Theology of Union with Christ (part 1)

Well, it is really, uh, wonderful to be with you and to speak on this topic of, uh, union with Christ.

We're gonna explore this from a number of different passages.

I've been asked to give a, kind of biblical basis, a theology of union with Christ.

We're gonna be coming to Ephesians one, um, in a little bit.

Uh, what I wanna do to begin with is start, um, kinda more generally, uh, and then, and then kinda gradually narrow our focus together.

I want us to begin by thinking about the concept of union with Christ.

What is it? We've talked about it already in our different sessions.

What do we mean by union with Christ? It's not a phrase you will find, uh, in the Bible.

It's a phrase we tend to use to refer to a, a number of phrases, metaphors, ideas, and things that we do find in the Bible.

And at its simplest, it, it, it, it simply means that there is a link between the believer and Jesus, a, a bond that unites us.

And exactly how that bond works and what that unity involves, I, I, I think that varies a little bit from passage to passage and metaphor to metaphor, but they all orientate around this idea we're linked with Jesus.

Let's just start with some of the metaphors that are used.

We've mentioned some already in our first session.

For example, uh, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.

So he's the main plant.

We're connected to him.

We derive nourishment from him.

Or you should be familiar with the idea of Jesus as the head, and we are his body.

Uh, that, that body image pictures lots of different things in scripture, but here at least it connects a, a kinda direct link between Jesus and, and, and his-- those who believe in him, where he is directive and in, and in control of us.

Or the, uh, husband and wife picture, Ephesians five, paralleled with marriage, where we become one flesh with Jesus, intimately bound together.

And I'll just mention, you may know there, Paul says, "This is a profound mystery." [laughs] Please don't think we're gonna kinda tidy this up in a neat flowchart or something.

Those are some of the main metaphors that are used, but as well as metaphors, it's also described in, in terms that you can probably think of as, as, as location.

And the key, the key idea is that we are in Christ.

The believer is referred to as an in Christ person.And that phrase, in Christ, is used something like 80 times in the New Testament.

And you can add on others, in the Lord and, and so on.