Love beyond our human comprehending. That's what we're about to see.
Love of God in Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme
in never ending great redeeming love of Calvary. Turn with me back to John 17. I want to show you something
in this. We mentioned it last Sunday morning. that Martin Luther
said, this is so deep, he said it's so deep, it is so rich,
and it's so wide, no one can fathom it. I cannot fathom what I'm about
to tell you. I have been so excited to tell
you this. I can't fathom it. I cannot fathom
it. This is whatever I have never
fathomed. This surpasses that in a way
that I cannot fathom to tell you. I cannot fathom what I cannot
fathom. All right? So don't ask me any
questions after this. No, I'm just kidding. I hope
the Lord will make it clear. I really do. I hope the Lord
will make this clear. All right, look at verse 11.
John 17, verse 11. And now I am no more in the world, but
these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one as we are." As we are. Now the great subject for a believer. This is the only thing we believers
want to hear about. Union with Christ. That's it. That's all we want to hear about.
Salvation is union with Christ. Union with His death. Right? I want to be I want to
be right there with Him. When He died 2,000 years ago,
I pray that even though I wasn't born yet, that's where I was.
Union with His burial, union with His resurrection, union
with His eternal life. It's the only reason we preach
Christ and Him crucified. It's to hear about our union
with Him in all points. Without Christ, we don't have
anything, do we? Absolutely nothing. Our subject
tonight is being one with Christ. And I can't explain it. I just
cannot explain this. We know that if we're going to
receive anything from God the Father, we must be a joint heir
with Christ. Isn't that right? If we're going
to inherit anything in glory, It's only through Christ. We
must be a joint heir with Christ. The truth of the matter is, the
amazing news, the gospel is good news, and it's so much better
than good news. It's amazing news. The amazing
news of the matter is, our union with Christ is so deep, it is
so rich, It's so wide, no one can fathom it. No one can fathom
it. I've been thinking about, we're
about to see some things that pertain to marriage. I've been
thinking about my own marriage. I consider us one in so many
ways, but that does not come close. It does not come close. You cannot explain what you cannot
fathom. You can't do it. You cannot explain
what you cannot fathom. So thank God he has given us
his word. He's given us his scripture.
And I don't understand all of these scriptures, but by God's
grace I believe them and I declare them. All right, so we're going
to look at some scripture. Tonight is one of those nights
where we are going to look at some scripture, and we're going
to hear from the Lord what He has to say on our union with
Christ. Verse 11 right here in John 17.
Now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world, and
I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me. that they may be one
as we are. One as we are. Every sinner that has been given
to Christ, every single one that has been given to Christ, is
one with Christ in the same way that he is with his Father. And I do mean one with Christ.
Now, let me show you a few scriptures that are more glorious than we
can fathom. They are more glorious than we
can fathom. Go with me to Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1. I pray the Lord will let us enter
into every word. Think about every word. Genesis 1, look at verse 26. And God said, let us make man
in our image. after our likeness, and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in
his own image. In the image of God created he
him. male and female created he them." God made man. Male and female created he them.
The relationship of a man and a woman coming together in marriage
was ordained for one reason only. There's only one reason two people
come together in marriage. It was to show the union of Jesus
Christ and His bride. That's why God made marriage. It was to help us. It was to
illustrate something to us. The union between Jesus Christ
and the bride that the Father gave to Him. Those who believe
on His name, His church. Verse 26 says, God said, let
us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created
man in his own image. In the image of God created he
him, male and female created he them. Look back at verse 26. I meant
to point this out to you. God said, let us make man in
our image after our likeness and let them. Let us make man
and let them. Male and female created he man. Why does it say that? The reason
is glorious. It's absolutely glorious. Chapter
2, Genesis chapter 2, it backs up a little bit. and it tells
how God made man. Male and female. Now listen to
every word of this. Chapter 2 verse 7 says, And the
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
A body was prepared for man. Alright? Man could say A body hast thou
prepared me. Right? Verse 21 says, And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And it does not say
how long that was, but I would imagine it was for three days.
It is a picture of Christ accomplishing what he was sent to accomplish.
The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept
and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Was he saying that figuratively?
No. She really was. Bone of his bone,
flesh of his flesh. Verse 24 says, Therefore shall
a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife,
and they shall be one flesh. one flesh. Now don't let me lose
you. Hold your place in Genesis and
turn with me over to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 30
says, For we are members of his body. Alright, well the congregation? No. He goes on to say of his
flesh and of his bones. Of his flesh and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. What
he's saying is, I cannot fathom what I'm telling you. He says in verse 32, this is
a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. He said, I just told you a lot
of things about marriage and every word of it was to illustrate
this union between Christ and his bride, Christ and this church. He said of his bone, of his flesh. He said, I'm speaking a mystery,
an absolute mystery. We are members of his body. Now look back at Ephesians chapter
1. Ephesians 1 verse 22 says, And
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. Which is his body. Still with me? I know we're turning
a lot. Go back to Genesis. This time chapter 5. Genesis chapter 5 and look at
verse 1. This is the book of the generations
of Adam. in the day that God created man. In the likeness of God made he
him. Male and female created he them
and blessed them and called their name Adam. Not Adam and Eve. Adam. in the day when they were
created. The man and the woman were both
named by God Adam. Is that not wonderful? Why? Why is that the case? Why is
that so? It's because this book was written
as a letter from our God to his bride to show spiritual things
that we cannot fathom yet. There are spiritual things in
place that we just cannot fathom yet. But every bit of this that
he put in place was to show us something spiritually. Now turn
with me over to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23, look at verse 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved. and Israel shall dwell safely,
and this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness." You have a margin in your Bible? The Hebrew name
is Jehovah Sidkenu. That's his name. That's his name,
the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Sidkenu. That's the name God
is going to call him. All right, now go with me to
Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33 verse 14 says, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will perform that good
thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the
house of Judah. In those days and at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. And if you have a margin, it
says Jehovah Sidkenu. That's her name. You ever wonder
what's my name going to be in glory? That's her name. That's
the name that God Almighty will call her, the same name. Why? Because she is bone of His
bone and flesh of His flesh. One with Him. Go with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 verse 2 says,
And the Pharisees came to him, our Lord, and asked him, Is it
lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? And he
answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And
they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and
to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the
creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they
twain shall be one flesh. So then they are no more twain,
but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder." Now the purpose of marriage is
to show us our union with Christ. The reason he gave us marriage
was to help us out. It was to illustrate our union
with Christ, what we have with Christ. Right here, this is what
he's saying. Not only are we one, but we're no longer two. We're no longer two. I can't
fathom that. I consider us one, but we're
definitely two. I cannot fathom. God said there
are no more two. I mean, they're one. This is
unfathomable. Unfathomable. In Christ, we are
just as secure as He is because we are literally one flesh, one
spirit. He said, I'm going to put my
spirit in you. There's a spirit inside this
body. You can start cutting off pieces. You can start cutting
me off. There's still a spirit inside
this body. This is my spirit. This is the body the Lord chose
to put my spirit in. He paired this spirit with this
body. But my spirit is me. You can cut off all the body
parts that you can cut off, and I could still be alive, and I'm
still me. Well, he said, I'm going to put
my spirit in you, inside you. In Christ, we are just as loved
by the Father as He is, because we are literally one flesh. God
the Father cannot love Christ more than He loves us. And I
say that reverently and wholly, but it's not possible because
we are one. I mean, we're one. Throughout glory, among a number
that no man can number, we cannot ever be separated from Christ. Have you ever wondered, have
you ever thought about glory? I believe there's going to be
a number there that no man can number. I believe that. Have you ever wondered, everybody
there is going to be focused on Christ. Everybody there is
going to want one thing. They're all going to want to
talk to Christ, right? They're all going to want to
spend time with Christ. How am I ever going to get any
time with Him? Have you ever wondered that? I have. We all
want to go sit at His feet. I want to physically sit at His
feet. How am I ever going to get that
seat? There are people who have been there for thousands of years.
I bet you that Abel went straight to it. First man in. Well, here's the amazing news of the
gospel. The gospel is union with Christ. Here's the amazing news of the
gospel. I will not ever be without Him. I'll never be without Him. I cannot be separated from Him
because we're all one. We're all one. Our Lord told
us that by illustrating in His Word the members of our body,
didn't He? He said the church is all members
of the same body. There's one faith because there's
one person. There's one... Philip said, Lord,
show us the Father. He looked straight at him and
said, Philip, have I been so long with you and yet you don't
know me? Why would he say that? It's because they're one. All
right, now, think about that, okay? Focus on our direct, direct
union with Christ while we read something else from Ephesians
5. Turn with me back to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5 verse 25 says, Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself. a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself." You think if God is giving this to us, you think
this would not apply to Christ? This is all about Christ. Verse
29, For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
and cherisheth it. His own flesh. Even as the Lord,
the church. His own flesh. I cannot mentally
compute this. I just can't do it. All I can do is declare it. That's
all I can do. Colossians 3, you can just listen
to this, Colossians 3 verse 9 says, Lie not one to another, seeing
that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond-free,
Christ is all. and in all. He is all. He's in all. We're one. In Christ
we're one. Now go with me back to John 17 and look at verse 20. John 17 verse 20. Our Lord said,
Neither pray I for these alone, the disciples who were right
there with him, listening to him. Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them. Does that at all register with
us? This whole thing began by the
Lord saying, Father, glorify thy son, didn't it? The glory that thou gavest me,
the glory, Christ's glory, he said, I've given them. I've given
it to them. Verse 22, the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one even as
we are one. I in them, thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou
hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. The exact same way. Father, I
will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have
known thee. These have known that thou hast
sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and will
declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in
them, and I in them. We're one. We're absolutely one. So what does that mean for us,
for the rest of eternity? What does that mean to be absolutely
one with Christ? If the Lord did not write this
in His Word, I would never declare it. Never declare it. I'm going
to close with two scriptures. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verse 6, "...and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It does
not say with Christ Jesus, it says in Christ Jesus. Where is
He seated? Our God is seated in the heavens.
Where is He sitting? Is that not holy? He's sitting
on His throne. And we are seated in heavenly
places in Him. Go to Revelation 22. Revelation 22 verse 3 says, There
shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it. And His servants shall serve
Him, they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their
foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and they need
no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth
them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said
unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of
the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the
things which must shortly be done. Paul told Timothy, If we
be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer,
if we suffered with him, If we suffered in Him when He died
on that cross, if we were in Him, Paul told Timothy, we shall
also reign with Him. Unfathomable. Is that not unbelievable? What do we say to these things?
Thank you. What else can you say? To be
a sinner at the bottom of a hit and be raised up to be seated
in the heavens with him? What do we say to these things?
Lord, conform us to your image. Draw us nearer to you. Make us complete in you. One
with you. Make us one with you. That's
all I want to be. One with you. Alright, let's
stand together.