One With Jesus

20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26“And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17: 20 - 26 NKJV

Dennis floated the question this week about the difference between our relationship with Christ Jesus and our union with Him.  Now, to a novice such as myself this might seem like a slam dunk question answered easily.  Somehow I think that Dennis enjoys these brain teasers that he throws out there.  My first thought was that our relationship and our union with Jesus were somehow related, but I've changed my tune.  Yes, we can have a relationship with Jesus, but does this indeed make us "One" with Him?  Jesus' disciples enjoyed some of the closest relationships with Christ that anyone living possibly ever will.  Were these men one with Jesus in their relationship with Him?  I would say that at the time of their relationship with Jesus that they weren't one with Him.  It is through this example that I say that our relationship and union with Christ may just be two different things.  I may indeed have a relationship with Jesus, but am I one with Him?  Well, looking at what the apostle Paul tells us in Galations 2:20, that union with Christ may be closer than we think.  According to Paul, that very sin nature wich we were born under was put to death with Christ on the cross.  Jesus Himself now occupies that place within us.  When we ourselves accept Christ Jesus into our lives, are we then one with Him as Paul states?  This seems to be the case, for from this point forward we live AS JESUS who is in us.  That old Paul was dead and crucified, what remained was...Christ in him.  Of course, the argument can be made that this transformation comes only through relationship with Christ Jesus.  I believe that is where it all begins.


20“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

As Dennis has so correctly pointed out, relationship is people sharing life together while union is two acting as one.  Can it not  be said that a courtship is but a relationship while marriage is two living as one?  That relationship Jesus' disciples shared with Him was Jesus sharing His life with these men.  Therefore, Jesus did not have union with His disciples.  Indeed, we may share relationship with another, but it is not union with them.  We are not acting as one with that person but simply sharing life with them.  I believe that this is why Pauls revelation in Galations is so important.  It was revealed to Paul that he no longer lived as he had come to know it, but that he now lived IN UNION  with Christ.  Paul was not sharing life with Jesus, but living as one with Him.  Paul was one with Christ.  So it is with us.  When our eyes are opened and we accept what Jesus has to offer us, we cease from sharing our life with Him and start anew living each day as Jesus.  This is the message of Galations 2:20, that each and every day we experience our lives as Christ Jesus who is in us.  The valleys we walk through...we do as He who is in us.  This was the crux of the prayer of Jesus in the garden, that "They also may be one with us."  Jesus has always had a union with the Father, His prayer was that we would enjoy that very same union.

~Scott~