Last Sunday, I started reading through Ephesians, and one thing I noticed in the preface to the book in my study Bible was the mention of the words “in Him” or “in Christ” in the book. And, since I absolutely love discovering (or rediscovering!) patterns in the Bible, I though it would be fun to copy all the instances out. They were a great encouragement to me to meditate on this week, and perhaps they will be to you, too.
Due to the amount of verses (I just counted up, and there are 33 references!), I’ve limited the quotations to just the ones dealing specifically with our relationship with Christ.
There’s still a lot, though. 🙂
Farewell Spit, July 2015
“…blessed us with all spiritual blessings…in Christ…” (Eph. 1:3)
“… chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Eph. 1:4)
“…he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Eph. 1:6)
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins…” (Eph. 1:7)
“In whom…we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated…” (Eph. 1:11)
“In whom…after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise…” (Eph. 1:13)
“…the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power…wrought in Christ…” (Eph. 1:19-20)
“…quickened [made us alive] together with Christ…” (Eph. 2:5)
“…raised us up…and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:6)
“…we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…” (Eph. 2:10)
“…now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13)
“…to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace…” (Eph. 2:15)
Farewell Spit, July 2015
“…through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Eph. 2:18)
“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:22)
“…strengthened with might by his Spirit…rooted and grounded in love…” (Eph. 3:16-17)
“May be able to comprehend…the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge…filled with all the fulness of God.” (Eph. 3:18-19)
“…him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Eph. 3:20)
“…the truth is in Jesus…” (Eph. 4:21)
“…for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light…” (Eph. 5:8)
I love all the promises here! We are blessed, chosen, accepted. We have redemption, forgiveness, and an inheritance we can’t even imagine. We have been sealed, made alive, raised up, brought near, built, strengthened, rooted and grounded in love…and the list goes on! I have to wonder what this list would look like if one were to go through the entire New Testament—and what about the promises in the Old Testament?
In Christ, we have been given everything. God is so good! I love how through all these verses the emphasis is always on the Lord doing this; it’s not us, or anything we have done. It’s HIM. All Jesus.
And I’ll close with one final one, which also happens to be the last one I copied out, too!
“…be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Eph. 6:10)
How has the Lord been speaking to you through His Word this week?
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