Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me . . . are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

— Romans 16:7

The text that has shaped our month’s devotions (2 Corinthians 5:17) has an important, little phrase that shows up again here, in Romans 16:7: “in Christ.”This phrase is one of the apostle Paul’s favorite descriptions of people who have come to believe in the Lord Jesus, are redeemed in him, and are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. They are “in Christ.” Christ is their home, their resting place, their source of life.Today it is more common to say that these people are Christians. Paul said that they are “in Christ.”Andronicus and Junia are new creations “in Christ,” along with all of the other people Paul mentions in Romans 16. And, according to Paul, they were believers “in Christ” before Paul himself was. In addition, their “in Christ” character led them to follow Christ into imprisonment alongside Paul. Their service for the Lord was so remarkable that Paul described them as “outstanding among the apostles.”How did these two people become “in Christ”? God drew them into faith in Jesus, the one and only Savior. God’s love for them turned them into people who loved God. The Lord made them into new creations. And their transformation hints at something big: God’s new creation!Thank God with me if he has done that for you too!

Thank you, God, for your work in all who are “in Christ,” from the early days of the church to the present. We are all your new creations! Amen.