The Gospel in Ten Words (11 page)

The good
news is we don’t need to do a thing to make this new life happen, we just need
to receive it. To partake in his divine nature requires only that we live in
the union that is already ours.

You may say, “But I don’t feel it. I don’t feel connected.” Don’t
put your faith in feelings. Believe the One who declares, “You are a branch.”
His eternal word is truer than your momentary feelings. “But I’m struggling to
produce fruit.” Stop struggling. It’s not your job to produce fruit but to bear
the fruit that he produces in you.

He is the vine. Quit trying to be a little vine of your own. Jesus
does it all. Our part is to trust him and depend on him for everything. The
fact is you are in union, so live in union. Act married, because you are.

Since you
have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. (Colossians 2:6,
GNB)

A married person who continues to act like a single person is
going to miss out on many of the blessings of marriage. Similarly, a Christian
who fails to draw from their union with Christ is going to miss many of the
blessings of that union. New life is meant to be lived; it’s meant to be
expressed and enjoyed and worked out to such a degree that unbelievers see it
and marvel.

How do we bear his fruit in our lives? By not trying. Fruit grow
naturally (see Mark 4:26
–
28). We hinder that process by trying to make things happen
in our own strength and understanding. Do that and you’ll produce Ishmaels. But
learn to rely on his love and trust in the Father’s pruning and you will bear
his fruit effortlessly.

Let us
give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union
with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly world. (Ephesians 1:3, GNB)

You may know that you are blessed in your new
life, but you may not know that 100 percent of your blessings come as the
result of being one with Christ. Let us consider some of these blessings,
starting with salvation. What exactly is the basis for your salvation? It is
your union with Christ. You are not saved because you said the magic words of a
sinner’s prayer. You are saved because you are one with the Lord and his saving
life is your life. Paul said he endured all things so others may “obtain the
salvation that is
in Christ Jesus
” (2 Timothy 2:10).

We mislead people when we sell salvation as a
ticket to heaven. It’s not that it’s wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete.
Salvation is not about being put into a lifeboat but being put into Jesus
(Ephesians 1:13). Besides, those in lifeboats aren’t really saved. They still
need to be rescued. This is why Christians with a lifeboat mentality are
anxious and fearful. Bobbing around in the ocean of their insecurity, they have
no assurance that they are actually saved. Perversely, they fear Judgment Day
more than the average sinner. Not us. We are as secure as the Savior himself.
We fear no condemnation because there is no condemnation to those who are
in
Christ Jesus
(Romans 8:1).

Later in this book we are going to see that
because of God’s grace we have been made holy and righteous. How is it that we
dare to call ourselves a holy people? It is because Jesus is holy and we are in
him. Paul said of the most misbehaving bunch of Christians in the Bible that
they were “sanctified
in Christ Jesus
” (1 Corinthians 1:2). So were you.
When did this happen? It didn’t happen when you attended that holiness retreat.
It happened when you were dipped into the Holy One by the Holy Spirit. Some
Christians act holier-than-thou, as if there were levels to holiness, but
there’s only one level and it’s his level. Jesus is your holiness. You don’t
have to sweat your way to sainthood for you are already numbered among the
saints
in Christ Jesus.
[39]

Christ
was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that
in
union
with him we might share the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians
5:21, GNB)

The Good News Bible is not the most literal
translation but it absolutely nails it when it conveys the idea of shared
righteousness. How can we presume to call ourselves righteous? Because the vine
is righteous and he shares his righteousness with his branches. How could he
not? Since we are inextricably joined together it is meaningless to speak of
one kind of righteousness for the vine and another for the branches. We are
just as righteous as he is.

These New Testament revelations exceed the
wildest dreams of the Old Testament prophets. Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah
spoke of the righteous
One
and foresaw a righteous
Branch
.
[40]
They
could not imagine that the Branch would become a vine reproducing itself in
millions upon millions of little righteous branches. They saw the coming Christ
but not the coming Christians who now carry his life and nature and who have
been made the very righteousness of God
in Christ Jesus.

The blessings of our union are many and I
could keep going. Indeed, I will. Like Paul, my prayer is that you will have “
a deeper
understanding of every blessing which we have in our life
in union
with
Christ” (Philemon 1:6, GNB)
.

How is it that we can live free from the
demands of the law? The Gentile believers who walked in this revelation
scandalized the Jews of the first century. “Who are these Johnny-come-latelies
who dare to claim all the blessings of the law while ignoring all of its
curses?” We are the happy branches of a vine who fulfilled the law on our behalf.
It’s really not that complicated. Since the vine is blessed, his branches must
be blessed too. How could it be otherwise?

What about our authority? On what grounds can
we call ourselves the head and not the tail? What right do we have to speak to
storms, cast out demons, and heal the sick? All together now
—
it is because we are wedded to the One who holds all authority in
heaven and earth. Our bodies may be here, but we are seated together with God
in heaven
in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 2:6).

We read that Jesus sits waiting for his enemies to be placed under
his
feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). We also read that the God of peace will
soon crush Satan under
our
feet (Romans 16:20). So under whose feet is
the enemy going? His. Ours. All of the above. Since we are in union with the
One who has defeated the enemy, we are already victorious
in Christ Jesus
.
Our part is simply to stomp.

The list of benefits goes on and on. We have forgiveness in him.
We are perfect in him. We are reconciled through him. Peace, joy, provision,
and everything besides, comes to us through our union with Jesus Christ.

For in
union with Christ you have become rich in all things … (1 Corinthians 1:5, GNB)

Do you see it yet? You are mightily blessed because of your union
with the Lord. Your needs are not met through prayer, fasting, and Bible study.
Neither are they met by sowing into this ministry or signing up for that class.
Whatever your need, your abundant supply is found
in Christ Jesus
.

And my God will meet
all your needs according to his glorious riches
in Christ Jesus.
(
Philippians 4:19)

The
blessings of our union with Christ are many and wonderful, but they pale in
comparison to the ultimate purpose of union, which is to share in his life. Why
did God make us? It was so we could participate in the abundant and overflowing
life found within the Godhead. We were created to love and be loved and to
enjoy fellowship with the One who made us.

For your Maker is
your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name
…
(Isaiah
54:5)

In a word, it’s all about Jesus. Jesus is both the means for our
union and union’s true object. Indeed, Jesus is the Reason for everything. Life
lived apart from Jesus doesn’t satisfy and doesn’t last. Only in him do we live
and move and have our being.
[41]

Jesus came to give us abundant life, and that life is found in
him. Again, we can miss it when we seek the gifts independently of the Giver.
Eternal life, for instance, is not more of the same old, broken-down life we
inherited from Adam. It is a wholly new life that comes from knowing God and
walking in the new way of the Spirit. The difference between the old life and
the new is the difference between being lost and found. There is just no
comparison.

When Paul said, “
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me
” (Galatians 2:20), he was rejoicing
in his co-baptism and resurrection with Jesus. This is the triumphant shout of
a man who has found his place in the larger order of things. Paul understood
there is no real life outside of Christ and those who seek to live
independently on the basis of their own wits and resources ultimately lose
their true selves. But when you abandon yourself totally to him, then you
discover who you really are. Then you really live.

Perhaps
you originally came to Christ on account of some need. It may have been a need
for healing, forgiveness, or simply to get a ticket in to heaven. Whatever your
need, God is faithful and generous. Receive from the abundant provision of his
grace and be blessed. But then brace yourself for a blessed shock. The Giver is
greater than his gifts. The Blesser is infinitely lovelier than his blessings.

The
gospel
is not an advertising brochure for the treasures of the kingdom.
The gospel is the thrilling revelation that the Lover of your soul desires to
share his life in wedded union with you forever. For those who believe it, the
gospel is the joyful declaration that right now and forever more, you are in
perfect union with him. Your days of restless wandering are over, for in Christ
you have already found your eternal rest. In Christ, you are already home.

Accept
one another, then, just as Christ accepted you …. (Romans 15:7)

When I was in high
school, an opportunity came to represent my state on a national televised quiz
show. The smartest students from all over the country were going to compete to
determine the national champion. I was dead keen to sign up. This was my chance
to win fame and glory, to break out of the pit of teenage anonymity. At school
I was a Nobody, but this quiz show was going to turn me into a Somebody.

To
get accepted onto the show, I first had to compete against dozens of bright
students from my own school, then I had to beat hundreds of others students
from across the state. A few days after the testing and interviews with the
show’s producers, my school principal pulled me out of class to let me know I
had been selected to represent the school and the state on TV. The excited man
nearly shook my arm off.

For
about a week I was king of the world. Classmates high-fived me and students I
barely knew whispered my name as I passed them in the corridors. I had won the
respect of my peers by answering a few trivia questions and being quick on the
buzzer. You can imagine the boost that sort of achievement gives to a young
man’s ego.

It
didn’t last long. In the first round of the national competition I was soundly
defeated by a faster and brighter student. In less than 22 minutes of airtime
my reputation changed from state champ to quiz show loser, and I fell from the
high place of acceptance to the low place of rejection.

Such
is life.

Every
single one of us has experienced the highs of acceptance and the lows of
rejection. As social creatures we were created with the need to be accepted. We
hunger for approval and approbation. God put these needs and desires within us
so that we might look to him to fulfill those needs. When we don’t—when we seek
to get our need for acceptance met outside of him—we can literally hand our
lives away.