Paster Andrew’s Reflections on Chapter Three
“The Nature of Union with Christ”
Last week’s reading on “The Basis of Union with Christ” covered some of the foundational aspects and realities required to get a foothold in the doctrine of union with Christ, particularly the aspect of what our study is calling “mystical union” with Christ. Let’s remind ourselves that mystical union with Christ is descriptive of the union between Christ and believers effectuated by the Holy Spirit. As Flavel defines it, mystical union with Christ is, “an intimate conjunction of believers to Christ, by the imparting of his Spirit to them whereby they are enabled to believe and live in him.”
Chapter three, this past week’s reading, took the next step and considered “The Nature of Union with Christ.” Rather than having the flavor of recap, of which my reflections on last week’s reading tasted, there is one thought that I would like to tease out and reflect on this week.
Before we get to that, I think it would be helpful for all of our readers to take a moment to read footnote 6 on page 26, where a very important distinction is highlighted.
Back to it.
Have you spent much time wondering what our glorified union with Christ will look like? That is, after we die, after Christ returns, after the final resurrection and judgment, after the new heavens and the new earth are inaugurated, what does our physical and spiritual relationship with the Godhead look like?
It is a difficult thing to consider, much less to grasp. Scripture does not go into great detail on this front. But it does hint at a number of truths, many of which come to bear in this past week’s reading. So what are the basic building blocks.
First, there is the Godhead. This already is a mystery too glorious for us to understand in its fullness. There is the Father. There is the Son. There is the Holy Spirit. All of these are God and none of them are one another. All of these are distinct and none of them are separate.
What’s more, in the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity took on the form and flesh of man. God the Father did not take on this form, nor did God the Spirit take on this flesh. Only God the Son. That union (hypostatic, remember!) is without confusion, change, division or separation (see the Chalcedonian Creed). In addition to the body of a man, the incarnate Son also possessed the will of a man, making for a total of two wills – divine and human. The mind can get bogged down very quickly.
Now let’s add into the mix the reality of the mystical union between Christ and believers. This relationship is also one of great mystery. As noted in our reading, 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” Further, Colossians 3:14-15 makes it clear that we are bound together in perfect harmony and called in one body. In more detail, Jesus prays in John 17:20-23, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…”
What does this oneness look like? Does the present reality look different from the glorified reality? We would certainly say it must. What does the glorified reality look like? Are all believers joined to Christ and to one another such that there is one glorified whole? Does Christ retain a separate body in distinction from the body of believers? Is there autonomy? Will the elect in heaven be recognizably distinct from their Redeemer? Are thoughts separate or are they one? Are feelings separate or are they one? How far does the oneness go?
While some questions may not be answered perfectly or fully on this side of eternity, there are some joyful and encouraging answers that we do have. These truths have an incomplete reality now and will one day be brought to their fullness:
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that the glory that Christ has will be ours (John 17:22).
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that our identity will not be our own but will be joined to the identity of Christ (Gal. 2:20).
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that our sonship will be like the Sonship of Jesus Christ (1 John 3:1-2).
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that our purity will be as pure as the purity of Jesus (1 John 3:3).
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that we will become one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17).
One day, we will be so perfectly joined to Christ and to one another that we will be seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
Just as a branch grafted into a tree truly becomes part of that tree, so the believer is truly part of Christ.
Just as a body is joined inextricably to the head, so believers are joined eternally to Jesus Christ, the great head of the church.
Just as God declared that a man and woman joined together in marriage shall be one flesh, so Jesus the Bridegroom and the Church as his holy bride are eternally one.
These are the realities of the nature of union with Christ. It may seem like reaching too far to claim these truths. Indeed, it would be reaching too far. Except that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, has reached out and obtained it on our behalf. Just as a young child cannot reach the top shelf to obtain his desire, so we cannot hope to obtain eternal life on our own. So it is that Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother, reaches up on our behalf and grants us the fullness of his spiritual blessings. What great joy this is to the believing heart!
Standing firm in these truths with you,
Pastor Andrew