“In Christ, The Fellowship Of God Belongs To Us” by Nancy Dufresne
In previous partner letters, I have been teaching on something that God is having me to emphasize at this time, which is “Who We Are In Christ.” Who we are in Christ is the foundation of our redemption.
Everything God dreamed and planned for His children, He put in Christ, then put Christ in us and us in Christ. When we have Christ, we have everything we need to fulfill His plan for our lives. God never intended that we fulfill His plan apart from Him, but He authored a plan for our lives, then filled us with Himself so He could fulfill that plan through us – employing our faith and obedience.
Colossians 2:9 & 10 (TLB) reads, “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.”
God is the highest Ruler over every other power – the power of sickness, the power of lack, the power of fear, depression, and worry. All these are “lesser” powers, and they are conquered “in Christ!”
The key to walking in victory every day in this natural arena is to know who you are in the spiritual arena – you are IN CHRIST! We must learn all that belongs to us because we belong to Christ and because we are one with Him.
When we know who we are in Christ and what belongs to us in Him, faith issues become a thing of the past. We come into the highest order of faith when we know who we are in Christ and conduct our daily lives in line with that.
People think they have faith problems when they really have identity problems. If they knew who they are in Christ, they wouldn’t have faith issues.
The spirit realm, which is the faith realm, is our realm, the realm of God, the realm of IN CHRIST. We look not at the things that are seen – this realm. But we are focused on the faith realm, where everything is already completed. We talk of that realm, and that’s what transfers that realm to this realm.
Confess what you have IN HIM and who you are IN HIM instead of being occupied with this natural realm.
Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” One minister stated about this verse, “In the ancient Greek, the word “Christ” is not in the verse. But there is a different word used that means “the One that I know so well.” We could then read Philippians 4:13 as, “I can do all things through the One I know so well.”
So the degree of strength we receive is determined by the degree that we know Him – it’s determined by the strength of our fellowship with Him.
We aren’t to try to live for God, but we are to allow Him to live through us – with Him on the throne of our life. We aren’t to have us or our own will on the throne of our life, but Him. We are to allow Him to live, love, speak, give, and serve through us.
The Living Bible translation of Colossians 2:6 reads, “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him.”
Look at that last phrase, “… live in vital union with him.” This speaks of fellowship with God – and our fellowship with Him is vital to living the life He authored for us in Christ. When we know Him, trusting Him comes easy.
Let’s continue reading with verse 7. “Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.”
This verse instructs us that our roots are to grow down into Him, for then we can draw up nourishment from Him. We are to continue to keep growing in the Lord, for then we become strong in the Word.
How is this accomplished? By meditating on who we are in Christ. We are to speak it, make it part of our everyday life, and respond to the Greater One in us – letting Him live, love, and speak through us. We are to respond to Him by obeying His every leading.
But the next verse warns us, “Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said.” Then it goes on, “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have EVERYTHING when you have Christ, and you are FILLED with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.”
John 17:3 reads, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Jesus came to give us eternal life so that we could KNOW HIM! The greatest thing that belongs to us in Christ is fellowship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ! Because of the price Jesus paid for us with His cleansing Blood, we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace to have fellowship with our Father. We are children of the Throne, and we are welcome there.
Hebrews 4:16 announces this invitation. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Our fellowship with the Father is to be an unbroken flow of our everyday life. How is this accomplished? As we turn our attention toward Him and acknowledge Him all throughout the day.
The wealth of what belongs to us in Christ is infinite – we could never exhaust all that has been stored up in Him. So, we are to learn to put Him who is within us to work for us. As we trust Him and obey Him, we find our lives full of all He authored for us.
As we renew our minds to who we are in Christ and draw on the One within, we can say along with Paul, “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:19 & 20).