from Jerry Bridges’ book Who Am I? (Cruciform Press, 2012)
“Of all the Scripture that went through my mind that [discouraging] morning, the most exciting to me was 1 Corinthians 1:30 which in the King James Version says, ‘But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’ The thought that was so exciting to me was that it is of God that I am in Christ Jesus. I didn’t, as it were, get into Christ of my own doing. It was God who united me to him. It was by his action that I am in Christ Jesus.
Isn’t that encouraging? God is the one who united us to Christ. To use Paul’s expression, he is the one who has placed us in Christ. That means we can never get out. We didn’t do anything to get in, and we can’t do anything to get out. It’s all of God.
Even today, fifty-five years later, that verse brings sparkle to my life. I often wake up discouraged about something. But as I get dressed and walk down the hall to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, 1 Corinthians 1:30 will come to my mind and I say to myself, ‘God, it is of you that I am in Christ.’ And all of a sudden I will break into a great smile, and the discouragement is gone.”
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Wowza that’s awesome!
Tim