Todd's Road Grace Church would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at 9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services. For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.

Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert.

When Paul closed the epistle to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 24, we read these words, my love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Now what does that mean? all in Christ Jesus. Who is referred to by all in Christ Jesus?

First let me try to talk briefly about the concept of in Christ Jesus. There are some who are in Christ Jesus, there are some who are not in Christ Jesus. Now, when God told Moses to put blood over the door of the house, when He would come through Egypt to destroy the firstborn. Was everybody in the house where the blood over the door was or in the homes where the blood over the door was? The answer is no. Not everybody was in those homes. There's some people who stayed out of those homes and didn't want in those homes. The second question is, was anybody in those homes destroyed? The answer is no. God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.

What about Noah's Ark? People think of that as a children's Bible story, but it's a literal event that took place. Somebody wonders, how did all those animals get on the ark? I don't know, but they did. And my question is, was everybody in that ark? No, there were only eight souls in that ark. The rest of the world perished under the flood. Was anybody in the ark destroyed after all? No, they were all safe.

We have another beautiful illustration of what it means to be in Christ with a passage in Hebrews chapter seven, verse nine. And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek first met him. Now, Levi was the great grandson of Abraham. He had not been conceived. And when Abraham paid those tithes, it said Levi paid those tithes because he was in the loins of his great grandfather, Abraham. That means if I'm in Christ, whatever he did, I did.

Who is in Christ? God's elect. What's the evidence of election? You believe the gospel. Now Paul greets those people that are in Christ Jesus, and the very heart and soul of the gospel is found in this phrase, in Christ Jesus. When Paul opened this epistle, to the Corinthians. He wrote to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Now that word sanctified means to take something common and ordinary and set it apart for holy purposes, to make it holy. Every believer is sanctified, declared by God to be holy, made holy in Christ Jesus. And he said in that same chapter, of him are you in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1.30. Of him are you in Christ Jesus.

Now somebody says, how do you get in Christ? God must put you there. You can't crawl in there. God must put you in there. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made in us. Wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now my standing before God is in Christ. And in Christ, I have perfect wisdom, perfect righteousness, complete sanctification, full redemption in Him. I am complete in Him. Now, when God the Father spoke from heaven, At the baptism of his son, he said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And when he spoke again from heaven at the transfiguration of his son on the mount, when his face shined like the sun and his body became white as light and the disciples saw it, He said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

Now, what I want us to notice, he didn't say with whom I'm well pleased, although he was, but he said in whom I'm well pleased. My dear friend, that means if you're in Christ, God is well pleased with you. Oh, the only standing I want to be found in is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When James and John wanted to sit on his right hand and on his left in his kingdom, he said, you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with? And they said, we're able. Now, what a ridiculous answer. Yeah, we're able. We can be baptized with the baptism you're baptized with. They didn't even know what he's talking about. He was going to be baptized under the wrath of God. They said, we're up to the task. And here's how the Lord replied to them. You shall indeed drink of my cup and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. You will do it. How is that? Because they were in him. What he experienced, they experienced in him. When God's wrath fell on him, it fell on them in him. When Christ drank of the cup of the sins of his people, it was the sins of James and John and all of his people. Everything he experienced, that's what baptism teaches. When I'm baptized, I say, when he lived, I lived. When he died, I died in him. When he was raised from the dead, I was raised in him. All of God's favor for the sinner is in Christ Jesus. Oh, may the Lord impress this on my heart and your heart. All of God's favor for the sinner in Christ Jesus.

Now I'm going to read a lot of Scriptures. I'm not going to make a lot of comment about them, but I want you to hear the this concept of being in Christ Jesus. Romans 3.24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus, there's full redemption, full payment for my sins. They're blotted out, and it is in Christ Jesus. Romans 8.1 says, therefore now, no condemnation. to them that are in Christ Jesus." Now that can't be said of everybody. There is a place called hell where people will pay for their sins, but there's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

We read in Romans 8.39 that nothing shall separate us from the love of God. which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, I've heard people use the phrase God's unconditional love. God's love is not unconditional. God's love is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's why we can't be separated because all of his love, all of his favor is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

In Romans 12, verse five, we read, so we being many are one body in Christ. Now this is speaking of all the church. We being many, this is the church of God's elect, this is everybody Christ died for, the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, the church. Yes, there are local churches, but there's the church that Christ died for, that's all of God's people, the church of the living God. So we being many are one body in Christ and members one. of another. This bond that exists between believers in Christ is being members of his body. What a bond. What unity. The Lord said, inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. And inasmuch as you did it not to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me.

In Romans 16, verse 2, when Paul was commending Phoebe, he said, receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints. This is to affect everything we do, including how we receive one another. Receive her in the Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 7, when Paul is given instructions with regard to marrying again. If your spouse died or if your spouse deserted you or whatever the case would be where men and women would be married again, He gives this command with regard to this, we're to marry only in the Lord. That's only believers, only Christians, and I love the way he says it, only in the Lord.

And in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22, he makes this statement that all the gospels in this statement, listen carefully, in Adam, all die. Adam being the first man, the man God placed in the garden, the man who fell. The man who disobeyed God. In Adam, all die. Now who's in Adam? Me and you. Every human being. There's only one human being that was not in Adam, that didn't have his sinful nature, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Adam, all die. If I'm spiritually dead, that means I can't save myself any more than a dead man can give himself life. I'm totally dependent upon God to do something for me. In Adam, all die. Even so, in the same manner, in Christ, shall all be made alive. Who's in Christ? All of God's elect. Everybody he represented. All that the Father has given him. In Christ, shall all be made alive. Just like in Adam, everybody died. In Christ, everybody is made alive to have life before God. To have the very righteousness of God.

In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, we read all the promises of God in him are yea and amen. All of God's promises are in him, and that's why they're all yea. It's not yea and nay. It's not conditioned upon whether or not you do something. They're all yea, and they're all amen unto the glory of God by us.

II Corinthians 2.14, now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now, I've heard preachers speak of believers who live defeated Christian lives. My dear friend, there's no such thing as a defeated Christian life, because this promise tells us that we always, if we're in Christ, thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ. We're more than conquerors through him that loved us.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, if any man be in Christ, Not everybody is in Christ, but if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. What's that mean? Does it mean once I'm a Christian, I don't have sinful desires anymore, I'm different, those old things are gone? No, it doesn't mean that. What does it mean? My old standing before the law is passed away. It's gone. All things have become new. I have a new nature that was not there before. I have a new history, and it's all good. My history is the life of Jesus Christ. His life is my life before God. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says, For he, God the Father, hath made him God the Son to be sin. What a thought. It's above our comprehension. God the Father made Christ to be sin. He took the sins of his people and he placed them in that cup. And in Gethsemane's garden, Christ drank that cup and he was made sin. He knew no sin. He never committed a sin, but this is worse. He was made sin. Why? That we might be made the righteousness of God. Did you hear that? This is not human righteousness. that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. This can only be done in Him. All of God's salvation is in Him.

In 2 Corinthians 12, verse 2, when Paul spake of his experience of being brought up into the third heavens, What an experience that must have been. He said, whether in the body, I cannot tell, whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knows. But he makes this statement. He didn't say, I was brought up into the third heavens as the Apostle Paul. He says, in such humility, I knew a man in Christ. He wouldn't even use his own name. He knew the only way he could be brought up into the third heavens and hear those words unspeakable, which are not lawful for a man to utter, when Jesus Christ directly taught him the gospel.

What an experience that must have been, but he doesn't talk about himself. He says, I knew a man in Christ brought up into the third heavens, caught up into paradise.

And then in Galatians chapter two, verse four, Paul spake of the liberty we have, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Liberty, freedom. What is freedom? There are two things that come to my mind. Debt free. I am completely perfect in Christ Jesus and I don't owe anything. All God requires of me, I have in Christ Jesus. I'm debt free. And when I think of freedom, I think of doing what you want to do. You know, most people's religion is very sad. It's people really doing what they don't want to do and not doing what they really want to do. But the believer is free in Christ. My want to is to follow him. That's what I want to do. Trust Christ and do what you want to. And if you're a believer, what you'll want to is to follow Him, the liberty that is in Christ Jesus.

And Paul uses this phrase so much in the book of Ephesians. He said in Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. How many spiritual blessings? All spiritual blessings. The believer has them all in Christ Jesus.

And he goes on to say in verse four, according as he has chosen us, this is speaking of election. If you're a believer, it's because God elected you before the foundation of the world. That's what the scripture teaches. I realize that many people deny this holy God exalting truth, but it's true nonetheless. God elected a people. God is God being God. That's what election is. It means God's God. According as he hath chosen us in him. Before the foundation of the world, before there was any creation, He chose us in Christ Jesus.

Now, this was not some arbitrary choice of God. God's elect have always been in Christ. Now, I don't understand how that can be. I know that Christ is first. That goes without saying, but somehow God's elect have eternally been in Christ Jesus. He said, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Behold, I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you. according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.

And he said in a few verses down, wherein he hath made us, us being the elect, those who believe, those who look to Christ only, he has made us, accepted In the beloved, my acceptance is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in my works. It's not in my experience. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. It's all in him.

In Philippians chapter two, verse one, we read of Paul saying, if there be any consolation in Christ, Comfort. Oh, what comfort there is in Christ to know that everything God requires of me, he looks to his son for. And everything he requires of me, I have. What consolation there is in Christ Jesus.

In Philippians chapter three, verse three, Paul said, we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit. You have to be given a spiritual nature to worship God in the Spirit. This is by the Holy Spirit. This is being born of the Spirit. We are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. What's the evidence of truly worshiping God in the Spirit? Listen to what he says next.

and rejoice, glory, boast, have confidence in Christ Jesus. That's where we glory. That's where we boast. That's who we have confidence in. We glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

Colossians chapter one, verse 19, Paul says, it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. All the fullness of God is in Him, and all the fullness of salvation is in Him. Christ is all. All the fullness of God dwells in Him.

Colossians 2, verse 3 says, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. This tells us who and what is in Christ Jesus. Listen real carefully. In Him, Paul said, in the man Christ Jesus, the human being Christ Jesus, the God-man, fully God, fully man, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. All the fullness of holiness, all the fullness of sovereignty, all the fullness of omnipotence, creative power, all the fullness of omniscience, all the fullness of absolute independence and immutability, of absolute justice, of love, all the fullness of God dwells in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are everybody in Him. You are complete. You lack nothing.

Now, the way I feel about myself, I always feel lacking. I always feel inadequate. I always feel a day late and a dollar short. That's my experience in the flesh, but the Word of God tells me that in Christ, I am complete. everything God requires of me I have in its fullness. I can't get more saved, I can't get more holy, I can't get more righteous than I am in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says in verse 11 of Colossians chapter 2, in whom you also are circumcised. In whom? You also are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. This is not a physical circumcision in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. That's what happened to Christ on the cross, and that's how my sin was put away.

We read in 1 Thessalonians 1.1 of the Church of God, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. What safety and security there is there. And in that same passage, he said, in everything give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. concerning you. If you're in Christ Jesus, God has a will and that will will be done and whatever is taking place with you is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. That's why we can give thanks for everything. He sent it. It's all for His glory and for our good.

In 1 Timothy 1.14 we read about faith and love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Faith is in Christ. Love is toward Him. We read in 1 Timothy 3.13 of great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. That's where my faith is. It's in Christ Jesus. I love this scripture, 2 Timothy 1, 9. He saved us. It's everything we believe, isn't it? He saved us. We didn't save ourselves. He saved us. I hate it when people say, I got saved. No, he saved us. And he called us with a holy calling. not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

That's why Paul said, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Peter said, peace be with all them that be in Christ Jesus. I'd like to read you this passage from 1 John chapter four, verse three. Chapter three, verse four. Whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. In Him is no sin. If I'm in Him, I have no sin.

Revelation 14, 13, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Not blessed are all the dead. but blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Paul said in Philippians chapter three, verse nine, oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. Now what does that mean? The desire of my heart and soul is that when God sees me, All he sees is Christ. I don't even want the father to see Christ, then see me. I want it to where all he sees is his son. And if I'm in Christ, that is all he sees. I don't want him to see my weak faith. I don't want Him to see my stumbling, weak walk. I don't want Him to see my service toward Him, my preaching, my prayer, my zeal. All I want is for Him to see me in the Lord Jesus Christ, where Christ is all He sees.

Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." All of God's favor is in Christ.

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