Emersed In Him...

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins Colossions 1:13-14

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 1:9

He is before all things and in him all things hold together...For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Colossions 1: 17 & 19

The other night we heard a little bit about how we are not to live beside Christ or behind Christ, but IN Christ - we are called to live in him, completely emersed in His totally perfect being. It is the only way we can be sure we are living in accordance with God and it is the easiest way to receive the peace and joy that accompanies an intimate relationship with God. While reading Colossians I had a small thought I felt worthy of sharing...

Colossians 1:19 says that God was pleased to have all of His fullness dwell in Christ...well...that's exactly where I want to be. If residing IN Christ means that I have access to the complete fullness of God Almighty then that's where I'm headed. It's amazing to think a/b how often we get stuck beside Christ or better yet at the foot of the Cross - not really stepping into the resurection and it's glory. How much power and freedom is available if we just get up from the cross, visit the tomb and celebrate the glory of His resurrection and then step into Him to experience the fullness of God. We step into Christ, we become a part of His being and that is why God no longer see us as we truly are, we are covered and enveloped in every sense of the word, in Christ and in His perfect holiness. We live in Him and He in us...what a safe place to be...

Take a fishbowl (I'm sure you were wondering what the picture had to do w/ anything) - the fish, while emersed in the water is safe from it's arch enemy (that would be the cat). Well, let's say the fish decides one day that he might enjoy life outside of the fishbowl more (the grass is always greener, eh?), so he starts jumping out of the water and eventually jumps out of the bowl. There he is, flopping around wondering what in the world happened and what he was thinking, completely exposed and at the mercy of the cat (his enemy). If he had only stayed emersed in the safety of his home and the very thing he was created for (the water and ultimately the fishbowl) he would have been kept safe and forever protected from any real harm the cat could have caused. Such a simple comparison, for it is just as we, who often determine that our own ways are so much better, would be so much safer if only we would keep ourselves emersed in the place we were created to reside...In Jesus Christ.