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If we want to be like Christ, it requires that we be united to Christ. Union with Christ is perhaps the most neglected theme in discussing how Christians grow in their pursuit of God.
A New Identity
This growth is called “sanctification”, and the heartbeat of sanctification is to be like Christ. But we can only be like Christ because we are “in Christ.” The phrase “in Christ” is used abundantly throughout Bible. It means that we are united with Christ. Our identity is found in Christ. When God calls Christians to holiness, he calls us to be who we now are – who we are redeemed to be and who we actually are in union with Christ.
Our culture says, “I have to be myself. I can’t be other than I am.” But when a person is born again in Christ, he or she becomes someone new.
Living Out a New Identity
The fight against sin is still real and hard. Even as our union with Christ does not change, there is also a communion with Christ that can ebb and flow. We can decide whether to draw near to him and rely on him or not. The Christian life still entails obedience. But the determining factor is our new identity is union with Christ.
We often neglect the power of the Spirit in our lives, strengthening us within. We are now alive to something new and different because of our relationship with an identity in Christ. This is not fake optimism. We have all the resources we need to defeat Satan and win.
We may not be all that we want to be, but in Christ, we are and can be much more than we were.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Read Ephesians 2:10. What do we learn in this verse about being “in Christ”?
- Read Philippians 4:19. What is the result of being “in Christ”?
- How does a person come to be “in Christ”?
- How would you summarize the results of being “in Christ”?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
