"Life in Him..."

Positioning is critical. It may be a bit of a stretch but, when playing a team sport, a player must know the position they play. Knowing your position helps you to know your role on the team and your responsibility for knowing what to do.
 
It is an important detail for the apostle Paul to help the Thessalonian church, as well as all the other churches he wrote to to know their position before God. What does it mean for a church, like the Thessalonian church, to be “...in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”1 Thessalonians 1:1?

We mentioned on Sunday that as believers in the Lord Jesus we are “in Him”. We have life in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Acts 17:27-28 that “...in  Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Now, remember who He  is. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things and the One who is  upholding all things with His power. (See: Hebrews 1:2-3) That means that everything, every  detail of our lives is right now being sustained by Him...every heart beat,  every breath, every cell in our the system of our body is being continually sustained by Him, every molecule in the universe is being sustained and held together by the One who spoke it into existence. 

If, for some reason He were  to take away His sustaining power...everything about life would cease. We exist only because of His  grace...that goes for every human being in this world, whether they believe in Him or not. And it also applies to every other part of this world and universe. He sustains all things by the word of His power. 

So we need Jesus. We need to be found in Him. 1 John 5:12 says "He that has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life." We need to put our faith in His sacrificial death and His resurrection life. He is the One who rose from the dead, He conquered sin, death and the grave. John 5:21 tells us "For as the Father raised the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will."

One more thing to add to this position...is that when we are in Christ there is no condemnation. Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..." As a believer you stand in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus...you are no longer condemned. "...having been justified by faith...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:2  This gives a believer ASSURANCE.

The apostle Paul sums it up in Colossians 3:3-4 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

Jesus Christ is our life.