Our Lord, we come to you tonight, firstly, for a dry and warm place on a cold, rainy day. We thank you for our chance to study what it means to be united to Christ Jesus. We thank you for the richness that comes from it, the assurance it gives, the hope it puts in our heart, and how it affects how we live for you. We pray it would be a blessing to us, and we pray this in the name of Christ. Amen. Our subject is union with Christ. Sort of to help you understand it, let me explain it this way. If you looked at a bicycle wheel, if you have a bicycle in your garage, or I'm sure everybody's ridden a bicycle at some point in their life, you have a tire, and what is the tire on? It's on a metal rim. And then what's in the center of the wheel? There's spokes, and what are they attached to? They're attached to the hub. Now, if you took away the hub, what would you have? You wouldn't have a wheel because it would just be a bunch of metal rods and a rim and a tire. It wouldn't work. But when you have that hub as the center, the spokes flow from it, the rim is attached, the tire can fit. And so the hub is a significant part. It's the center. It holds everything together. That's how we want to look at union with Christ. It is the hub or it is sort of the central idea of the order of salvation or of our whole salvation. Last week, we talked about the order of salvation and how the Bible speaks of the golden chain of salvation. We talked about how in eternity past, God predestines. That's how Ephesians speaks of us, is God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He effectually calls us. He draws us to himself. He regenerates us, he gives us the new birth, as John's Gospel speaks of it. He then justifies us, he declares us righteous before the Holy God. He adopts us as children into his family. He sanctifies us or makes us more holy. What else? He grants us perseverance of the saints. And then he glorifies us. He brings us into heaven. Now, that whole order of salvation we find in different places in the Bible. It's in Romans eight. We find it in a lot of Paul's letters. We pick up bits and pieces of it and put it together. And different ones have different orders of salvation. But that's generally the one that everybody follows. But union with Christ. is involved in all of those aspects of salvation. To use the hub metaphor is one way to look at it. Another way is to look at it as an umbrella. Union with Christ covers all those other aspects of salvation. And you can't understand the Christian life without union with Christ. And you'll see that in just a bit as we look at how the Bible speaks of union with Christ. I have a lot of friends who work for logistics companies. When, say, Verizon puts out a new, or Apple puts out a new iPhone, they say, we're going to sell 6 or 10 million or 20 million, however many iPhones. They just did this recently when the new one came out. But how do they get their iPhones from their factory into the hands of people? Well, that's where the logistics companies come in, like UPS and FedEx and there are other companies where they distribute those things to the different points where they're sold. It's one thing for Christ to accomplish redemption on the cross. It's one thing for him to die for our sins. But it's another for us to understand how it's applied to our lives. And so that's sort of the question we're answering is how how is salvation delivered to us? How do we get the goods of salvation, so to speak? So that's sort of the overall picture of union with Christ that gives you an idea of why we're talking about it and where we're headed. Let me say this. Secondly, And this is something very fundamental to understand, and I think you probably understand this already, but a person, any human being, and this will help you with your evangelism, a person is either in Christ Jesus or in who? If they're not in Christ, who are they in? Did you say Adam? That's right. You're either in Adam, stuck in your sins and trespasses, stuck in your first parents, or you're in Christ. redeemed from the fall. So we read in Romans 5.12 that through one man death came. So how is one person in Adam? They're born. They're simply born. What important doctrine about the birth of Jesus Christ comes into play? The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. How was Jesus conceived? He was conceived by, we said it in our creed this morning, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Right. He isn't a son of Adam, but in Adam, we all died. And then how how are we in Christ or what benefit do we get if we are in Christ? We get forgiveness, we get life. Now, one way to think of this also is where was where was Adam tested? Where was he when he was tested? He was in the garden. And what was the garden? Was it a nice place? It was paradise, wasn't it? So in paradise, God said, don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And what did Adam and Eve go do? They went and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where was Jesus tempted? In the wilderness. And that was after 40 days and 40 nights. That was after no food, not in the garden, not in luxury. And did he, how many times was he tempted? Three times, right? Throw yourself in the temple, command your angels, they'll pick you up, turn these breads into stone, you're hungry, and I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. And he passed. So Adam failed, but Christ passed the test of obedience. And so one is either in Adam or in Christ. And that's a good thing to understand as we look at what it means to be in union with Christ. There are four ways to look at being in Christ, at least four ways we'll look at it from the scriptures. How many of you remember your middle school grammar? Probably, probably nobody. I don't. You remember at least what a preposition is? What words are prepositions? In, on, for, by. Yeah, those words are pretty, pretty critical. So in the Bible, These are these are important words for us. So to be in Christ or with Christ or to have Christ die for you, you see how those words become very important. Well, union with Christ is that way. So we speak of being in Christ or Christ in us. We speak of being like Christ and we speak of being with Christ. So we'll look at a couple of those things now to confuse the matter even more. I want you to think about. These various passages based on time or location, I'll give you an example. What did Christ do outside of Jerusalem in real space and time? What's that? Well, he did that bigger, bigger than that. He died on the cross. OK, were you there? No, but the Bible speaks, we'll see that in a few weeks in Colossians, the Bible says that when Christ died on the cross, you died with him. Well, how could that be? Because you're of your union with Christ, and we'll see that a little bit more clearly. So think about union with Christ in in a specific place and time. OK, let's let's go through a handful of Bible verses. If you look at Ephesians chapter one, I think you turn there. It speaks of us as being chosen in Christ. Look at Ephesians one, verse four, when when was that? Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, so in eternity past is how we often say it in eternity past, you were chosen in Christ and we'll talk another week about what it means to be chosen in Christ. But when when was that way back in eternity? Were you there? No, but were you on God's mind? Absolutely. So we're chosen in Christ. If you look at Ephesians 1 verses 11 and 12, you'll see another aspect of being in Christ. How does it start out in him? Who's it speaking of? It's speaking of Christ. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. So that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. So you see that the being in Christ in him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined. First Timothy or second Timothy, chapter one, verse nine, says that we have been in Christ before the beginning of time. So what? What point in time in human history are we talking about? We're actually not even on the plane of human history yet, because what is the scripture spoken of thus far? We were chosen in Christ before creation, before we ever existed. God was declaring, he was decreeing, he had decided to make us and to set his affection on us. Now, just before we move on, What good is that for us to know? How does Paul elsewhere take these kinds of words and use them for our good in Christian life? How about in Romans 8? What shall separate us? from Christ Jesus, nothing. Because why? Because I've been chosen before the foundation of the world. That's a great way to remind yourself that you can never be separated from God. God declared in eternity past when he was figuring out what he was going to do. And he decided. And how did he decide? He decided in his wisdom, his power, his goodness, his love, all those things. He decided these things. And when God set something into stone, Is it changeable? Is it up for discussion? No, it's not. So that gives us great comfort. So in Christ, before the foundation of the world, we were chosen in him. We already mentioned a few of these things, but we're in Christ. The Romans chapter five speaks of death coming through one man, that would be Adam, but life coming through one man's obedience, and that would be Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30, it speaks of having life in Christ. And he says that apart from Christ, we don't have any reason to boast. So we boast of our salvation as being in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21 says that Jesus was made sin for us. You know that verse? He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. In Romans 6, it might be good to turn there, Romans 6, verse 6, speaks of being united to Christ. Actually, back up to verse 5, it says, If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Now, what does that insure us of? If Christ died, what are we going to do? We're going to die. And if we stop there, that's not real hopeful. But if Christ was risen from the dead, what are we? We're going to rise from the dead. He's the first of those who will rise from the dead. The greeting we give from God on Sunday morning, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. And what's next? the firstborn from among the dead. I mean, that ensures us that we will rise from the dead as well. Galatians 2 20. This is one you probably all know it is. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So there's an aspect of union with Christ. Ephesians 2 6. If you turn there, We read that we have in Christ, we have been raised up with him and have and has seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So you start to see all these aspects of what Christ has done. We're doing it with him. When Christ died, were we united to him? Yes. When Christ was raised from the dead, were we united with him? Yes. And now what does it add into it? Place, time and history. When he was seated in the heavenly places, who is seated with him? We are with Him. That's pretty wild, isn't it? I mean, do you all understand that? It's good to say no. I don't understand it, but it's what's in the Bible. And it's what's absolutely true. And when the Bible speaks to things like this, when it tells us that these things are true, like in a letter from the Apostle Paul, he spends a couple chapters in Ephesians saying these things are true. What does he then go on in the next couple of chapters? You need to live the Christian life based on these truths. For example, when he says in Ephesians five, husbands love your wives. OK, there's practical advice, but what does he base it on? Is Christ love the church? So you might say, how does in the first couple of chapters of Ephesians, you might say, OK, this is really exciting. He's talking about Jesus dying on the cross over and over and over again. What what good is that for me other than salvation? Well, if you're a man, And if you're married, it's marriage advice. You see how theology matters to our lives. So that's what what the apostle does when he speaks of these things. First, Peter chapter one, verses three to five. See if I have that right. Yeah. First Peter, chapter one, verses three through five says, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Do you see how in both time and in place or space. The Bible speaks of various aspects of our salvation. And it matters whether or not we are united to Christ, you see, you see how that is being explained. In Christ, we were chosen before the foundation of the world. In Christ, we've been adopted as sons in Christ, we have been In Christ we were with Him at the cross. In Christ we were with Him at the resurrection, or seated in the heavenly places. So it's an important concept for us to grasp and understand. Here's just a handful more examples. If you are dead to sin in the Bible, what then are you alive to? You're alive to Christ, that's exactly right. And if you are alive, what does that mean? You're living, you have vital signs, you've been given life in order to function in a certain way. So we have died with Christ, we have been raised with Christ. And what is the big concept that comes in the scripture as we have been raised? We have been raised as new creations. Our old man has died. And we're new creatures, we're new creations in Christ Jesus. And who's the first of the new humanity? It's Jesus. So we follow after him. So we've died and been raised with him. We've been given new life in Jesus Christ. 1 John 5.11, for example, says, 1 John 5 verse 11 says, And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. So in Jesus we have all the spiritual blessings of heaven. We have grace and wisdom and peace and salvation. Now here's another aspect of being in Christ. The Apostle Paul, if you read through his letters, and you read through various times when he speaks of being in Christ, he'll speak of Christians being in Christ, or the saints of God in Christ. But he'll say, in Christ, and speak personally about himself. And he says, in Christ, I speak, like I speak the Word of God in Christ. In Christ, I work. In Christ, I do this or that. I am this or that. My hope is in this direction. I rejoice in Christ. He teaches and preaches and labors and does all the aspects of his gospel ministry in Christ are connected to Christ. And we might even say that about ourselves as Christians. We are able to labor. We're able to obey, to submit, to be strong, to be encouraged, to work or to live a life that is approved. All those commands that come to us in the scriptures, we're able to do them because we are in Christ Jesus. What's the famous verse that everybody quotes from Philippians chapter one? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So you see how wonderful it is for the Bible to show us that union with Christ really touches every aspect of our life. It's in the eternity past and it goes into eternity future as we will live with God in heaven forever. But it has real Real importance to our lives now. Also, the Bible speaks of us being together as one body in Christ Jesus. If you read Ephesians 5, I believe it's verse 23. Ephesians 5, verse 23, it's in the husbands and wives sections. It says the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. We heard something about that this morning. Even as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its savior. So Christ is the Lord of the church. He's the head of the church. Romans chapter 12, where Paul is speaking about issues of Christian unity. He says that we are members of one another. So we're in Christ. We're also connected to others who are in Christ, and that's what we see made manifest in the church is, if I'm in Christ and Mona is in Christ, we're in Christ together. We're connected in Christ Jesus. And the Apostle Paul, in fact, when he writes to the Corinthians and fusses at them about their ungodly living, he speaks of being united to Christ in a very unique way. He says, Wherever you go, you take Christ with you. And the Corinthians, for the sake of young ears, are going to places that no decent person should be going. You can go look it up later. And he's saying, when you do that, you take Christ with you. And so you see how the apostle takes union with Christ and says, don't take him where no one should ever go. And so he takes our union with Christ is important, but it has aspects of our relationship to Christ, our relationship to one another. And it's it's it's pervasive. It's it's thick. You might say it's all over the place. Here's another way to think of it, too, is when someone in the body of Christ suffers. We should suffer with them. When somebody mourns, we should mourn with them. When they're sick, we should feel compassion toward them. When they rejoice, we should rejoice with them. When they are going through any circumstance, we, because we are connected to them, because we're connected to Christ, should feel that same pain. Galatians chapter three speaks of our union with Christ and how it binds us together. Galatians chapter three, verse twenty eight is a verse you probably know well. It says there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And that's how we ought to look at one another. This morning we talked about being made in God's image. That's a great way to look at one another, but another way to look at a brother or sister in Christ is not just that they are made in God's image, but that they are in Christ Jesus just as you are. You bear his image. You are united to him. So when we relate to one another, we relate to image bearers who are united to Christ. OK, that's a mouthful of verses on being in Christ. Now, here's just a brief section on Christ in us. John, chapter 15, you know, the famous I am the vine and you are the branches. Abide in me. Apart from me, you can do nothing. You cannot bear fruit. You cannot have a godly life apart from Christ. Galatians chapter two, verse 20, a verse we've already mentioned, speaks of sort of the power for being or living the Christian life. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. In the Colossians chapter one, verse 27, a verse we'll get to. I guess in two more Sundays, it speaks of Christ in us, the hope of glory. Christ in us, the hope of glory. So how do passages like this, Christ in us, being in Christ, help us? They give us confidence. They give us help when we may feel alone. They give us a connection to God when we need to depend on Him. They remind us of the deep truths of being in Christ. It's very easy for us to forget who we are, where we've come from, what benefits and blessings are ours, but we remember verses like these and we recognize our connection to the Lord Jesus. Now there's a third area of our union with Christ, not just in Christ, not just Christ in us, but a third one, like Christ. One of the reasons we have been chosen before or chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world is so that we might be conformed. Can you finish the sentence conform to the image of Jesus Christ? He is the new Adam. He's the second Adam. He's the first one of the new creation. He's he's the reality of what a new creature is. And what's one reason God chose us? He chose us so that we might be conformed to the image of Christ. Think about how much of a blessing it is for God to look over his creation and he sees people who are in Adam. He sees the same things that disturb us, the injustice, the wickedness, the rotten culture. He sees the he sees all the bad things we do that make us shake our heads and wish that the Lord Jesus would come. He sees all those things. They don't bring him glory. They will, when he puts his justice on those, he'll get his glory when he justly punishes those for their wickedness. But what do you think he looks down and sees or looks over the world and sees when he sees the new humanity in the image of his son being new creatures in Christ Jesus, faithfully living all around the world? That's pretty, pretty amazing thing that brings him glory, isn't it? And that's what the apostle says in our study of Colossians, we've heard He's sitting in jail in Rome, but the pastor comes to them and he talks to Paul and tells how the Colossian Christians are. And he speaks of their faith and their love and their hope, how their lives are bearing fruit in the world. And that's in the midst of pagan Roman Empire. And how does Paul respond to them? He gives thanks to God constantly because they are new creatures in Christ Jesus bearing fruit in the world. And so that's something to consider as we think of the idea of being predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son. Now the Apostle Paul also in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 tells the Corinthians, he says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So as a Christian, as a saint, if we are imitating Christ, we want others to imitate us insofar as we are imitating Christ. 1 John 2, verse 6 says that we are to walk as Jesus walked, to walk in the same way He walked. We give glory to the Father in all of our life. There are all kinds of verses that we can call to mind. There's self-denial, take up your cross, follow Jesus. There's cross-bearing. There's simply this idea of we don't look at life and the world as our goal, but we look higher than the human plane and we think of living eternally, living for Christ. And that's why we can say we've been raised up, or why we should understand that we've been raised up with Him into the heavenly places. We don't have to live in the slums like those who haven't been raised up with Christ in the heavenly places. We get to live with all the riches of heaven at our disposal. And so being like Christ is one of the beautiful ways that we can display our being united to Christ. I'm trying to read what I have here in my notes here. I've got that being like Christ causes us to be hospitable or welcoming, forgiving. We lay down our life for others. We suffer well. We die daily. We endure. We look forward to glorification. We're obedient to the Father. We trust the Father. We live life in a way that shows that we are more than conquerors. And then there's a final thing to consider, and that's with Christ. If you're with somebody, what does that word with seem to bring to mind? It's fellowship, it's friendship, it's not being alone, it's being with someone. And so being with Christ points to fellowship. We fellowship with God. He has fellowship within the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have fellowship with We have fellowship in the divine nature. What does Matthew 18 say about our fellowship as Christians, where two or three are gathered in his name, he's with us. How does he put it at the end of the Great Commission, Matthew 28, go into all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples, baptize, and then how does he end it? I am with you always. So there's great fellowship. And then we have union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, we talked last week about how understanding our salvation would do some beneficial things for us. It would make us better worshipers. It'll make us better evangelists. It'll help us understand our salvation. But it really helps us in the nitty gritty of life. Let me show you one really sweet benefit of being united to Christ. Look in the back of your hymnal. The shorter catechism is in there. Question number 37, I think, is really a sweet one. It's one that's always stuck out in my mind. It's on page 872. This is a catechism I always quote at a graveside funeral service, because who is a funeral for? It's for the living, right? And it's to help them say goodbye to their loved one, but it's to give them comfort in the promises of Christ Jesus. And look at what question 37 asks. It says, what benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? And the answer, the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory. And their bodies, and what's the next phrase, let's all say it together, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection. So there's a sweet, sweet aspect of union with Christ. When you're laying your loved ones to rest, it goes through people's minds. Just putting this body in the ground. But that's a really sweet thing to think of. Their body is still united to Christ and it rests in the grave until the resurrection. So Christ is united to us even in our death. Isn't that sweet? He is. He's the big brother who is with us every step of the way. And so you see why we talked last week about we never want to think of salvation as a bus ticket. Go to the Greyhound station and buy the bus ticket. I'm not leaving for a few weeks. I'm going to stick it in my pocket. And that's how we often think of salvation is I know where I'm going to be. I know I'm going to heaven, and we treat it like a bus ticket. Got it in my pocket. I pat it every once in a while to make sure it's still there. But you see, salvation is much more than that. And union with Christ shows us how it is much more than that. So this makes us better worshipers, better evangelists. We understand our salvation better. And in the critical moments of our life, with suffering, we read things like Romans 8, that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We read something like the Shorter Catechism, not even death can separate our loved ones from Christ Jesus. We rest in the grave. Our bodies rest in the grave until the resurrection. So these things give us great confidence and great assurance. So think on your union with Christ. We're going to we're going to speak of it a good bit more as we make our way through Colossians. There's some very rich ways where it speaks of our being united to Christ. And let's let's ask for God's blessing on our time. Our Lord, we thank you for are being united to Christ, that there is not one moment of our life that is apart from Him, that we have His blessing, His comfort, His companionship, His gifts, and everything we need for life always with us because we are united to Him. And we thank you for these rich truths. We don't understand it fully. We don't fully know everything that is ours, but we are beginning to get a glimpse of it, and so help us to live more rich lives because We know that we are connected to Christ Jesus and we pray this in his name. Amen.