Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter 5? I think this is dead. Is it dead? No light on. Well, OK. David said in the Psalms, such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It's high. I cannot attain to
it. And in another Psalm, I think
it's Psalm 73, he said, I was as a beast before thee. Now that's very much how I feel
as I try to deal with this subject, eternal union with Christ. It is impossible to intellectually
grasp only to believe. Paul is quoting King David when
he says, King David, I mean Adam, when he says, 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. And then he gives this explanation
about what he's talking about. And he says, this is a great
mystery, but I'm really not talking about the union between a man
and his wife. I'm talking about Christ and
the church. Mystery. I love the mystery of
the gospel. It's so mysterious. It's so other. It's so beyond our comprehension. It's a sublime, transcendent
truth we would have never known had God not been pleased to make
it known in his word. The mystery of union with Christ
and his church. The two, Christ and his church,
and the individual believer becoming, or not becoming, that's not really
the right word, being one. They didn't become one. This
is an eternal union. It was not a beginning point.
It's always Now that blows my mind when I think about that.
I don't know how else to, I just, I can't grasp it. I've always,
I've always, every believer has always been in the Lord Jesus
Christ, eternally united to him. There was no beginning point.
There was no starting point. Now this doctrine of the eternal
union of Christ and his people, other than the character of God
in the three persons of the blessed Trinity, this is the biggest
doctrine in scripture. And really nothing else can be
understood apart from this eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in verse 28. Ephesians 5 verse 28, so ought
men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself. Now, there's good practical instruction
in that. If you love your wife, husbands,
you're the one that's going to benefit from it. You're loving
yourself. She's going to be a better wife
to you because of the way you love her. And that's beneficial. But that's not really what he's
talking about. It's true. But he is talking about when
Christ loved his wife, he loved himself. Now, that is how real
this union is. When Christ loved his wife, he
loved Turn to, hold your finger there
and turn to 2 Timothy chapter two. Verse 11. It's a faithful saying, 2 Timothy
chapter two, verse 11. It's a faithful saying, for if
we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. That's for
sure. If we died with him, we're gonna live with him. If we suffer,
we shall reign with him. If we deny him, he will also
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. Now, if you're in a state of
struggling with your own unbelief, let's do this. He's not going
to deny you. Because if he denied you, what
he would be doing would be denying himself. He that loveth his wife,
loveth himself. Now back to Ephesians chapter
five, verse 29. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh. Now there are men who have hated
their own flesh and they've taken their lives. Once again, this
is speaking primarily of Christ and the church. No man ever yet
hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherishes it with a tender
love, even as Christ the Lord, even as the Lord the church. For we, the church, are members
of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. Now, do you remember
when the scripture said a bone of him shall not be broken? And
when they pierced the Lord's side, they did so that the scriptures
might be fulfilled that a bone was not broken. When he was hanging
on that tree at no time was any bone of his broken. Turn with
me for a moment to Psalm 22. That glorious Psalm of the cross. that begins with his cry from
the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Look at
verse 16. For dogs have compassed me, the
assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierce my hands and
my feet. Is there any question about who
is speaking at this time? This is the Lord speaking of
the piercing of his hands and his feet. Now look what he says
in verse 17, I may tell or count all my bones. They look up and they stare at
me. That's every one of His people.
They look at Christ and they stare at Him. I'm staring at Him right now,
my all in salvation. That's what His bones do. That's
what the church does. Remember, we're bone of His bone
and flesh of His flesh. That's why these bones will not
be broken. This is His body, His bones. Look back to our text
in Ephesians chapter five, 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. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife. Now,
that means a man and woman are intertwined. You know, it's never
good for men and women that are married to live separate lives.
There's nothing good about that. Be joined, be intertwined with
one another. That being said, this is speaking
of the union between Christ and the church. And he's talking
about that intimate act in marriage. That pictures the oneness, the
two become one. Christ becomes one with his church. Hebrews 2, would you turn with
me there? Verse 11. For both he that sanctifyeth,
that's the Lord. He's the one who sanctifies.
And they who are sanctified, that's us. What's it say of these
two? Are all of one. For which cause he's not ashamed
to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to own me as
his brother. He's mine. He's mine. He's one with me. He is. Now, this union is eternal. It never had a beginning, and
it will never have an ending. Jeremiah 31, three says, behold,
I've loved you. Now, believer, listen to this.
Behold, I've loved you. Individually, yes, the whole
church, but you individually. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. I never began to love you. Now,
he doesn't love, he didn't say I love what you will be. I've
loved you. Every believer is eternally in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, is there anybody that can
understand this? No. Do you believe it? Yes, we do. He said in Jeremiah 1.5, before
I formed thee in the belly, before you had any physical existence
at all, actually before the creation of the world, before I formed
thee in the belly, I knew thee. Now this was pictured for us
in creation. Genesis chapter one, 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 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, speaking of the creation,
you remember when Eve came, it was in Genesis chapter two, it
wasn't in Genesis chapter one. But you know what? in Adam. She was always in Adam. Before
that great sleep the Lord brought upon him, which pictures the
gospel, she was born of his sleep, picturing his death, his side
being opened up, the rib being taken out of him. That's the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when Adam was created, he
just created Adam. But Eve was created also because
she was in him, and she was taken out of the side of the man. Now look in Genesis 2.18, and
the Lord God said, it's not good that man should be alone. I'll
make him and help meet for him. And out of the ground, the Lord
formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and
brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And
whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl
of the air and every beast of the field. But for Adam, there
was not found and help, meat or suitable for him. He was all
alone. And I think that this typifies
how the church is the fullness of Christ. So the Bible says,
Ephesians 1.22, the fullness of him who filleth all in all.
Adam was not full. Adam was not complete until he
was given this wife to be his helpmate. And Christ is not full
if one of his members are missing. Every one of his church makes
up his completeness. Now, you want to talk about significance.
How often do you feel like an utterly insignificant? Well,
if you're a believer, you're not insignificant to him. Heaven
would not be heaven without you to him. Let's go on reading verse
21. Here we see the gospel. And 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 he brought her unto the man and Adam said, this is
now bone of my bones. He meant literally, she was.
And it's literal for us too. We are bone of his bone, flesh
of his flesh, his body. And flesh of my flesh, she shall
be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall
a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto
his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked,
the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now look back on
verse 15 of chapter two. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree
of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now verse six of
chapter three. When the woman saw that the tree
was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
to be desired to make one wise. She took of the fruit thereof
and did eat." Did anything happen? No. You see, Adam is the representative
man, not Eve. She was in Adam. When she ate
of the fruit, nothing took place. Two or three people pointed this
out to me from the service this morning, probably when Satan
was tempting Eve, he was munching on that fruit. Nothing's happening
to me. Look at me, I'm fine. And Eve saw it and she said,
well, looks like maybe what he's saying is true. And she ate the
fruit and nothing happened. The fall did not take place yet.
And gave also to her husband with her and he did eat and the
eyes of them both were opened. when Adam ate, because Adam is
the representative man. When he ate the fruit, she ate
of the fruit. Their eyes were not opened until
he ate, and the fall did not take place until after he ate. Now this is given to us to illustrate
our union with Christ. First, our union with Adam. Romans
5.12 says, for by one man, sin entered the world. and death
by sin. So death passed upon all men,
and that all sinned. Now, notice the language. He
does not say that Adam's sin was charged to these people,
even though they did not commit that sin. Now, if I'm charged
for a sin I didn't commit, and I'm put in prison for a sin that
I didn't commit, I think of how many people We saw a movie recently
where he said one out of nine people on death row didn't commit
the sin. I don't remember the murder or whatever it was that
put him on death row. I don't know if that's the case, but
can you think how horrible that would be? To be punished and
held guilty for something you did not do. Now, here's the point. When Adam sinned, it's not simply
that his sin was charged to me. I sinned when he sinned. He's
my seminal head, whatever he did, I did. When he sinned, I
sinned. Death passed upon all men in
that all have sinned. When he disobeyed, I disobeyed. That's what union looks like.
Whatever he did, I did. When he fell, I fell. Now turn with me to John chapter
17. Verse 11, and now I'm no more
in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee,
Holy Father. You know, there's only one Holy
Father. Don't ever forget that, there's
only one Holy Father. Keep. through thine own name
those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are. Now how one is the father and
the son? How close is that union? Well, in Isaiah 9, verse 6, we
read, and to us a child is born, and to us a son is given. The
government shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. What's next? The Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. That's how one they are. Philip
said, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. And he said,
have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? He that hath seen me, it's just as if he'd seen
the Father. That's not the way it reads,
is it? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. Now that's how one, the Father
and the Son are. I love that scripture, in the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The Word was with God as a distinct
person, and the Word was God. These three are one. 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. That the world may know that
thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. You know, I wouldn't dare say
that if the Bible didn't say it. Thou has loved them as thou
has loved me. How? Because we're one with him.
Now, how lovely is the son to the father? Oh, the father sees
him as altogether lovely, perfectly holy. Oh, the esteem the father
has for the son. That's how he views his people,
because they're one with him. 1 John 4, 17, we quoted this
this morning, as he is, so are we in this world. Is he one with
the father? So are we. Think of what he said on Judgment
Day when we're given that great, glorious picture in Judgment
Day when he's speaking to the sheep and the goats. He says
to the sheep, inasmuch as you've done unto the least of these
my brethren, you've done it to me. Now that's how one, the least
of these brethren are with Christ. What you do to them, you do to
him. What did he say to the goats?
inasmuch as you did it not to the least of these, my brethren,
you did it not to me. When the Lord appeared to Saul
of Tarsus, he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, the Lord was at the right
hand of the Father. When Paul was murdering Christians,
he didn't touch the Lord Jesus Christ, yet the Lord said, why
persecutest thou me? You see, anybody that belongs
to him, when you persecute them, You persecute Him. Now, I love the illustration
the Lord gives in John chapter 15 verse 5. I am the vine. You are the branches. There isn't
any union closer than that. The same stem that's going through
the vine goes through the branches. There's no connecting point.
They really are one. They're not glued together. They're
not close. They're one. The same stem that
goes through the vine goes through the branches. But as any earthly
illustration falls to the ground, this one does too, because you
can cut those branches off. But you can't cut his branches
off. They are eternally united to
him. Now, in reality, this is the
key. to being able to have some understanding
of every doctrine of the scripture. That's how important this is.
For instance, and this is the first thing that comes to my
mind, election. Election was not him picking. He chose one man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and all of those in Redemption. Christ nailed to
the cross when he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? You know what Paul said? I am crucified with Christ. Literally? Literally. In my head, I am crucified with
Christ. In the beloved, I went to the
tree. Somebody says, well, that's figurative.
No, it's not. In the beloved, I went to the tree. Look in Matthew chapter 20. Verse 20, then came to him the
mother of Zebedee's children. with their sons worshiping him
and desiring a certain thing of it. And he said, unto what
wilt thou? She said unto him, grant that
these my two sons. They said, the one on thy right
hand and the one on thy left in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered
and said, you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of
the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? And they said, we're able. Yep,
we're up to the task. We can do it. Well, they were
so ignorant when they made that statement, but look what the
Lord says. He doesn't ball them out for it. He says in verse
23, you shall drink. You shall drink indeed of my
cup and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with. You see, when Christ drank of
the cup of God's wrath, when he drank of sins, I did too.
I was with him. Justification. The Lord said
to John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
all righteousness. He never sinned. He worked out
a perfect righteousness before God, but he did it as an us. He did it with those who are
united to him. Regeneration. What is that? I live, yet Christ
liveth in me. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. Christ in you, the hope of glory. When we come to the Father, it's
as united to Christ. I love John 14 6. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to
the Father, but by me. You know what that means? When
he comes to the Father, I do too, because I'm in him. That's
my hope, being united to him. People say I'm as sure for heaven
as if I was already there. Missed it. I am there. I am right
now seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, according to
Ephesians chapter two, verse six. You know, when he was raised,
I was raised too. All of his people were raised
by his resurrection. Now, this oneness and this union
is such that we take the same name. Let me show you two scriptures
about that. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 23. Verse six, in his days, Judah should be
saved and Israel should dwell safely. And this is his name,
wherewith he shall be called the Lord, our righteousness,
Jehovah Sidkenu. Now turn to Jeremiah 33. Verse
16, in those days, Shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called. Same name, the Lord our righteousness. Same name. What's your name?
The Lord our righteousness, Jehovah's Akinnu. That's the new name given
to everybody in the book of Revelation. Turn with me to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Verse six. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Now, are you seeking Jacob's
face? No. He takes the name of Jacob. Now,
my marginal reading says the God of Jacob, that's what he
meant. I know that, but God's not in the text. He takes the
name Jacob. We take his name, he takes ours. Look in Psalm 24, verse three, 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
into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek thy face, O Jacob."
You see, he's teaching union here, isn't he? You're not gonna
come into God's presence unless you have clean hands and a pure
heart. And you've never lifted up your soul to vanity. And you've
never sworn deceitfully. You know what? I haven't. I haven't,
because I'm united to the one who hadn't. And when he didn't,
I didn't. Now I want to close this with
a story from Genesis 27 that I think illustrates this. Genesis
27. Now this is a story. of deception
and deceit. It's when Jacob cheated his brother
of his birthright. He was wrong. He was wrong when
he did what he did in chapter 25 and got his brother to sell
his birthright for a bowl of soup. But look at this, Genesis
chapter 27, and this is going to illustrate this thing of the
gospel. Remember, all these stories in the Old Testament are given
to illustrate the gospel. Do you believe that? Every single
one of them. And this is one. Now let's begin
reading verse one. And it came to pass that when
Isaac was old and his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see,
he called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him, my son. And
he said unto him, behold, here I am. And he said, behold, now
I'm old. I know not the day of my death, now therefore take,
I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out
to the field, and take me some venison, and make me savory meat
such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my
soul may bless thee before I die.' And Rebekah heard when Isaac
spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to
hunt for venison and to bring it, And Rebekah spake unto Jacob
her son, saying, Behold, I have heard thy father speak unto Esau
thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat,
that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, according to that which
I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch
for me thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them
savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt
bring it to thy father that he may eat, and that he may bless
thee before his death.' And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold,
he saw my brother is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man. My
father, peradventure, will feel me, and I shall seem to him as
a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me, not a blessing."
You can understand why he thought that. I would do the same thing.
I mean, this is, you're telling me to come into his presence
like this? This will get me in trouble. Verse 13, and his mother said
unto him, upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice, and
go fetch me them. And he went and fetched and brought
them to his mother. And his mother made savory meat, such as his
father loved. And Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau, which was with her in the house, and
put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of
the kids of the goats upon his hand, and upon the smooth of
his neck. And she gave the savory meat and the bread which she
had prepared, into the hand of his son, her son Jacob. And he
came unto his father and said, my father, and I can't help but
think that he was very nervous when he made this statement.
Very nervous. My father, here am I, who art
thou my son? And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau. Now the only way that I can come
into God's presence is with this same answer. As I'm united to Christ, I'm Him. Now I'm sure that Jacob
was scared to death when he made that statement, and I'm scared
even making that statement myself. But this is the way you come
into God's presence. You must be Him, united. And look what he says next. I
have done according as thou badest me. I've kept the law perfectly
united to my son. I pray thee, sit in need of my
venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son,
how is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he
said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me And Isaac said
unto Jacob, come near, I pray thee that I may feel thee, my
son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. You see, you're
gonna have to feel exactly like Christ to be accepted. And Jacob went near unto Isaac,
his father, and he felt him. He said, the voice is Jacob's
voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. and he discerned
him not. Because his hands were hairy
and his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him. He could not
discern the difference between Esau and Jacob. And on judgment
day, if there's any discernible difference between me and Christ,
I'll be cast off. That's how important this is.
Verse 24, and he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, bring it near to
me and I will eat of my son's venison that my soul may bless
thee. And he brought it near to him and he did eat and he
brought him wine and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto
him, come now here, kiss me my son. He came near and kissed
him. and he smelled the smell of his raiment, clothed in Christ. He smelled the smell of his raiment
and blessed him and said, see the smell of my son is as the
smell of the field which the Lord hath blessed. I'm gonna
have to smell exactly like Christ, not close. There can be no discernment. Therefore, God give thee of the
dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn
and wine. Let people serve thee and nations
bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that
curseth thee and blessed be everyone that blesseth thee. Now, I guarantee
you that all the while this was going on, Jacob felt like a fraud. You feel like a fraud? Do you
know what he felt like? But what did his father see? Nothing but Esau. What does the father see when
he sees every single believer? Nothing but Christ, united to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I hope this gives us some
small inkling of what this thing of eternal union with Christ
is. But what a glorious thing it
is. And when we partake of the Lord's
table, when we eat that bread and drink that wine, you know,
it becomes part of us, doesn't it? We take it in and it becomes
part of us. And may we remember that as we
eat the bread and eat the wine. Come pass out the bread and wine
now.