In two places at the one time
I ran across this comparison recently in Ephesians 1:1 — “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” ESV. Notice the two prepositions “in”. The saints are both “in Ephesus” and “in Christ Jesus”; in two positions or places at the one time. Some commentators believe that the letter was sent around to various churches, as the words “in Ephesus” are in a later hand in some manuscripts or are a blank space in others. So it could be “in Adelaide” or “in Seattle” or “in [your town]“.
Coming to grips with this paradox is perhaps the most important thing we can do as Christian believers. You probably have no doubt where you are right now as read this as far as physical location is concerned, but are you convinced that you are “in Christ Jesus” at this very moment too?
In an article reprinted in In Christ: The Classics [inchristclassics.com] Andrew Murray says that if we doubt this truth we should “let your first thought be to say, Now, at this moment, I do abide in Jesus… The feeblest can, each single moment, say, as he consents to occupy his place as a branch in the vine, “Yes, I do abide in Christ.”
May 13th, 2010 at 8:18 am
mr wade you should take a look at facebook u find alot of believer on face book and i got a question. you know a guy name davidweekly his wife was from pittsburgh pa. charlie godart is looking for here she stayed in dorea pa where she was a wow had aroomate name tajar
May 13th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Sidney, I do not known David Weekly; I believe that was after my stay in the US. Yes, there are a lot of believers on Facebook and Twitter, etc. Its time we’re short of! Blessings!