United in Christ

Prayer

Prayer

Intoduction

Prayer

Introduction

Having now finished up James, we are going to take a little break from studying through passages, because this morning we will be starting a new, 5-week series on our church’s new mission statement.

So, let me start by introducing you to that statement. We are “A church united in Christ to share God’s grace and show God’s glory.”

Over the next five weeks, we will unpack some of the particulars of the statement. This week, we will focus on being united to Christ on a more individual basis as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. That will inevitably bleed into next Sunday’s sermon where we contemplate what it means to be a “church united in Christ”. Then for two weeks, we will seek to understand what it means to share God’s grace, and finally on the fifth week we will discuss how we are called to show God’s glory. And that should take us right to Easter Sunday.

Scripture

Our passage this morning is found in . If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word. We do this in recognition that these words are the most important Words we can hear today because they are God’s very Words. We also stand to show appreciation to God for the precious gift that His Word is. says,

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

Sermon

As I mentioned earlier, we will be considering our union, as believers, with Christ. Settling on a single passage was difficult because this truth is so pervasively taught throughout Scripture. Different language is used throughout the Bible, but the great truth that believers are one with Christ is everywhere. And it is no small point. All of the Christian life hinges on us being united in Christ. We were once “in Adam”, but now we are “in Christ”. That is to say Jesus is now our representative Head. God counts us as Christ’s people.

In the passage we looked at, verse 5 says that we are united. Some translations use the word planted, and that gets close to the meaning, but it still is a bit off. The best way to understand this union is in the idea of grafting. We are grafted into – united to Christ such that we grow and are sustained only through our connection with Christ. It is not as if we were planted side by side and grew up together, but instead is as if we have been planted into or grafted into Christ.

And that does invoke other biblical language. In fact, Paul uses that exact language in chapter 11 of Romans, but perhaps it also reminds us of What Jesus says in which says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Our spiritual life and vitality is only possible through our union with Christ. We bear much fruit only because of our union with Christ. One commentator said this about this union, “Paul’s point,” and I would add Jesus’ point as well, “is that the spiritual life of the believer is not self-originated but is derived from Christ, with whom he is now one.”

I want to just power through a few verses here to hammer this point home. When I said that it is pervasively taught throughout Scripture, I was serious.

says, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 2

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

away; behold, the new has come.”

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And 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.”

There is a union between Christ and His people. This is why Christ says what He says to Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul had been persecuting the Church. Jesus was ascended into Heaven, yet Jesus says, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” There is an absolute oneness between Christ and His people.

We see this unity taught and displayed in marriage. Our Scripture reading this morning was from where God institutes marriage and we see that there is a one-flesh union. Paul later references that in which says,

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

Paul is not merely teaching on marriage there. He is teaching on marriage, and it is important teaching, but there is something far more profound there. We are one flesh with Christ. Just as Eve was made from the flesh of Adam, so too have we been purchased and formed by the flesh of Christ.

Look also at the language where God brings Eve to Adam and presents her to him, and Adam realizes that she is fit for him. Jesus says that He will present the church to himself without any spot or blemish or wrinkle – perfectly fit for Him. Now there are about 30 more sermons in there somewhere, but I want to continue on.

We are so united to Christ that there is no aspect of the Christian life that doesn’t hinge on that union with Christ. Leon Morris said it this way, “We are crucified with him (v. 6; ), we died with him (), were buried with him (here; ), were made alive with him (; ), were raised with him and made to sit with him in the heavenlies (), we are co-heirs with him (8:17), sharers of his glory (8:17), and we will reign with him (). That is the breadth and width of unity with Christ. And it is what we as believers are. Not just what we aspire to be. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

We are partaking in the Lord’s Supper this morning and doing so is one of the clearest examples of our union with Christ. says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” We are not merely proclaiming the Lord’s death. It’s not like the Lord’s Supper is just a giant billboard that says Jesus died. It does do that, but in our participation in the Lord’s Supper, we are proclaiming that we are one with Christ. That we have been baptized into Him and died with Him. We are publicly claiming that we are one flesh with Christ. That we have been grafted in. That all of our spiritual life comes from Him. This is why only baptized believers are to take the Lord’s Supper. Otherwise, you are bearing false witness about your connection with Christ.

This is also why we have a time of introspection before taking the Lord’s Supper. And why Paul taught that people were becoming ill and dying for taking it in an unworthy manner. Remember back to all those verses I read earlier about our union with Christ. Think about how many of them talk about living differently because of our union with Christ. The passage we read together says that just as Christ was raised up, we too might walk in newness of life. Verses 6 and 7 say, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

If there is unconfessed sin in your life, it needs to be dealt with. Not just a quick, “Sorry God.”, but a true heart-rending repentance. Especially if there are broken relationships among believers. That is primarily what Paul was dealing with in his letter to the Corinthians. During the coming time of inspection, you can deal with those things. You can get up and go talk to someone. You can step out and make a phone call. Maybe you have sin in your life that is not interpersonal. Deal with it. Really deal with it. Seek help in conquering it if you need to, but please do not take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. To do so is to say that the union of Christ does not make us walk in newness of life. It says that we are still enslaved to sin. It proclaims that the bride of Christ is blemished and spotted. Taking the Lord’s Supper in an unholy manner is blasphemous.

If you are not a believer, you also must not take the Lord’s Supper. You have no union with Christ. But I hope and pray that you will. That you will appropriate the promises of Scripture that say if you repent of your sin – if you die to yourself and trust Christ alone, you will be saved. You will pass from death to life. You will be united to Him.

Brothers and Sisters, fellow believers. I want to encourage you. If you have dealt with sin in your life, take the Lord’s Supper with joy. It is a celebration and happy time. Remember what your union with Christ means. It is a glorious truth which should bring us great joy.

Let me pray, and then we will immediately move into a time of introspection after which we will celebrate our union with Christ. Let’s pray.