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The union of the individual believer with Jesus Christ
and the legitimacy and limits of that relationship is the basic question
and thesis of this essay. In the context of this essay, legitimacy implies
an objective truth that can only be known by what is revealed. Limits are
implied as subjective and therefore can only be known from an experience
that reveals the truth.
The individual believer’s union with Christ begins
with belief in Him as the Son of God. Jesus says in John 3:16, "For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." With
that first step of faith, the individual believer’s eternal life with
Him begins.
The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed!
Sing this aloud; proclaim it to the ends of the earth:
The Lord has set his people free.
On Easter morning we proclaim in the liturgy our
personal belief in the risen Christ. We proclaim with joyous accord the
gospel message. Christ was crucified, dead and buried, but He is alive (1
Cor.15:1-5). With His atoning blood on the cross, we are set free from the
wages of sin and of death (Rom.3:25). Through belief in Him, we are
transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into new creations (2
Cor.5:17). We are justified by faith in Christ Jesus (Rom.3:21-5:11). With
mind, will and heart we acknowledge our union with Him in His death and
resurrection (Rom. 6:1-23).
Throughout the liturgy we find the pursuit and
statement of objective fundamental biblical doctrine. The legitimacy of
the individual believer’s union with Christ is solidly grounded in the
revealed truth of Holy Scripture. We are: (1) to know the facts of our
union and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection; (2) to
count these facts to be true; (3) to present ourselves to God as alive;
and (4) to obey the revealed will of God.
The cross and the resurrection are essential to the
revealed truth in the Scripture and are at the heart of the liturgical
response. The cross and the resurrection are also the biblical doctrines
that differentiate Christianity from all other religions. Without the
cross there is no plan of salvation and Christianity becomes much like the
other religions of the world. Alistair Begg writes in Made for His
Pleasure: "The cross is central in our union with him.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal.
6:14)."
The resurrection is the fundamental doctrine of our
faith. Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 15:12-19, "that everything rises or falls with the
resurrection." If Christ is not risen there is no legitimacy in the
individual believer’s union with Him and without the cross there is no
resurrection. Without the cross and the resurrection there is no Easter
morning.
But, there is an Easter morning, and Jesus is alive. As
a result of our new birth, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we now
can experience His divine nature. This spiritual experience of knowing
Christ is beyond our normal senses, and for the individual believer is a
great mystery. He has been revealed to us through the Scriptures, but how
can we spiritually sense His presence in our daily lives?
The language of mystery was prevalent in the early
church and developed over time into the term "mystical
theology." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
indicates that mysticism in modern language generally refers to claims of
immediate knowledge of Ultimate Reality (whether or not this is called
God) by direct personal experience; "mystical theology" is used
to mean the study of mystical phenomenon of the science of the mystical
life. The limits of our spiritual union with Christ are clearly in the
mystical realm. We must carefully approach the subject of mysticism from a
biblical viewpoint and develop an understanding based on Christ’s
teaching.
In the illustration of the vine, the vinedresser and
the branches, in John 15:1-11, Christ gives us a wonderful illustration of
the individual believer’s spiritual or mystical union with Him and the
limits and purpose of that union. He is the vine, the Father is the
vinedresser and we are the branches (vv.1, 5).
The limit of the individual believer’s union with
Christ is illustrated by the juncture of the branches with the vine. The
branches receive their life from the vine but they are not the vine (vv.
4,5). The constant pruning of the branches by the Father is to nurture the
vine and produce the fruits of the spirit-filled life in the branches (vv.
2,5,8). The fruits of the spirit-filled life glorify the Father, honor the
Son and bring the full joy of God’s love to the branches (vv. 8-11).
Christ is seen as the living mediator between the individual believer and
God the Father.
Christ’s illustration provides heaven’s viewpoint
of the spiritual life of the believer, and allows us to develop a biblical
definition of what is referred to as Christian Mysticism. Christian
Mysticism is the experiential knowledge of God’s love and grace based on
the fundamental truths revealed in the Scriptures.
The challenge for the individual believer is to unite
the objective truth revealed in the Scripture with a spiritual life that
will reveal the truth by experience. Christ teaches us to kneel at the
throne of grace, heart focused on Him, with the Scripture in our lap.
Spirit of the living God; fall afresh on
me;
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
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