In

23 July 2017

Dear Phyllis,

Perhaps the most profound, mysterious, and instructive word in the Bible is IN. Nothing could be simpler than those two letters and yet what a fathomless volume of information it carries. IN is the word that brings two objects together in the most in the most intimate and inseparable manner. IN is the word that describes how two objects radically alter each other. To say there is a little arsenic in lemon aide totally changes the character of the lemon aide. Lemon aide by itself is very good and healthful. Put a little arsenic in it and the lemon aid becomes deadly. To say there is $1,000 in a cardboard box totally changes the value of that cardboard box. By itself we would throw the cardboard box in the trash. It is worthless. Put $1,000 in it and that box becomes a treasure. Not because of the box but because of what is in it. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure hid in a field. By itself that field is only worth what it can produce, but if there is a treasure hid in it that is a totally different picture. The word that brings two objects together is that simple predicate IN.

It has been suggested that the key word of Ephesians is IN. In the first two chapters we find it written 18 times. That is the word that describes what God has done for us and our inestimable blessing we have IN CHRIST. IN is the key word of 2 Cor. 5:17 that says, “If any man be IN Christ he is a new creature”. This is the most important word in our life. This is the word that determines whether or not we have life or death – heaven or hell. It all depends on IN. The value of any mundane object is determined by what is IN it.

Last week I wrote you that he Lord spoke to me about oneness expressed in Jesus' prayer in John 17. This week He spoke to me about IN. I was deeply impressed with what Jesus said in verse 21 - “As Thou Father art IN Me and I IN Thee”. Oh my goodness, what a truth! 2 Cor. 5:19 tells us. “To wit that God was IN Christ...” That was what made Christ so unusual – God was in Him. He was just an ordinary man but God was in Him. He was the embodiment of God that had never been seen on this planet. He was just a carpenter but God was in Him.

The truth that impressed me so deeply this past week was the fact that Christ is in us. Who can take that in? Christ is in us!!! Can it be real?! The evidence is overwhelming that it is true. How else can you explain the radical difference that comes to a person when they are born-again? Sangha impresses me every day. He is a totally different man than he was five years ago. The other day he told me, “I used to be terrible afraid of death, but now it doesn't mean a thing to me.” Why? Because he now has eternal life. That life cannot die – it is eternal. He loves the Word of God. He reads his Bible every night. He has an insatiable passion for the Word of God. The unsaved know nothing of this. How in the world can a man be so changed? Jesus came into his heart. Christ is in him. Just as God was in Christ Jesus, Christ is in Sangha.

But what Jesus said in His prayer in John 17:19 has both a subject and object truth. He said, “As Thou Father art IN Me and I IN Thee. The Father being in Christ was subjective but Christ being in the Father was objective. Just as Jesus was in the Father we are in Christ. Don't ask me to explain it. I can't. No one can. It is totally beyond human intellect to comprehend how we can be in Christ, but the Holy Spirit testifies that we are. There is such a thing as positional santification. We are santified by our position in Christ. That is the central message of Ephesians. Christ in us is subjective but we being in Christ is objective. Both are true. The Father was in Jesus and Jesus was in the Father. During the 2^nd WW bomb shelters were basic in London. There was a terrible war going on topside. The city was being leveled. But deep underground it was safe in the bomb shelters. There is the famous picture titled “Peace”. It is a painting of a terrific storm at sea. Massive waves are crashing down on a rock. But hidden in that rock is a little bird. The little bird could care less about those waves. She is hidden in the rock. So we are hidden in Christ. But how did we get there? We all know the answer of how Christ came to live in our heart. We accepted Him. When we said yes to Jesus He came in. But how did we get in Christ? Paul give us the answer to that question in 1 Cor. 1:30 - “But of Him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus”. It was God that placed us in Christ. That was an act of God and we had nothing to do with it. If God does not place us in Christ there is not a thing we can do about it. That is totally a sovereign act of His will. If God doesn't place us in Christ there is no other way we can get there. But if God places us in Christ is think that is pretty secure place to be.

As I was going over John 17 last week it was mind boggling when I considered verse 21 where Jesus prayed, “As Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they might all be one in Us”. Gomen Phyllis. I know this is meaningless. It is like playing a high note on a violin to a deaf man. There is no way we can take in the truth and reality of that statement. It is like tying to measure how far it is to the farthest star. They say the Hubble telescope can see as far as 10 to the 28 power miles. I can't write that number. Maybe we would be better off looking at the moon. At least we can see that with our naked eye. But I was deeply impressed by the power of that little two letter word IN last week and the truth the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the relationship Jesus expressed in John 17 - “As Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee...” That is the same relationship that we enjoy today by being in Christ. As much as it is a fact that the Father was in Christ, it is equally true that Jesus is in us. And just as Christ was in the Father, by an act of His will we are in Christ. Oh my goodness, what can be higher?! And then Jesus went on to pray that “they might be one in Us”. I don't know what that means but I am sure it is wonderful.

That little two letter word has joined us to the godhead. That little word has made it a reality that Jesus lives in my heart and tells me that I am in Christ. Just as a diamond in a box changes the value of that box Christ in me radically alters who I am. A box may be worth a penny but if a diamond is in it I better take good care of it. By myself I am not worth much but if Christ is in me that means I better think differently and be careful how I live. It has been accuractly said that the Blood of Christ is the price God has placed on each soul. I wouldn't place that price tag on anybody but God has. And when Christ comes into a human heart His presence makes that person something of infinite worth.

Pammy has been real vocal recently about going to the states. She keeps asking, “Can we go to America?” My reply has consistently been, “Yes, just as soon as the Lord sends us.” I don't have much faith or expectation for that trip but if the Lord would so direct it would be good to see you. And I want you to meet this unusual partner that the Lord has given me for the last few miles on my way to heaven.

Gomen nasai for what is probably a dull letter but the reality of what God has done for us by inserting the two letter IN in our lives is truly mind boggling.

Gombate (give it your best shot) for Jesus this week,

Joyfully in Christ,

                         bill