There are times in my life when I have a plan, and there are other times when I go into something with no plan. A great example of this is the time two friends and I decided we wanted to go camping. We got in the car, stopped by Ingles, and before we knew it, we were in the Smokies at Elkmont. Other times I have made plans and had to follow them exactly, or my team and I could be stuck for another 10 days.

When we take a step back and look at the Bible as a whole, it’s amazing to see how God has worked his glorious plan, from God’s promise to send a better Adam, to the fulfillment of that promise in the Gospels. A question I’d like to ask is: What does it mean that we are in Christ?

All of our plans are contingent. A great example is a soccer game. If lightning comes, then the teams may wait for 30 minutes or reschedule the game. Some people have this idea that God had a perfect plan, and Satan messed it up by bringing sin into the world. This is not the case! Bringing sinners into eternal life through Jesus was always God’s plan (Titus 1:2-3). We cannot forget that God is sovereign over all things. Since He is sovereign over all things, that also means He is sovereign over you and me. In fact, we were created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26) and God chose to bring you into being. You are not an accident and your life is not a product of random chance. When sin entered the world, we see the first prophecy about Jesus: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  God’s grace saved Adam and Eve from immediate judgment, but they soon discovered that evil unleashed from their disobedience brought devastating changes. As the people were being dispersed after Babel, God chose one man, Abram, who knew absolutely nothing about God (Joshua 24:2). God made it clear to Abram that He intended to save people from every nation. This promise was not fulfilled in his lifetime, but through One who would come much later (Galatians 3:16).

God made a promise so great only he could fulfill it, and He did so in the fulfillment of Jesus Christ (John 1:2). When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus triumphed where Adam failed. The environments were clearly different.  Adam and Eve were surrounded by trees with good fruit; Jesus was in a desert where there was no food. Satan also came looking for Eve, but Christ went looking for Satan (Luke 4:1). The greatest difference was the outcome. With Jesus, Satan was forced to retreat “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). Christ’s triumph over sin has a great significance for us. By nature, we share in Adams failure in that we are under sin (Romans 3:9). The beauty of the gospel is this: By grace and through faith we belong to Christ who triumphed! By accepting this gospel, we are under grace (Romans 6:14). How does the cross play a part in our salvation though? 

“When they came to the place of the skull, there they crucified Him” (Luke 23:33). We all disobeyed God’s commands; then we crucified Him. God's judgment had to fall on the human race, but God diverted His judgment to another place. Christ became the lightning rod for your judgment, and forgiveness was released through His suffering and death on the cross for you. The curse fell on Jesus, He bore our sins, the weight of guilt was laid on Him (1 Peter 2:24). When our sin reached it’s full horror, God's love was displayed in all its glory. Death separates what God has joined, but Christ has went through death, triumphed over death, and came out of death. He came to redeem your life, soul, and body, and to present all of us as believers without fault and with great joy, to the Father in heaven (Jude 24). When you are in Christ, everything that is His becomes yours. His sin-bearing death is yours, His resurrection life is yours, and one day you will share in His ascension, too. 

What happens when the Holy Spirit delivers God's promise in a person who repents and believes? First, you have now been born again (1 Peter 1:3, 23). When the Holy Spirit regenerates you, He changes your soul so that with a new mind and a new heart you love Christ, trust Him, and follow Him freely. Behind all believing is this miracle of God’s regenerating grace. This also means you have been justified. God presents Jesus as the propitiation for our sins (Romans 3:26). That means when Jesus was on the cross all the anger and hostility that God has towards sin was poured out on Him. Faith unites us to Christ, and when we are in Christ God counts all of our sin as His, and all His righteousness as ours. Third, we are to grow in sanctification. Sanctification is the progressive work of the Holy Spirit in a believer by which we grow in the life God is calling us to live. Finally, when we have been fully sanctified, we will be glorified. Not only will you be in Christ glory, but His glory will be in you. Paul says, “I consider that the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” Romans 8:18. All this belongs to those who are in Jesus Christ. The promise is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. By believing you will have life in His name (John 20:31).