What does it mean to be “in Christ”?
II Corinthians 5:14ff. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again… Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.”
Rom 6:4. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Rom 8:19. “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.”
II Corinthians 5:4. “For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
Rev 21:3-5. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
Which is the true you: who you think you are according to your ego, or who God knows you are? The ego you made. Christ is God-made. The ego is the extension of who you think you are. Christ is God’s extension of who He is. To recognize who we are, deeply within our essence, is to understand the difference in nature between our ego and our true identity. Our identity is not based on that which is temporary for the 80 or so years we are on this earth as the ego unceasingly tells us. Our identity is who we always have been and will forever be. We are “in Christ”, and to establish our identity while here on this earth is to end the reign of the ego.
“The butterfly, although it may seem more beautiful, is still the same being as the caterpillar.”
Knowing our identity in Christ is not the negation or loss of our unique essence. It is the acknowledgement that the “Place” I belong is from and in God Himself. We have no problem understanding the nature of families, or heritage, or tradition and how they (in a human way) influence our perspective, our environment, and our systems of thought. Yet we resist (or should I say our ego resists?) embracing our true family heritage – one that is not exclusive of any part of God’s Creation, not separating from any one or any thing, one that is not limited by intellect, environment, or pride. These are the ways the ego tries to sell its wares to us. But our true identity is a reflection of His Life on us, not overshadowing but enhancing our uniqueness so that we are intricately connected to the God and the greatest power of the Universe, Love.
Obviously, the nature of God is different than the nature of man. God does not have physical form and does not produce physical offspring. God does however have a son, a child, an offspring, who must exist in some form like unto the Father. Jesus was God’s son before he was born, while he walked on this earth, and after he died and resurrected. This comes close to the truth in a form that we can understand. Jesus is simply the “the firstborn among many brothers” for us (Rom 8:29), the life that demonstrated what it means to be God’s child.
Just as there is a part of you that believes you are undeserving and made for suffering, another part of you knows this is not true. Something in you realizes that your life has a higher calling; that you are not everything you are meant to be. There is a part of you that rages against injustice, pain, and horror, and does not accept that these things are intended neither for you nor for mankind. Yet there remains a nagging voice telling you that the world has always been like this and there is no escape from it. This voice convinces us that our hours and days just naturally pass endlessly in toil: the price of our survival here. We continue to believe in the laws of this world, and yet are frustrated, knowing that there is more to Life. We lament that we see one “reality”, one real world while “heaven” has to wait until we die. This illusion chokes out Truth and Love and Life in the name of so-called “reality”. When we embrace our identity in Christ this insanity, becomes illuminated for what it actually is: a belief in an illusion because one’s perspective has no true basis. This insanity is illuminated when we quit seeing the world and ourselves through the eyes of the ego, for we let go of the lie that creates the false interpretations of ourselves and embrace His Life with a new mind and heart
“The caterpillar did not cease to exist; it simply transformed into what it always was.”
When we do not know our true Self as who we really are, fear rules. We fear the future, we regret the past, we fear our failure, and we map our journey accordingly. When we grasp who we really are our nature experiences a volcanic shift. We leave behind purposelessness. We leave behind powerlessness. We leave behind small mindedness. Instead, we experience the greatest Power in all the heavens: Love. Love empowers our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our bodies. Christ in us becomes our teacher who wants to teach us to do the things we were created for. We experience miracles, and the first miracle is to discover the reality of who we actually are. This is a “new mind”. This is “a new creation”. This is “new Life”. Because who we are is birthed from our Father who says, “Behold, I make all things new”.
The Christ in you is your shared identity. You are eternally one with Christ. That is where you belong. Just as you cannot view Christ only as a man who did this or that in history, you cannot see yourself simply as a man or woman in a particular time in history. Christ in me. I in Christ. I am an eternal being, not because of my own efforts as if I have earned a certain status, but because Christ is within me. To believe otherwise prevents you from seeing yourself as you truly are; and just as importantly, from seeing who everyone and everything else truly is.
“To tell someone, even a young child, that a caterpillar becomes a butterfly is seemingly unbelievable. This does not make it any less true. The butterfly, although it may seem more beautiful, is still the same being as the caterpillar. The caterpillar did not cease to exist; it simply transformed into what it always was. Thus it would seem as if the butterfly is both butterfly and caterpillar, two separate things becoming one. You are well aware of the fact that if you could not see the transformation take place “with your own eyes,” you would not believe that the two seemingly disparate creatures were the same.
Someone telling you this story of transformation without being able to show you the proof that you could see would be accused of making up a fairytale for your amusement.
How many of you see the story of your own self in this same frame of mind? It is a nice fairytale, an acceptable myth, but until your body’s eyes can behold the proof, this is what it will remain. This is the insanity of the nightmare you choose not to awaken from. It is as if you have said, “I will not open my eyes until someone proves to me that they will see when they are opened.” You sit in darkness awaiting proof that only your own light will dispel.”
–Anonymous writer
All we have to do is follow the butterfly.
We all have a deep desire to grow, to change, and to transform. Yet why is it every time it seems we only make very small steps, when our hunger is so great? It is because we are lulled to sleep by the ego’s compelling story-telling and complex illusions. We learn a better way and then over and over and over again we let the ego come and take from us all that we have learned . It is ingenious in its ways of getting us to turn back again, as if we are continuously going around a revolving door. We need awakening!
This is true: We are in Christ and Christ is in us, has always been in us, and was sent here to teach us how to live- really live- a Life of Love and Creativity and Purpose. A Life that transcends our egoic nature and lets us become a co-creator with God. This is Good News. It is possible. It is for us and all peoples. All we have to do is follow the butterfly.
