Being Found In Christ!

Almost everyone is familiar with the expression, “Oh he or she is just going through a difficult time right now, they are trying to FIND themselves.” It was a common expression in the seventies, in the so-called Age of Aquarius, when people were desperate for self-discovery. Discovery is a part of human experience, and people have been trying to find themselves through every age and every generation. And though everybody’s experience of self-discovery is uniquely different in many ways, there is one universal thread of commonality that all humans share. It is the common trait the Bible calls sin. The Bible calls sin a state of lawlessness, and declares that all created beings have sinned and will face judgment before God one day. The moral laws of the universe are no more subjective to human criticism and interpretation than the physical laws of the universe are. God has made them both. God has revealed to man through the Decalogue or Ten Commandments the moral authority that is to govern every one of us. When that moral authority is disrespected, disregarded, discarded, or usurped—that is called sin! Any one who truly seeks to find themself will discover that they are a sinner. What becomes even more serious is that the Word of God also proclaims that the wages of sin is death—everlasting exclusion from the presence of God and torment in the place called hell. This is why the Apostle Paul said, “I want to be found IN Christ…through faith IN Christ…” (Philippians 3:9) that he might be found clothed in the righteousness of Christ before God. Jesus was perfectly sinless and died as a substitute for the sins of all those who would have faith in Him. So we can try and find ourselves and risk inheriting an eternity in hell, or we can seek to be found IN Christ and inherit an eternity in paradise in the presence of our Creator.