Union Life

 

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

I work for a union job, so I am well aware of the so called "Union rules."  Union rules say that those who were hired fist have developed seniority over those who were hired after them.  Union rules say that this seniority can benefit someone as far as bidding for vacation and job bids.  Since I have been with my job for a good many years, I've developed some pretty good seniority.  Still, there are more than a few with more seniority than me.  Union rules also state that everyone in the union is to be treated equally.  There will be no favoritism allowed!  This might be a good thing, although it might prohibit a persons growth within the organization.  I was thinking of these union rules this weekend as I thought of writing on our union life with the Father.  There are more than a few places in scripture which describe this union.  The apostle John speaks to the words of Jesus regarding the union {Johns Account 14: 20}.  Our union life is how we truly live as one with Jesus and the Father.  It is how we should view the life we live.  However, very few believers know this union which they are a part of.  Just a reminder to all, just because you are not aware of something does not mean that it does not exist.  You might not believe in the effects of gravity until you leap from that high place.  You might believe that carbon fuels are a bad thing, until you have to live without them.  So it is with the reality of our union life in Christ.  Growing up in the church, I was unaware that I was in union with God.  This was not something which I was taught.  Now, one might dig into the scriptures and come across those verses which describe our union life in the Father.  Yet reading these passages for the first time might not stir in us a knowing of our union life.  For how can a sinner live in union with God?  Indeed, the sin issue is the main roadblock to our knowing of our union with God.  Yet, as He always does, God has provided for the removal of that roadblock.  Through the work of Christ Jesus on the cross, we no longer need to wrestle with the sin issue.  For it is Christ Jesus who Himself became sin that we would be saved {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  It is Jesus who paved the way for our union in the Father.  

In this we know that we are remaining in Him, and He in us, for He has given us His spirit.

First Epistle of John 4: 13, Concordant New Testament 

I fully realize that many will not see nor agree with what I am saying of our union with the Father.  For there continue to be many who are still lost in the theology of the mainstream institutional church system.  I also realize that there is indeed a reason which the church does not speak to the union life we share with Christ Jesus.  My first realization of this union came from the words of the apostle Paul who speaks to his own union with Christ in Galatians {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  This was eye opening for someone who had spent so many years in the church.  Yet these words of Paul were speaking to my spirit in a way that no Sunday sermon ever had before.  The realization that I no longer needed to compete to be in the presence of the Lord.  As I began to understand more the writings of Paul, I came across the words of Jesus spoken in His prayer in the garden just before He was crucified.  Here, on the eve of His death, Jesus speaks to the union we would share with He and the Father {Johns Account 17:21}.  As I said, it is Jesus who paved the way for our union life in God.  Yes, He was dispatched by the Father to live among us, but it is Jesus who gave Himself for us.  What does it mean to live in union with the Father?  Think of any situation, good or bad, which you might find yourself in.  Do you know that you're not facing it alone?  Do you know that it is the Father Whom you live each and every day in?  THIS is our union life in God.  My mother used to have a saying that God is as close as our next breath, how true this is! 

That they may all be one, according as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in us, that the world should be believing that Thou dost commission Me. 

Johns Account 17: 21, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~