Jesus Christ our Representative

I have some things I want to write about the book of Joel, having just read it recently, but for now I think I’ll continue our thinking from the previous post related to the book of Joshua.

In verse 3 of chapter 1, God says to Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have give you, as I said to Moses.” God obviously isn’t promising the land of Canaan to Joshua only. He is promising it to the whole nation, but He is giving it to them through a representative who claims it for the people.

Now before you go on, if you haven’t read the previous posts it would be a good idea to do that. These incidents we are looking at in the conquest of Canaan is not just history lesson. There is a practical application and picture for us who are Christians. Look back over the previous lessons to see that Jordan and Canaan are not pictures of death and heaven as is usually thought, but of living a blessed and victorious life for Christ.

Just as Joshua was given the promised land as a representative of the people, so Jesus Christ was given all blessings as our representative. It’s not a matter of imposing more law upon ourselves, but a matter of believing what has already been done and given.

We’re not going to be able to study this in detail, but look at the book of Ephesians as an example. Ephesians 1:3 says we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Notice the phrase “in Christ”. Every spiritual blessing has been given us. That means nothing is lacking.

Consider the following verse in Ephesians:

1:4 chosen us in Him

1:6 accepted in Him

1:7 redemption in Him

1:11 we have obtained an inheritance in Him

2:5 made alive with Christ

2:6 raised us up with Him

2:7 God is kind to us in Him

This can make a very profitable study for someone who wants to dig a little to work it all out. Christ’s righteousness and death and resurrection are all attributed to us by faith. We are already in a position of victory whether we feel like it or not. We need to accept and believe what God has given us in Christ and live our lives in light of those truths.