Recently I was asked a great question that got me thinking. Sometimes the best questions force us to look at life through a completely different lens, in order to better appreciate the value of what is! As the song goes, “You never miss your water ‘til your well runs dry!” So it was in that same vein that my friend asked me what I would miss if I had never been united with Christ? Isn’t that a brilliant question?
You might want to pause for a few minutes before reading on, simply to think about what would be different for you if Christ had not united you with Himself through faith in His work on the cross?
Here’s where my thoughts went. I would miss:
- Living before God’s face in love:Ephesians 1:4 I get to see God, Matthew 5:8 the One I was made for; albeit, now through a glass darkly but in fulness 1 Corinthians 13:12 at the consummation. Revelation 21:1-3 Outside of Christ means excluded from the light of God’s smile.
- The fragrance of Life infusing me, rather than the stench of death: 2 Corinthians 2:16 Without union I remain separated from God (‘dead’ Ephesians 2:1) under the curse of the law. Galatians 3:11-14 Through identification with Christ, the life I lost in Eden is restored to me, Ephesians 2:5 like gushing, tumbling, oxygenated mountain streams bringing life to my desert. Isaiah 41:17-20
- Having an undefeatable warrior Who fights for me: This present reality of hardship, suffering and trials is transformed through union with Jesus, the Divine Warrior King Who rules over every moment with supreme power and authority, Revelation 19:11-17. 11to bring about God’s purposes. He redeems the royal pathway of the cross before the crown.
- Having a friend in an unfriendly world: By belonging to the Beloved Ephesians 1:6 everything has changed. I am now “in.” I am no longer “out.” He beckons me to sit down with Him at God’s table where I enjoy His lavish hospitality, fit for a royal Son.
- Tasting perfect peace and contentment in knowing the Perfect man: The new, perfect creation has broken in, and reorders my internal wilderness. Genesis 1:2. Acts 2:1-4. In His perfections I now rest from my labourHebrews 4:10 to make myself acceptable. In Christ I am declared “not-condemned,” Romans 8:1 forgiven and redeemed. Ephesians 1:7
- My new set of clothes: Christ took away my rags of shame and gives me the right to wear His honourable robs. I am made fit for the wedding banquet and permitted to enter in! Matthew 22:11
- Power to say “no!”: I am united with the One Who has broken the tyrannical power of sin. Romans 6:6-7 His power to say “no” to temptation now becomes mine. In Christ, I can grow in discerning good from evil and in covenant faithfulness, in the Faithful One. Hebrews 3:1-2.
How our hearts come alive with worship and adoration when we meditate on the Glorious One we are united with! What an undeserved inheritance is ours in Christ! All praise to the glory of God’s grace!
May we all grow in our understanding of our union with Christ, “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10 Amen.