In Christ
By John Gavazzoni

The personhood of Christ is the containment field of all being. The being which we all have, according to Paul, is within the Being of God: "For in Him we live and move and have our being." Paul made that statement to the very philosophically-minded Greeks that he addressed on Mars Hill, and by that statement he affirmed that those to whom he was speaking (unbelievers) were included along with himself in having such a Source of Being. ("....WE....have our being.") Taking the whole of Paul's teaching re: the Primal Origin (Barth) of the universality of being, it is clear that he understood all humanity to be in God, in Christ.

Paul affirmed that our being within the Being of God is specifically within Christ, within God, so that mankind has been granted by the grace of divine generation, a participation in the Father being in the Son, and the Son being in the Father. We are all THERE. That we suffer from an eonian disconnect from that eternal reality, only underscores the truth. If our present existential condition was native to who we really are, we would not be suffering. There is what I have called an existential ACTUALITY that that is alien to our REALITY within Christ. By "within Christ," I mean that all that He is, including the entirety of His human experience from incarnation to glorification, accrues to us, and is experienced in the here and now by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit being the dynamic of the fellowship of the saints. "US" to Paul is particularly true of believers, but not exclusively true.

Note the difference. We believers are particularly, but not exclusively within Christ. Particularity does not imply exclusivity. The principle is found in St. John's statement: "And He is the propitiation for our sins, BUT NOT for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." Also, we go back to Paul: "...God, who is the Savior of ALL men, especially/particularly of them that believe." Our particularity, or if you prefer, our especiality/specialness lies in having been MADE to see and MADE to believe what is true, real and genuine.

Thus to be in the state of being dead in trespasses and sins, is integral to being within Christ, within His death, awaiting that due time when it is given to each man to realize being within His resurrection also, that resurrection that leads to the glorification of all flesh. The only difference between the believer and unbeliever, is that the former has been granted the light to see within Whom He dwells, while the latter, having the same native dwelling place, is blind to the same. There is no being outside of Christ. There is nothing outside of Christ. In fact, there is no nothing. There is no "place" one can go where God is not, and wherever we find Him, there we are within Him.