The All-Inclusive “In”
(partial Chapter 1 excerpt from ‘In Christ’) by T. Austin Sparks
There is no phrase or formula which occurs with greater frequency in the New Testament than this, “in Christ.” It sometimes varies in translations when “by” and “through” and “with” are used, and sometimes in the original text it changes in form, e.g. “in Christ Jesus,” “in him,” etc., but in all the two hundred times of its occurrence the principle is the same. In the whole range of Christian dogma there is nothing more expensive, and yet nothing less understood and appreciated.
In one consummate declaration we are told that God has purposed to sum up all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10) and that outside of Him there is nothing which has any place in the eternal purpose and intention of God. The plan, the method, the resources, the times, the eternities, are Christospheric.
The Creation is IN Christ.
The Life is IN Christ.
The Acceptance is IN Christ.
The Redemption is IN Christ.
The Righteousness is IN Christ.
The Sanctification is IN Christ.
The Hope is IN Christ.
The Spiritual Blessings are IN Christ.
The Consolation is IN Christ.
The Peace is IN Christ.
The Effectual Prayer is only IN Christ.
The Strength and Riches are IN Christ.
The Eternal Purpose is IN Christ.
The New Creation is IN Christ.
The Promises are IN Christ.
The Escape from Condemnation is IN Christ.
The One Body is IN Christ.
The Perseverance is IN Christ.
The Gathering into One is IN Christ.
The Bonds of Suffering Believers are IN Christ.
The “No Separation” is IN Christ.
The Perfect Man is IN Christ.
The Helpers Together are IN Christ.
There are the Churches IN Christ.
There are the Dead IN Christ.
There is the One New Man and the Perfect Man IN Christ.
We are Complete IN Christ.
The context of this formula ranges from eternity, through the ages, to eternity.
In eternity past we were chosen and elected together b Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 5:13.
Through time, by the Cross, this eternal heavenly fact is wrought in literal and experimental form expressed by different terms implying specific progressive spiritual truths, but always the same principle.
“Planted together in the likeness of his death. Rom. 6:5.
“Quickened… together with Christ.” Eph. 2:5.
“Raised… up together… in Christ.” Eph. 2:6.
“Made… to sit together… in Christ.” Eph. 2:6.
“All things to be gathered together… in Christ.” Eph. 1:10
“Perfected together.” 1 Cor. 1:10.
“Fitly framed together” in Christ. Eph. 2:21.
“Knit together,” Col. 2:2.
“Builded together” in Christ. Eph. 2:20.
“Live together with him.” 1 Thess. 5:10.
“Working together with him.” 2. Cor. 6:1.
“Striving together.” Phil. 1:27. 
Then comes a climax, at the end of this time, when all the foregoing is accomplished and we are “together… caught up.” 1 Thess. 4:17.
Finally the eternity to come looms into view and we see that we are to be “glorified together” with Him. Rom. 8:17.
Then we call to mind the Pauline couplet – which is strictly not Pauline but of the Divine Spirit of truth – namely “in Adam” and “in Christ.” On the one side – our relation to Adam, the old creation, by nature – we see one set of conditions; and on the other – by our incorporation in Christ – we see a new and different set.
“IN ADAM”
“The Lord God… breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Gen. 2:7.
“The first man Adam became a living soul.” 1 Cor. 15:45.
“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:17.
“As in Adam all die.” 1 Cor. 15:22.
“The law of sin and of death.” Rom. 8:2.
“He also is flesh.” Gen. 6:3.
“The flesh profiteth nothing.” John 6:63.
“I” – Failure. Rom. 7.
“The old man that waxeth corrupt.” Eph. 4:22.
“The mind of the flesh.” Rom. 8:6.
“In my flesh… no good thing.” Rom. 7:18.
“Of the flesh… corruption.” Gal. 6:8.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” John 3:6.
“The end… death.” Rom. 6:21.
“IN CHRIST”
“He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22.
“The last Adam… a life-giving spirit.” 1 Cor. 15:45.
“Newness of life.” Rom. 6:4.
“In Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22.
“The law of the Spirit of life.” Rom. 8:2.
“Spirit” – Victory. Rom. 8.
“The new man… created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” Eph. 4:24.
“The new man.” Col. 3:10.
“Newness of the spirit.” Rom. 7:6.
“In the likeness of his resurrection.” Rom. 6:5.
“Have crucified the flesh.” Gal. 5:24.
“Our old man was crucified.” Rom. 6:6.
All this, which is nothing more than quoting Scripture, will serve to emphasize the Divine inclusiveness and exclusiveness, and will help, we trust, to recognition of the great fact that NO MAN CAN LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE; THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO CAN LIVE THAT LIFE, AND THAT IS CHRIST HIMSELF. We must have such an experimental incorporation into Him that He lives His life through us as members of His one Body, so that “to me to live is Christ” and “it is no longer I… but Christ.” As the blacksmith’s iron is in the fire and also the fire is in the iron, so first we must realize our position in Christ through the Cross ere Christ can manifest Himself through us.
CHRIST TO BE EXPRESSED THROUGH BELIEVERS
It is very important to recognize a truth upon which Christ laid considerable emphasis, that is, that in a sense, He never intended to be out of this world again during the age, after having once come into it as His rightful heritage. He came to redeem it, to secure the judicial right to sovereignty in it, and to initiate, continue, and complete the restoration of it to His own dominion. This is all to be done by His own presence in it in one or other of the forms of His manifestation. While He said much about going away, and returning to the Father, He also made His abiding very clear in the words, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the age.” Paul later said that the central feature or reality of “the mystery… hid from the ages…” is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The personal physical presence of Christ in the world was firstly to manifest the nature, method, means, laws, purpose, and power of His abiding presence beyond the days of His flesh; and secondly to make this possible and actual by the work of His Cross. He Who was born out from God shows what is the necessity for and the nature of being “born of the Spirit” if the will of God is to be done on the earth as it is done in the heavens. Then right at the commencement of His ministry He puts the Cross in the figure of baptism. From that time all that He said and did was in the light and power of the Cross. The teaching of Christ can never be effectual, and the works of Christ can never be continued, unless the Cross is the basis. To try to propagate “the teaching of Jesus” or to effect the work of Jesus without having as the basis all that He meant by His Cross, is to labour in vain and without the acceptance of the Father. It will be necessary to return to this connection again at a later stage. So far, however, it leads us to the point where we see that, having in His personal physical presence established the basis and nature of His permanent work, He by the Cross effected that which made possible the bringing of men on to the same plane or into the same realm, and then changed the separate and individual presence for the corporate and universal. Thus “the church, which is His body” was brought into being as the abiding instrument of His world-incarnation. This is the only kind of “church” which He recognizes, made up of those who have been “joined unto the Lord… one spirit.” The nature of this joining remains also for later consideration. The word or term “Body” is not mere metaphor. The members of His Body stand in relation to Christ just as our physical bodies stand in relation to our own selves – the means of manifestation, expression, and transaction. This truth is very discriminating, and goes to the root of all matters of life and service. “Working for the Lord,” “praying to the Lord,” etc., will be seen to have a deeper law which governs their effectiveness.
We cannot take up work for Christ – plan, scheme, devise, organize or enter upon Christian enterprise – and so command the Divine seal and blessing. We cannot pray as we incline, even though it be to the extent of passion and tears, and so secure the Divine response. Failure to recognize this is bringing multitudes of people to despair because of no seal upon their ardent labours, and no answer to their prayers. In the unfolding of the laws of His own effective life the Master put tremendous emphasis upon the fact that the words that He spoke, and the works that He did, were not of (out from) Himself, it was the Father both speaking the words and doing the works. A thorough study of the Gospel by John will convince that this was so. Said Christ, “The Son can do nothing out from himself, but what he seeth the Father doing…” and this knowledge of the transactions of the Father as to what, how, and when – all most important – was, as He made clear, because He abode in the Father. So for all the future of His work He prayed that His disciples might abide in Him. Thus the law of effective and fruitful life, service, prayer, etc., is that there shall be such a oneness that we only do – but surely do – what He is doing. We must know in our spirit just what Christ is doing, how He is doing it, the means which He will use, and His time for it. Moreover, our prayers must be the prayers of the Lord Himself prayed in us and through us by the Holy Spirit. This is surely made very clear as being the realm in which the Church in apostolic times lived. This will demand a considerable sifting of all undertakings in the name of Jesus, and will require that nothing is done until the mind of the Lord has been made known. But this will secure a hundred percent effectiveness, and issues which will never perish. For the practical purposes of God in this age Christ is the One Body holding fast the Head, and the business of every member is to realize more and more fully the meaning of this incorporation and oneness of identity.
We are expressly told in the Word that we are to “put on the new man” and that this “new man” is Christ. This is but another form of expressing the truth of “in Christ,” but it carries with it a whole revelation of practical provision.
Christ is our Redemption. He “was made unto us… redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14.
Christ is our Righteousness. 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 4:24; Phil. 3:9.
Christ is our Sanctification. 1 Cor. 1:2,30.
Christ is our Faith. Mark. 11:22 (“Have the faith of God,” lit. trans.); Acts. 26:18; Gal. 2:20 (R.V.); Eph. 1:15; Phil. 3:9; Col. 1:4.
Christ is our Peace. John 14:27; John 16:33; Eph. 2:14.
This line can be followed on numerous characteristics, e.g. Love, Hope, Wisdom, Mind, Power and Might, Authority, Glory. We suggest a comparison of translations in the references, best of all in the original. The point is that, on all these matters, under given conditions the natural outfit will break down and will have to be laid aside, but in Christ we have a new equipment at every point. For instance, our faith will not take the strain of the requirements of a deep experience of trial and adversity, but if we “live by the faith of the Son of God,” the issue will be different. All tests will prove whether we are living by His faith which should have become ours, or whether there is a weakness in our union with Him. The same is true on all points. It is blessed to realize that “in Christ” we have a whole new and saving endowment of virtues and graces. Thus it is that we “put away… the old man… and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Eph. 4:22-24).
by T. Austin Sparks
http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/in_christ.html
