A Word in Season: Here and in Christ (Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2)

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Where are you? If you're a Christian there are at least two answers to that question.

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Those two answers are reflected in some of the greetings that the Apostle Paul begins his letters with.

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Let me give you a couple of examples, first of all from Philippians in chapter 1. Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the overseers and deacons.

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Or Colossians chapter 1. Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are in Colossae.

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Do you hear those two locations there? One is geographical or physical, the other is relational and spiritual.

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All of these believers are in a particular place in the world, whether it's Philippi or Colossae or Ephesus or Thessalonica or wherever it may be.

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In each of those places they are in particular circumstances, they face particular sometimes very distinct challenges.

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There are issues that they have to deal with locally that other believers may not have to deal with in the same way and there are some experiences that they share with believers in every place.

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But something is true of all of them regardless of where they are geographically or physically.

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It is that they are in Christ Jesus. That's their relationship, that's their spiritual location and identity.

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They have been joined to him by faith, they have believed into the

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Lord Jesus Christ and they are now united to him as the members of our body are united to its head.

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They're united to him in the way that the bricks of a building are united to its chief cornerstone.

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They're united to him in the way that the branches are united to the vine and draw their life and their strength from the sap that flows in that vine.

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They're united to him as the members of a family are united to its head.

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And so it is that every believer in every place and regardless of circumstances is able to say that not only are you in that place but you are also in Christ Jesus.

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And if you are in Christ Jesus then you know and you enjoy realities which are independent of the place in which

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God has put you and the circumstances in which you are found. Now I don't mean by that that they bear no relation to them.

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What I mean is that your circumstances cannot change the reality of being in Christ Jesus.

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You might be very fit and healthy, you might be very sick and frail, you might be very poor, you might be very rich, you might be in a healthy church environment, you might be in a very difficult church environment, you might feel very lonely, you might be surrounded by other

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Christians, you may have pressing needs that are upon you at this particular time, or you may feel that in his mercy

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God has given you a very light load at this time. But whatever your outward circumstances, whatever your outward place, whatever your geographical location, here is a spiritual reality in which life and joy and peace and hope are found.

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That Jesus Christ is the one in whom you stand and no one and nothing can separate you from him.

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All that it means to have the Lord Jesus as your living head, all that it means to have the

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Christ as your Saviour, all that it means to enjoy the blessings and the benefits that this great benefactor brings, all that is yours, all that belongs to you and cannot be taken away from you.

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And that then needs to be what we cling to whatever our outward circumstances.

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Yes, as Christians there's always going to be some variety among us and there's always going to be some unity between us, but that which fundamentally establishes our identity and all the blessings that come with it is that we are in Christ Jesus.

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And if you are not yet a Christian, then you may feel that you are abandoned, isolated, exposed, you may be in any number of geographical situations, any number of different environments and circumstances, but if you too will believe into Christ then you will always be able to say from that point on,

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I am in Christ and because of that I have untold blessings.