Alive Together with Christ

The title, Alive together with Christ, stems from deep convictions of THE Christian foundation; that is, the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Foundations cannot be switched out; they are not interchangeable. A foundation is something that cannot be moved away from without the creation of a new thing- with a new foundation. So the Christian faith can never move away from the foundation of Christ, or else it becomes a new thing- with a new foundation.

The foundation of the gospel of Christ in a believers life has the following implications:

Ephesians 2:4-7

The Past Tense

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…” 

In order to be alive together with Christ, one must be alive. Duh. However, Paul explains in Ephesians that one must be “made alive” by God through Christ. We don’t have to assume why because he specifically states that “we were dead.” Christians, as formerly spiritually dead people, have been brought to life in Christ. This is the past tense of the good news.

The Present Tense

“…and raised us up with Him…”

The gospel does not end with that past act, it is still good news. As a Christian, one is in a constant state of being alive together with Christ. Christians are not merely raised from the dead and left alone; they are united together with the One who saved them. To look at the gospel as merely past tense and “move on” to the next step in Christian faith is to move away from the foundation. In Colossians Paul says, “as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him.” As you have probably noticed, it is not easy to walk in Christ. There remains this problem of sin. Yes Christians have been raised up with Him and live in a state of spiritual life, but they are not perfect. This is why the gospel is still good news. Christians have an Advocate with the Father, who daily pleads their case before a just Judge (I John 2:1). Every day, we receive forgiveness and pardon of what we rightfully deserve. This is the present tense of the good news.

The Future Tense

“…and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in the kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

The beauty of being alive together with Christ is that it never ends. The future hope of the good news is that Christians spend eternity with Christ. And that is better than we can ever imagine.

What the blog?

In recent reading of men I greatly respect, I have come to the conclusion that I must blog. Not only does the man whom my dog is named after (John Piper) practically command it, but but many great thinkers throughout history have taken to the pen or keyboard and recorded insights and reflections, joys and sorrows, nuggets of gold and nuggets of... well you get the picture. The more biographies I read, the more I see the example of journaling, writing, and reflecting on thoughts. Jonathan Edwards kept "miscellanies notebooks" throughout his entire lifetime which he filled with rich words. I have multiple "miscellanies notebooks" in the form of sticky notes, yellow pads, napkins, and pieces of paper which end up in the washing machine or worse (John Piper-the dog). In starting this blog my desire is to see those pregnant sticky notes give birth to many fruitful posts. Alive Together with Christ will hopefully be a hub for those ideas to not only gather, but be unpacked. If I don't hold myself to this discipline of expounding, then many of those yellow pads will end up in a pile in my backyard that I scoop and shovel over the fence. I don't guarantee the most profound of thoughts (some posts may be worth shoveling over the fence), but I do hope to encourage, stimulate, and promote biblical thinking in all avenues of life. Enjoy!