Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm reading from Ephesians chapter
5 beginning in verse 31. 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. Now this is Paul quoting Adam,
when he was presented Eve as his wife who came out of his
side, one of his ribs, and the Lord formed the woman, and when
he saw this woman the Lord had given to him, Eve, he said, for
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother. Now, at
this time, Adam didn't have a physical father and mother, and he was
speaking of leaving your father and mother to be joined to your
wife, but I think he was speaking prophetically too. He was talking
about the relationship between the Lord and his church. Now
let's read these verses again. 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, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Now, there is much
valuable instruction given with regard to marriage in Ephesians
chapter 5, verses 22 through 33, but Paul says, I'm not really
speaking of human marriage, but I'm speaking of the marriage,
the relationship between Christ and the church. And he calls
it a great mystery. And indeed, it is a great mystery. Now, by mystery, Paul doesn't
mean like an Agatha Christie mystery, you know, whodunit,
figure it out, it's a mystery, let's figure it out. No, a mystery
in the scripture is a sublime, transcendent, glorious truth
that would have never been known had not God been pleased to make
it known in His Word. Now, the obvious example of this
would be the Trinity. One God in three distinct persons. Would there be somebody that
wake up one morning and think, well, you know, I think God's
one God in three persons. No, nobody would ever think anything
like that. The only way we know it is because
it's revealed in the scriptures. That's the only way. There is
no other way that we would know something other than that. Now, Paul speaks of great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Would you have known that God
became flesh and kept the law perfectly and died as a substitute
for sinners, was raised from the dead and accomplished salvation?
Would you have known that had not God been pleased to make
it known in His Word? The Bible is filled with mystery. transcendent, glorious truth
that we would have never known had not God made it known, and
he tells us that this is a great mystery concerning Christ and
the church. Now, what I've entitled this
message is Eternal Union with Christ. Every believer is eternally
united to Christ. Now, can I intellectually grasp
how this is? No. But I believe it because
it's what the Bible teaches. All of God's people, all of the
elect of God, all those for whom Christ died, all those who are
a part of the church which he gave himself for, are eternally
united to Christ. And by eternally, I mean, it
never had a beginning, it'll never have an ending. All of
the elect are eternally united to Christ. Somebody says, explain
that to me. Well, let's see what the scripture
has to say about it. I'll do my best to demonstrate
what the Bible has to say about this glorious truth. And let
me say this. No doctrine of the Scripture
actually can be understood apart from an understanding of the
believer's eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's
back back up to verse 28 of Ephesians chapter 5. He says, So ought
men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself. Now, there is good instruction
for a husband. Love your wife as you love yourself,
and you'll be being a good husband to her. And you will benefit
from it. You're the one who will benefit
from it. The more you love her, the better she'll treat you.
There's good instruction in that. But Paul tells us that's really
not what I'm talking about. Remember, he said, this is a
great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. He that
loveth his wife loveth himself, When Christ loved his wife, his
bride, the church, he was loving himself. That is how close and
real this union is. Not close to Christ, one with
Christ, eternally united to him. When Christ was loving, his bride,
the church. He was loving himself. You remember how Paul said in
2 Timothy 2, verse 13, if we believe not, he abideth faithful,
he cannot deny himself. Now, if I'm in a state of unbelief,
doubt, fear, and somebody says, how can you be a believer and
it be that way? Well, that man did say, I believe,
help thou my own belief. And At all times, the old nature
doesn't believe. At all times, the new nature
does believe in a believer, but that can create some conflict. And Paul says, if we believe
not, he abided faithful, he cannot deny himself. For if he denied
me, he would be denying himself, because I am united to him. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body."
That's speaking of the church. We are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones. Now, the church is the body of
Christ. Now, that's another great mystery,
but the church That's talking about every true member of his
church. The General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn whose names are written in heaven, that's
the church. Every believer, all the elect,
they are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. Do you remember how John pointed
out that the spear was pierced through his side and that not
a bone was broken? so that the scripture might be
fulfilled? When our Lord was crucified, there was not one
broken bone in his body. And he says in Psalm 22, that
great Psalm of the cross that begins, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? And it's there where he says,
they pierced my hands and feet. He said from the cross, I can
tell or count all my bones. They look up and stare at me.
He's talking about every believer. He couldn't see all of his bones
at that time, as far as literal bones. Skin was covering some
of them, but he's talking about every single believer, bone of
his bone and flesh of his flesh. They are united to him. He says in verse 31, for this
cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his
wife, and they too shall be one flesh. Now he's talking about
the act of intimacy. These two become one flesh, but
that's also referring to the oneness of Christ with his people.
They're one flesh. They're not separate. Listen
to this scripture from Hebrews chapter 2 verse 11. Both he that
sanctifyeth, that's the Lord, and they who are sanctified,
that's every believer, both he that sanctifyeth and they who
are sanctified are all of one. Totally one. Not real close. One. This is much closer than
the act of intimacy between a man and woman. They are one. They have always been one. They
always will be one. And this union is eternal. It
never had a beginning, and it will never have an ending. Jeremiah
31.3 says, Behold, I've loved you with an everlasting love,
a love that had no beginning and a love that will never end. He knew me personally. Jeremiah
1.5 says, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. God's people have always been
known by Him, whom He did foreknow. Then He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Now here is a way from the Scriptures
that I think illustrate this glorious union. We read in verse
26 of Genesis chapter 1 with regard to the creation of man,
and God said, ìLet 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. Now, Eve doesn't come around
to Genesis chapter two, but yet it says when he created Adam,
he created them because Eve was in Adam. She was one of his ribs. She was in Adam, so that when
Adam was created, Eve was created in him. I think this is interesting
of when, before Eve was created. We read in Genesis chapter 2,
this is before the fall. And the Lord God said, it's not
good that the man should be alone. I'll make him in a help meet
for him, speaking of Eve. And verse 21 says, and the Lord
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took
one of his ribs and closed it 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. Now we see the gospel typified
so clearly here. Adam being put to sleep, Christ
dying, the church coming out of his death as his bride, perfect
before him. And now you have this beautiful
creation eve, that's the church of the living God. And we read
in verse 23, 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 a man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they
too shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed." You see, the fall had
not taken place yet, and there was no sinful desires or natures
to deal with. They were not ashamed. Now, if
you go on reading in Genesis chapter 3 about the fall. When
Eve ate the fruit, nothing happened. The fall did not take place until
Adam ate of the fruit. Now, why is that? Well, God made
the command to Adam, in the day that you eat thereof, you shall
surely die. Not when Eve ate, but when Adam
You see, Adam is the representative man, and we can learn something
about union by seeing this, what union looks like, what it really
means. The scripture says in Adam, all die. Now, when Adam
ate of the fruit, he did so as the man who has all men in him. Everybody, if you shake your
family tree long enough, Adam's going to fall out. And everyone
is related to Adam. And what Adam did, he did as
the head of our race. When he ate the fruit, I ate
of the fruit. Whatever he did, I did. Romans 5, 12. says this, For
by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so that death
passed upon all men, in that all have sinned. When Adam sinned,
I was not charged with a sin that I didn't commit. That would
be unjust. What if you were charged with something you didn't do
and were put in jail for it? Can you imagine how violated
you'd feel? This is unjust. This is not right. Now, when Adam ate of that fruit,
His sin is not charged to me, even though I didn't commit it,
I committed it. Romans 5, 12, by one man's sin
in the world, a death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men in that all sinned. When Adam sinned, you and I sinned
because we were in the loins of Adam. We were united to him
so that what he did we did. When he sinned against God, we
sinned against God. That lets us know what union
looks like. But as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now, if I'm united to
Christ, that means What he did, I did. That's the key of union. What he did, I did. Why, we're
showing this in baptism. Baptism is by immersion. Somebody
goes under the water and comes back up, picturing the life,
the death, and the resurrection of Christ. And what I'm saying
when I'm baptized is this is my hope. When he lived, I lived. When he died, I died. When he
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. The gospel is seen in union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not simply charged with
what he did. Justification means I did what
he did. Here's another scripture. In
Matthew chapter 3, verse 15, when the Lord came to John the
Baptist and said, I want you to baptize me, John didn't want
to do it. He said, I need to be baptized in thee, comest thou
to me? He said, suffer to be so now, for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. You see, if I'm in him, when
he kept the law, I kept the law. When he was nailed to a cross,
I was nailed to a cross. My sin became his sin, and I
was crucified with him when he took responsibility for my salvation. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. He didn't say, it says, if I
were crucified with Christ, I am crucified with Christ. That's
what union means. I'm in him so that all that he
did, I did. You know, I really did keep the
law. When Christ kept the law, I did, too, because I was in
Him. When Christ was punished for sin, that's why He died,
because of sin. My sin became His sin. When He
was punished, I was, too. When He was raised from the dead,
you see, He'd put away sin. He didn't go through the process
of decay like everybody else does, because He lived a perfect
life without sin. And He put away that sin. And
when He was raised from the dead, I was, too. And as He's seated
right now in heaven, I'm there. Somebody says, literally? Yes,
in Him I am because I'm united to Him. Now, in John chapter
17, verse 11, we read, And 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. Now, how one? is the Father and
the Son. Well, the Father, Son, and the
Spirit says these three are one, one God. They can't be separated,
one God. And we are one with Him as He
is one with His Father. Look in verse 20. of John chapter
17, 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've 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. Now, this is the oneness of the
Lord with all of his people. I couldn't help but think of
when the Lord gives us that picture of the Day of Judgment and the
sheep and the goats, he says to the sheep, enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord. And he talks about all the things
that they had done. And they said, when did we do these things?
He said, inasmuch as you've done to the least of these, my brethren,
you've done it to me. And he said to the goats, inasmuch
as you did it not to the least of these my brethren, you did
it not unto me. You see, Christ is one with his
people. How you treat them is how you
treat him. Remember when The Lord said to Saul of Tarsus,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, Saul couldn't literally
persecute the Lord Jesus Christ because he was at the right hand
of the Father in complete control, ruling and reigning. But when
he persecuted his people, he was persecuting Christ himself. I love the analogy the Lord gives or the
example or illustration, call it what you will. He said, I
am the vine, you are the branches. Now the same stem that flows
through the vine flows through the branches. There's no connecting
point. They're not close, they are one. Now, there's a problem with that
illustration in that there is a problem with any illustration.
The Lord is altogether other, and you can cut a branch off,
And it's no longer connected to the vine. But you can't do
that with the Lord's members. They're eternally connected,
eternally one with the Lord Jesus Christ. And really, this is the
way we understand every Bible doctrine. Here's an example,
election. According as he hath chosen us
in him, before the foundation of the world, God elected one
man and everybody in him. It wasn't like there was a sequence
of events. I'm going to elect this one,
this one, this one, this one. No. Everybody eternally united to Christ. He said, regarding Christ, behold,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. Now, Election is union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. When we talk about redemption,
Christ being nailed to a cross and crying, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. When Christ was crucified, I
was. When he died, I died. When he was buried, I went into
the tomb with him, and so did every one of his people. Their
sins were put away, united to him. When we talk about justification,
it's because I'm in Christ. When he kept the law, I kept
the law. When he obeyed God perfectly,
I obeyed God perfectly. And on judgment day, I'm going
to be rewarded as one who has never sinned and has always done
that which is perfect in God's sight. And that can only be grasped
through the light of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
when we come to the Father, we come united to him. I love what the Lord says in
John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. That means when he comes to the
Father, I come to the Father. He's the way. He's the truth. He's the life. His life is my
life before God. And when He comes to the Father,
so does every other believer. I've heard people make this statement,
I'm as sure for heaven as if I'm already there. I am already
there. Ephesians 2, 6 says we're seated
together in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. Now, somebody says,
I'm looking at you here on earth. How can you say that? Because
I'm in Christ. And if Christ is in heaven, I'm
in heaven. As he is, so are we in this world. This union is so close that we
take the same name. In Jeremiah 23, 6, we read, These words, this is the name
wherewith he shall be called, Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Now get that, this is the name
wherewith he shall be called. Jehovah's Akenu, the Lord our
righteousness. And then in Jeremiah 33, 15,
it says, this is the name wherewith she shall be called. Speaking
of the church, the bride of Christ, the exact same name. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Somebody says,
what's your name? The Lord our righteousness. Well,
how can you say that? Because I'm united to Christ.
The church has the same name as the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then we have this amazing statement in Psalm 24, verse 6. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Here the Lord
takes the name Jacob. Now Jacob was a sinful man, but
he takes that name because he took Jacob's sin. Now look what
is said in this psalm, and this is so clearly union with Christ. Verse 3, Who shall ascend into
the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not
lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. You know the only people who
are going to be in heaven? People who have clean hands and
a pure heart, that have never lifted up their soul to vanity,
and they've never sworn deceitfully. You say, well, that puts everybody
out. Everybody that's united to Christ,
he had clean hands. So do they. He never lifted up
his soul to vanity, neither have they. He never swore deceitfully,
neither have they. He has a pure heart, so do they. You see, I'm united to him so
that what he did, I did. And that's the hope of every
believer of being internally united to Christ and the evidence
that you are is you believe the gospel. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church or write,
we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niebuhr praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.niebuhr at gmail.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.