“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” John 14:10
One of the most difficult concepts to grasp concerning the relationship that the Son had with the Father, and now, that the believer has with the Son and the Father by the Spirit, is “union.” This does not mean that the saved, justified, and sanctified sinner is God by virtue of the presence of the Spirit of God in the heart. But it does mean far more than we can grasp with regard to the working of the Spirit in and through the life, His ministry in the spirit and soul of the new creation in Christ, the believer. Why is it of so great an importance to begin to grasp? Simply, it was essential to see, or have a vision of the words of the Lord Jesus: “…I am IN the Father, and the Father IN Me.” (Jn. 14:10) Did He mean this? Yes. He meant it, and declared it to the disciples, that they might begin to have a greater vision of God’s work of redemption, hidden from before the foundation of the world, but NOW revealed unto the church, Christ’s body, and to every believer. The vision is essential to faith, not just in knowing the truth of this union, but in the appropriation of the blessing of it. Christ does not come just to save the sinner from sin and death. He comes to dwell in the heart, and to fill the soul with His blessed life by the Spirit. Essential to believing God consistently for the manifest blessing of such a relationship is seeing that the believer is no longer one upon whom the influence of the Spirit works, but IN WHOM Christ is formed, and revealed.
The precious blood of Christ dealt with the sins of men, and the essential perfect righteousness that the sinner needs to be justfied before God. The cross dealt with all that was the effect of sin, and every manifestation of the sinful “self-life” as seen in Adam. Only the crucifixion with Christ whereby all in Adam died and was buried, is sufficent to break every form of bondage to sin, self, and Satan. The resurrection with Christ was essential for the empowering of the believer to overcome every adversary without and within, by the power of the quickening, life-giving Spirit. Seated now in heavenly places IN CHRIST at the right hand of the Father, the believer is called upon to grasp that which is essential if he would truly glorify God on this earth, and bear much fruit. It is the concept, truth, and reality of his oneness with Christ. The Lord Jesus paved the way for His disciples to see and grasp this in speaking to Philip concerning “seeing” the Father. It would only be with the eyes of faith, the vision based upon the absolute truth of God, that the believer will have his eyes opened by the Spirit to see the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son. Beyond this, it begins to dawn upon the believer, that this is what has occured to him at the moment of the new birth. In John’s gospel, the Lord said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (Jn. 14:23) The Father and the Son by the Spirit come to dwell in the heart of the believer.
In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of John, we read the Lord’s words: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” (v.5) In this illustration, one’s union with Christ is unveiled. As the believer lives in this reality by faith, Christ’s life is revealed in and through him.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to see. In Jesus’ name, Amen.