Union with Christ I: The Most Important Word

Union with Christ as the Hub of Christian Doctrine

Welcome to the Whole Council podcast. I'm John Snyder and with me for a new series is A .C. Floyd. A .C., glad to have you. Glad to be here. We were going to film last week, but you had lithotripsy. This is true.

And after being in pain with kidney stones for some time, A .C. got lithotripsy. And then he was in more pain, but he didn't feel it because he was on drugs and a little loopy last week. T .J. made the call and we decided not to put him on the internet loopy for the rest of his life.

I really appreciate it. Yeah. So now we're ready. We want to look at a theme in the scripture that is one that probably every believer has considered to some degree. And if you've even sat through sermons and been somewhat oblivious to what the pastor is saying, read your Bible, but kind of had your mind somewhere else, even in that state, you probably are aware that in the New Testament, particularly the epistles, we find a phrase that shows up so frequently.

It must have great significance for the Christian life. And it's the phrase in him or in Christ or with Christ. So we're talking about the doctrine of union with Christ. And many theologians believe this to be the central doctrine in the letters of Paul, which, I mean, when we think of that, A .C., what generally comes to your mind, you know, growing up in church?

We haven't always heard that this was the case. I mean, so what comes to your mind? Justification by faith alone. Yeah. And I think that that points out a significant principle. What you hold in your mind to be the kind of the hub of the wheel of grace, all the work of redemption, and the spokes are the individual aspects of that.

What you put in your mind at the center of that really affects how you view all those things. If justification by faith alone is the center of everything in Christianity for you, or at least the center of all Christ's work for you, then I think it can lead to a warping of the wheel.

You know, it can lead to the kind of the antinomian idea that since I'm justified freely by grace, it doesn't really matter whether I obey or not. So to get the right hub is a significant help in the Christian life theologically and practically.

And I agree with those that say that kind of the hub of the wheel for Paul, and therefore for us, is union with Christ. Now, if we say that, A .C., are we saying that union with Christ is more important than justification by faith?

No, not at all. So why would we say that that's the hub and not some other important aspect like holiness or, you know, anything else we think of? Sure, you'd say that because union with Christ is the wellspring.

It's where justification flows from, sanctification flows from. It's where everything begins. Yeah, and again, we're not talking about union with Christ being, you know, the hub in the sense that Christ isn't the hub.

You know, often we will say Christ is the hub and everything flows for Him. That certainly is true. But if we're talking about the work of Christ and the reception of the fullness of that work in a day-to-day way, the theological and practical grasp of that fullness comes in understanding the centrality of union with Him.

Now, there are a few things that we want to get straight in our mind if this is going to be grasped in a way that is more biblical, more accurate, perhaps, than we've had in the past. So give us three things that we need to really come to grips with.

Yeah, three things we need to come to grips with are who is it that we're united to? We have to grab hold of and understand who is this person that Paul is talking about that the believer is united to.

We need to also look at the nature of this union. What does it mean for an individual believer and the church as a whole to be united to this person? And then we need to think more clearly about what's the result in our lives, practically, day-to-day, both now and forevermore, of being united to this person.

Well, let's take the first today, and then next week, A .C., you'll lead us through that second question. What is the nature of this union? Does the Scripture give us, you know, any hint at that? Because it is mysterious.

And then we'll spend the rest of our weeks together on the podcast looking at that third question. How exactly does that impact the Christian life? Because Paul is going to link being in Christ or with Christ, he's going to link that to so many essential, significant aspects of the Christian life.

The Importance of Knowing Who We Are United To

Well, let's think about the whom. To whom are we united? When you think of the phrase, in him, the most important word is him, not in, all right? If the him is small, then being united to him is a small matter.

If the him, if the person we're united to, represented by, benefited through our connection to that person, if they are foolish, inadequate to their task, you know, if they're not what they say they are, not what we hoped they would be, then union with them is detrimental.

But if the him is who the Scripture says the him is, then that, as our understanding of the majesty and the fullness that there is in the God-man, if we can expand our understanding of him all the way to the end, then our understanding of the benefit of being his will be equally expanded.

So, you know, there ought to be some, I think, in life, there's some illustrations we can think of that show us kind of, you know, a simile. It's like this. So, give us a couple of those that come to your mind.

Think about a nation relating to their president. Each person is, in a sense, united and led by, represented by this president, for good or ill. You think about a marriage. The husband, he's the head of the household.

He's the head of the wife and the children. Things can go well for them or things can go very badly for them, depending on the nature of the husband. Yeah, so as we think about this concept of headship and representation in relation to being in Christ, we have examples before us that make us painfully aware at times of how crucial it is that the nature be good in the person that we're led by, that we're represented by.

Because if it's not, then there's a lot at stake and there's a lot to lose if that person is evil or unjust. Yeah, well, you know, you can think of kind of two categories. The character of the person, as you mentioned.

So, are they good? Or are they a person, let's say a dad, is it a dad that is selfish and so he will always use the family's finances, he will use the weekends, the hours of the weekend, you know, he will use his relationship with his wife and his kids for himself.

Everything exists for him and so they are, you know, negatively impacted by that. But it's not just the moral goodness of the person we're united to that affects the measure of the impact. It's the majesty or the position of the person.

So, are they a really good person? But they have no position of influence. We may have friends that are very good friends, godly, loving friends, and we do benefit by our connection with them. But if this friend was made president and they are morally good and they love you as an individual, then the impact on your life would be greatly expanded.

The Deity and Humanity of Christ

Well, let's think about the person of Jesus Christ to whom we're united. And to do that, unlike any other being, we are going to have to deal with two fundamental natures. There is the divine nature of Jesus and the human nature of Jesus.

That is, the scripture teaches that he is truly God and he is undiminished, unrestricted deity. The fullness of the divine nature is present in Jesus. He's not God reduced in order to fit into a human shell.

And he's also truly man, unaltered. He is all that is essential to being human is united to deity in the person of Jesus. Now, of course, he is like us apart from sin, but sin is not essential to humanity.

Adam and Eve didn't have sin. You don't have to be sinful to be human. We're born with that impact of their sin, but that's not essential to humanity. Now, there are a couple of theological quotes we want to read, and there is a statement from the most significant of the older creeds that's beneficial.

So, the Nicene Creed is one that speaks so carefully to this from what the year 325. So, A .C. read us the section of that creed that deals with this issue of the union of deity and humanity. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

One theologian puts it this way, there is one and only one God eternally existing and fully expressed in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead is equally God.

Each is eternally God and each is fully God. Not three gods, but three persons of one Godhead. Each person is equal in essence as each person possesses fully the identically same eternal divine nature.

Yet each is also an eternal and distinct personal expression of the one undivided divine nature. Another puts it this way, in this trinity nothing is before or after, nothing is greater or less, but all three persons are co-eternal together and equal.

Now when we apply that to the Son, let me read you another quote. He is not one third God, but fully God. Yet it is not the Son alone who is fully God, but he eternally exists along with the Father and the Spirit, each of whom also possesses fully the identically same divine nature.

Because of this, what distinguishes the Son from the Father and the Spirit is not the divine nature of the Son. This, the one and undivided divine nature, is also possessed equally and fully by the Father and Spirit.

Therefore, what distinguishes the Son is his role as Son in relation to the Father and the Spirit and the relationships that each of them have with him. So, when we think of the deity of Christ, you know, you can think of Anselm, the Christian and philosopher's statement, God is a being than which no greater can be conceived.

So, when we think of we must remember he is God. Truly God. Fully God. God in a way that no greater can be conceived. But that is not enough for him to be the center of our Christianity in the sense of, as you mentioned, the wellspring, the source of this river of grace.

For us to be in him, he cannot merely be the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He must also be human. It would be impossible for us to be taken into union with the Trinity. We're not being made the fourth person of the Trinity.

There must be some vehicle by which God comes to us and by which we are brought to God and that is the humanity of Christ. And we don't have time to go through all the wonderful passages, but just think of the angel's announcement to Mary and he tells her that she will be the mother of the Son of God.

How can that be? I'm a virgin, she says, and he says that the Spirit of God will overshadow her. The almighty, the power of the almighty will be at work. And in that miraculous work of an infinite ability that belongs to God alone, there will be the union of two things that we cannot imagine, two things being so far apart as these are, humanity and deity.

These opposites will be combined. Now, when we think about, you know, the history of the church and the dangerous lies that have crept in, there are a few that have come in at this point, and we want to kind of shoot them down again quickly.

We just mentioned them. There are some errors that seem very reasonable, and I think in a way that that's why they were attractive at times. They were never embraced by the church as a whole, but people were deceived by them, but they seem reasonable.

They take a mystery and they make it more manageable, you know, and we don't like things that transcend our intellect, things that don't go against true, you know, rational logic, but they do transcend it.

So A .C., give us some examples, you know, you can put it in modern day language. What are some wrong ideas that are immediately dealt with by these definitions? First, there's the, just to use a technical term, docetism, which basically puts Jesus as being God with a suit on.

Yeah, so docetism, to appear, you know, He appeared to be man, but that was just kind of an external mask. You know, we would think hologram, you know, oh, that was just a hologram, and it was very convincing, but of course, you cannot make deity unite to humanity, so that's impossible.

So it must have been an appearance. Yeah, and the second is what some people call adoption theory. So Jesus was not fully God, not truly God. At first, rather, God saw this holy man, Jesus of Nazareth, and was so impressed by Him, in a sense, that He adopted Him, that He chose to make Him His own.

Yeah, and the third being that it's, this is not a union of God and man in which deity and humanity remain distinct. So there are still two natures, distinguishable, but not separable. So He will be God-man forever.

He's not laying aside His humanity now that He has finished His labor as the Redeemer, His labor on earth. So some people think, well, what you have then is a third thing, this new type of being, neither fully divine and truly human, but actually a kind of a commingling, a mixing together of these two.

So you come up with a third nature, something totally different. And, you know, that sounds reasonable, but the issue at stake in all of these is this issue of being in Him. If He is not truly God and truly man, then He cannot be the source of infinite covenantal blessing, or He cannot be your representative because He's not man.

And therefore, while He may be great and infinite, you have no part in it. He cannot be your portion. So He must be both. And He cannot be a third type of being, this new nature that never existed before, a divine human mingling, because that's not what we are.

You know, Hebrews makes it clear in chapter two, to save humanity, to save us, He must become one of us. That's why He doesn't come in angelic nature. That's why He takes on the human nature, so that all that He does, all that He suffers, might be done as a representative of a people that He has identified Himself with.

The Fullness of Christ and Our Completeness in Him

Now, there are a few passages in the Bible that really speak of the connection between the fullness of deity in Him, a true man, and a fullness that we receive from Him. So, AC, I see you have your favorite new Bible that you always hide from me because I try to steal it.

And when you were at the hospital, I did go to your office and look for it, and I noticed it wasn't there. Yeah, with good reason. Yeah. All your old Bibles were there, AC, but not your new Bible. Not my new Bible.

It's special. Yeah. All right. The new Bible. So, AC, why don't you read us two passages from Colossians. Verse 19 of chapter 1, and then verse 9 and 10 of chapter 2. All right. Colossians 119. For in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

And then chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. For in Him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. I think a couple of things that we need to notice about the verse.

First, the word bodily. That seems strange. Does God have a body? Well, we say, no, God is a spirit. He doesn't have a body like ours. So, when we talk about the hand or the eye or the back or the feet or the mouth of God, we're using anthropomorphisms.

But what does this word bodily mean? And the best explanation I've ever read, and I agree with it, is that Paul is distinguishing the fullness of God dwelling in the humanity of Jesus from the dwellings that we've seen of God in previous centuries in the old covenant.

For instance, God dwelling in the Holy of Holies. So, there is a manifestation of God's presence in the Holy of Holies in a way that He doesn't manifest it everywhere. And God is present everywhere. So, you have the normal presence of God, you have that presence that's made obvious or manifested in the Holy of Holies.

But there is not a symbolic dwelling of God in this humanity of Jesus. There is an actual substantial union. The divine nature is actually, not symbolically, not just an expression of the fullness of God, the fullness of God itself is united to the humanity of Christ.

And that's mysterious, but it's true. Again, in verse 9 and 10, we have the same Greek word that describes the fullness of God in the God-man, our mediator, and then the impact upon us. So, all the fullness dwells in Him.

And I think the New American Standard says, and you are complete in Him. So, all the fullness of deity in the God-man, and because you are in the God-man by virtue of that union, that marriage, that living connection, you share.

He shares that fullness with you or shares from that fullness and makes you complete. And that's wonderful, but the Greek word is the same for both. And so, it's a little misleading. All the fullness of the deity is in Christ, and you are full with Him, or all the completeness of the deity is in Christ, and you are complete in Him.

So, Paul uses the same Greek word to make sure that we understand that it is not just that Christ is infinitely full and He shares, but we are sharing in, you know, in that same wonderful fullness. Not the same amount.

We are not God-men or God-women, but it is the same quality. It is from the fullness of the divine nature that we are being made complete each day, or we are receiving from the God-man each day, because He is God and man.

Another wonderful passage is what the fisherman John says in chapter 1 in verse 14 through 16. You want to read us that? And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about Him and cried out, this was He of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me. For from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. So, John mentions a few things in conjunction there, inseparable realities.

The word, the eternal word, the second person of the triune Godhead, the expression of the Father, who is the Son, who has been with Him face to face, equal for eternity. He is God, not another God, yet He is distinguishable as Son from Father.

That's the first verses of John chapter 1. But then we come to 14, He becomes flesh, He tabernacles among us, and John sees Him, and years, decades later, John writes this contemplative gospel, this gospel that, you know, that fills in the details that others didn't mention, you know, by God's plan.

John knows we've already read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and now he adds new things for our understanding, and he thinks back, and you know, what does John think? The one that walked, apparently, most intimately with the Lord, who leans upon His breast, who is there with Him as one of the inner three all along, what does John remember about Jesus?

He is full, a fullness that comes from God coming to us in humanity, full of grace, full of truth. But then John goes on to say, and we have no problem with that, we say, well, that's understandable. It's very reasonable.

If God is united to humanity, He would be full. He's infinite God, and He would be full of grace. That's wonderful. And He would be full of truth. That's wonderful. But then John surprises us and says, and of His fullness, so not just from Him as a gift separate from Himself, but of His own fullness, we have been made full.

We've shared in that. Grace upon grace, or grace in the place of grace. Wave after wave, you know, you think of the shore. The Greek word is a very wonderful word. It's hard to get it into just, you know, one English phrase.

But think of a shore, and you're sitting on the seaside, and the waves come up. And as one wave comes all the way up, and then it dissipates and begins to slowly, you know, it sinks into the sand and the tide, the wave recedes, then another one comes.

And if you're ever afraid that there won't be another one, well, maybe that was the last, you know, well, that's a foolish fear. There's always another coming in its place. Another way to use the Greek word is, you know, in the marketplace, one thing given in place of another.

So I want to buy what you have, so I give you money in place of the goods, and you give me the goods. And so it's grace in place of grace, you know, grace on the heels of grace. The love that God has surrounded you with today as a person, you might feel that God's, that love that has been sent to you, if we could personify it, that the grace of God, the undeserved favor of God that has walked with you all day today, that by the end of the day, maybe you think, I bet you're kind of tired of me, you know, I've leaned too hard on you, I've required so much.

And so maybe, you know, you've gotten weary, or maybe you've run out of whatever I need, you know, the bank account's empty, I've drawn on it too often. But then just when you're afraid of that, a fresh wave of grace and another fresh wave, you know, or mercy's new every morning, same picture.

So John talks about all that, and that's wonderful, but notice the link. God comes to humanity, and we saw the fullness. And from that, of that fullness, we too have received. Well, let's give one application before we close.

Serving the Lord with Joy from the Fullness of Christ

In the Old Testament, as the Jews were about to go into the promised land and experience, you know, so much of the old covenant promises that they could never have earned, but God was giving them, there was a warning in Deuteronomy 28, and Moses says to them, and he understands, you know, that you won't be careful, you won't walk with the Lord, you'll be disgruntled, you'll be entitled, and you'll drift toward other idols, and that will bring you into a spiritual slavery.

So he warns them about this. It's a very negative statement, but I want us to see how we can flip that, and as the believer, we have the opportunity to live exact opposite of this. Deuteronomy 28, 47, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things, he says, and then he mentions the consequences to come.

But we could flip that and say, because you are in Christ, you have the opportunity of getting up this morning and serving the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things, all things in Christ.

From his fullness, we are made full. We'll talk about the nature of that union next week.