Stop Begging for Scraps: Understanding Your Position in Christ
Have you ever felt like you’re on the outside looking in when it comes to your relationship with God? Like you’re constantly trying to get God’s attention or pull Him into the moments of your life? Many of us live as if God randomly shows up in our lives—celebrating when we get that “rockstar parking” but wondering where He was when that “yahoo was cutting us off in traffic.”
What if I told you that’s not how God designed your relationship with Him to work at all?
Your Position Is IN Christ
As we begin our new series called “Position,” I want to dive into what Paul is teaching the church in Ephesus about where they belong. In Ephesians 1, Paul repeatedly emphasizes one crucial truth: believers are positioned IN Christ.
Look at how often Paul uses this phrase in Ephesians 1:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:3-4)
“In him we have redemption through his blood…” (Ephesians 1:7)
“In him we have obtained an inheritance…” (Ephesians 1:11)
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…” (Ephesians 1:13)
Paul is trying to help the Ephesians realize where they are. “You’re not on the outside looking in. You’re not on the outskirts of things trying to get and to evoke God’s power and evoke God’s love to invoke his presence in you. No, you are in him, not outside.”
What Being “In Christ” Means for You
When you understand you are in Christ, everything changes. You’re not trying to pull God into your life; you’re realizing you’re already in His life. Here’s what this means:
1. You Are Redeemed by His Blood
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
This is present tense that continues forever. “There is never a point that I am not redeemed until I decide not to be redeemed because I’m in Christ. And as long as I’m in Christ, I’m redeemed.”
2. You Have Forgiveness of Sins
As long as you’re in Christ, “he is still going to forgive my trespasses. He’s still going to forgive my failures, my the times that I’ve done the wrong things, when I’ve become angry, when I become jealous, when I become frustrated.”
3. You Have Wisdom and Knowledge
“He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will” (Ephesians 1:8-9).
When you know where you are in Christ, “you’re not going to be in chaos any longer.” The church of Ephesus was dealing with situations because they forgot their position. “The outside world was coming and trying to bring chaos and confusion into their life… And Paul says, just remember your position. Then you’re not going to be confused.”
4. You Are United With Christ and Others
“To unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).
Unity is one of Paul’s major focuses. “When we are united, there is nothing that can stand against the church that is united… In Christ, you are united.”
5. You Have an Inheritance
“In him we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1:11).
“God is not squandering your inheritance… As long as we identify, as long as we continue to position ourselves in Christ, he says, ‘You have an inheritance. You have something to look forward to.'”
6. You Are Sealed with the Holy Spirit
“In him you also… were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
“We are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. It’s sealed. It’s done deal. We don’t lose our inheritance. We don’t lose our position. We choose to walk away from our position.”
Seated with Christ in Heavenly Places
But there’s more! Paul doesn’t just tell us we’re in Christ – he tells us where Christ is:
“God raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named” (Ephesians 1:20-21).
Think about it: If you are in Christ, and Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father with all authority, then you are positioned with Him in that place of authority!
“He’s pulled us into the throne with him, into the heavenly places with him. He says, ‘Where I want you to reside, even while you’re here on earth, I want you to reside with me on the throne.'”
Stop Begging for Scraps
Too many of us live like we’re begging God for scraps. We’re saying, “Jesus, if you would just heal my sins, oh Jesus, would you just free me?” We’re begging Him to toss us scraps.
“We become comfortable with scraps. We become comfortable with this just mediocrity. But he said in us is the fullness of him in this body.”
What does fullness mean? “We have everything we need. Why? Because we’re positioned with Christ.”
Jesus doesn’t want you “out there begging, ‘Oh, God, please see what I’m dealing with. Please see my struggles.'” He’s saying, “You’re supposed to have all of them. You’re supposed to be here with me already. And as you have a need, because I know who you are, I’m going to meet all those needs according to my riches and my glory.”
Life Application: Remember Your Position
If you don’t remember anything else from this message, remember this: You belong with Christ. As Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they may all be one. Father, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.”
The problem isn’t your moments of weakness, confusion, chaos, depression, or anxiety. “The problem is you forgot your position. You forgot where you belong. You belong here.”
When we remember our position in Christ:
- We stop fighting battles we don’t need to fight
- We stop living in chaos and confusion
- We stop begging for scraps and start living in the fullness of Christ
- We see things clearly because we’re in the light
Over these next several weeks, we’ll talk about various positions. “But can I tell you, if you don’t learn this position, none of the other ones will make any sense to you. We have to know where we are.”
Where are you positioned today? Are you trying to live life on your own, occasionally tagging God in when things get tough? Or are you resting in your position in Christ, seated with Him in heavenly places?
Remember: “The true blessing happens in the relationship with him, in the closeness, in the proximity of my Jesus.”