1 Corinthians 1:30
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Many verses in the New Testament mention the phrase “in Christ.” It is remarkable how all of them speak only good things about those who are “in Him” – they “are seated in heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:6) and are blessed with “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3), for example. They possess peace, healing, supernatural financial provision, and victory. To whom do these verses apply? Are they only for some exceptional and highly spiritual Christians? No – for all believers, for all Christians, for us.
But, as is the case for every other scripture, it must be believed to work in us. And it cannot be believed unless preached, heard, and understood.
To claim that these grace-filled verses apply personally to us, to believe them and claim them in our lives, we first need to ensure that we are in Christ. If we know that we are in Christ, we will not think that these marvelous privileges, blessings, and promises are for someone “more special” or “more spiritual”; instead, we will accept them personally.
Do we have to do something to find ourselves in Christ? Can we earn or deserve such a special position? Should it be bought with money or earned with our abilities and good deeds? The liberating answer to this question is “No!” Neither is it required, nor can anybody find oneself in Christ by one’s own strength. How, then, do we find ourselves in Christ?
The answer to this question is in 1 Corinthians 1:30:
30 It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus…
According to this verse, God Himself has placed us in Christ. The phrase “because of Him” is quite interesting. In Greek, it is “ex-autos.” The preposition “ex” or, in English, “of” conveys the idea of a source. The new life of the Christian comes from God. “Because of Him” – He has created us, He has chosen us, and He has placed us “in Christ.” Our position “in Christ” is due to God alone. He is its source and author.
“In Christ” – this enigmatic phrase expresses our relationship with Christ and emphasizes the highest level of intimacy and closeness. Christ is the atmosphere in which we live. Of course, this should not be taken literally because Christ is a person. To be “in Christ” means to be personally attached to Him.
“In Christ” also carries a corporate (cooperative) meaning. A corporation is an association or union composed of people with common interests that are more significant than the interests of the individuals themselves. It transforms them into an organization that acquires the rights of a legal entity. By being “in Christ,” we are closely connected to everyone who is in Christ. This is to be part of “Christ’s body.”
Isn’t this astounding? God chose us exactly, made us His, and then placed us in Christ.
But what does it mean to be in Christ? What does it mean to be in someone in general? Let us examine the biblical understanding of this concept.
What Does it Mean to be In Someone?
- Levi “in Abraham”
The passage that sheds the most light on what it means “to be in someone” is Hebrews 7:9-10:
9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. (Hebrews 7:9-10)
Although our present aim is different, when we ponder these verses, we must also consider the figure of Melchizedek.
This passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews explains why the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek is superior to the priesthood of the order of Aaron. It aims to show the excellence Christ has as our “high priest from the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:10) over the high priest of Israel.
However, the argument presented by the Epistle’s author poses a pretty interesting concept. According to him, the fact that Abraham paid the tenth to Melchizedek after Abraham’s victory over Kedorlaomer testifies that the Melchizedekian priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood. Why? Because when Abraham paid the tenth, Melchizedek did not just accept it but also blessed Abraham (Hebrews 7:1):
1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him.
And according to Hebrews 7:7:
7 And without doubt, the lesser is blessed by the greater.
Not only had Melchizedek accepted Abraham’s tenth, but he also blessed Abraham, deeming him superior to him on a spiritual level.
Why is this paying of the tenth and blessing connected with our topic and Levi? According to the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, when Melchizedek blessed Abraham and paid the tenth, not only was he paid by him but also by the Levites and the priests, who are descendants of Levi. Why? Because when Abraham did this, Levi was still “in Abraham.” As a son of Jacob and great-grandchild of Abraham, Levi had been in the genes of his great-grandfather because he descended from him. From a biblical perspective, the ancestor contains all of his descendants, and what is done by the ancestor is done by them as well because they are “in Him.”
Modern culture is dominated by individualism—it’s just me, myself, and I. However, this was not the case in antiquity. The concept of solidarity dominated the culture of the ancient ones—the idea that neither children nor their parents could live independently of one another. Therefore, Abraham’s tenth payment to Melchizedek is relevant for his successor, Levi, and even for all priests who descend from Levi.
- The priests “in Levi.”
The priests and the Levites have also paid the tenth to Melchizedek. How come? Because in the same way Levi was “in Abraham,” the priests and the Levites were “in Levi.” It is an entirely different matter that patriarch Levi himself, the son of Jacob, has never in his lifetime been paid the tenth (Hebrews 7:9). Because, as a decree in the law, paying the tenth was established as a practice after the exodus from Egypt – around 400 years after the time of Levi, who together with his brothers settled in Egypt during the time of his brother Joseph. The ones receiving the tenth were his descendants, not Levi himself. Nonetheless, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, “Levi…collects the tenth” in Hebrews 7:9. Here, Levi is mentioned as a representative of the priests and the Levites because they are his clan. To put it differently, solidarity here works both ways – not only from ancestors to their descendants but also from descendants to their ancestors. Why? Because they are “in him.”
However, Melchizedek has a different origin:
6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. (Hebrews 7:6)
Regarding Melchizedek, the author of Hebrews implements one rabbinical interpretive principle: The Scripture of the Torah speaks not only through what is said but also through what is explicitly omitted.
In the Book of Genesis, all people are mentioned with their genealogies, the names of their ancestors, and their ages. The book also mentions the age at which they died. And Melchizedek suddenly appears out of the blue on the stage and then vanishes similarly. His father is not mentioned, nor are his kin, nor the names of his sons, nor how old he was when he died. This is certainly not by chance and contrasts with the precise genealogies of the rest of the main characters in Genesis. Due to this contrast, the author of Hebrews concludes that in this way, God presents Melchizedek as a prototype of the uncreated and eternal Son of God:
3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:3)
This does not mean that Melchizedek did not have parents or family or that he was not born and did not die. But the Holy Spirit’s omission of this information seems intentional—the very thing that makes Melchizedek a prototype of the Son of God.
Melchizedek has been regarded as a prototype of Christ, approximately a thousand years before our era, during the time of David. His name means “king of righteousness,” and his title – King of Salem, means “king of peace.” Not only is he a king, but a priest, as well. In Psalm 110:4, David prophesies that the Messiah will be simultaneously a king and a priest in the manner of Melchizedek:
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4)
The One, to whom God “has sworn” according to Psalm 110:1, was the God of David – the Son of God:
1 The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ (Psalm 110:1)
Enough about Melchizedek. I told you all these things about him because when we examine any passage from the Bible, we first need to understand its meaning before applying it to our lives.
But let us return to our topic – discussing what it means to be “in someone.” To be “in someone,” according to the Bible, means:
- Firstly, to be part of one’s kin, in the same way, Levi was part of Abraham’s kin, and the priests and the Levites were from the kin of Levi.
- And secondly, that whatever happened to your ancestor has also happened to you. When Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, so did all his descendants, including Levi and the clan of priests, who descended from him. When Melchizedek blessed Abraham, he, in fact, blessed all of his descendants, including Levi, Aaron, and the clan of priests, because “all of them were in Abraham.”
- Humankind “in Adam”
The concept of “being in someone” can be easily comprehended if we apply it to ourselves and our ancestors in the flesh.
We are all “in Adam“ – we are his kin. He is humanity’s ancestor, including Jesus on his mother’s side. The genealogy of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke, begins (or ends) with Adam and, of course, God Himself since Adam is called “the son of God” in Luke 3:38. We are “in Adam” because we have descended from him. Whatever happened to Adam also happened to us. Therefore, when Adam sinned, so did we because we were “in him” at the time.
Observe how Apostle Paul explains this in Romans 5:12-14 as follows:
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
“All sinned” not because each person has individually sinned, but because Adam had sinned, and when this happened, all people were “in Him:”
13 For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come (Romans 5:13-14)
Death reigns over all humans, even over “those who did not sin by breaking a command as Adam,” as apostle Paul says because death has already entered this world through the sin of Adam. This is precisely why, according to 1 Corinthians 15:22, in Adam, all die:
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
But, as we have seen earlier, the good news of the Gospel is that God, in His never-ending love, has not left us to be “in Adam” alone, but He has taken us and seated us “in Christ” – “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus,” as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:30.
What Does it Mean to be in Christ?
As we said, “to be in someone” means:
- Firstly, to be part of one’s kin;
- And secondly, that whatever has happened to your ancestor, it has also happened to you.
To be “in Christ” means the same two things:
- To be “in Christ” means to be part of His kin.
In other words, born-again from the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was born of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, to be part of His kin means to be born by God through the Holy Spirit. The New Testament refers to such an experience as “born again.”
This does not mean, as Nicodemus thought in John 3:4, that a man should “enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born.” Jesus explained to him that being born again is a spiritual rather than a carnal experience.
Here, the relation to God in question is not physical but spiritual, and it occurs through faith in Christ.
- To be “in Christ” means to be Children of Abraham.
That is why one can claim that before we find ourselves “in Christ,” we first need to find ourselves “in Abraham” because, according to Romans 4:11, Abraham is “the father of all who believe.” Remember, we said that the meaning of being in someone, first and foremost, is for that someone to be your ancestor.
One should consider it joyous that the sonship – to be a child of Abraham and Jesus as well, does not depend on one’s physical belonging to certain kin. Apostle Paul writes in Romans 9:6-7:
6 For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abrahams children.
In His argument with the Jews in John 8:37-44, the Lord Jesus Himself confirms this idea:
38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father. 39“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did.”
You see, according to Jesus, Abraham’s sonship does not depend on one’s physical belonging to his kin; rather, it depends on the similarity between one’s deeds and character and those of Abraham!
40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. 41 Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does. “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only father we have is God himself,” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
To be children of Abraham does not mean to be his physical descendants, but to be like Abraham – to have his faith. As it is said in Galatians 3:7:
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.
As children of Abraham, we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and became “new creations.”
According to Galatians 3:29:
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed…
It is essential to be of Abraham’s seed because this is the key to God’s blessing. Even from the Book of Genesis, we can understand that the way “in Abraham, all nations on the earth” will be blessed (Genesis 18:18; 12:3) is by all of them becoming his children (Genesis 17:4-5).
4 As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”
Obviously, the nations that will be blessed are those to whom Abraham will become a father.
There is a connection between “being in Abraham” and “being in Christ,” and this connection is the faith. To be in Christ means to be part of His kin. And the way to become part of His kin is to believe in Him – something that requires us to have faith, or in other words, to be children of Abraham.
- To be “in Christ” means that whatever has happened to Christ will happen to us, as well.
Whatever had happened to Christ happened to us, too.
According to Galatians 2:20, when Christ was crucified, we too have been crucified with Him:
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
According to Romans 6:11, when He died, bearing our sins, we, too, have died to sin together with Him:
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-6 says that when Jesus was resurrected and then ascended to Heaven to His Father, we too have been resurrected, and we have also ascended together with Him:
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
Notice that all of this is a work of God. He is the One who has seated us “in Christ.” He is the One who has breathed life into us and has resurrected us together with Him.
Because God has seated us in Christ – and we have been in Him from the very beginning—for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world – whatever had happened to Him, happened to us, as well – precisely in the same way in which what had happened to Adam, happened to us.
What has happened to Christ will also happen to us in the future.
The changes that Christ underwent, we will also undergo physically. Our mortal bodies will be transformed and made complete with His glorious body. It is said in Philippians 3:21:
21[Lord Jesus Christ] who… will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Romans 5:14 describes Adam as a “pattern of the One to come.” Who is “the One to come?” The One to come is the “Second Man” – the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Last Adam and the Second Man. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 states:
45 So, it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural and, after that, the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven. “
Jesus is “the Last Adam” and “the Second Man.” With Him, an end is put in the race of “the first man, Adam,” and the beginning of a new race is set. The same thing happens to us, the Christians – when we believe in Jesus, “the first Adam” in us dies and in his place, “the Second Man” is born and then grows. Notice that Jesus is not called “the Second Adam” because he is not sinful like the first one. He is not terrestrial. He is not mortal. He is a sinless, spiritual, life-giving spirit, an eternal One, who is “from Heaven .”If we are “in Him,” then we will be the same – paradisiac – perfect righteous ones, who are drawing near Mount Zion (see Hebrews 12:22)! In I Corinthians 15:47-49, the writer clarifies:
47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
In Whom Are You?
Earlier in the same 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verse 22, the Apostle Paul says:
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
In whom are we – only in Adam or in Adam and in Christ? All people in this world are “in Adam.” That’s why all of us are mortal. However, not all of us are “in Christ.” Only those who are “children of Abraham” – “all who believe” (Romans 4:11) only they are in Christ. God has seated all children of Abraham in Christ, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus…” And by being in Him, we can rejoice in all the privileges given to those who are in Christ.
We need to know that we are in Christ. We need to be absolutely confident and sure in this fact – in this work of God, in this position of ours! To explore the New Testament’s epistles, we discover what belongs to us in Christ, what our treasure in Him is, and as true children of Abraham, we insist on and receive this knowledge with faith. To a certain extent, this is precisely what it means to be a Christian. If you are still not one, believe in Lord Jesus, believe in the Word of God – become a child of Abraham – come and be in Christ!