Being in Christ is the best location in life. To be in Christ, is to be a part of His body, the church Colossians 1:18). What are some of the benefits to be obtained in Christ? Let us explore them together this week.

In general, all blessings are found in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with eve-ry spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Notice, every spiritual blessing is found in one place, that is, in Christ. If every spiritual blessing is found in Christ, how many are there for those who are outside of Christ? The answer is obvi-ous. If you are outside of Christ, you have never experienced a spiritual blessing. Yes, God blesses everyone physically. Jesus once said that the Father “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). This just proves how gracious God is. However, some blessings are reserved for those who are a part of God’s family. This should not be too surprising. Do we not also reserve special demonstrations of our love for our families, even though we love all mankind? God is no different in that regard.

What are some of the blessings experienced only by those in Christ? To begin with, a relation-ship with God. Being in fellowship with God is a wonderful blessing that should bring us great joy. In fact, John referred to it as full joy (1 John 1:4). It is this blessing that leads to all the other ones that are of a spiritual nature. The spiritual blessings are kept back from those in the world specifically because they have no relationship with God. As Christians, we should regularly ex-press to God how much we appreciate having a relationship with Him.

What about prayer? We know that prayer is a blessing that cannot be utilized by those outside of Christ, for God does not hear those in sin.

John 9:31 (ESV)
³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

Are you not glad, if you are in Christ, that God listens to you? You can prayer anytime, anywhere, and God will hear. Through prayer we can find grace to help us in times of need (Hebrews 4:16), overcome temptation (Matthew 26:41), and even receive physical blessings by asking God for them (Matthew 7:7).

Another blessing that you enjoy, if you are in Christ, is ongoing access to the cleansing blood of Christ (1 John 1:7). Without this, we could have no hope of heaven. Since we all sin from time to time, we need a way to receive God’s forgiveness. Our part is to repent and pray to God about it (Acts 8:22). When we do this, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, and our relationship with God is restored.

If you are a Christian, you should be glad that you have a relationship with Christ. We may not be the richest, most popular, or well-respected people in the world, but we have something far bet-ter—a relationship with God. What could be greater than that? Be thankful.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.