UNITED TO CHRIST
[p. 191] UNITED TO CHRIST
Genesis 2: 21 - 24; Acts 7: 55
Do you realise God’s purpose for you - that you should be a member of the body of Christ? “Now God has set the members, each one of them in the body, according as it has pleased him”, 1 Corinthians 12: 18. He has set each in the body; but it is only as you realise it that you become a witness for Christ. All His members derive from Him. This is the meaning of Ephesians 5: 29, “No one has ever hated his own flesh”, etc. We are of Christ - a part of Him. Affecting thought! The distinction between the gospel and the church is that the gospel sets you absolutely free from the man under judgment; and the church is His body, of which each is a member. You are absolutely united to the One who delivered you from the judgment; you are of His order - a wholly new order. All derive from Him. God built a woman of the bone of the man, “and brought her to Man”, Genesis 2: 21 - 23. Eve was of the same nature as Adam. You are united to Christ the moment you receive the Spirit, but do you know the reality and value of that union? The sense of it is gladness to the heart. It is ours for ever. The profound blessedness of the eternal state will be that there is unbroken intercourse between the Lord and us. Abraham’s steward, in seeking a bride for Isaac, was sworn that she should be of kindred birth. It is the work now of the Spirit of God to conduct each of Christ’s brethren to Christ where He is. Then there is the sense of union. I believe Stephen was the first who had the sense of union, but he did not know the doctrine of it. He was conducted by the Spirit of God to Christ in glory before he left this earth. In your prayers have you the sense of union? There is nothing equal to it. It was the joy of Stephen’s heart as he was led by the Spirit up to Christ. But still more: it was joy to the Lord’s heart. It is a wonderful moment when you know that you are united to Christ. Doubtless the Lord rejoiced in Stephen being brought to Him more than in Stephen dying for Him. Dying for Him was the testimony - the result of the union.
Christians are marked by what they know. A man who knows forgiveness of sins is occupied with the Saviour. The mark of the one who realises his union with Christ is Ephesians 3: 14. Christ dwells in his heart by faith. Christ’s interests are his. His individuality is merged; he is altogether occupied with Christ’s interests, or as John, who gives the essence of things, writes, “that ye love one another”. You survey His inheritance; you know His love which passeth knowledge. His power is in you. You know that you are a part of Him up there. Stephen was there equipped with His power. In Psalm 22 Christ triumphs over all that was against Him; and Stephen triumphs in Christ’s power, he prays for his enemies. Such a thing was never seen on earth before. It is the testimony of a man who is united to Christ in glory.
As to the Lord’s coming, be assured that the more we realise our union with Him, the more truly shall we say to Him, ‘Come’. In John 14, the disciples missed Him; and if I know that I belong to Him, that I am a member of His body, I shall miss Him here. I am absolutely freed from the man under judgment, and absolutely united to the Man who freed me. If you have the sense of union, you will testify of Him while here, and you will say, ‘Come’, in the deep joy of knowing that you are united to Him. It is the bride only who can truly, in conjunction with the Spirit, say, ‘Come’.