The Most Beautiful Doctrine (You’ve Never Heard Of)
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
— Colossians 1:25-28
Everyone knows the story. A magical sword is found stuck firmly in a large boulder. Everyone for miles around comes to try their hand at pulling it free and taking the glory that it holds for themselves. Everyone fails except a young peasant boy named Arthur. He releases the sword—Excalibur—and becomes a famous knight and later king of Camelot.
I get the feeling sometimes that Christian doctrine and theology feels like Excalibur in the stone for some church members—stuck for only the special few to release and understand. Otherwise, it’s just big words for stuffy guys with elbow patches on their jackets and spectacles on the end of their noses to discuss and make one another feel smart.
If I have had one great desire and mission for ministry these past fifteen years it’s been to show my Christian brothers and sisters that they, too, can scale the rock of great Christian truth and take the sword of theology into their own hands to wield against lies and confusion.
One of the most beautiful and powerful doctrinal truths that we as Christians should arm ourselves with is the doctrine knows as “Union with Christ.” Kevin DeYoung, theologian and pastor, writes, “Union with Christ may be the most important doctrine you’ve probably never even heard of.” This is sad, especially when you consider how it is peppered through Christian theological history and one of the Apostle Paul’s favorite themes in the epistles.
What is it? Rankin Wilbourne, author of Union with Christ: The Way to Enjoy God, defines it simply: “Union in Christ means Christ is in you and you are in Him.” When you think about what it means to be a Christian, how often do you think about the fact that you dwell in the deepest heart of Jesus and He dwells, by His Spirit, in your soul in such a way that you and He are one. It raises the usual humdrum ideas about salvation to newer and greater heights. “Hey, man, are you saved?” – “Not only am I saved but I am in Christ and He is in me!”
Our identity and eternity with Christ has been intertwined in such a way that you can’t tell where He starts and we begin. It may not seem presently like this is the case but according to how God sees us, it is true. This powerful reality has bearing on our past, our present and our future.
Read how Paul writes about this union. He never uses the word “Christian” to describe the believer. But around 160 times, he speaks of believers as “in Christ” or “in Him.”
We have been buried with Christ (Rom. 6:4) We have been raised with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection (Colossians 3). We have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
How does this track with where I live—on the job, at the kitchen table, when I’m running into Walmart, etc? It is helpfully explained in three metaphors: a courtroom, a marriage, and a tree. In the legal sense, Jesus represents us before God as a Mediator bringing us to God and an Advocate supporting us in the presence of God (see 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:25, and 1 John 2:1). As in marriage, He has brought us into His life and He has put Himself in our lives down to the deepest part (see Ephesians 5). And like a tree, He has interwoven us into the roots and bud of His tree of life so that we can say that we are nothing without Him (see John 15:5).
I love the analogy Wilbourne gives. A young woman gets a job as Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. As a child, when she was good she felt accepted. When she was bad, she felt rejected. She learned to wear a mask. She didn’t believe she was lovable or accepted so she always put a face of positivity and shallow happiness on for others. But who doesn’t like Mickey?? When she put on that big mask and costume, she could be Mickey Mouse and get all the attention and affirmation she craved.
We are in Christ in ways far surpassing a costume and plastic mask. We should feel happy and content because He has chosen us to make His own prized possession and He should be ours. This deeply mysterious yet wonderful truth should color every aspect of our lives.
“One with Himself, I cannot die, my soul is purchased by His blood; my life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ my Savior and my God.”—Charitie Lee Smith.
Blessings. SDG.