Union with Christ – Believing into Him
Union with Christ – Believing into Him
MYSTERY: (Greek, Musterion); a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden to doubters and unbelievers.
“No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God remains united with us, and He makes His permanent home in us and we make our permanent home in Him. His love is then brought to its full expression in us. He has given us His Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that we remain united with Him and He with us…. Those who confess and give thanks that Jesus is the Son of God remains in union with God, they live inside of God, and God lives inside of them. We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love He has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.” (1 John 4:12-16, The Complete Jewish Bible and The Passion Translation).
Sacred Secrets. Jesus revealed many fascinating mysteries in His conversations with the Disciples, but maybe these declarations of His were more intriguing and inspiring than most… “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am inside my Father, and you are inside me, and I am inside you.” (John 14:20); or this, “Remain inside of me, dwell in me, continue to draw your life from inside me, and I will remain inside of you.” (John 15:4-7); or even the more perplexing claim that, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives continually inside of me, and I live inside of him.” (John 6:56).
The Double Union. The idea that Jesus through His Holy Spirit is inside of me is pretty familiar. How many times did Paul say something along the lines of “Christ in me”? Actually, about 160 times. But to read that at the same time as Christ is in each of us, each believer is actually inside of Christ! Now, that is something fresh and I want to sink deep into that mystery. Christ in me, and me in Christ! Christ inside of you, and you inside of Christ! What a tremendous and wonderful mystery, a truth we accept by faith in the Christ who said it. There have been many descriptive titles given to this idea of union with Christ, of being within Christ, including: the Double Union; the Mutual Indwelling; the Mystical Union; The Double Mystery. And there have been some interesting ways to try to describe this two-way unity we enjoy with Christ: bonded in union within Christ; somehow inside of each other; a believer’s new spiritual location; participating in the interior life of Christ; intimately joined together with Christ; hidden with Christ inside of God; a Christian’s spiritual address; in a new sphere of spiritual existence; fellowship with God inside the Person of Christ; tightly wrapped around the Personhood of Jesus; regaining our original identity in Christ; being inside of Christ, we have shared in His death and resurrection, and we now we will go wherever He goes, including being seated in the heavenly realms.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
“En” and “Eis”. In the New Testament there are two little Greek words used constantly, en and eis. When “in” is intended, then the Greek term “en” is generally used. And when “into” is meant, the term “eis” is used. Eis literally means into or to, and implies motion into, union, and penetration.
With that in mind, this is how John 3:15-19, the most popular passage in all of Christendom, could be, and often is, translated: ”… whoever believes in (en) Him, should have eternal life. For God so loved the world (Kosmos) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into (eis) Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into (eis) the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The one who believes into (eis) Him is not judged; but the one who does not believe has been judged already, because that one has not believed into (eis) the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this now is the judgment, that the light has come into (eis) the world, and mankind loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Other examples of this fascinating way of translating eis is John 1:12, “To all who received Him, to those who believed into (eis) His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
And here is 1 John 4:9, in which both en and eis are used, “In (en) this the love of God was displayed toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into (eis)the world, that we might live through Him.”
And how about this famous passage at the end of Matthew’s gospel before His ascension, “Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into (eis) the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19).
Believing into Him: This is an apt phrase to use in the context because it implies action, not mere belief; it suggests entering into a union with Christ; it is not a passive phrase in which one believes in Christ’s existence, but then again won’t bother to embrace Him in everyday life, working His words practically into his heart and mind; this phrase implies a movement from a generalized belief that Jesus exists, into a personal commitment to Him; to believe into Jesus is to lean into Him, to intimately join together with Him, to trust Jesus enough to unite yourself into Him through active faith, to place yourself into the spiritual reality of Christ; to believe into Him is to desire have a permanent relationship with Him, finding your human identity in Him; believing into Jesus is to work His words into your heart and mind; it is to prove your allegiance to Him by the biblical standard of both hearing and doing, not just hearing. Believing into Christ means you have asked His Holy Spirit to enter your life, and for you to enter into His.
“Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? You believe that God is One! Good for you! The demons believe it too – the thought makes them shudder in fear! What good does belief do them? (James 2:19).
Here is an example of when the demons believe in the mere fact that Jesus exists: “The unclean spirit cried out to Jesus, ‘What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (also refer to other examples of demons believing in Christ’s existence, Matt. 8:29; Mark 5:7; Luke 4:33-34; and Acts 19:15).
Believing into Jesus through Hearing and Doing.
Jesus was a doer, and He expected His followers to be doers as well, “doers of the Word and not hearers only” (James 1:22). Jesus was a man of action, and He asked His followers to be doers, to be people of obedient action. Jesus was dutifully following the ancient Jewish tradition of hearing and doing. When the Israelites said “I do” at the wedding ceremony on Mt. Sinai, what did they say? We will hear and we will do! (Exodus 19:8 and 24:3, 7) What is the first Hebrew word of the most essential prayer in the Hebrew Bible (the OT) Shema! Hear and do, listen and obey! (Deut. 6:4) And what was a big reason the Israelites were judged according to the Lord’s words to Ezekiel? They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it! They listen to your words, but they don’t practice them! (Ezek. 33:32). And don’t forget the constant prophetic refrain of doing justice, doing righteousness, and doing every kind of good imaginable.
SHEMA (sh’ma): The first Hebrew word in the essential prayer of the Jews in the Hebrew Bible, found in Deuteronomy 6:4; is usually translated “hear,” but actually means hear and do, listen and obey, hear and respond, listen and take action, take heed; there is a traditional Jewish saying that “to hear God is to obey God, and to obey God is to hear God.” Hearing and doing are two sides of the same coin of faith, and is a vital aspect of biblical spirituality.
The Shema: “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone! And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and shall be immovable before your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
“Listen”. One can hear something without really listening. It takes deep openness to receive truth into your ears, have it register in your receptive mind, and travel to the heart of experience. Listening means it doesn’t merely go in one ear and out the other. To listen like a well-trained disciple, in the Hebrew Bible, is to listen in order to obey. To listen is to activate the will. Jesus quotes the shema and gives it central importance in one’s life as a follower of God. In other words, this prayer is saying, Listen up, people! Hear/Do! Get ready to obey this word from the Lord! This is important! Listen carefully and take heed! And that’s something we can think about every morning when God wakes up our ears to listen to Him. For the one who speaks God’s words of comfort must first listen to God, poised to obey. There’s another aspect of listening… One can’t talk and listen at the same time. When in prayer, or as we are walking through the day, it pays spiritual dividends when we stop talking to God and open our ears to listen. May we all, morning by morning, be like little boy Samuel, who responded to the Lord’s wake-up call with, “Speak, Yahweh, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10-11).
Truly, Truly! – Hearing and Believing.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into (eis) judgment, but has passed from death into (eis) life.” (John 5:24).
There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”
Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!
Amen! Amen! is often translated as Truly, Truly, or Verily, Verily in the New Testament. This double Amen is only recorded in the gospel of John, and is said by Jesus before He offers a statement, not after. He is the only Person to say this, because He is the only Person who has the authority to say this before He says it. This double Amen, as opposed to a single Amen, must be an important distinction for Jesus, because He felt compelled to use this preface twenty-five times in John. When Jesus begins a statement with that double “Truly,” He is intending to be doubly intense when He says it, and so He wants the listener to be doubly attentive. He wants to emphasize the importance of His words. He is saying, In all truth I tell you. He wants the listener to focus, and He is serious about preparing the listener to be receptive. When Jesus says Truly, Truly, He is saying: Most assuredly, what I am about to tell you is absolutely true and trustworthy. So listen up, because an eternal truth is coming to you now. In all sincerity, says Jesus, this is the solemn truth. Take these words in, says Jesus, and have them go into your mind and then straight to your heart. For these words of mine are double truth, they are doubly true. Jesus might as well have been saying… And you readers out there centuries from now, get ready to apply your hot pink highlighter, get ready to do some double underlining! Truly, Truly, what you are about to hear is the honest to goodness truth. This is True! Really True!
Hear. “akouo” = to hear and respond; to listen and obey; to understand and cooperate; to comprehend and comply; to give an ear to and then act on it; to prove something was heard and taken seriously by responding to it.
Believe. “pisteno” = (from root word for faith, “pistis”); to trust something enough to cling to it; to be convinced of something enough to rely on it; to be persuaded of the truth of something enough to commit your life to it; to place full confidence in something that seems entirely trustworthy; to embrace something that has proven to be true and worthy of belief; to adhere to something after a strong conviction.
Believing into Jesus. A reasonable paraphrase of John 5:24 by Steve Larson: “And Jesus tells His listeners... In all sincerity, people, what I am about to tell you is God’s honest truth, a truth that is worthy of your trust. Anyone here who has been all ears and truly listened to My message with the intention of responding with obedience; anyone here who trusts in what I say and believes that My message came from My Father in heaven; anyone here who is prepared to live out their trust by sticking like glue to the Father and Me, the Son; anyone here who has now become an active listener and a confident believer, I guarantee you will enjoy eternal life, starting right now. By following Me, you will pass from death into life, from spiritual death to resurrection life, from this moment on. On the Day of Judgment you will not face condemnation, but on that day will cross over from physical death to eternal life, from a life with my absence to a life full of my presence where I will forever be present with you.”