WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.519 ! Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:19.039 ! Last week, if you weren't here, we wrapped up a two-year journey through John's Gospel 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:29.199 to encounter Jesus, to see more of who He is, to consider our belief and others' belief in Him. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:41.060 Jesus is incredible. We've been singing of Him. Just going through John's Gospel that long, 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:48.219 some of you know, I considered going back to the beginning and starting over and emptying the church. 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:58.579 I mean, getting to preach more of John and of Jesus in John just forever. It's been really good 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:05.840 for my heart. But I want to tell you what often happens in my heart. This has been happening for 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:12.359 me really since I was a child in many ways. I still hear it sometimes now in my preaching. I know it's 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:22.959 a part of my struggle. See if I can describe it to you. I hear about Jesus a lot, okay? I admire Him so much. 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:34.620 I want to learn from Him. I try to live like Him. I talk about focusing on Jesus, right? Most of you've 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:42.980 heard that. And so what I do then is I wake up in the morning and I picture Jesus up there in heaven, 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:53.659 far above me. And I'm way down here below, but He's up there and He's willing to send help to me. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:02:02.280 He loves me. He's promising me eternal life if I trust in Him that He died and that He rose for me. 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.859 And it sounds great. I mean, that sounds pretty good, right? That sounds pretty Christian. 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:18.520 Sounds pretty normal. We are the beggars crying out to Jesus, dependent on His mercy to shower His 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:27.920 riches down upon us, right? Listen for just a minute to the great Puritan preacher Thomas Boston. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:39.500 Men must not think to stand afar from Christ and partake of the benefits of His death upon their 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:47.119 praying to Him for it as the beggar on his crying gets of the rich man's money thrown to him. 00:02:48.399 --> 00:02:55.099 Must not? Are you kidding me? I thought that was the whole point. Certainly that's close, right? Maybe 00:02:55.099 --> 00:03:02.719 he's going to say it's just a little different. Listen. He says, which I observe is the soul-ruining 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:09.340 notion that many have of this matter. Good grief. We don't even talk that way anymore, do we? Soul-ruining 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:20.900 notion. Instead, listen, but he must unite with Christ and so partake of the redemption purchased by Christ 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:32.040 as the poor widow drowned in debt by marrying the rich man is interested in benefits from his substance, 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:38.980 who he really is. Can you hear the difference in those two things? It may sound small to you, but I don't 00:03:38.980 --> 00:03:45.120 think it will if you think about marriage. There's a lot of truth in that first analogy, right? That's why we talk 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:54.280 that way a lot. We are the beggars. He is the one with all the riches. But the good news of Jesus is even 00:03:54.280 --> 00:04:05.780 better than we often imagine. By faith, we're not only helped out by Jesus, we're not only rescued by 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:13.840 Jesus, but we're actually united to Jesus more closely and personally than we realize almost any day. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:23.540 The biblical images of this include oneness like husband and wife in marriage, as connected to 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:33.819 Jesus as the members of a body are connected to the head. Very connected. As united to Jesus as the vine 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:42.160 and its branches, right? And this, if you think about it, it's actually a fundamental uniqueness of 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:48.420 Christianity among all the religions in the world. No other religion talks like this. We are actually 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:56.520 personally united to Jesus. That's where life, where salvation comes from, not merely following him 00:04:56.520 --> 00:05:06.500 or admiring him, but becoming one with him by faith. That makes Jesus different from Buddha, 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:17.800 from Muhammad, from Joseph Smith, from whomever. And it is the glorious reality at the heart of Jesus' message 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:27.240 that he has come down to us so that we find life actually in him. That's why he's come down in a 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:36.400 mysterious but personal and glorious relationship with him that never ends. We are inseparable. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:48.519 We and Jesus. That inseparable bond, that unbreakable union is what I want to explore for a few weeks this 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:54.780 summer. Having encountered Jesus and John, and it's been so wonderful, it's so glorious, and who he is, 00:05:54.779 --> 00:06:00.679 and I don't want us just to gaze from a distance, okay? We've talked about this a little bit, but I want us 00:06:00.679 --> 00:06:09.399 to slow down so that we never leave him, and we realize the truth of that. The theological term for it 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:21.739 is union with Christ. What is it? More importantly, perhaps, how does it transform every part of my life? 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:28.199 This summer, I hope that we can explore together, maybe not everything, but not only what it means, 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:35.759 but more than that, the impact that that reality has on my identity and my eternity, 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:46.240 on how we suffer, how we find love, on how we fight sin, and how we bear fruit. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:55.460 It transforms all of those. I pray, this is my heart, that we would avoid that soul-ruining notion 00:06:55.460 --> 00:07:03.360 of being far from Jesus. That's really my desire in this. That we would grasp that when we believe in Jesus, 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:13.740 that truth is a soul-healing, soul-inspiring notion of unbreakable union with him, that we'd get a grasp on that 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:20.780 in a new way. I don't want you just to take my word as we start this series for how central this is 00:07:20.780 --> 00:07:29.439 to Christianity. There are hundreds of references in the New Testament to our being united to Christ, 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:36.019 in Christ, with Christ. We're going to read some in a few minutes, but since we've been in John, 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:43.279 let's remember what John highlights. This is that theme, that purpose verse in John 20, 31. 00:07:43.719 --> 00:07:48.719 These things, this whole gospel written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:59.459 the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. The whole book for the purpose of 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:11.579 your believing into Jesus, John says, as you believe, you have life. Not in being enough like Jesus, 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:21.719 not in looking at Jesus, but in Jesus, in his name. 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:30.460 So many theologians through the centuries have highlighted union with Christ, but for the sake 00:08:30.460 --> 00:08:38.000 of time, I thought I'd give you a representative sampling to join John the Apostle of theologians 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:44.700 named John, talking about the importance of this topic. I had to limit it somehow, okay? You can imagine 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:49.460 how many more there must be if this is what the Johns have to say. Puritan John Owen, 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:58.500 union with Christ is the greatest, most honorable, and glorious of all graces that we are made partakers 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:10.080 of. Wow. Swiss reformer John Calvin, this mystical union is accorded by us the highest degree of 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.759 importance. We do not therefore contemplate Jesus outside ourselves from afar in order that we, 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:23.139 that his righteousness may be imputed to us, but because we put on Christ and are engrafted into 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:32.600 his body, in short, because he deigns to make us one with him. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, 00:09:33.139 --> 00:09:40.439 he tells of his life-changing theological breakthrough when God showed up in his life. 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:47.940 The Lord did also lead me into the mystery of union with the Son of God, that I was joined to him, 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:55.260 that I was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. If he and I were one, then his righteousness was mine, 00:09:55.460 --> 00:10:00.900 his merits mine, his victory also mine. It changed everything for Bunyan. 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:08.600 More modern Johns, the late British pastor John Stott, says, 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:14.319 our relationship with Jesus is something much more than a formal attachment or nodding acquaintance, 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:20.759 something more even than a personal friendship. It is nothing less than a vital, organic, 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:26.199 intimate union with Jesus Christ involving a shared life and love. 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:37.560 One more. Famed Scottish theologian John Murray sums it up. Union with Christ is really the central truth 00:10:37.560 --> 00:10:48.280 of the whole doctrine of salvation. That's a big task for one summer. That's an exciting journey, 00:10:48.280 --> 00:10:55.920 I hope, that seeing the wonder of that and the importance of that makes you eager to dive in. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:01.319 If you want to read more along with our series this summer, there are a bunch of books. Here are 00:11:01.319 --> 00:11:08.299 three that I've particularly enjoyed. Sam Alberry and Rankin Wilborn are still living. Thomas Boston 00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:14.120 from hundreds of years ago. All of these have been really helpful for me and look how thin they all are. 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:18.659 Paperback. You could read one this summer with no problem. 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:28.600 We're going to see this central doctrine and its application to our lives all over the Bible. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:33.319 Going to go to so many different passages, but we're going to start today in Ephesians chapter 2. 00:11:33.839 --> 00:11:38.360 If you need to grab a pew Bible, that's on page 976. 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:46.960 We're going to read some there after we pray. Before I pray, those of you getting worried, 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:52.080 don't let the length of the introduction worry you about the length of the sermon, okay? 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.279 Let's pray and ask God to teach us and change us. 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:07.559 Father, we so need your help. We want you to show us things too wonderful for us. 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:18.500 We ask by your spirit that you would show us Jesus more beautifully and up closer and show us the 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:27.059 reality of relationship with Him. Would you do that? Because we need your help. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:37.620 A helpful shorthand for us this summer for what it means that we are united to Christ 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:51.019 is you in Christ and Christ in you. You are one, connected, united. A couple times in John's gospel, 00:12:51.159 --> 00:13:04.180 we saw both of these ideas in the same sentence. Abiding in Christ and Christ in us. They're connected. 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:13.120 Both of these are biblical concepts, we'll see repeatedly, but by far the Bible's predominant 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:22.219 emphasis is on our being located in Christ. We're going to start there. In real estate, 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:31.139 you know what matters most, right? Location, location, location. The house may not look great. 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:39.379 It may not work well in every area, but location makes all the difference. That's where Paul starts 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:49.139 his explanation of what happens in our relationship with God in Ephesians 2. Having been born in sin, 00:13:49.539 --> 00:13:54.639 having lived in rebellion, by the way, for this morning, that's this side of the stage, okay? That's 00:13:54.639 --> 00:14:03.559 where sin and death is. Living like our father Adam, we needed a location change. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:12.899 Verse 1, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:17.699 of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that's now at work in the sons 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:24.440 of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:33.940 of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. It was not looking 00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:44.340 good for us, right? Created to be close in loving relationship with God, we had run far away, right? 00:14:44.340 --> 00:14:54.139 We had earned his wrath, deserved his just punishment, spiritually in death. 00:14:56.300 --> 00:15:06.920 Thankfully, we weren't the only ones bothered by our location problem. Verse 4, but God, 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:18.500 but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:29.599 our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. What did God do by his 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:42.700 grace to save us? He relocated us from death in our sin to life in Christ? These verses here say three 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:50.360 things that God did. And all three times, Paul actually makes up a new word. This is so unique. 00:15:50.360 --> 00:16:03.639 He puts the prefix sin, S-Y-N in English, at the beginning of a verb. And we know that prefix from words like 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:12.899 synonym, right? Means the same. Or synchronized, that's when a bunch of people swim together and they do 00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:26.340 things at the same time. Synchronized or synthesis, working together. What does God do? He alive together with 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:38.220 us. Raised up together with us. Raised up together with us. And seated together with us in the heavenly places. 00:16:38.920 --> 00:16:52.540 How? In Christ Jesus. He took us out of our trespasses and sin and death, where we were, where he found us, 00:16:52.539 --> 00:17:02.419 and all that went with that. And he moved us into life by uniting us to Jesus, the one in whom was life. 00:17:02.839 --> 00:17:10.740 Elsewhere, we learned that we were crucified and buried with Jesus. That too. If we were united with 00:17:10.740 --> 00:17:20.379 him in death, then surely we're united with him in resurrection, Romans 6 says. So united to him, 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:28.760 here's the point of it, here's the point of it, that whatever happens to Jesus, happens to us, right? 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:33.800 I'm going to come back to that. But let's finish this section, verse 7. 00:17:35.300 --> 00:17:44.440 So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:52.460 in Christ Jesus. He's done that already, right? Showing us his grace. But there's even more to come 00:17:52.460 --> 00:17:59.500 in the future. There's something to look forward to in Christ Jesus. Verse 8, for by grace you have 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:05.940 been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:14.920 no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:25.640 prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. See, God has totally remade us in Christ Jesus. New life, 00:18:26.580 --> 00:18:31.940 relocated, united to Jesus. That's the point. 00:18:31.940 --> 00:18:39.340 Christ. You can think of being located in Christ like getting on a plane. 00:18:40.860 --> 00:18:45.860 It's actually, I just humor me for a second. How cool is it that they write the word united 00:18:45.860 --> 00:18:50.799 across the side of this image we're going to use several times this summer? It's just for you, 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:55.500 so that you will remember that you're united to Christ. That's why they did that, I'm pretty sure. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:19:05.160 Think about getting on that plane. Once you're on board the plane, whatever happens to the plane 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:15.940 happens to you, right? As long as you are in the plane, whether you sleep or you stay up worrying, 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:21.880 whether you work really hard the whole flight, whether you run in place, I don't know what you do 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:28.740 on long plane flights. Whatever you're doing, when that plane goes up above the clouds, 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:41.600 you go up above the clouds. When it lands, you land. If it goes to D.C. or somewhere, you go to D.C. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:50.339 D.C. It's what happens when you're in the plane. It's what happens when we are in Christ. And I want 00:19:50.339 --> 00:19:56.139 to be clear here because all my analogies for this mysterious reality are going to fall short 00:19:56.139 --> 00:20:03.379 in some way, okay? They don't communicate everything. This is not a physical, geographical 00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:13.440 location primarily at least. But the Bible says there is no location more important for you than being in 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:22.880 Christ. You've read New Testament letters. Often they're addressed to God's people in a particular 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:33.360 city like Philippi, in Philippi, in Christ. It's the way God talks about us. You may be, 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:45.719 in Huntsville. Most of you are. You may feel like your primary location is in turmoil or in 00:20:45.719 --> 00:21:00.519 confusion or in despair or in conflict. But God says your primary location is in Christ. You can bring 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:07.400 all that other heavy baggage that you've got. You can bring it with you onto the plane. And when the 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:18.119 plane goes up, you go up. If Jesus is seated in the heavenly places, so are you. If you get on board, 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:24.660 if you get in Christ, whatever happens to him happens to you no matter where else you are, in Huntsville, 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:33.540 in despair, in turmoil, you are made alive with Christ, raised up with Christ, seated with Christ, 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:46.019 graced in Christ. See, that's why Puritan Thomas Goodwin says being in Christ and united to him 00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:55.000 is the fundamental constitution of a Christian. He's saying that's what makes someone a Christian. 00:21:56.740 --> 00:21:59.700 Not whether you're trying hard to live right, 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:09.480 or you're voting the right way, or you're attending the right church. Not that. It's not what makes you a 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:20.279 Christian. It's whether you are in Christ, your location. To use our plane analogy one more time, 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:26.400 you may stand in the terminal. I used to love doing this as a kid. You could see this as a picture from 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:30.960 that window in the terminal. I was a kid back when you could actually go down to the terminal without 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:35.480 going through security. Anybody else remember that? You could go all the way and see. Look at all of 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:43.019 these old people in here with me. We could see the plane. You could actually stand in the terminal 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:51.819 and look out at this plane, and you could do that for quite some time. You could study the plane, 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:57.620 and you could learn a lot about it. You may even be there, and you may be one of those kids who got 00:22:57.620 --> 00:23:04.720 really excited about planes, and you loved looking at it, and you found it inspiring to watch. 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:11.819 You may even follow the plane as it backs up, and as it takes off, and you may hold your arms out and 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:21.360 pretend to be like the plane, but if you stand even one step on the terminal side of that door, 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:27.839 you see that door on the far side where you enter the plane? If you just stay one step on that side of 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:33.819 the plane, then when it goes to DC or around the world, wherever it's headed, you will be where? 00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:36.659 In Huntsville. 00:23:39.299 --> 00:23:42.119 Location, location, location. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:46.379 So what do I do, pastor? 00:23:47.679 --> 00:23:49.699 If I want to be on the plane, 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:52.460 but I don't think I am. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.120 Do I need to save up to buy a ticket? 00:23:55.840 --> 00:24:00.440 Do I need to go get dressed up so that I look the part and they'll let me on board? 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:05.380 Do I need to take a running start and try to jump high and hang on tight? 00:24:06.100 --> 00:24:07.160 Please don't do that. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:10.319 None of those. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:13.559 You believe. 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:26.940 What I mean is, we are united to Christ by faith, by believing into Jesus as John describes it. 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:34.419 See, repeatedly in the Bible, we're told that it's God who locates us in Christ. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:40.480 God makes us alive here, raises us up, seats us with Christ. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.880 It's by grace that we then have faith. 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:45.480 It's God's work. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.860 As Paul says elsewhere, God bought the ticket. 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:53.900 He doesn't use those words, but he's saying God bought the ticket for the weak and the foolish 00:24:53.900 --> 00:24:58.380 and the despised so that it is because of God, 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.640 Him, that you are in Christ Jesus. 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:07.680 His work. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:09.480 His gift. 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:09.980 His gift. 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:10.079 His gift. 00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:10.819 We do what? 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.480 We receive it. 00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:17.579 And thus we receive Christ Himself. 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:21.200 He went to the cross. 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:23.799 He rose from the grave. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.259 You take your seat in Christ. 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:33.980 With all of our baggage, we are seated in Christ. 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:38.279 And so the good things that we know will happen to Him, right? 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.400 We're sure of it because He's amazing. 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:42.180 Those things happen to us. 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:43.980 The eternal blessedness. 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:48.339 The moment-by-moment care of a heavenly Father. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.759 The ultimate joy and glory are ours in Christ. 00:25:54.120 --> 00:25:54.960 That's the hope. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.299 Welcome aboard. 00:25:56.860 --> 00:25:58.259 You receive that. 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.259 You sit down and rest in Jesus. 00:26:01.259 --> 00:26:01.480 You sit down and rest in Jesus. 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.480 Just one quick application before we move on. 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:10.579 We're going to spend the summer teasing out applications. 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:13.819 How this changes different areas of our lives. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:22.819 But for now, I just want us to marvel at the protection we have if we are in Christ. 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:29.460 What I'm talking about is the assurance that we have of our eternal security. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:32.419 Therefore, our security right now. 00:26:33.019 --> 00:26:34.179 Think of it this way. 00:26:34.659 --> 00:26:39.139 Is God ever going to forget His Son? 00:26:40.679 --> 00:26:41.839 No way. 00:26:43.139 --> 00:26:46.619 So He hasn't forgotten you and He won't. 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:52.039 Would God ever send Jesus on the wrong route? 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:54.339 No way. 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:57.019 So neither will He you. 00:26:58.379 --> 00:27:06.799 Would God ever envision the eternal glory of heaven without His Son present with Him? 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:09.019 No way. 00:27:09.899 --> 00:27:10.399 No way. 00:27:10.879 --> 00:27:14.399 So neither will you be lost along the way. 00:27:15.159 --> 00:27:21.439 You will never face accusation without being covered in Christ. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:25.940 You will never endure suffering without being protected in Christ. 00:27:26.100 --> 00:27:30.519 You will never face loss without being comforted in Christ. 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.700 You are safe in Christ. 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:35.620 He wants you to be assured of it. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.759 To know that. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:43.039 So that you can be bold in taking risks for Him. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:48.879 So that you can be confident enough to repent deeply and honestly. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:55.819 So that you can be regular before the throne of grace to find help because you need it and He knows that. 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:57.819 Even when you feel that you are in Christ. 00:27:57.819 --> 00:28:07.319 Even when you feel that you're in turmoil, in conflict, in despair, by grace, through faith, you are in Christ. 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:08.839 So you are protected. 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:15.839 Now that reality is glorious. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.839 Inseparable. 00:28:17.959 --> 00:28:20.199 You are in Christ. 00:28:20.879 --> 00:28:23.599 That's what's emphasized in the Bible. 00:28:24.059 --> 00:28:28.779 But briefly we'll also see there's a dynamic reality to our union with Christ. 00:28:28.879 --> 00:28:32.819 Because it's also true that Christ is in you. 00:28:32.819 --> 00:28:36.599 It takes a minute to get there in this passage. 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:41.679 But what Paul does next is he starts talking about Jews and Gentiles. 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.599 Who especially get a location change. 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:46.960 Verse 13. 00:28:47.159 --> 00:28:56.019 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:28:56.099 --> 00:28:58.480 Near to God because they're in Jesus. 00:28:58.759 --> 00:28:59.000 Okay. 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:00.819 Verse 14. 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:09.720 For he himself, Jesus, is our peace who made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:17.500 By abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:18.919 So making peace. 00:29:19.460 --> 00:29:23.480 And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross. 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:25.460 Thereby killing the hostility. 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.960 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off. 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:31.259 And peace to those who were near. 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:37.279 For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. 00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:46.559 Jews and Gentiles both experiencing the relocation of being brought to God by being united to Jesus. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:50.299 Now focus on these last verses. 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:55.480 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens. 00:29:55.819 --> 00:30:01.259 But you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 00:30:01.399 --> 00:30:04.279 Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:16.700 Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:18.119 In him. 00:30:18.339 --> 00:30:19.480 In case you haven't caught it yet. 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:28.660 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by his spirit. 00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:31.539 The picture now is not a plane. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:32.460 It's a house. 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:33.480 Right? 00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:35.480 God's house. 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:37.759 His family. 00:30:38.120 --> 00:30:43.460 We're each being built into it when we're connected to the cornerstone to Jesus. 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:45.460 That's how the structure holds together. 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:45.960 Right? 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:47.160 That's how it worked back then. 00:30:47.259 --> 00:30:51.700 All the stones connected to the same cornerstone built one house. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:54.480 That's what it means to be connected. 00:30:55.019 --> 00:31:00.400 In Christ then he says we are being built into this house. 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:01.599 And who's going to live there? 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:02.099 God. 00:31:02.099 --> 00:31:02.099 00:31:02.099 --> 00:31:06.099 By his spirit. 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:07.599 By his spirit. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:13.679 We're going to come back later this summer to what that means for our relationships with one another. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:17.180 There's a wonderful corporate reality here. 00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:25.120 I just want us to see today that being united to Christ means that he lives in us. 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:30.059 In fact we said that God locates us in Christ. 00:31:30.059 --> 00:31:38.099 Now we see God locates us in Christ so that he can live in us. 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:40.099 It's amazing. 00:31:40.099 --> 00:31:43.039 This is the heart of God from the very beginning. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.339 It's the whole story of the Bible. 00:31:45.339 --> 00:31:45.719 Right? 00:31:46.379 --> 00:31:51.079 God creates people in his image to live in relationship with him. 00:31:51.219 --> 00:31:52.240 Near to him. 00:31:52.439 --> 00:31:55.279 Walking and talking with him in the garden. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:01.000 And after we break that relationship and we run over here and push God away. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:05.900 He keeps coming after us over and over. 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:10.500 Living near his people in the fire and the cloud in the wilderness. 00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:18.079 Then having them build him a tabernacle, a tent so that he could live among them as they traveled toward the promised land. 00:32:18.339 --> 00:32:25.680 And when they get there he instructs King Solomon to build the temple in Jerusalem for a more lasting house for God. 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:28.039 But even the temple, what happens? 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:31.120 It eventually gets destroyed. 00:32:32.340 --> 00:32:35.680 And so God promises as we read earlier in Jeremiah. 00:32:36.560 --> 00:32:41.940 And then God comes himself to tabernacle among us. 00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:42.660 Right? 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:43.840 In the flesh. 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:45.560 In the person of Jesus. 00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:48.200 God with us. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.740 Can you just stop and... 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:54.740 That was thousands of years of history. 00:32:54.740 --> 00:33:00.720 Can you believe how amazingly God pursues us? 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:05.559 The lengths that he goes to to be close to us. 00:33:05.859 --> 00:33:07.640 Can you see a little bit of his heart in that? 00:33:10.579 --> 00:33:15.059 So God designs us for communion, relationship, nearness. 00:33:15.700 --> 00:33:20.640 And when there was no other way for us to live close to him safely because of our sin. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.220 He makes the way. 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:24.099 He sends the way. 00:33:24.099 --> 00:33:27.199 He unites us to the way. 00:33:27.439 --> 00:33:28.539 Even Jesus. 00:33:28.959 --> 00:33:33.699 So that we are now the tabernacle of the most high God. 00:33:33.919 --> 00:33:35.819 Individually and together. 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:40.019 And Revelation tells us that the dwelling place of God is not leaving us. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:42.119 It will be with us forever. 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:48.219 Y'all, if that's the Bible's story about God living with his people. 00:33:48.219 --> 00:33:50.159 Us being close to him. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:56.739 Then union with Christ is the way we take our place in the story. 00:33:57.199 --> 00:33:59.339 That thing that doesn't seem, how could this work out? 00:33:59.399 --> 00:34:00.659 How would this even be possible? 00:34:00.660 --> 00:34:06.279 It's how we find our spot in the house where God lives. 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:10.260 We're going to have to unpack this later. 00:34:10.380 --> 00:34:11.639 But just a preview. 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:18.700 Not only are you in Christ, which gives you all the blessings of his protection in life. 00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:28.899 But also Christ is in you, which gives him all the curses and debts of your sin. 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:34.380 Which is good news because he knows what to do with them, doesn't he? 00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:36.660 Nailed to the cross. 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:38.420 Paid in full. 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:41.820 Removed as far as the east is from the west. 00:34:41.980 --> 00:34:43.559 So you stay with him. 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:47.139 You remember Christ is in you. 00:34:47.240 --> 00:34:49.260 That's a mystery, Paul says. 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:52.840 But you remember that and that is the hope of glory. 00:34:52.840 --> 00:35:03.480 Finally, what keeps you at a distance from God is removed and you are forever united to the one who brings you near to God. 00:35:03.700 --> 00:35:04.840 That's how it happens. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:07.200 So what? 00:35:08.059 --> 00:35:14.000 Briefly, if Christ is in you now, you have power. 00:35:16.180 --> 00:35:17.660 Wow, do you have power. 00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:21.640 I can assure you it is more than you imagine. 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:27.079 It's more than you feel or have ever felt that you actually have. 00:35:27.779 --> 00:35:32.440 It is resurrection power that changes the way you live. 00:35:32.799 --> 00:35:35.900 If God is for you, who can stand against you? 00:35:36.139 --> 00:35:39.099 Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 00:35:39.379 --> 00:35:48.920 So even mighty enemies like Satan and sin that used to control you now can be fought and conquered in the power and presence of Christ. 00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:55.079 Now your own flesh that seems so weak and that's what you usually feel and feel like I've got no power. 00:35:55.420 --> 00:35:57.720 It seems weak even when your spirit is willing. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.840 Now has the strength of a risen Savior within you. 00:36:02.460 --> 00:36:05.559 Now there's something that can fight against the flesh. 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:13.719 What glory, what life-changing reality he's inviting us to live in so that we're never alone. 00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:15.559 We're never too weak. 00:36:15.759 --> 00:36:21.460 We are struck down, yes, but never destroyed because Christ is in you. 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:22.779 He's never destroyed. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:23.820 You know that. 00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:38.400 Can you see how the protection of you in Christ and the power of Christ in you are yours because of a person? 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.740 You don't find protection in a theological concept. 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:48.380 You don't find power in a life hack. 00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:59.619 You find protection and power and so much else in a person like the poor widow drowning in debt 00:36:59.619 --> 00:37:07.160 finds herself completely relocated to a new life by marriage to the rich man. 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:13.199 Not just able to eat and live for a night because of his coins that got thrown down at her. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:25.099 But able to rest and love and live forever because her husband made himself 00:37:25.099 --> 00:37:29.759 and therefore all that he is and has hers. 00:37:30.539 --> 00:37:36.179 And they're together, united, inseparably, forever. 00:37:36.179 --> 00:37:43.859 Union with Christ means you can have a personal relationship with the God who made you for himself. 00:37:44.259 --> 00:37:52.859 Who outside of time connected you so deeply to himself in the person of his son that you would die with him. 00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:56.579 That you would be raised to new life with him. 00:37:56.899 --> 00:38:01.079 That you would be seated in heavenly glory with him. 00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:08.739 That you would be graced for the rest of eternity while God lives in the house with you. 00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:15.880 And puts on like fireworks displays of the immeasurable riches of his grace. 00:38:16.059 --> 00:38:20.699 It's what he made you for and he's looking forward to sharing it with you. 00:38:20.699 --> 00:38:25.839 All of that is yours when you are Christ's. 00:38:26.359 --> 00:38:29.000 And he is yours forever. 00:38:29.619 --> 00:38:30.759 You are in Christ. 00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:33.199 And Christ is in you. 00:38:33.779 --> 00:38:34.539 Praise Jesus. 00:38:34.819 --> 00:38:35.299 Let's pray. 00:38:35.300 --> 00:38:45.519 Jesus, I am so aware that I'm only scratching the surface of the wonder of this. 00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:52.780 Of the joy and the hope and the calm and the rest. 00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:57.300 And the excitement and the adventure and the... 00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:03.400 The life that should fill our hearts. 00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:12.780 Would you so by your spirit help us to experience the reality of something that we often don't feel the way it's really true. 00:39:13.240 --> 00:39:18.180 Would you keep teaching us and would you not just fill our heads but fill our hearts and our lives. 00:39:18.179 --> 00:39:22.079 So that we live with Jesus. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:25.940 And in Jesus every moment of every day. 00:39:26.839 --> 00:39:30.440 We ask for your help with that Holy Spirit within us. 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:32.480 Grow our faith. 00:39:34.379 --> 00:39:35.799 We ask in his name. 00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:36.480 Amen. 00:39:37.839 --> 00:39:41.819 For more information visit us online at southwood.org. 00:39:48.179 --> 00:39:49.179 Amen.