What had to happen before a person could be placed in Christ?
Before a person could be placed in Christ, they had to be identified with His death. When Christ died, God saw every believer on the cross in the person of Christ, crucified with Him. That identification with His death preceded being placed into Christ.
Les explains that when Christ died, God saw every one of us on the cross in the person of Christ. He died in our place, and God saw us crucified with Him, as Galatians 2 declares: 'I have been crucified with Christ.' Just as God saw us on the cross, He also saw us in the tomb, buried with Him—not by water baptism, but by God's own determination. For those who believe and appropriate it, God says we are dead, crucified, and buried with Christ. Then we are also resurrected with Him to a new life, totally different people by the power of His resurrection. This placement in Christ is a God thing, accomplished in the invisible realm by His omnipotence and omniscience. So before being placed in Christ, a person had to be identified with His death.