Alive in Christ or Dead in the Tomb?

    I feel like I sometimes over complicate the heart of the Gospel. I try and find fancy ways to explain it or give "Christianese" answers with words I sometimes don't completely grasp the meaning of. While journaling I started focusing on 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. 

    For the love of Christ control us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

    Can we first acknowledge that last part there? "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf". Um WOAH! That is some crazy, deep love! I love people but I know I couldn't love like that. I couldn't even willingly give up my not-so-innocent son to die for anybody. (What? Of course my kids are perfect angels.. aren't yours?) But really. So here we have God who we are separated from at this point because of sin; sin that we (because we all know if it wasn't Adam and Eve, one of us would have been the next fool) as humans,  defied God and caused our own separation from Him. Yet here He willingly sends His son, His heart, down to earth to reconcile us to Himself. The words says that Jesus who knew no sin, BECAME sin. He didn't just die for our sins but to BE SIN. I don't even want to know what that was like and because my sins died with Him, I don't have to. Our sins died when Christ died. (and that's not even the best part.) When He arose, He was sanctified! He was made new and we confess that this is the truth and we willingly choose to live in Christ, we too become sanctified! (purified or cleansed)

    If we look at versus 14-15, it says, "that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf." Each one of us has the choice to live in Christ or live for self. Those who choose to live for self are still dead in the tomb. They are spiritually laying there rotting in the dark, shrouded by sin. They're spiritually bound by death and separated from God. Those who choose to live for Christ become alive in Christ! They are a new creation. They walk in the freedom of Christ and are clothed in the righteousness of God. But what does the phrase living in Christ mean? Christ derives from the Greek word Chritos meaning "the anointed one" or "the chosen one." So living in Christ means we are living in His anointing. We are living as His chosen ones through Christ. Like I said, crazy, deep love.

[I had a thought I wanted to add in..  I feel like there are those of us that are sitting in the tomb and looking out. The stone is rolled aside and the light is coming in, but we're so comfortable and familiar in our pain that we don't let go of it. We soothe ourselves with what we know or what the world is telling us is safe and okay. We don't attempt to get up and walk out to something that is so much more. Let me say it... We cannot receive the freedom if we're clinging to the bondage. Freedom lifts us up, and bondage weighs us down.]

This part I love.. 

     Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and have us the ministry of reconciliation, namely God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrong doings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

God give us His word.. His promise that we are reconciled to Him by way of Jesus. When we choose to believe and follow Christ out of that tomb, we are anointed with a promise that we are HIS. He no longer sees sin on us, but He sees His children!! CRAZY, DEEP LOVE! We then have the privilege to be ambassadors of this promise. He wants us to be anointed as His children just because He loves us. He wants us to be with Him and to live in the wonderful, beautiful, crazy, deep love that He has for us. THAT is God's desire.