Everything In Christ - Chapter One

 

CHAPTER ONE

THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING IN CHRIST

Understanding God's Provision Through His Son

The foundation of the Christian life is not what a person can achieve for God but what God has accomplished through Jesus Christ. This distinction is essential because it determines how believers understand their relationship with God, approach spiritual growth, respond to difficulties, and fulfil their responsibilities as followers of Christ.

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Many people approach Christianity with an attitude of constant spiritual striving. They believe that the more religious activities they perform, the more likely they are to experience God's favour. Some measure their spiritual standing by the number of prayers they offer, the frequency of their fasting, their church attendance, or the sacrifices they make. Although prayer, fasting, fellowship, and obedience are valuable aspects of Christian living, they are not the foundation upon which a believer earns acceptance with God.

The foundation has already been established through Jesus Christ.

John 1:14 declares that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This statement introduces one of the greatest revelations of Christianity: God made Himself known to humanity through His Son. Jesus did not come merely to establish another religious movement or provide moral instructions. He came to accomplish the Father's redemptive purpose and restore humanity's relationship with God.

This is where everything in Christ begins.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD'S PROVISION THROUGH CHRIST

To understand what believers have received, it is necessary to understand why Christ came.

Humanity's greatest problem was not simply a lack of education, financial resources, political stability, or personal development. The deeper problem was sin and the separation from God that followed humanity's rebellion.

Romans 3:23 explains that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This means that the problem of sin is universal. No individual can establish a perfect standing before God through personal goodness or human achievement.

A person may be generous, intelligent, disciplined, successful, and respected by society, yet these qualities cannot independently remove the problem of sin.

Consider someone who has built a successful business, supported charitable causes, maintained a good reputation, and treated people with kindness. These are commendable achievements. However, none of them can purchase forgiveness or establish reconciliation with God. Human goodness cannot replace the redemption that only Christ provides.

This is why the coming of Jesus was so significant.

Romans 5:8 explains that God demonstrated His love toward humanity by allowing Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. God's provision was not a reward for people who had already made themselves worthy. It was an expression of divine love toward people who needed redemption.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus dealt with the problem of sin and opened the way for humanity to be reconciled to God.

Colossians 1:19–20 reveals that God was pleased for all His fullness to dwell in Christ and, through Him, to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross.

The implication is profound. The Christian life is built upon a completed redemptive work, not an endless attempt to persuade God to become favourable toward humanity.

This does not mean that every person automatically experiences reconciliation without responding to the gospel. Scripture calls people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. God's provision is sufficient, but it must be received through the response of faith.

CHRIST IS THE SOURCE, NOT MERELY THE CHANNEL

One mistake that can weaken a believer's understanding of Christianity is treating Jesus as though He were simply a means of obtaining blessings.

Some people approach Him primarily because they want financial improvement, healing, protection, career advancement, marital success, or solutions to personal difficulties. These concerns may be genuine, and believers can certainly bring their needs before God. However, the significance of Christ extends far beyond the things people hope to receive.

Jesus is not merely someone who provides access to blessings. He is Himself the centre of God's redemptive plan.

In John 14:6, Jesus identifies Himself as the way, the truth, and the life, declaring that no one comes to the Father except through Him.

This means that the greatest provision of the gospel is not a material possession but restored fellowship with God through His Son.

A person may receive an answer to a particular prayer and still fail to understand the deeper significance of knowing Christ. For example, someone may pray for employment, receive a job, and experience financial improvement. Those are meaningful developments. However, the believer's relationship with God should not depend entirely on whether the next financial need is immediately satisfied.

Knowing Christ provides a foundation that remains meaningful even when circumstances change.

A believer who understands this will not measure God's love exclusively by financial prosperity or freedom from difficulties. Such a person can remain confident in God's character while continuing to trust Him through uncertain seasons.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN CHRIST?

The expression everything in Christ must be understood within the boundaries of Scripture.

It does not mean that every Christian automatically possesses every desired physical object, enjoys unlimited financial resources, or experiences a life without suffering. Neither does it mean that believers can claim every personal ambition as a guaranteed promise from God.

Rather, it points to the completeness and sufficiency of God's provision for the life and godliness to which He has called His people.

Second Peter 1:3 establishes this foundation by declaring that God's divine power has given believers everything that pertains to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called them by His glory and goodness.

Notice three important elements in this declaration.

First, the source is God's divine power.

The provision does not originate from human ability. God is the one who supplies what is necessary for the life He desires His people to live.

Second, the scope concerns life and godliness.

God's provision addresses more than religious activities. It concerns the believer's spiritual life, character, conduct, relationship with God, and ability to live according to His purpose.

Third, the means involves the knowledge of God.

This is particularly important. Peter connects the experience of God's provision with knowing Him. The more believers understand God's character, His promises, His will, and His work through Christ, the better equipped they become to live out their faith.

For instance, a young Christian who is unfamiliar with biblical teaching may assume that every difficult experience indicates God's rejection. However, as that individual grows in the knowledge of Scripture, passages such as Romans 8:1 and Hebrews 13:5 help establish a more accurate understanding of God's acceptance in Christ and His enduring presence.

The circumstances may not immediately change, but the person's understanding and response can change significantly.

This is one reason spiritual growth cannot be separated from knowledge.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUMAN EFFORT AND DIVINE PROVISION

Human effort has an important place in Christian living, but it must occupy the right position.

Ephesians 2:8–9 teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, not the result of works, so that no one can boast.

This establishes a fundamental principle: salvation is God's gift, not a human achievement.

However, verse 10 continues by explaining that believers are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for them to walk in.

The order is important.

Believers are not saved because they have successfully performed enough good works. They are saved by grace and brought into a new life in which good works become part of their calling.

This distinction also helps explain the relationship between divine provision and personal responsibility.

Imagine a person who receives an opportunity to study at a reputable institution through a fully funded scholarship. The scholarship provides access to education, but the student must still attend classes, study, complete assignments, and develop the required knowledge.

The student does not create the scholarship through personal effort. However, the student must respond responsibly to the opportunity received.

In a similar way, God's grace provides the foundation for Christian living, but believers must actively grow in faith, obedience, knowledge, love, and godly character.

Philippians 2:12–13 presents this relationship clearly. Paul encourages believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, while explaining that God works in them both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Christian growth is therefore neither passive nor independent of God. It involves a willing response to God's work within the believer.

WHY KNOWING CHRIST CHANGES THE WAY BELIEVERS LIVE

A person's understanding influences their decisions.

Someone who believes that personal worth depends entirely on public recognition may spend years trying to impress others. Someone who believes that financial success determines personal value may compromise important principles to accumulate wealth. Someone who believes that past mistakes permanently define their future may lose the courage to pursue meaningful progress.

The same principle applies to Christian identity.

When believers do not understand what God has accomplished through Christ, they may continue living according to assumptions that contradict the gospel.

Consider a believer who has genuinely repented of a past wrongdoing and received forgiveness through faith in Christ. However, whenever the memory returns, that individual begins to believe that God can no longer accept or use them.

Without a proper understanding of forgiveness, the person may remain trapped in unnecessary guilt.

First John 1:9 teaches that God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse those who confess their sins. Romans 8:1 also declares that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

These Scriptures do not encourage people to treat sin carelessly. Instead, they establish the confidence that genuine repentance and forgiveness are meaningful realities in the Christian life.

A believer who understands this truth can acknowledge past mistakes without allowing them to become a permanent identity.

The individual can take responsibility, make necessary corrections, restore relationships where possible, and continue growing in obedience to God.

This is the practical value of understanding what has been provided in Christ.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING ON THE RIGHT FOUNDATION

A building can only remain stable when its foundation is strong. Attractive walls, expensive materials, and beautiful decorations cannot compensate for a weak foundation.

Jesus used a similar illustration in Matthew 7:24–27. He described two people who built houses, one on rock and the other on sand. Both houses encountered rain, floods, and winds, but their foundations determined how they responded to the storm.

Jesus connected the person who hears His words and puts them into practice with the wise builder who constructed his house upon rock.

This illustration provides an important lesson for believers.

Knowing biblical truth is necessary, but applying it is equally important.

A person may understand that forgiveness is important yet refuse to forgive others. Another may know that God calls believers to honesty but continue practising deception in business. Someone else may regularly hear teachings about love but consistently treat family members with disrespect.

These examples reveal a gap between religious knowledge and practical obedience.

The purpose of understanding everything in Christ is not simply to accumulate information. It is to build a life that reflects the truth of the gospel.

When Christ becomes the foundation, His teachings begin to influence how believers think, speak, work, handle relationships, respond to conflict, and make decisions.

Such a foundation does not guarantee that life will always be easy. It provides something more important: a stable basis for living faithfully when circumstances become difficult.

LIVING FROM WHAT GOD HAS PROVIDED

One of the most important changes in Christian understanding occurs when believers stop approaching their relationship with God as though they must earn everything through personal performance.

This does not remove the need for prayer, discipline, obedience, or spiritual commitment. Rather, it changes the motivation behind these practices.

A believer prays because of an established relationship with God through Christ, not because prayer purchases acceptance.

A believer studies Scripture to know God and understand His will, not merely to accumulate religious information.

A believer serves others because Christ has demonstrated love and called His followers to express that love, not because service is a payment for salvation.

A believer pursues godliness because the new life in Christ calls for a transformed character, not because personal perfection is the price of entering God's family.

This understanding brings greater clarity to Christian living.

It also encourages believers to examine their motivations. Are they pursuing God because they desire to know Him, or only because they want something from Him? Are their religious activities expressions of faith and love, or attempts to establish a sense of worth through performance?

These questions are important because the quality of a person's Christian experience is deeply influenced by their understanding of God's grace.

The invitation of the gospel is not merely to receive something from Christ but to know Him, belong to Him, and grow into the life He has made possible.

CONCLUSION

Everything in Christ begins with understanding that God's provision is rooted in the person and finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Human achievement cannot replace what Christ has accomplished. Religious activities cannot purchase salvation, and material success cannot establish a person's standing before God.

Through Christ, God has provided redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation, a new identity, the Holy Spirit, and everything necessary for the life of faith and godliness to which believers are called.

However, these realities must be understood through the knowledge of Christ and expressed through practical obedience.

The Christian life is not an attempt to complete what God has failed to provide. It is a journey of discovering, understanding, and living out the sufficiency of what He has made available through His Son.

When this foundation becomes clear, believers can approach spiritual growth with confidence, practise obedience with the right motivation, and face life's difficulties without allowing circumstances to determine their understanding of God's faithfulness.

The starting point is not human ability.

It is Christ.

And the deeper our understanding of Him becomes, the clearer our understanding of everything God has provided through Him will be.

PRACTICAL REFLECTION

Take time to examine your understanding of the Christian life.

Do you approach God mainly as someone trying to earn His acceptance, or as someone who has received grace through Jesus Christ?

Do your decisions reflect an understanding of what Christ has accomplished?

Identify one area of your life where a misunderstanding of God's Word may be influencing your behaviour. Find the relevant biblical teaching, study it carefully, and begin applying it through a practical decision.

KEY SCRIPTURES FOR FURTHER STUDY

John 1:14; John 14:6; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:8–10; Philippians 2:12–13; Colossians 1:19–20; 2 Peter 1:3–7; Matthew 7:24–27.

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