The relationship between Christ
and the believer “is the nearest, dearest, closest,
most intense, and most enduring relationship that
can be imagined,” said Spurgeon. We live because
Christ lives, and our lives are hid with Christ in
God. It is closer than a husband and wife, or
children and their parents.
One of the greatest mysteries
in the Bible is the believer’s vital relationship to
his Lord and Savior.
There are three great mystical
unions in the Bible. The union of the three persons
of the Godhead, being one God, called the doctrine
of the Trinity. The Bible also teaches the union of
the two natures of Jesus Christ in one person, and
the vital union of the believer in Christ.
There is a close intimate union
between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian. It
is so intimate that it may be spoken of as one. “We
are members of His body” (Ephesians 5:30). It is not
a physical union, but an attachment of love. We are
truly united with Him as truly as the parts of our
bodies belong to the head. Charles Hodge said, “This
might mean simply that we stand to Him in the same
intimate and vital union that a man’s body sustains
to the man himself.”
Figuratively, we are members of
Christ, and together we form His body. This is the
closest imaginable relationship. We are identified
with Him. We are made an essential part of Him. He
is the head of the body and we are the members of
that body. It is the closest imaginable vital union
possible. “We are members of His body.”
The apostle Paul has in mind
that the believer’s standing is such a relationship
with Christ that it is analogous to Eve’s relation
to Adam. As Eve derived her life from the body of
Adam (Genesis 2:18-25), so we derive our spiritual
life from the body of Christ. We are partakers of
the life of Christ. Our spiritual life proceeds from
and is sustained by Christ. It is the source of our
present spiritual life, and of our eternal life in
glory with Christ.
“You are therefore, now made by
His grace to participate in His moral and spiritual
nature, and you will never be satisfied till you
awake in His likeness,” wrote C. H. Spurgeon. “But
you will awake in His likeness, so that when He sees
you and you see Him, then shall be abundantly
manifested to you that you are a member of His
body.”
Being made a “member of His
body” means we have entered into the most intimate
relationship possible with Him. We are joined
together with Christ in the most intimate communion.
Adam could say of Eve, she is of the same bone and
flesh, thus she is related to me.
“We are members of His body,”
means we are His loving possession. We belong to
Christ. “You are not your own, you are bought with a
price” (1 Cor. 6:20). He purchased us with His own
precious blood. You are now altogether His, and you
belong to no other.
“You are one with Him. You were
‘buried in Him in baptism unto death,’ wherein also
you have risen with Him. You were crucified with Him
upon the cross, you have gone up into heaven with
Him, for He has raised us up together, and made us
to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. And surely you shall be actually in your very
person with Him where He is, that you may behold His
glory. You are one with Him” (Sermons of C. H.
Spurgeon, vol. x, p. 22).
One of the greatest practical
applications of this great doctrine of our vital
union in Christ is that it secures the eternal
safety of every one who is one with Christ. “Because
I live you shall live also.” All of you who are in
Him have eternal life. The idea of Jesus Christ
losing members of His body who are grafted into Him
is impossible to conceive. Will He lose His members?
“I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall
never perish; neither shall any snatch them out of
my hand” (John 10:28). There is strong reason to
believe in the security of every one who is one with
Christ. That is how much God loves you and cares
about His relationship with you.
We are now being changed from
glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18) through this vital
union with Christ. If we are one in Christ we shall
enjoy His divine love. If we are one of His members
He may chasten us and correct us when we need it,
but He will never sever us from His body. “As My
Father has loved Me, even so have I loved you.”
He nourishes us because we are
members of His body. We draw our daily sustenance
from His presence. He makes us lie down in His green
pastures.
Since we are members of His
body, He will one day present us to Himself without
spot or wrinkle or blemish. We will be perfect even
as He is perfect. We will enter into the eternal joy
in the Lord. We are joint heirs with Christ;
therefore whatever He has we shall share.
Because we are members of His
body we shall be with Him where He is, and behold
His glory. We shall be with Him always.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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