Union with Christ

We're on lesson number three tonight in soteriology. In week one, we looked at election. Week two, we looked at calling, which you could kind of call election part two, essentially. And tonight we're looking at the doctrine of union with Christ. It is a glorious doctrine. It deals with how the very person and work of Christ becomes ours. And it's the broadest topic in all of soteriology. It's a deep well. So we've got a lot of ground to cover tonight, but we'll get it done. Now let's start with Bible point number one.

Union with Christ is the central — that's the first point — the central truth of Christianity. It's what Christianity is all about, is union with Christ. Union with Christ encompasses and describes all of soteriology. Everything that we discuss in soteriology is union with Christ. We are elect, for example, in Christ Jesus, right? We are sanctified in Christ Jesus, right? We will be glorified in Christ Jesus. So it's a broad term that covers every bit of soteriology.

From election to glorification is covered in soteriology. Union with Christ explains how Christ's person and work is shared — shared is the second blank — with believers — believers is the third blank.

How Christ's person and work is shared with believers by the Spirit. In other words, how is Christ's person and work given to us? It's given to us via what we call union with Christ. Want to point out Colossians 1:26–27.

This is a key passage for understanding all of Scripture. When Paul is writing to the Colossians, he's trying to take the Old Testament Scriptures and show what the focus of them is all about, which is Christ. And how from the very beginning, the whole storyline of Scripture is about Christ, Christ coming to save us. We see this in chapter one, verse 26 and 27. The mystery — Pastor has been preaching about the mystery of Christ two Sundays ago, and he's going to be preaching about this Sunday. A mystery is something that was hidden, but now it's revealed, right? He says, "The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, to them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." In other words, this mystery from the very beginning, it's all about God giving His Son a people to save. And this people was broad from the very beginning. Yes, the Messiah would come through Israel, but what did God promise Abraham? That through you, all the nations, all the world would be blessed. It was always meant to be broad, not just narrow, right?

And the hope of this is that we get to be restored to where we were back before the fall, right? And in even greater capacity, because Christ now dwells within us. It's not just that we walk in the coolness of the garden with God, it's that we live daily in Christ and Christ lives in us. That's what the hope of glory is all about.

Application for number one. What is Scripture? Remember when we studied bibliology, what did we say that Scripture was? That in essence, according to what Paul writes to Timothy, it's God's breath, right? It's God-breathed. It is the word of God.

What is Scripture, and what — or who — is the great theme — theme is a blank — of Scripture?

The great theme of Scripture is Christ, right? We see it in shadows, we see it in mystery in the old covenant, and then we see it revealed in Christ Jesus in the new covenant.

Bible point number two, Scripture speaks of three unions of Christ. The first one, there is an eternal triune relationship of the Godhead, when the Father gave the Son a people to save for His glory. When theologians talk about this union, it's speaking of how God consists of one essence, but three persons, right? That is a union, right? Christ is united to the Father and is united to the Spirit. That is the triunity of God.

Secondly, there is Christ's union with humanity in the incarnation. That is a second blank, which enabled Him to assume the penalty of man's sin and fully satisfy God's justice. When Christ came into this world, the divine person of Christ took on what? Humanity, right? It's one person with two natures, with the divine nature and now a human nature. That is a union, right?

And because of that, He was able to perfectly fulfill God's righteous requirements on our behalf. He was able to die in our place as a man, to pay our penalty, to be our substitute.

To assume the penalty of man's sin and fully satisfy God's divine justice. Jesus thus removed all external obstacles to man's return to God. An internal obstacle, however, still remained, and that's man's evil affections and will, the consequent guilt of man's soul. This last obstacle, Christ removes by uniting Himself to His people — that's the third blank — by His Spirit.

And this is a union that we're focusing on here, where Christ unites Himself to His people to save them, right? This is what we call union with Christ. John 14:20, Jesus says, "I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also." In connection with us, we share in Christ's life, right?

And all that — I'm sorry — at that day, you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. You in Me and I in you. That's what union with Christ is all about. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. It's a mutual indwelling. It's a personal penetration of the Spirit of Christ with our spirit, right?

The application is this. How does union with Christ remove our guilt?

When we're united to Christ, what happens? He takes all of our guilt. He takes all of our shame. He takes all of our unrighteousness. And what does He give us? His righteousness, His merits. Martin Luther was trying to explain, 500 years ago, the imputed righteousness of Christ in a letter to someone who was still in the Catholic church. And in doing so, he tells a little parable. He says, "Think of a prostitute who's had a life of abuse, lives in the gutter, whatnot.

"And let's say a king meets her and decides to set his love upon her. She is not worthy of the king. She's not worthy of the court. She's a lowlife, so to speak. But he decides to make her his wife." And so what he does, he takes her dirty clothes and gives her a royal robe, right, to make her queen.

She is impoverished, living that kind of lifestyle. But what does he do? He gives her royal riches, right? She doesn't deserve that, but she's given it and it becomes hers, part of divine right, in her union with the king, right? And so she is made and raised up to his status, right? As the queen, she may not know how to act properly in the king's court, right? But that's what sanctification is about, right? God gradually conforms us to the person of Jesus Christ. But we are given His stature, His standing, His righteousness, His wealth, all of His royal benefits, right?

The application — oh, I'm sorry, we just did the application. Bible point number three. Union with Christ is the act of God, whereby every believer is graciously united to Christ the Savior. It begins with Christ and it ends with Christ. All of soteriology, from start to last, is the work of God. It's not the work of man. God does this. God imparts Himself to us in Christ.

As parents, when you have gifts from your kids — the greatest gift that you can get from your kids, especially when they grow older, like my kids are, they're all grown and live in different cities — the greatest gift that you can have is them coming and visiting you, right? It's imparting themselves, sharing themselves with you, right? What greater could God give you than Himself, right? So union with Christ is God imparting Himself to us in Christ, filling and blessing us by His Spirit and forever possessing us as His own chosen and beloved people.

He gives us all of who He is in Christ and gives Christ to us. And He says, you're Mine. You're My special people. You're espoused to Christ as the church. And therefore you can call upon Me as Father, right? You can have all My blessings, all the benefits that Christ earned and you don't deserve, but I'm freely lavishing it upon you.

Believers are interpenetrated and energized by the Spirit of Christ while maintaining their own individuality and personal distinctiveness. That simply means that we're not absorbed into God. It's not that, like some religions — for example, the Hindu religion is the erasing of yourself and you are absorbed into the Brahman, you go to this higher plane, so to speak, and your personal existence is erased. Not at all. God created you and He wants to relate to you, right? That's what union is — you and Him and He and you. You're not erased, you're brought into fellowship with Christ.

Union with Christ is a mutual — this is a second blank — mutual indwelling where the believer lives in Christ and Christ lives in the believer. That's the greatest fact that you can say about any Christian. It isn't that you attend church. It isn't that you have a particular creed or a particular lifestyle. You are in Christ and Christ is in you.

In the New Testament, how many times is the name Christian mentioned?

Three times, exactly right. And those are actually usually, we believe culturally, given as a way of putting people down.

It wasn't a compliment to be called a Christian in Rome at all.

There are many different descriptions of believers. They're called saints, right? But the one that stands out the most is saying that you are in Christ. Paul writes many letters and he'll say to the believers who are in Christ Jesus, right? When you look at Paul's letters, about 160 times he says that you are in Christ. When you look at all the others, all together it comes up to about 200, okay? When you look at all the variations of that — of Christ in you and you in Christ and you're in Him or in whom — it's over 300 times in the New Testament. That is what people are known by, right? A Christian is one who is in Christ and Christ is in him.

This union is not merely a conveyance of divine blessing. In other words, yes, we receive all these blessings because we are in Christ Jesus, but it's not just that God is playing Santa Claus and dispensing gifts, but it's a vital union with the personal, risen, living, omnipresent, omnipotent Lord. In other words, it is God Almighty wanting a relationship with you and joining Himself to you in the person of Jesus Christ.

It's incredible when you think about it. Why me? What is man that You are mindful of him? That's what Scripture says, right?

1 Corinthians 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." The word joined there means concreted, right?

When you are in Christ, you are bound fast to Him forever and you cannot be ripped away, right? What does Jesus say? That no one can take you from My Father's hand or My hand, right? Father's hand is the greatest you can conceive, right? And so you are safe in the arms of Jesus. You're concreted to Him. You're one spirit with Him.

Application is this. Are you in awe — is the blank — that Christ has united Himself to you?

So many different religions have such a horrible view of God. You know, you look at Allah and Allah basically wants you as a slave. That's why you were created. Brahman in the Hindu religion views you as nothing and inconsequential, and you need to be erased and join the one presence, so to speak. It's the erasure of yourself. God made you perfectly, fashioned you for union with His Son.

Bible point number four, union with Christ is a spiritual union. Spiritual is not a physical union. It's not an imaginary or intellectual union. It is a spiritual union between Christ and the believer in which Christ is the only source of salvation, life, and blessedness. He's the only source of salvation. He's the only source of life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Where else would you find life? I hope people look everywhere but Christ, right?

They come up high and dry.

There is no — that's the blank — no salvation apart from being united with Christ the Savior. Savior is the third blank. It's only the Savior who gives us salvation. If you're not united to Him, you're going to hell in a hand basket, okay? You're an object of His wrath. But if you're united to Him, God sees you in the same manner that He regards His Son — the same favor, the same love, the same esteem that He has for His Son is who He sees you as.

Union with Christ is only possible through faith by the working of the Holy Spirit. We talked about in election, faith is a gift of God, right? It's the Holy Spirit who regenerates our hearts. And in that regeneration, we are said to be born from above, born again, given a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. That's the Holy Spirit bringing us into union with Christ where we are spiritually one with Him. We can't see it, but it's a reality — as much as you are standing in front of me, Mike, or sitting in front of me, it's that real, right?

2 Peter 1:2–4 says this: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us" — it's by His power — "all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him, through Christ, who called us by His own glory and virtue, by which we have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature." We share in Christ's nature, we share in His person through the promises, through faith, right? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The application for number four is this: is union with Christ by our heritage and/or our works — works is the blank? Can you earn your way into union with Christ? Are you born into union with Christ? "But my parents, though — they were godly and they took me to church. Doesn't that count for something? Don't I get points? I was baptized as an infant, doesn't that matter?"

No, it doesn't. It's not by heritage, it's not by works, it's by grace through faith, right?

Bible point number five, believers live — that's the first blank — in Christ. In Christ points to the Savior in His work for us. For is the second blank. This is Christ's life, death, burial, and resurrection. All that Christ came to this world to do is what it means to be in Christ. He obeyed the Father perfectly for us. So when we're in Christ, we are the recipients of all of His merits, right? All of the righteousness that He earned, so to speak, that He proved, is ours, right? The same with His death. When Christ died on the cross, we died.

In other words, we're dead now to sin. Can a dead man be punished anymore?

Can a dead man have debts collected against him? No, right? The law has no more hold on you when you have died to the law, right? When Christ rose again from the dead, His resurrection is ours if we're in Christ, right? We are given new life — that new life is now, right? We have a down payment of these heavenly realities with the Holy Spirit who abides within us, right? And just as Christ ascended into heaven, we also will one day ascend to heaven. The Bible says even now we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. As He reigns, we reign. We reign in this life — that's what the Scriptures tell us, right? And we will reign with Him forever. His work is ours, His person is ours. And that's what it means to be in Christ Jesus. I always like to illustrate this with an airplane.

When you fly in an airplane, you take what is true of the airplane and you credit it to yourself, right?

Caleb, I know you may be going to Oklahoma again soon — you do some business over there. If you had to walk to Oklahoma, how long would it take you?

Probably a month. (Laughter)

But when you fly there, what was it? Four hours or so? It's like a two-hour flight. Yeah.

You think you fly pretty fast as you go over there? Probably about 500 miles per hour. Yeah. Do you actually fly 500 miles an hour? But the plane does, and you're in the plane, but you can say that you flew because the plane flies, right? What's true of the plane is true of you. What's true of Christ is true of every believer. And if we are in Christ, we receive all of His merits, all of His blessings, and all of His benefits.

2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." Just as Christ rose from the grave and He rose differently, right? His body is now a glorified body, right? We have risen from the grave. We now serve a Master with new powers that we didn't have before, right? Our hearts have changed, our affections have changed, right? We're created in the image of Christ now. We are in the second Adam, in Christ.

"He is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." I encourage you, when you go through your Bibles, whenever you see in Christ or in Him or in the Beloved, underline it.

You'll be surprised, it'll open up Scriptures in a whole new way for you. I always tell people that you have three epiphanies. One is when you come to faith in Christ Jesus, your world changes, right? Your second epiphany is when you realize the providence of God — that every aspect of your life is in His hand and He's working all things for good for you. And that changes your outlook on things, right? When you grasp union with Christ, that's what it means to be in Christ — that changes everything. It changes the way you think about God.

You don't have to earn His favor, you already have His favor, right? It changes the way that you preach the gospel because you're not selling fire insurance. You're not giving people some steps to do to order their life. What you're doing is you're inviting them to know Jesus Christ. You're inviting them into the triune fellowship that Christ has paved the way for us to enjoy, right? And it changes the way you view yourself because now you say, I know that I have the full favor of God. I haven't done anything to merit it, it's just lavished upon me. That's the kind of God that I serve, right?

Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are what? In Christ. Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit," right? Because we're in Christ, we don't have to worry about condemnation anymore.

Application for number five, where do you live?

What is your true address?

Sean, I know you all are in the midst of a move right now, but is that really where you live?

Our true life is in Christ, right? We may say, "Well, I live on Glad Ruby Point." No, I live in Christ. That's what distinguishes us as Christians, right? Is that we live in Christ and He lives within us.

Bible point number six, the believer's life in Christ is celebrated in baptism. Baptism is the blank here. In other words, it's pictured — the idea of us being in Christ is pictured in baptism. What do we say? One is buried into Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. Well, our life is — we've died and we've been hidden in Christ and God, right? What a beautiful picture that is. It's as if we're submerged into Christ. And because we are in Christ, covered by Him, as you're covered by the waters of baptism,

Satan's arrows can't hit you, can they? Accusations can fly, but they can't touch you, right? And you hear the voice of the Father that we heard at the Mount of Transfiguration, that we heard at Christ's baptism, where He says, "This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased." God loves you and He's pleased with you because you are in Christ Jesus.

Application.

Oh, well, let me read Galatians 3:26–27. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." In other words, it's a symbol of being in Christ. It's a symbol of putting on His righteous robes. I always refer to the parable of the prodigal son. When he returns, he smells like a pig. He's been lying with the pigs and eating their food, right? And he comes to beg for his father's forgiveness. So what does his father do? Puts on the best robe, puts a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, kisses his neck, slays the fatted calf. My son who is dead, he's now alive, right? So you're given the father's favor. You're given the father's esteem, the father's love when you're baptized into Christ, right?

That's why as Baptists, we believe that we should only baptize believers. If you were to baptize an unbeliever, even a child who has not expressed faith in Christ Jesus, what you're doing is saying this one is united to Christ. This one is in Christ. Would you take a Satanist who's unrepentant and baptize him? No, because they are not in Christ, right? So the symbol must match our profession, right? If not, we are bearing witness to a lie, right?

I'm sorry, application number six. Does baptism unite you to Christ the Savior?

In other words, when you are put under water, does that mean that you are in union with Christ because you've been baptized? No. No. That's a symbol, right? But it's a symbol of the faith that you've already confessed. And we actually see that right where we read in Galatians: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Baptism presupposes that you've already expressed faith, right, in Christ Jesus. If you have not expressed faith, all you do is get wet when you get put into the water, right?

Bible point number seven, Christ lives in believers. Just as we said in Bible point five, that believers live in Christ. Here's the flip side of that coin. Christ lives in believers. Christ in you points to the Savior in His work in us. Just as us living in Christ points towards Christ's work for us, this points to Christ's work inside of us, okay? Christ does not work upon believers from without, as one separated from us, but works from within us. When we are regenerated, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us, right? He changes our heart, gives us new affections, a new desire to love God, imparts faith into us, right? And starts remodeling our hearts, if you will. Starts making us conformed into the image of Christ Jesus.

I want to give you a picture that may help you understand this. Think about — well, here in the news today, with Charlie Kirk getting shot — my understanding is right after he was shot, they got him to the hospital and they did an infusion. What's an infusion? It's when you've had significant blood loss, right? And you can bleed out. Sometimes an infusion or transfusion can save your life, right? When you've lost a lot of blood and you can get to the hospital, they can stop the bleeding and put new blood in you, right? It transforms you. It brings life back to you, right? That's what Christ in us does. It transforms us from being cold and dead and hardened to being warm, to being alive, to having a heart of flesh and not a heart of stone.

Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul's talking about a man who's been transformed by Christ. Now Christ is living within him, animating him, changing him from the inside out, right? And we've all seen that. Hopefully every single one of you has seen that in your own life, right? Have you ever seen someone that had a Damascus road type of a conversion, right? We have some here in this church. Ken. What about Donovan, right?

Isn't that a testimony — what God does can change a man from the inside out?

Every single one of us, apart from Christ, we're wretched, right? Apart from Christ, we're vile, we're vulgar. He changes us, right? He changes us from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." Now, I've heard this preached wrongly, and they say, "Well, this is talking about fruit inspection. Look, see if you're bearing fruit." That's not what Paul's talking about here. He says, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." You could even say in Christ Jesus, right? In the faith means: are you believing that Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life, that He died in your place and that He rose again, and have you turned from sin and turned to Christ and accepted Him as your Lord? That's what being in the faith is. Are you in the faith? If you're in the faith, you're in Christ. He says, "Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified" — unless you're not saved, right? So if you are a Christian, Christ Jesus dwells in you and everywhere you go, you take Him with you. And that changes things, right? All of a sudden, you're not so comfortable around sin as you used to be, right? You feel guilt when you sin, whereas before, maybe you didn't, maybe you were hardened, right?

The application: do you not know — know is the blank — that Jesus Christ is in you? So we just read, "Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?" I want you to think about that as you go throughout your life. When you're about to curse someone, and you're about to mutter under your breath, when you're about to harbor a bitter thought, ask, does Christ dwell in me? And does He give me the power to overcome that? And the answer is yes. Christ is omnipotent, right? Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Bible point number eight, Christ in you is celebrated in communion.

The Lord Jesus gave us two ordinances, and they so beautifully match up with union with Christ. Baptism celebrates us being in Christ. Well, communion — what we just celebrated this past Sunday — celebrates Christ's life in us. Just as we need physical food to sustain our life, we need Christ to sustain our spiritual life, right?

Worshiping Him, thinking about what He did for us on the cross, His death, burial, and resurrection, His great love, thinking about His holiness, all the things that the cross shows us — these transform us, and that's real spiritual food that will nourish you. You can eat a hamburger or a hot dog, and man, it's great, and an hour or two later your stomach's rumbling, right? But when you feed on Christ, He satisfies.

1 Corinthians 10:16: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ" — the participation and the partaking of the blood of Christ — "the bread which we break, is it not the communion" — or participation, or koinonia, fellowship — "of the body of Christ?" In other words, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we're feeding our souls, and it's not that there's some magical power in the wafer and the grape juice, it's simply what they represent. It's the gospel pictured in front of us, right? And the gospel is what nourishes us.

The application: does observing communion unite you to Christ? No. You know there are some faiths that do. They believe that you'd better not miss the Eucharist, because you're going to lose your salvation if you don't.

Every group is different. I went to a Christian school and the priests they had officiating at the Lord's table there — because of their belief, if there was any wine left over, they didn't throw it out. They would guzzle it down, right? Because it was the sacrifice, essentially, right? And that's not what communion is. It pictures Christ's sacrifice, but it is not Christ's sacrifice, right? It does not unite us to Christ. It is God who unites us to Christ through faith, right? By His Spirit.

Bible point number nine, union with Christ is not just an individual union between a believer and Christ, but a collective union of all believers to Christ. Think back about the plane analogy. When you're flying on a commercial plane, are you alone?

No, there's usually, what, 100-some other people on the plane, right? You've got those up in first class and business class, and I'm sitting in the back by the peanut gallery, and they stick me by the restroom or something like that, but we're all in it together, right? So let's say you hit turbulence. It can be a scary thing. You experience that together, right? When you land safely, there's elation. People clap for the pilot, right? You know, you're all doing that together.

When we are in union with Christ, it's not just us as individuals, but it's the body of Christ as a whole, right? We gain brothers and sisters in Christ. We all call upon the same Father, right? We all have Christ as our elder Brother.

It's a collective union of all believers in Christ. This makes all believers a part of Christ's body, and therefore we are related to one another as brothers and sisters, calling on the same Father — Father is a second blank — and living our life for the same Lord. What a privilege to walk through life with brothers and sisters in Christ, to encourage one another, to pray for one another, to exhort one another, right? We need that, and what a blessing that is. Even for brothers and sisters that we don't see that often, but maybe we see them at a Bible conference, there's an instant connection, right, with them, and an instant joy, because you know that Christ is in them — no different than Elizabeth and Mary, the babies leaping in their womb, right?

That same sense of Christian fellowship between brothers and sisters is the sweetest thing, one of the greatest gifts that we have.

John 17:20–23, Jesus says, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word." This is Christ praying for not only His disciples, but for us, because we believe in Christ through the disciples' word. "That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." Our unity is one of the greatest witnesses of Christ.

If we're backbiting, if we are in dissension, what are people going to think about Christ? What are people going to think about the faith that we adhere to, right? If we can't get along within our own church, right?

Verse 22 — I'm sorry, yes, verse 22 — "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one." He shares His glory with us collectively as the church. "I in them and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me." One key thing to remember when it comes to union with Christ is that God views the church as the apple of His eye, right?

He loves the church. He died for the church, right? So shouldn't we?

The application for number nine, how does living for Christ lead to loving His bride?

Can you love Christ but hate His bride?

If you spoke ill of my wife, you're not loving me, right?

Because we're one, right? So it's the same with the bride of Christ. We love Christ, we will love His bride and do everything we can to minister to her, to support her, to build her up, to treasure her.

Bible point number 10, union with Christ was central to Christ's life and ministry. Christ taught so much about union with Christ, and once you see it, your eyes can't unsee it. Look at John chapter six. Remember Jesus had fed the multitudes bread. You're like, man, this is good. It's like Auntie Anne's pretzels — they wanted more of this bread and didn't want to leave Christ because of the bread that He had given them. Jesus says, "Your fathers, they received bread from heaven back in the wilderness and they're dead.

"The one" — He says here — "Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life." Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."

He's not saying literally to eat His flesh and drink His blood, He's using that as a metaphor, right? To eat His flesh and to drink His blood is to participate in Christ, to feast on Christ, to have faith in Christ, to believe into Him, right?

"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at that last day because His resurrection is ours. For My flesh is food indeed and My blood is drink indeed and he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him." As you can imagine, most of the crowd did not understand that. They turned away, right? And He even asked His disciples, "Are you going to go also?" What does Peter say? "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

The application, what is your food and drink? What fuels your life?

Nothing can sustain you but Christ.

It's a fool's errand to look anywhere else.

Flip to the back. Bible point number 11.

Union with Christ is illustrated with the union of the building and its foundation. This pictures our rest — rest is the first blank — in Christ. Our permanent — permanent is the second blank — our permanent connection to Him, and our growing conformity — conformity is the third blank — conformity to Him.

In ancient times, the buildings were built on a cornerstone. Christ was a carpenter, but technically in the Greek, He was a builder. Carpenters worked with stone as much as they worked with wood. And as you know from history and from studying the Bible, they would choose a cornerstone that would be fit and strong, and they would build the building upon it, every stone being connected to that cornerstone, right? And that cornerstone would actually determine the pattern of the entire building, because you can't build off the cornerstone poorly and have a good foundation, right? And if you're in connection to that cornerstone, you can't be destroyed unless that cornerstone is moved, right?

Can you move Christ? Can you destroy the bond with Christ? No.

1 Peter 2:4–6: "Coming to Him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious" — speaking of Christ. "You also, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture" — speaking from Isaiah — "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." That can also be translated, will by no means be moved, right? Because Christ is elect, because He is chosen, because He is precious. If you are in Christ, God views you as elect, as chosen, as precious. And if you are united to Him, you will not be moved, right? Because Christ can't be moved.

The application, are you growing into the conformity of Christ? You should be growing in His pattern if you are connected to Him, right?

A second picture — we just looked at one of the pictures. There are five pictures in Scripture of the union with Christ, illustrations, if you will, to help us understand it. The first one is a building and its foundation. The second one is illustrated in marriage.

Bible point number 12, union with Christ is illustrated with the union between a husband and a wife. This pictures our legal standing — legal is the first blank — and identity — identity is the second blank — in Christ. And the intertwining — that's a big word you may not use a lot — but the intertwining is the third blank of our lives with His life.

This is a corporate metaphor that describes Christ and the church. Let me explain this.

Marriage is a legal union, is it not? And that illustration that Martin Luther used, where the prostitute was favored by the king and he married her — she ends up taking his name, right? That's part of our identity. Her debts are taken on by the groom, right? And so no longer are they hers, and the vast riches of the king, right, wipes out her debts and she's no longer called whatever her name was, but now she's called queen, right? So it's a legal union and deals with canceling debts, it deals with sharing of assets and riches, it deals with our identity.

But marriage is more than just a contractual business relationship, right? It's more than just a legal arrangement, it is an intertwining. Another word that you can use — theologians often use it — is it's an organic union. When we say an organic union, we've talked before about how an organism is one body that's composed of many parts.

One body composed of many parts that organically function in a way that they're reciprocal with one another. Let me give you an example, let me give you my little buddy here.

This is a toy, he's not real. But our little lizard friend here, these are really weird guys, are they not? They have all kinds of interesting parts. Their eyes move independently of each other, right? So one could be looking that way, one could be looking that way.

Their feet, their fingers are fused together and spread out, which allows them to actually grapple and grab branches. Their tail is made so they can hang from it. What do we know about the color of a chameleon? Change, right? All these individual parts — the eyes, the tail, its tongue that can zap out and catch an insect — it all functions as one organism, right? One whole. That's what marriage is, isn't it? Isn't it two people? They're separate people, but they come together and they live as one, right? The husband lives for the wife. He provides for her protection and safety and shelter and pastors her, leads her and guides her, right? And the wife lives for the husband to bless him and to keep the home and all these biblical roles that we've talked about, and together they serve Christ, right? That's their function, right?

Well, that's what our union with Christ is like. First of all, not only does He take away our debts, not only does He take away our obligations and share with us His riches, not only does He give us a new identity, but now we have a Savior who lives for us. When we talked about Christology, didn't we say that Christ — the book of Hebrews says that He lives to make intercession for us, right? And He sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, right? To make intercession within our hearts. Christ lives for us. He lives for the church.

Look at Ephesians chapter five, verses 25 through 27 and 31 through 32. Mike's going to be speaking on this in our men's fellowship at the end of this month. "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." You know what that means, men? It means marriage is crucifixion, right? You're going to be laying down your life for the betterment of your wife, for the betterment of your family, right?

"That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water of the word." He cares for her, cleanses her, right? "That He might present her to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Then he quotes from Genesis: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery." Remember, a mystery is something that was hidden, but now it's revealed.

Marriage was instituted in the garden, not just so we could have a good, wholesome society and a good place to raise kids, but what does it say here? It tells us, "But I speak concerning Christ and the church." Marriage was instituted to give us a picture of Christ's union with His church, right? And this is a corporate metaphor, okay? And the reason I say that — you'll never see in Scripture where it says that we're individually a spouse to Christ. We don't think about it that way. We think of it corporately. There have been theologians of the past, like Bernard of Clairvaux, who was kind of a mystic, and he wrote of God in what you would call a theoerotic type of language, which is not appropriate. You can take a metaphor too far or out of its context, right? There have been some modern people — I'm not going to name their names, but a couple of people who are prominent — who have gone that route, and they missed the point. This is speaking corporately. It's Christ and His bride, the church, right? In union with Him.

The application is this: is your life — your life, that's the blank — truly intertwined with Christ's life? I'm going to say what I mean by that.

If I, on the weekends — say Saturday comes — I'll work all during the week, and I say, "Hey, Toby, you know what? I'm going to let off some steam, go hang out with the boys all weekend. We're going to go have fun. Maybe it's innocent fun. We go down, do some fishing, go down to the gun range, and I don't come in till late, late Saturday night. I'm bushed, and I go to bed. Then I get up and leave the next morning, go bowling, go do whatever, have fun." Is that really much of a marriage at all? Are our lives intertwined? If I work all week and then don't give you the time of day on the weekend, that's not a marriage or an organic relationship, right?

How about us? Do we live our lives for Christ? Is that the lens through which you see your life? How can I serve Christ? Remember, ladies, that Sarah called Abraham lord. Do you call Christ Lord, right? Do you live for Him? Do you live for Christ? How can I glorify Him? How can I serve Him? How can I please the Master? That's what we are called to do as the body of Christ.

Bible point number 13, union with Christ is illustrated with the union between the vine and its branches. This is the third illustration we see in Scripture. This pictures our dependence — dependence is the first blank — on Christ for life. Life is the second blank. Fruitfulness is the third blank, and transformation is the fourth blank. This pictures our dependence on Christ for life, fruitfulness, and transformation.

If a vine is broken from its branch and the branch is no longer attached to the vine, what's going to happen to that branch? It'll die, it will have no life, it will have no fruitfulness, right? None whatsoever. It'll never be transformed. In Romans 9, God through Paul writes about the wild olive being grafted into the natural olive, right? Grafted into Christ, and the force of Christ, the force of that natural olive branch or vine transforms the wild olive, right? If you graft — you can take a wild citrus branch and graft it into a specific breed of an orange tree, say, for example — that's going to have a transformative effect on it, right? So if you're not connected to the vine, you're never going to be transformed. You're not going to be fruitful, and you're probably going to die, right?

John 15:4–5: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears forth much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing."

What Romans 6:5 says: "For if we have been united together" — and the word united together there in the Greek means grafted into, literally. It's a horticultural term Paul's using — "for if we have been grafted into or united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." When we're united to Christ, He changes us, right? We're dead to sin and now we're alive to God. We're alive and have that same resurrection power that flowed through Christ flowing through us.

The application for number 13, do you depend on Christ in everything you do? If you depend on your own strength, you're not abiding in the vine, right?

Bible point number 14, union with Christ illustrated with the union between a head and its body.

This pictures our necessary connection to Christ who directs — that's the first blank — animates — the second blank — and nourishes — the third blank — the church. Who directs, animates, and nourishes the church. Ephesians 1:22–23 says, "For He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head of all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

A human body can't live without its head, right? Our head directs us.

I don't know if I've ever shared with you or not — I had a friend I went to college with, he was in the Baptist Student Union, and he had a car that he had saved up for and got, and like a 20-year-old is likely to do, he was driving and he saw a pretty girl walking on the sidewalk, and he turned his head, wasn't paying attention, and he ran right into one of those concrete lamp poles in the middle of the grocery store parking lot, wrecked his car, right? Because where your head goes, your body goes, right? Your body will follow, your head directs, right? It also animates. If you lose your head, you're dead, right? And it also nourishes — does not your head nourish the body, right? Food comes in through your mouth, right? It nourishes the whole body. Apart from Christ, we would have no direction. Apart from Christ, we'd have no animation. Apart from Christ, we'd have no nourishment, right? He lives for the church.

We see this in — or the application is this — who directs your ways — directs is the blank — and who is in charge of your life?

Can the hand be in charge of the life?

Do I have eyes on my hand? Right, no, it's the head, right? So we look to Christ for direction, and we live our lives according to His precepts.

Bible point number 15, this is the last picture of our union with Christ. Union with Christ is illustrated with the union between Adam and humanity. Adam's the first human, right? We're all naturally in Adam. Every one of us, if you trace your family tree all the way back, you're going to end up in Adam.

This pictures the church's origin — that's the first blank — in Christ, who is the source of our new life — life is the second blank — and righteousness — righteousness is the third blank.

In Scripture, Christ is called the new Adam, or the second Man, okay? And we'll see that in Romans five and in 1 Corinthians 15. Romans five says, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's" — capital M here for us — "obedience many will be made righteous." Just as we are all reckoned sinners by Adam's fall, humanity fell — those who are in Christ, we get His perfect obedience reckoned to us. We're all made righteous if we put our trust in Jesus Christ, if we're united to the second Man, right?

We see 1 Corinthians 15:21–22: "For since by man came death" — it's a consequence of sin — "by Man" — capital M here — "also came the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive." Christ is the origin of the church, and we gain His life and His righteousness.

Picture Adam. What happened with Adam? God caused a deep sleep to come upon him, and God wounded Adam, right? He reached in and took a rib from Adam, from which He fashioned Eve, right?

Same as in Christ — God wounded Christ, because it was at Calvary that the church was born, and in the deep sleep of His death and then His resurrection, the church arose, right? And it's because of what Christ did that we have been purchased, we have been bought, and we have been given His life. Apart from His death, burial, and resurrection, we would have no life. We are created in Christ Jesus.

The application is this. Is your life hidden with Christ in God? Colossians 3:3. Do you find the origin of your life in Christ? If you're born again, it's the only place to find it, right? Is He the source of your righteousness? Is He the source of your life?

Bible point number 16, union with Christ is central to every believer's identity.

Scripture teaches that, and I have 10 bullet points here. I'm not going to read all the Scripture references, but what's unique is that each one of these in the Greek has a prefix in front of the word that is S-Y-N.

Think about — I grew up watching a lot of action movies and a lot of military movies. Before they go on a raid, the group of soldiers get together and they say, okay, synchronize your watches, right? That way when the bombs go off, they know what time the bombs are going off. For you ladies who don't watch action movies, think about in the Olympics, synchronized swimming, right? What happens in synchronized swimming?

All the participants move at the same time, right? It's a choreography, it's like a dance, right? The idea is that what is said about Christ is said about us as believers. So for example, we have been crucified together. It literally means that we have been impaled with Him in the Greek — sun and impaled — impaled together with Him, right? We have died with Christ, we're dead to sin. Sin no longer has hold on us.

We've been crucified together, He's paid our price. We've died together. We are buried together — His death was ours. You bury what is hidden and what you don't want to see, right?

We see Moses buried his wife, right? Because he couldn't stand thinking about her death anymore, is what Scripture says. We're quickened together with Christ. We are raised together with Christ. We are seated together in His exaltation with Christ — even now we're in the heavenly places with Christ. We are workers together with Christ. When you go out and you witness, you are not alone, right? What does Jesus say? "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth, therefore go and make disciples of all peoples." He says, "And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age." We are sufferers together with Christ. We are heirs together with Christ. We inherit God with Christ. We are glorified together with Christ. This speaks in the past tense as if it's an accomplished deal because Christ is glorified and we are together with Him.

Application is this: learn who you are in Christ and live in that light.

I encourage you to take these verses and to go through them. Look at who your identity is in Christ.

Last but not least, look at Ephesians 1:3–14. This is one sentence. It's 12 lines long. It's been called the most beautiful sentence ever written. Pastor preached through this. And in these 12 verses, this one sentence, it mentions our union 11 different times. Think Paul's trying to celebrate something? I have them underlined here. He says that, "He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, just as He chose us in Him" — elect in Him.

Go down to verse six. "To the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." We're accepted by God in the Beloved, in Christ Jesus. "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" — that's you He's talking about. Verse seven, "In Him we have redemption through His blood." His blood is sufficient. His blood satisfied, propitiated God, right? And we are in Him. Look at verse nine, "He purposed in Himself." His good purposes, which He purposed in Himself — that the whole plan of God being unveiled for our benefit was in Christ from the very beginning of time. Verse 10, "That He might gather together in one all things in Christ." Deals with our glorification — that's a little bit of eschatology even. Both which are in heaven and on earth. In Him, verse 11. In Christ, verse 12. In Him, verse 13. In whom, verse 13 again.

It's everywhere in Scripture, okay? So open your eyes to union with Christ. Underline in Scripture when you see in Him, in the Beloved, in whom, or Christ in you, because He is the One who is the hope of our glory.