Union with Christ

This article, Union with Christ, is the 5th in the series Fundamentals of the Faith.

50 Works at Salvation
The spiritual life begins when we believe the gospel. As you recall, the gospel is the death burial and resurrection of Christ (1Cor15:3-4). When anyone believes that Jesus died for their sins, was buried and raised from the dead, they receive eternal life. At this moment, God performs 50 different works on the new believer’s behalf, most of which are permanent and eternal. 9 of these works are the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit. 7 of the 9 are eternal and 2 are for time only. The temporary works of the Spirit are the filling of the Spirit and your spiritual gift. One of His permanent functions at salvation is the Baptism of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit describes His work of entering the believer into a permanent an eternal union with Christ. Our eternal union with Christ is our present topic of discussion.

Baptism of the Spirit
The moment we believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit joins our soul and spirit with Jesus Christ. This work is called baptism because we are submerged into Christ (1Cor 12:13). The Greek word baptizo literally means to dip or submerge and figuratively to identify with someone. It was used for changing the color of cloth by dipping the cloth into a vat of liquid dye. When the cloth was dipped it was now identified with the color it became. At salvation, we are dipped into Christ and so we are identified with Him in His past death, burial, resurrection ( Rom 6:4) and present session at the right hand of the Father (Eph 2:5-6). Paul discusses our new position in Christ in his letter to the Ephesian churches.

Ephesians 2:5-6 even when we were dead in our transgressions, God made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

We were made alive with Christ (given spiritual life), raised with Him (identified with His resurrection), seated with Him (identified with His present position) in the heavenly places (our true position is already in heaven). Union with Christ is our permanent position that causes us to share all that Christ is and all that He has. Position is an important issue in the plan of God, from position in Adam to position in Christ.

Positional Truth – in Adam – in Christ
Adam is considered the head of the human race. The bible describes the human race with the phrase “in Adam”. When Adam sinned, he caused the whole human race to be born in sin (Rom 5:12). Born in sin, we are spiritually dead, condemned by the Justice of God, behind the barrier and separated from God. The consequence of being born in Adam is death (Rom 6:23 – wages of sin is death). We are not condemned for our own sins, we are born condemned (Jn 3:36) because we are born in Adam and have inherited the consequences of his sin. Everyone is born in Adam and whoever dies in Adam will experience the 2nd death, which is eternity in the Lake of Fire. The 2nd death was the certain fate for all of us, and then God decided to intervene.

We were all headed to the Lake of Fire and deserved it. If God’s essence was not love, we would have all split hell wide open. I love Eph 2, the chapter where Paul starts out with all of us dead and dominated by the devil, the world and our own desires. In verse 4, he says, “but God”, meaning that God decided to intervene in our fate. He sent His Son Jesus, to resolve every issue that separated us from God. When we believe the gospel, God transfers us from our position in Adam and places us into union with Christ. At salvation we are called “in Christ”, meaning we have been connected to Christ forever. In Christ we share everything about Him. We share His righteousness, His royal position, His body, His wealth, His inheritance and His destiny. We become part of Him and our own destiny has been submerged into His. Our previous destiny, the Lake of Fire has been traded for His destiny, eternity with God-Father. Our position in Christ opens up every single blessing of heaven and gives us a share with all the saints (Act 20:32).

Body of Christ
Union with Christ connects us to His Person, His power and His mission. As members of His body (Rom12:5; 1Cor 12:12,27), we are His representatives on the earth. Christ is the head of the body (Col 1:18; 2:19) and we are the members that perform the earthly ministry. He has assigned us the ministry of reconciliation where we beseech the world to be reconciled to God through Christ (2Cor 5:18-21). In addition to being connected to Christ, we are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit, making our bodies the temple of God. From within our bodies the Spirit speaks to our minds, teaching us the truth about our new position in Christ. As divine royalty, we have access to God’s power to change our own beliefs to think like Christ. In Christ we are the Royal Family of God and have the privilege of seeing ourselves as God’s beloved child.

Edifying One Another
As the body of Christ we have a ministry to the world and to one another. To the world we share the gospel. To one another we share our mutual life in Christ, helping one another grow into who we are in Christ. In Adam, we had an identity and a way of thinking that was built from the world. In Christ we have our eternal identity and a new way of thinking built out of the truth of heaven. As family members as fellow citizens, we have the honor to help each other discover our new identity and opportunities that come from our union with Christ. As new members are joined to Christ, the body grows in number. As these members grow spiritually into our new identity, the body grows in quality and effectiveness.

Union with Christ connects us to the most important, most powerful, most wonderful person in the universe. It is a reason for celebration.