"In Christ" Is So Important

And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. [Numbers 14.8]

The "land" mentioned here, is the Promised Land. It represents Jesus.

Every blessing of God is lavished upon the land of Christ Therefore it is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. But we must enter the land. We must be in the land. We must be in Christ.

God interacts with people all the time. No matter how much people may please God with faith, that faith must be in Christ. We know faith is the only thing that pleases God (Hebrews 11.6), but we must not be deceived that putting a plaque with the word "Believe" on our wall means we are in faith in Christ! Let's look deeper (pay attention to bold words).

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [John 3.16-18]

A person can quite literally believe anything! People in our present society (here in 2024) believe they are a cat or a dog. Men believe they are women, and women believe they are men. However, in none of these scenarios does their faith - their believing - accomplish a thing. 

Only in the Promised Land do we realize God's pleasure. Only in Christ can our faith please God. Only through Christ may we approach God. The goal is not simply to believe! The goal is to believe "in Christ." We might think of it like this: instead of "believing in Christ," we should believe "in Christ." Stay with me... Hebrews 11 actually sheds some confirming light on this. We are to believe God "in" and "through" Jesus.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

See what second half of Hebrews 11.6 says? It doesn't really say that we must believe in Christ, but believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. "Believing in Christ" then, according to Hebrews 11, falls short of believing that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. However, if we believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him "in Christ" then we are getting somewhere.

To be "in Christ" means simply what it says. Only Jesus gets audience with God. Only if we are "in Jesus" do we get audience with God. All the faith in the world, if not in and through Jesus Christ, means nothing. Better said, only faith in God, from the position of Jesus Christ, even reaches God. This is why it is so important that we understand what it means to be "in Christ!"

Jesus confirmed this: (notice my bold edit)

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [John 14.6]

Sit tight, but think this through... In Jesus' own words here, the goal is NOT to get to Him (Jesus) but to get to God THROUGH HIM! This is important! This also can be seen in, again, Jesus very own words about Whom we pray to: (pay attention again to the bold edit)

At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. [John 16.23]

So, it's not important that "Jesus gets us" as the popular television advertisement claims. What's important is that Jesus gets us to God! Of course Jesus "gets us," but His "getting us" does not get us to God Who saves us. Our being "in Jesus," as He sits with God, is our salvation.

Jesus is the "portal" if you will through which God and man come together. Look at how the Apostle Paul stated it to the Church in Colosse.

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. [Colossians 1.19-20]

Yes, God wants to bring us into the Promised Land of Christ because that is where He dwells...

Just think about it. It's deep, but its what the Bible teaches.

Father, thank You for Your Word. I know we "believe" a lot of things, but may we be found believing "in Christ" so that our faith might not be misplaced and might, instead, please You.