CHAPTER 6. Flowing “In Christ”
In the previous teachings we looked at…
God’s love and Mammon
We looked at where love comes from and how love actually works.
We also looked what is common in the two versions of love and what is different…
I encourage you to go through the preceding teachings first because if you don’t by now, confidently know exactly what God’s love is and where love came from, then you won’t have the WHY that supports the WHAT
The Why is far more important in God’s eyes than the What.
The WHY comes from the HEART, the WHAT comes from the WHY…
The apostle Paul put it this way in
1Cor 13:1-3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.”
Jesus taught
Mat 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Iniquity means unrighteous lawlessness wickedness…
This is an antichrist love which is the opposite of flowing in Gods love values.
Jesus called this version of love Mammon and this version of love is a self centred love.
So if you don’t know what exactly Gods love is…AND…Where love came from…
AND… How love works…go back over the last chapters and read them again..and again.. until you do… it is literally, life and death…
Now we will look at what it means to be “In Christ “ and why it’s so important to your continuing future.
Flowing In Christ is the HOW to the WHAT and the WHY
Gods love is a LIFESTYLE based in God values that brings lasting happiness peace and joy…and it doesn’t start when you get to heaven… it starts right now.
So why is flowing in Christ SO important to understand…?
The next major event you need to consider in the context of your life is your death or being taken up when Jesus returns for his Family…
Most people don’t want to think about death because of the uncertainty about what happens next.
Paul describes what happens when we or someone we know dies…
1Ths 4:13-18: “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, (who have died) so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. (Those not In Christ)
For if we believe that Jesus (who is In Christ)
died and then rose again, so also we believe that God will bring, with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.
For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead IN CHRIST will rise first.
Then we (those also IN CHRIST) who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
There are countless videos online where people have tried to predict when the “caught up” will happen but strangely there are very few videos teaching on who exactly will be going.
The timing of the rapture may be uncertain but the ones that will actually be going is not.
The scripture teaches very clearly that it will be only those In Christ
…The dead In Christ and those still living In Christ.
So what exactly does it mean from scripture to be “In Christ”…?
It is widely assumed that if you have prayed a prayer asking Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your life as your lord and saviour then this is what being in Christ means…but this is not completely correct.
When Jesus died for our sins the righteous equity of HIS life was transferred onto our lives and the punishment for our sins was paid for in full by Jesus.
However the responsibility for repentance, which is turning our lives to a new direction towards faith in God, and God’s love still remains with us.
Jesus sacrifice canceled our sin debt which is the result of what we did but it still leaves the motivation of the WHY we did the sin in the first place unresolved.
It’s our job to identify what got us into trouble in the first place and change it in order to prepare us for eternity…
Jesus used a story about a wheat field to illustrate this point…
Mat 13:24-30: “Another parable put he forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way…
(Tares and Wheat look the same when growing but Tares doesn’t produce good fruit only wheat does. You can’t tell the difference between the two until the sheet is ready for harvest)
… But when the blade had sprung up, and brought forth (immature) fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? from where then has come the tares? He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Will you then that we go and gather them up? But he said, No; otherwise while you gather up the tares, you will root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Those not In Christ will not produce the true fruit that comes from being In Christ. Ignorance will not be an excuse that will pardon laziness…
Many say… I know, that I know, that I know that I will go….but sadly they don’t know the scriptures that tells them so…
In Mat 7:21 it wasn’t the WHAT that the workers of iniquity did that was wrong…
but rather? the WHY behind what they were doing that was wrong.
Not knowing the correct WHY meant they laboured in vain.
If a child does something wrong it is far more important to find out the WHY behind the WHAT so you can help the child not make the same mistake twice.
This is the same HEART of our Heavenly Father and is a major part of Gods 7 values as stated in Exod 34:6
The last of Gods 7 values is Justice
“By no means will the guilty go unpunished…”
If you want to be a Genius it’s simple…
Don’t make the same mistake twice.
Learn from your experiences or better still learn from the mistakes of others.
One sinners prayer is not going to qualify you for the Rapture because the WHY behind the sinners prayer is usually based in mammon which is YOUR personal gain …. in most cases it’s all about YOU not going to hell.
Churches have used this scare tactic for thousands of years because it is an easy way to get you into their churches and keep you there……..
There is so much more to Gods love than you simply wanting to avoid hell.
Gods lifestyle of love is much more, it is literally the preparation for where you will spend eternity…
All decisions we make are based in one of two version of love…
Gods love or personal gain
You cannot serve Gods love and still have your own self-centred version of love.
Jesus taught John 12:25-26: “He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man served me, let him follow me and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serves me, that man will my Father honour.”
Service is not slavery because the greatest servant in creation is God the Father… This not because He has to but because He loves to.
It has to be the same for us. Without Gods love it is impossible.
There is one word that more than any other sums up the ministry of Jesus and that word is “Obedience”
Jesus said of himself
Jn 5:19: ““I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”
And again
John 5:30: “I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is true; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me.”
We are all called to serve but to serve from the right heart because this is the foundation that underpins all creation.
Remember the second law of love… is….Without support there is no love…
Servanthood is the support that will underpin ALL humanity into eternity.
Gods kingdom is not a Hierarchy of top to bottom but kingdom of support that flows from the bottom to the top.
Much like an upside down Pyramid with the singularity of Gods love at the base supporting all…
Jesus taught
Mk 9:35: “After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, (flowing in Gods love) he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Jesus is talking here about those who flow in Gods love…
Jesus also taught…
John 15:13: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man (supports) laying down his life for his friends.”
Mammon thinks this is foolish but the greatest lasting love happiness peace and joy is found in the service of Gods love.
To fully understand what being In Christ means it is as simple as looking at the original Greek word for Christ and the Greek dictionary meaning for Christ…
The original Greek word used in Paul’s scripture is the word
“Christos”. And it means…. Anointed
It comes from the Greek word Chrio…Which means… anoint.
BUT… the early church used the word Christos not Chiro because it means to be anointed but in a distinctive specific way…
The way of “Christos” is to be anointed…like Jesus was anointed.
To be anointed was to be covered in symbolic oil but in this case what was Jesus covered with was the anointing presence of Gods love…Exod 34:6
Mercy,Compassion, Patience unto repentance, Loving kindness, Truth, Forgiveness, Justice …
So putting it all together
Those “In Christ” literally means…
“To be flowing in the anointed presence of Gods love
like Jesus.”
Jesus was constantly teaching and demonstrating exactly what Gods love is… so we could do the same.
Jesus said
John 15:12-13: “This is my commandment, That you love one another, (how?) as I have loved you.
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus knew exactly what Gods love is and flowed in it…
Gods love is not a one of event but a foundational lifestyle based in Gods values…
…to be adopted by humanity so as to support humanity for eternity.
Jesus taught, preached and demonstrated, not his own love but the love of his…and our…Heavenly Father
Jesus is the demonstration of how we are to live… flowing in Gods love as he does…
Jn 14:6-10: “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you have known me, you will know my Father too.
And from now on you do know him and have seen him.
” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip?
The person who has seen me has seen the Father!
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am IN the Father, and the Father is IN me?
The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative,
but the Father residing IN me performs HIS miraculous deeds.”
Jesus is not saying he is literally God the Father but he is saying I am demonstrating who the Father is by flowing in THE FATHERS LOVE
Jesus said it again in John 13;34 “I give you a new commandment — to love one another. (How?)
Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my students— if you have (God the Fathers) love for one another.”
Jesus love was not the final limit of Gods love because there is no limit on the potential creations based in Gods love…
Jesus love is also not a tick list to get through, in order to get to heaven, because Jesus said we would do even greater works of love than he had the opportunity to do.
Jesus taught
Jn 14:12: “I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.”
God the Father won’t give his power to those who don’t understand how to use it…
You don’t give a stick of dynamite to a baby.
We have not seen the best God has for his Family because all religions are still focused on is… personally trying to stay out of hell…
Living In Christ is a daily lifestyle based on Gods love values that brings the greatest happiness peace and joy…this is the absolute WHY behind the WHAT.
Only those In Christ flowing in obedience to the anointed presence of Gods love like Jesus will qualify for the heavenly calling…
Being In Christ is to flow in the anointed presence of Gods love like Jesus does because this is the best and longest lasting version of sustainable love there is.
Now we have the WHY and the HOW we can move onto the where we are currently at in our walk in Christ.
If you still don’t know exactly what Gods love is and where love came from then you will not understand what it means to live in Christ…
Go back and reread the previous chapters…
1Cor 13:1-3: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not Gods Love, I have become like a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have prophecies, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and do not have Gods Love, I am nothing. And though I give out all my goods to feed the poor, and though I deliver my body to be burned, and have not Gods Love, I am profited nothing.”
It is not so much as WHAT YOU DO…
But more about WHY YOU DO…
In the next teaching titled The Doctrine of Christ we will look at six titles Paul mentions in Hebrews 6:1&2 that were the teaching pillars of the early church. They are a progression from repentance to your place in eternity…sadly these teachings have been neglected by the churches…
In 40 years of attending churches and even 2 years ministry school I have to this day still not heard these doctrines taught…
Paul observed of his generation…
Heb 5:11-14: “On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.
But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.”
If you are thinking I am not a infant in Christ then…can you state, without looking them up, what the 6 Doctrines of Christ are… or even where exactly they are in the bible…? 🤔
Jesus has paid the price for your separation from God the Father… The next steps are now up to you and they begin with YOUR Repentance……….
SUMMARY
1. Love came from God
2. Love is a “Good” to a “Very Good” Feeling
3. We FEEL Love is happiness peace and joy…
4. Supported by People, Objects and Events we Value…
when they are in the right Context
5. Grief is the opposite of love because it comes from unsupported love.
We feel grief as sadness anxiety and anger
6. Gods love is GODS GOOD
The PEOPLE God values are God’s Family
The OBJECTS God values are His creation and the creations of His Family
The EVENTS God values are the acts of love as stated in Exod 34:6
Mercy.. Compassion.. Patience.. Loving Kindness..
Truth.. Forgiveness.. Justice..
To live the GOOD life is to live “In Christ”… to be flowing in the anointed presence of Gods love like Jesus.”
This concludes Part 1 and the discovery of exactly what God’s love is…
Before we move on I want give you the opportunity of making a gift to this ministry… The foundation of all life is Gods Love and flowing in the annointed presence of God’s love like Jesus and this Gift is a reflection of that…
A gift is not a Tithe obligation and it comes from your personal provision from God…
It is a Joy Offering.
If your thinking …” If I give this I get that”… think again.
God your Father has already given you this Universe, His only Son and this Book FREE… all so you could find His Love and have an eternal future filled with unimaginable discoveries and accomplishments…
So l want you to literally hold your Gift (phone, tablet, mouse) above your head and let your Heavenly Father know that it is in appreciation for all that He has done in your life so far… Then click on the PayPal button, enter in the amount you FEEL you are comfortable giving, then click on the “Donate” button.
or as Jesus put it…Joh_15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life (has support) for his friends.”
If you want to continue supporting and join with us promoting Gods love… there is an option for regular payments…our vision is to set up 1 Million home churches around the world… working locally and globally as God the Father directs… One man cannot change the world by himself… it takes all of us who are “In Christ” to light the way… At the end of PART 3 there is an invitation to connect with us
Matt 24:14Jesus said “And this gospel (good News) of the kingdom (Gods Love within us) shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come”.
PART 2. The Doctrine Of Christ