As I mentioned yesterday, encouragement is going to be the focus of our gospel-sanity devos over the course of the next several days. And, so far, I haven’t gotten any “push-back” from any of you contesting the worthiness of this theme! Of course not, ‘cause who of us isn’t in need of more authentic, sincere, comforting meet-me-where-I-am encouragement?
We need to think of encouragement like we think of chocolate. There’s a primary source for the best chocolate in the universe, and it’s Switzerland, a place I’ve visited 8 times, so far. And there’s also a primary source from which the quintessential, the most wonder-full and the most satisfying encouragement comes. The apostle Paul gives that address as “being united to Christ.” Indeed, the wellspring, the fountainhead, the mother-load of all encouragement became ours when our heavenly Father mercifully and grace-fully placed us “in Christ.”
Today, let’s think of just a few of the kazillion things that are true because we are united to Christ: Because we are “in Christ,” all of our sins are forgiven, (past, present and future), not just the 4% we are aware of, but the “whole sin-enchilada”; God has already declared us to be righteous in his sight because he has “credited” to us the righteousness of Jesus; Our experience of judgment Day is already over, because Jesus exhausted God’s judgment against our sin on the cross; We have been legally adopted into the family and embrace of Abba, God our Father; We aren’t just in God’s family, but in his delight, his great delight! He actually loves and enjoys and likes us, and there’s nothing we can do about it!; We don’t have to be afraid to die, or to live; We are married to Jesus and he is more looking forward to his second coming than we are, ‘cause he’s coming for us, his bride!; Jesus is the spouse we always wanted. No human being can be to us and for us like Jesus!
Paul asks us a real question as we begin this day: Do we have any encouragement from being united to Christ… do we have any comfort from his love? Where else would we foolishly look? Love being loved by Jesus all day long, and let’s encourage someone else today.