Let me say it again; the simple phrase “in Christ” is the DNA of God’s redemptive plan, and it unlocks the understanding of every other biblical doctrine. Everything about the Christian life and how to live the Christian life is wrapped up in those two words “in Christ.”
In 2 Corinthians 12:2, Paul, referring to himself in the third person, said, “I know a man in Christ…” Paul’s entire identity and self-consciousness were that he was in Christ. Put simply, if you don’t know who you are in Christ, then you actually don’t know who you are. Let me put it another way; you will only discover who you are, in Christ.
Let’s break in on Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians in his first letter to them. “I do not write these things to shame you but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors “IN CHRIST,” yet you would not have many fathers; for “IN CHRIST JESUS,” I became your father through the gospel. I exhort you, therefore, be imitators of me. For this reason, I have sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child, “IN THE LORD,” and he will remind you of my ways which are “In CHRIST,” just as I teach everywhere in every church.”
Paul talks about “his ways in Christ.” His in Christ ways was referencing how he lived and behaved in light of the fact that he was in union with Jesus. He even ends the verse by saying that he talks about in Christ ways everywhere he goes in every church he goes into. Doing life as one in Christ is completely different than trying to grapple with life without Christ, or even for Christ. You can read the Gospels and see how Jesus lived His life through the borrowed body of His incarnation body, to discover the kind of life He wants to live through His redeemed body, which is you and me. In Christ, ways doesn’t include things like insecurity, anxiety, fear, depression, anger, unforgiveness, greed, control, lust, envy, etc., etc. In Christ ways, lives in an environment of joy unspeakable, full of glory, and a peace that passes all understanding. In Christ, ways look a lot like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. In Christ, ways looks like healing the sick and casting out demons. In Christ, ways also looks like joyfully getting in the dirt and loving those who are unclean, lonely, and cast aside. In Christ ways looks like someone whose origin is heaven, walking on earth in the midst of all the turbulence of the fallen world. When you are a man or woman in Christ, and you know it, and live from that identity and reality, then in Christ ways become the extraordinary description of how your life is lived every day.