One with Christ
As the Lord has opened my eyes more and more to His grace and Jesus’ finished work on the cross, perhaps the most impactful truth He has shown me is oneness with Christ.
See, I had always heard people say that Jesus came to dwell in me when I became a believer, but the way it was talked about made it still sound as if Jesus was “up there” and I was “down here.”
I was taught that the more I read my Bible, the more I came to church, the more I listened to Christian music, and the more I imitated Jesus, the closer I would get to Him. It seemed like there was a gap to close through my activity.
I was told that Jesus was with me and that He helped me, but I was never told that He and I were one. Yet, it was right there in the Bible all along.
17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit
(1 Cor. 6:17)
United? One with Him? Wow! That is truly amazing.
When you and I put our faith in Jesus for salvation, not only are we forgiven of all our sins (Eph. 1:7), the Spirit comes to dwell in us (Eph. 1:13), and we enter into a spiritual union with Jesus.
We are joined together. We are glued to each other. I am in Him and He is in me.
IN CHRIST
Once I began to see this truth, God began to open my eyes to how often it is talked about in Scripture. The phrase “in Christ” is used over 150 times in the New Testament, and the apostle Paul used it overwhelmingly more than the other writers of Scripture.
Paul almost always began his letters by referencing those in the church as those who are “in Christ.”
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi (Philippians 1:1)
To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ (Colossians 1:2)
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:2)
To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1)
Paul wanted the believers in these churches to understand they were spiritually placed in Christ, united to Him, glued to Him, and joined together.
But it’s not just the phrase “in Christ” that captures our oneness with Him. There are so many other places in Scripture where we see this oneness described.
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”
(1 John 4:15)
Picture yourself holding hands with someone and your fingers interlocking. Your hand is in their hand, and their hand is in your hand. You are in Christ and He is in you.
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
(Romans 6:4)
When Christ died on the cross, you experienced a death with Him. Then you were raised up with Him into this new life. A life where you are in union with Him.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 2:6)
Did you know that you are already spiritually seated in Heaven? That’s what Paul says right here in Ephesians 2:6. He says the same thing in Colossians 3:1 and then says in 3:3 that you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature
(2 Peter 1:4)
To be a partaker (koinonos) means one who participates with another in some enterprise or matter of joint concern; to partner, associate, one who joins in with.
Since you are one with Christ, you get to participate with Jesus and His divine nature that you are joined to in some way and have His nature expressed through you. Isn’t that amazing?
THE CHURCH FATHERS’ DESCRIPTION OF ONENESS
Not only was God gracious to open my eyes to see this truth in Scripture, but He was so kind to give me such a beautiful picture and perspective of oneness with Christ through the early church fathers.
I was reading Rankin Wilbourne’s book, Union with Christ, where he talks about this very thing. Look at what he says…
To capture this immeasurable gift of our communion with God, the church fathers used two remarkable Greek words: theosis and perichoresis.
The Greek word theosis is often translated into English as "deification," and for that reason it is often misunderstood and thus avoided. We fear any implication that human beings in some sense become gods themselves or get absorbed into God's life.
Yet theosis was the church father's way of talking about what the apostle Peter describes in 2 Peter 1:4 (partakers of the divine nature). These theologians were careful to stress that theosis did not mean human beings become divine in the same way that God is divine (eternal, infinite, omnipotent, all knowing, etc.). They staunchly maintained a Creator/creature distinction. Yet they were comfortable, in ways that we rarely are today, talking about our participation in God's own triune life.
If you spell out the other Greek word, peri-choresis, you can hear in English what the word conveys: peri (from which we get words such as perimeter) and choresis (from which we get our word choreography) - a dancing circle.
The word describes the interrelationship of the persons of the Trinity. That in everything God the Trinity is and does, each of the three persons relates to and engages with each of the other persons. Like an eternal dance, the "choreography" of the Divine Being is singular in its diversity and diverse in its unity. And for the church fathers, one beautiful way of understanding our salvation is our being invited into this dance! (Rankin Wilkin, Union with Christ)
Can you picture the Father, Son, and Spirit holding hands and eternally dancing in a circle? What a beautiful image to capture the oneness of their relationship, and you and I are invited into the dance!
Being one with Christ means you get to be in a relationship with the eternal, Triune God of the Universe!
BENEFITS OF BEING ONE WITH CHRIST
Jesus is holy, righteous, and good. If you are in Christ and now one with Him, that means that you too are holy, righteous, and good.
Some people will try to tell you that you are only positionally holy, righteous, and good. They’ll say that is the way God “sees” you in Christ. In other words, they are declaring that you aren’t really holy, righteous, and good; but rather that you are just seen by God that way.
But here’s the truth: you are seen that way by God in Christ because you’ve been made that way. To be one with Christ means that your heart has been changed (Ezekiel 36:26-27) and you’ve been made holy, righteous, and good.
Is that the way you see yourself? That’s who you are if you are in Christ, and when you come to understand that and walk by faith that it is true, it will change the way you live the Christian life.
ONENESS WITH CHRIST APPLICATION
If you are united to Jesus that means that you are one with The Great I Am, The Lord Almighty, The Creator of the Universe, The Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, and The Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
In other words, do you see how much you have access to in Christ? Do you see the Source that you get to live from?
Doesn’t that change the way you think about loneliness, depression, anxiety, fear, money problems, relationship issues, and any other problem you might face in life?
What are those things compared to the One with whom you are united? You have His power, His guidance, and His abundant Life flowing in you and through you!
Being one with Him means that He produces things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through you.
Understanding you are one with Christ and learning to participate with the divine nature will change the way you live the Christian life and the way you approach the things that come at you in this world.
To experience why the gospel is good news and answer life’s most foundational questions about identity, destiny, and purpose, we must understand what it means to be united to Christ.
If you are a Christian, the Bible says that Christ has united his life to yours, that you are now in Christ and Christ is in you. This almost unfathomable truth is the central theme of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Yet few Christians today experience or enjoy this reality. Union with Christ reveals the transformational power of this ancient doctrine while addressing the basic questions of the human heart.
Nothing is more practical for living the Christian life than union with Christ. The recovery of this reality provides the anchor and engine for your life with God—for your destiny is not only toseeChrist, but to actuallybecome likehim.
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