Ephesians 2:4-7,10 NASB
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [10] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
For a long time, I have thought that this is the most incredible set of scriptures that define clearly what it means to be a new creation as a result of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. We were crucified with Christ, and now we are in union with the risen and ascended life of the Lord Jesus, and we have become His body on the earth. Ten different times in these few verses, the words “us, our, or we” is used, and the word “you” is always in the plural. The point I want to make is that this glorious work that Jesus accomplished in his death, resurrection, and ascension is for all. The blessing that comes from the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ living His life through us in this world is not some exotic gift set apart for the select deserving few. It is what God has accomplished in Christ for every single believer, and it has absolutely nothing to do with any work or effort we might put forth. It is a total work of grace. You and I were birthed into the risen and ascended life of Jesus, and therefore the life of supernatural victory and signs and wonders that He lives. Many years ago, a great British preacher named Alan Redpath wrote a devotional commentary on the book of Joshua, and he made this great statement, “Neither the weakest Christian nor the strongest struggles towards victory – he or she stands in it. Nor does either fight to achieve a blessing – he or she steps up by faith and accepts all that God has for them. In Jesus Christ, this is our position.” Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed US with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Christ is all, and He is in ALL. The land of Canaan represented the life of the believer on earth hosting and stewarding the risen and ascended life of the Lord Jesus. When the nation of Israel crossed over the Jordan into the experience of their inheritance that had been theirs from the day they were brought out of Egypt, every single person entered in regardless of their spiritual reputation, or spiritual past. The opportunity to enjoy the land flowing with milk and honey and going from victory to victory was the position of every person because of what God had done. 2 ½ tribes eventually chose to go back across the Jordan and to live on the wilderness side, settling for less than God had provided for them, and this can happen to the Christian also, but it is not because any Christian is less deserving than others to experience the glorious victorious life of Jesus being lived out in and through them. We don’t fail in our Christian life because of our past or because of our weaknesses. We fail in the Christian life because we don’t know who we are in Christ, or we don’t trust in who Christ is in us, but all that He is in all.