Union With Christ

Devotional

The reason that we exist is to “glorify God and to enjoy Him forever”. …His spirit will stir our affections to pursue the one person who can satisfy our souls – Jesus Himself. We are built for love – love for God, and love from God. But we don’t enjoy God, because we don’t understand who He is, or what it is about Him which is glorious. Our intentional blindness to this truth is both the cause and the result of our catastrophic estrangement from God. But the bible is the record of how God has acted in history to draw us back to Himself. God communicated Himself explicitly in the person of Jesus Christ – Jesus is himself the language of God “the Word”, as the gospel of John puts it – He is the only way that we can truly understand and enjoy God, and the only one by whom we can be saved from the cost of our rebellion against God. The bible teaches that the Christian is “united” with Christ, so that His flawless record becomes ours, His righteousness and good standing before the holy throne of God becomes ours. Paul describes Jesus, in his letter to the Roman church, as “the firstborn among many brothers” – we get adopted into God’s family because of Christ. But as Christians. we need to learn that the good news about Jesus is not just a one-off gift: it’s a perpetual, life-giving, empowering hope. God hears our prayers because of Christ, He is on our side because of Christ, we need not fear that our faltering belief will cause us to fall away, because Christ will help us to persevere, and His spirit will stir our affections to pursue the one person who can satisfy our souls – Jesus Himself. This song celebrates that great spiritual union which we share with Him. We sometimes don’t “feel” it, but it remains true nevertheless.