV Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Watch this closely. How can we can be productive and be made to overcome? Jesus said it was possible, if we abide in Him. This fruit that He is discussing refers to a life of power, victory, and success in Christ. You need to take hold of this and let it become part of your inner most being and structure. You have been connected to Jesus Christ, so live in His victory. Let your life be ordered by the fact that you are connected to Him.
John 15:5 NKJV I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Pay attention to that last phrase: “Without Me you can do nothing.” Turn this around and say it the way that Philippians 4:13 says it: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The strength, energy, and life comes from Him. When I am connected and strengthened by Christ, I am a possessor of the victory that overcomes the world.
Several years ago my brother-in-law grafted a branch from one peach tree into another tree. He was doing it just for the fun of it. At first, he babied the graft and constantly monitored it. He wanted to make sure it was secure and healthy. A few years later you could not tell the difference in the grafted-in branch and the natural branch. Both were receiving their life from the tree and were producing fruit.
The key to continued life, vigor, and fulfillment comes from abiding in Christ.
There are two points we should consider.
The key to survival, strength, and thriving is remaining in a constant connection with Christ. Your faith and confidence cannot vacillate and change. Your attention to Christ and His word must be constant. Your walk with God must remain steadfast. Second, He has a claim on us.
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Do you understand the power of what the Holy Spirit is telling you and what this means in your daily life?
What do we have in Jesus Christ?
Ephesians 1:7 — In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
Rejoice, your sins have been covered and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 — He became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
In Christ Jesus you have been made righteous in God’s sight.
1 Corinthians 3:16 — you have been made the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you.
The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you and is working mightily in you.
1 Corinthians 6:17 — you are one spirit with Him.
You have the mind of Christ.
2 Timothy 1:7 — God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.
By the Spirit that is in you, your mind has been changed. You now have a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.
Colossians 3:3 — Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Glory to God, the adversary does not have free access. Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
1 John 5:18 — The one who was born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one cannot touch him.
Isaiah 54:14 NKJV In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
1 Corinthians 2:16 — we have the mind of Christ.
Do you understand what that means?
Philippians 4:7 — The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guards your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Your life is transformed and your mind has been filled with the victory that is in Christ.
Philippians 4:19 — God will supply all your need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — Anyone in Christ is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Romans 8:37 — In all these things we are more than conquerors through him
1 Peter 2:24 — by His stripes you were healed.
Ephesians 2:6 — God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:12 — We have His access to the throne of God.
When you abide in Christ, you have been brought into His life of victory and everything that includes.
The richness and power of Christ is our portion. God has attached you to His victory and life.