Be Found in Him

J.J. Stark

March 2016

Week 10

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study – (IBS)

Be Found in Him

“And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” – Philippians 3:9 (NKJV)

As a human being, and as a descendant of Adam and Eve whose disobedience disconnected the human race from God’s perfect design, my natural desire is to try to fill the gap between myself and the Lord.  Because of my sinful blindness, what I usually try to fill that gap with mostly are not the things of Christ.  One of those things is identity…and I am not the only one who struggles with this.  Since the Fall of man, all of humanity has battled this because we are not naturally apart of Christ body, and sin has separated us from His perfection.  But why this is such a fight for we as humans, is that we are still ultimately made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  The deepest part of the soul knows this, and also that true peace and perfection can only “be found in Him,” our Creator.  Thankfully though, the God who creates everything, who created me, has a compassion and a desire so great that He sent His One and only Son – Jesus Christ – to this earth in flesh, to die and rise again, so that I and all the rest of humanity now has the chance return to perfection through His precious cleansing blood.  My identity and, as the apostle Paul says, “my own righteousness, which is from the law,” is no longer of this world, “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”  Who am I, to think that I am anything without Him, that my own righteousness carries any weight or meaning?  By releasing my self, the Lord then takes me captive and back to Himself, so that if anyone is looking for me, I can “be found in Him.”

Application:  Today, I will find passages on being in Christ.