Eternal Union of Christ and His Children

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We will first Look at the Truth that Christ and His Church are One !

This is made evident by the witness of Paul 1 cor 12:


12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Here the oneness is so complete that the body, the members or the Church is called Christ; That is Christ, the Head and The Church His body [with its members] are One. Christ and His Church are One Unit, so paul goes on to write 1 cor 12:

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Christ One Body of which He is the Head of is composed of many members, One Head, One Body , One Unit.

Next , lets establish the Fact that this Union that Christ has with His Church is vital. In determining this, there are many scriptures, but one that is most enlightening is rom 5:

14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Now it appears that the Apostle is equating the reigning of death as a consequence or result of a vital oneness or union with Adam. Now Adam was a figure of Christ, Him that was to come, so giving the context, Adam must be a figure of how Christ is in a vital oneness or union with His Bride and seed in Him. Now in the figure, as a Unit, we see the substance of all the seed in Adam, and how did it become that way ? By the direct creative act of God gen 2:

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Our vital relationship to the First Adam preceded and is the foundation of every natural birth into this natural world acts 17:

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

All Nations of men had a vital union with Adam at His Creation..

Now Many of you will begin to wonder if I am insinuating that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Created Being or Entity ?

 

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Now Many of you will begin to wonder if I am insinuating that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Created Being or Entity ?

The Answer is Yes, Christ as the Mediator Man 1 tim 2:


5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Was Created by God, but not in His Godhead or Deity as the Word Jn 1:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In regards to that aspect of His Being, as the Word, He was never Created, brought forth, never set up, nor never begotten, but He is absolutely Underived and Eternal Deity as the Father.


This I want to make clear because my adversaries will misrepresent what I am stating and slander me as saying that I deny the Deity of Christ, but may God be our Judge in what I truly am stating. Now back to affirming that Christ in His Mediatorial Manhood was Created as the Second or Last Adam, and how that correlates with His precreation vital union with His Church, as the post creation vital union we had with Adam at his creation.

There are scriptures that point to Christ having been Created, one is His own testimony Rev 3:

14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

What can be more plainer than Jesus saying of Himself that He is the beginning of God's Creation ? This is confirmed here in proverbs 8:

22The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

Now I believe that Wisdom here is the Lord Jesus Christ see 1 cor 1:

24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Now stating that, from whence came wisdom ? Now the word possessed in prov 8 22 is the hebrew word qanah and it means:

to get, acquire, create, buy, possess

And this creation is said to be in the beginning of His [God's] way. That is before anything else was created, the Mediator was Created, thats what Jesus is referring to in rev 3 14..and now why was He first Created ?

Lets look at the LXX at this vs prov 8 22:

22 The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works.

Notice, the Lord made me the Mediator Man, for His works, that is He was made First or Firstborn in order to Mediate the rest of God's work of Creation !

So thats why Paul writes in col 1:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Notice Job 15:

7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

Now compare that to prov 8:

25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth

There is no doubt that the First Man Born, before the Hills is not Cain, nor Adam even, but the Mediator Man Christ Jesus, the Wisdom of God.. The Firstborn of every Creature, everything Created.

 

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There are scriptures that point to Christ having been Created, one is His own testimony Rev 3:

14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Now many commentators have avoided taking this scripture at face value because they are trying to avoid denying the Deity of Christ, and so they interpret Jesus as saying here, Not that He is God's First creation, but He is the one who began God's creation, meaning He was merely the medium of creation. Again col 1:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Paul designates Christ as the Firstborn of every creature, paul in his mind here that Christ with the rights and privileges of the Firstborn Son, the Son of the Eternal and Sovereign Father, the ruler of the universe, and He [Christ] would surely inherit this Sovereignty Heb 1:

2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

He was appointed heir at the same time He made the worlds ! BTW, its because of our Eternal Union with Christ, that we too are Joint Heirs with Him see rom 8:16-17, as His Father appointed Him a Kingdom, He likewise has appointed us a Kingdom lk 22:29.

And so again, this Creature hood of the Mediator's humanity, is distinct from, though conjoined with His Eternal Godhead as the Word Jn 1:1 which also sets the teaching apart from the charge of being arian heresy which denies the full Deity of Christ, this we do not deny at any time. However this teaching confesses the Full Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine Nature as the Word of God. Whats really baffling however, is that the adversaries of this teaching will accept that in some degree the Manhood of Christ had a derived beginning in the womb of the virgin, but reject the superior ideal of Him having a Mediatorial Manhood beginning that commenced from everlasting. Whats really the difference in saying He had a beginning in time as a Man by the virgin birth and that He had a beginning as a Man, as begotten from the womb of Eternity ? Lets look at ps 110:3 from the LXX:

110:1 The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

2 The Lord shall send out a rod of power for thee out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

3 With thee is dominion in the day of thy power, in the splendours of thy saints: I have begotten thee from the womb before the morning.

4 The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec

 

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Now this establishes the figure of Adam of the one to come. Regarding Christ paul writes eph 2:

10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

eph 1:

4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

We [believers] were created in Christ Jesus as His seed, before the foundation of the world.

This is the antitype of having been created in Adam [as seed] at the beginning of the world.

This establishes the figure of Adam and Christ. And so we are saved in time and called 2 tim 1:

9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

And in view of our [believers] becoming flesh and blood heb 2:

14 Forasmuch then as the children[seed] are partakers of flesh and blood,

God who cannot lie promised us in Christ, Eternal life before the world began !

Titus 1:

2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

2 tim 1:

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

1 jn 2:

24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

25And this is the promise that he hath promised us[In Christ], even eternal life.

These scriptures gives us to understand, a vital union or oneness with Christ, as His seed [in His Spiritual Loins] and because of this, we are born again, born from above, born of incorruptible seed, born of God. People, if we did not have a vital, living union with Christ as His seed, we could never be born again 1 pet 1:

23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

jn 3:

3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The same principle as with Adam, if we did not have a vital union with Adam[as his seed], we would not have been born of corruptible seed..that is in flesh and blood..

 

[savedbygrace57]

Now once again, that I may not be misunderstood in this very sacred matter, I will make clear the nature in which the church stands, and has since before the foundation of the world in union and related to Christ, its not His Godhead [Deity] or His Essential Divine Nature as the Eternal Logos [Jn 1:1], but in His Mediator Manhood [1 tim 2:5] which I believe is set forth in prov 8:


22The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

He was then constituted the Mediatorial Head of all things and the Sons of Men prov 8:

31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men[As their Mediator 1 tim 2:5].

He was then constituted Mediatorial Head over all things to the Church [sons of men], which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.

Lets cp Col1 :

15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

prov 8:22-23 in LXX

22 The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works.

23 He established me before time was in the beginning, before he made the earth:

24 even before he made the depths; before the fountains of water came forth:

25 before the mountains were settled, and before all hills, he begets me.

For it pleased the Father, that in Him, should all fullness dwell, that is in His Mediatorial Manhood, the Man Christ Jesus, the Wisdom of God and the Power of God 1 cor 1:24.

As to His Deity or Godhead, He was never brought forth, never set up, never made head over all things, was never firstborn of every creature, but is the Eternal God, the Logos..

 

[savedbygrace57]

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For there is one God, and One Mediator [Of the Covenant] between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all [all types, jew and gentile, classes] to be testified in due time 1 tim 2:5-6. Now a Mediator is not a Mediator of One, but God is One, So Just as Early then as is the date of Christ's Mediatorial Headship, is His Manhood. No I am not advocating that the Man existed in His flesh and blood before the world began [as I know many will charge me with]; Also His incarnation via the virgin birth did not constitute Him the Mediator 1 cor 15:


45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

He was the Mediator Man from Heaven 1 tim 2:5

Now the first man Adam was first only in developed manifestation existence, but as in all things, the Man Christ Jesus must have preeminence col 1:

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The word preeminence is the greek word prōteuō:

to be first, hold the first place

He has first place in all things to include being a Man. In Fact, Adam of the earth was made after His Pattern, whose substance was in Heaven as the God-Man Mediator 1 tim 2:5. So Adam of the Earth was not the First Man to ever exist, but Christ was, and He existed as the Head of His body, the Church, in Union with it.

So Jesus Christ the Mediator Man and Head of His Church, has the preeminence of Manhood over Adam, hence we read Jn 3:

13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he [Man] that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Its vitally important to establish that Christ Jesus was God-Man before the creation and that in His Manhood, He [As Adam] was was the Head of a seed, Adam as a Physical earthy and He as a Heavenly and Spiritual.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Its vitally important to establish that Christ Jesus was God-Man before the creation and that in His Manhood, He [As Adam] was was the Head of a seed, Adam as a Physical earthy and He as a Heavenly and Spiritual.

In view of what I have treated thus far, I believe I am scripturally Justified in that the oneness of the First Adam and his seed was figurative of Christ and All His Spiritual seed and their oneness. Even more, Adam is not one a figure as a unit, but after the making of His bride, He recognized her union with him gen 2:


23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Now cp eph 5:

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body.

24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Because we were Taken out of Him !

31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Hence here is established an indissoluble bond, a vital union between Christ and His Church, a Union which commenced from everlasting unto everlasting, this is a great mystery..

 

[savedbygrace57]

The Eternal Life we receive !

The Eternal life that we [ the elect or believers] receive experimentally in time, was given to us in Christ, as we had been chosen in him before the foundation of the world as His seed. Now as His Life as the Son of God was derived out of the very essence of thew Eternal God, and we as his seed were in His loins, just as when God created Adam out of the dust of the ground we were in his loins, and so because of that, we receive our temporal lives from that temporal life we had in Adam, so , in like manner, we receive our Eternal life from that from that Life given us in the Son of God.

Thats why its stated 1 jn 5:

11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

So we merely receive life of that which we had in our respective heads, if Adam was our head, we recieve natural and temporal life, we were chosen in adam as his posterity, if Christ, the Son of God was our Head,we receive Eternal Life, we were chosen in Him as His posterity...

Hence Jesus says Jn 17:

2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Evidence of Being Chosen in the Son !



To Receive Eternal Life in time vitally, is evidence of having been Chosen in the Son of God before the foundation of the world, because He was that Eternal Life which was with the Father in the beginning 1 jn 2:

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us )

And our Life was in Him at that same date, thats what John means in Jn 1:

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Now God at Creation gave to all mankind Natural and Mortal life in the First Man Adam of the Earth, and He has given by generation of Himself, to all the Children of the Second Adam or Son of God, Eternal Life. The Life given us in Adam [was a gift from God] our natural fleshly life, in its nature and kind, is temporal and corruptible, and evil and depraved, but it was given [not offered or made available] to us in Adam by the Creative Power of God;

But on the other hand, those of us who are Truly saved, Our Spiritual and Eternal life has it's source of origin in the Eternal God, in His Son, the Divine Son of God, it is and was Hid with Christ in God, God the Word Jn 1:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

4In him [The Word which was God] was life[Of the chosen ones in Him eph 1:4]; and the life was the light of men.

col 3:
3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Jn 1:4


1 jn1:

2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us )

And it was given us in Christ[Son of God] according to the record 1 jn 5:

11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Its implied as well in 2 tim 1:


9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

This Life is Christ, and proceeds out of the Father, of which the begotten Son of God is One see Jn 10:30; Jn 1:14. This entitles us to regeneration or new birth, ensuring our vital relationship in time, as Sons of God and having been joint Heirs with Christ.

 

[savedbygrace57]

We die in Adam, We live in Christ because of Union to both !



1 cor 15:

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

To prove the teaching of the resurrection, the apostle comes in this portion to speak of the two distinct headships to which the people of God stand connected, that is in Adam and in CHRIST: the former is the figure of the latter; the first was natural, the second is spiritual; the one was made a living soul, the other a Quickening Spirit; the first was of the earth earthy, the second Adam is the Lord from heaven [1 cor 15:47]. As natural beings we were created in the natural Adam, and were in him[representatively] when he transgressed the law of his Creator, so that the sentence of death that fell on Adam as a consequence of his transgression, involved his posterity: “Death has passed on all men because all have sinned.â€

Adam being the legal head and representative of all the human family, all the human family died in him. As transgression, guilt and death attach to us in our relation to the first Adam, from Adam and from all his posterity, we are alienated from God and we all possess a nature at enmity with God and spiritually dead:

The transgression and death of Adam did not effect the elect angels of glory, for they were not in him, nor could they be represented by him, but in Adam all die; that is, all that had an existence in him, of course all that should ever proceed from him by generation.

 

[savedbygrace57]

We die in Adam, We live in Christ because of Union to both !



Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Christ is not an earthly or natural head; his headship therefore does not relate to the human family as such; but he is a spiritual head, and represents a spiritual people, a people whose spiritual life was given them in him before the world began. Jn 1:

4In him was life [Spiritual]; and the life was the light of men.

2 Tim 1:

9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,


In this Christ is evidently the antitype of the First Adam: all the spiritual seed were created in him, chosen in him, loved in him, secured and complete in him, before they had an earthly existence in the natural Adam. For He has the preeminence in all things. Col 1:

17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Therefore it is certain that all the spiritual seed of Christ shall be quickened and brought into the inheritance of the Son of God as it is that all the descendants of Adam are subjects of death. In Christ all shall be made alive - first, in the work of regeneration they shall be made alive from their natural state of death in trespasses and sins; Eph 2:

1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

and secondly, in the resurrection of their bodies: on which subject the inspired apostle is treating in the chapter from which the text is taken.

 

[savedbygrace57]

We die in Adam, We live in Christ because of Union to both !



As it is we are all subject to death by virtue of our relationship or Union with our natural head Adam, and likewise, all those Who were in Union with the Lord Jesus Christ, are Heirs of Life, Eternal Life, because He was our Spiritual Head. By virtue of being or existing in Adam, His Transgression was ours, that is we sinned in Him as far as God is concerned, and that placed guilt and death upon us, so by the same token, by virtue of a preexisting relationship and Union to Christ, His perfect obedience and work and righteousness is given and imputed to those of us Chosen in Him, He having come under the Law see Gal 4:4-5 to redeem His People from under the Law, He erased the demands of the Law against us Col 2:14, and brought in everlasting righteousness

Dan 9:24

This righteousness is imputed to all His People that were in Union with Him, and for this cause they shall all be made alive because of righteousness [imputed]

Its only in Him they we have life, this life was hid with Christ in God, and because He lives, all for whom He died and rose, shall live also.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Regarding Eternal Union ! 1 Cor 15:49



Its my firm conviction, that as Adam is the figure of Christ, and that all his posterity had a existence in him, being yet unborn, that all men and women and children who belonged to the election of grace, the Family of God, had a existence in Christ Jesus before the world began, before they were born of the flesh or of the Spirit.

Their existence in Christ before the world began was so personal and intimate that no change took place. The inheritance they shall enjoy because of it [1 Pet 1:4] was appointed to them Matt 25:34 & Lk 22:29. They were with Him Joint Heirs Rom 8:17. Thats why Jesus says, as the Father has appointed Him a Kingdom, so He appoints them a Kingdom, and remember Jesus was appointed Heir of all things Heb 1:2.

They were all loved before the world began personally as Christ was Jn 17:

23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Blessed with all Spiritual blessings as they were chosen in Him Eph 1:4 and given grace in Him 2 Tim 1:9. Each of them was so identified in choice, love and grace, not one of them can fail to fulfill their ordained assignment in the body of Christ Eph 2:10.

 

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They [ believers] were always looked up as Children of God, and Heirs of God, Joint Heirs with Christ, even before they were flesh and blood in Adam and before being born again in time by the Spirit. Their physical lives even in Adam at the creation had already been planned and purposed by God Acts 17:

26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Who we are, what point in history we would exist in the flesh, where in the world we would exist, our race, education and employments, all this was by God determined and appointed to each of us in the flesh.

Job said Job 23:

13But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

14For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Thats what Paul means that we have bare the image of the earthy adam 1 Cor 15:

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy[by appointment], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly[by appointment].

It was God's purpose and ordination to bring the Heirs of Glory first into manifestation by a Natural birth, deriving their physical identity from adam, that is their natural lives, and it is also His purpose to bring them into manifestation by a spiritual birth deriving identity from the Second Adam, that is their Spiritual Identity. God preserved them for both births and identities in the natural and spiritual, He had with them before the world began..

 

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That their [The elect] First Birth or being of the flesh and blood was decreed in order for their manifestation in the flesh as acts 17:26 points out, manifested as children of the flesh, in order of the purpose of redemption, to partake in Adam;s Transgression, depravity, and mortality [remember they are vessels of mercy which God hath before prepared unto Glory Rom 9:23 ; Ps 103:17]

So that one Chosen in Christ before the world began, is now born in the flesh, to experience the world in which he was born, so that he may partake of sin and then partake of redemption through Christ.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Life was always hid in Christ !



Col 3:3

3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.


Though these words were written to living then saints of God, nevertheless it was True of all future believers that they too had a life which is Hid with Christ in God !


This is a great blessing to those of us who are saved, that we had lives [spiritual] given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Just as our natural or temporal life was given [not offered] to us and hidden for us in the earthy Adam, and was developed by ordinary generation, So it is our spiritual, eternal life was given[not offered] to us and hidden for us with Christ in God, and is made manifested to us experimentally by extraordinary generation and new birth. The natural birth from Adam is of corruptible seed which is mortal [subject to death], however our new birth is of incorruptible seed, which is both spiritual and immortal[not subject to death].

On this subject of eternal vital union of Christ and His Church, it needs to be made clear as to what is meant. When speaking of this union, I mean not a manifestation of this union like the we have experimentally by Faith in this life, that union from a eternity perspective is prospective, yet there was an actual union existing from everlasting between Christ as the Head of His Church and His people as members of His body Col 1:18

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

 

[savedbygrace57]

This subject of Eternal Union is taught in scripture and I believe its an essential gospel doctrine,and it must be recognized in gospel preaching. As I have stated many times before that many of the epistles are mere reminders, rehearsals, confirmations of the gospel doctrines that were initially preached to that people. We can find this doctrine of eternal union that the church had with Christ before the foundation of the world. Its seen here in Eph 1:6

6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

God did this in the Churches being Chosen in the Beloved before the foundation Eph 1:4

4According as he hath chosen us in him[The Beloved vs 6] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

The word accepted is the greek word charitoō:


) to make graceful

a) charming, lovely, agreeable

2) to peruse with grace, compass with favour

3) to honour with blessings


Its the same word used to describe Mary, the woman whom God chose to be the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ Lk 1:28

28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Our Choice in Christ [The Church] made us Highly Favoured amongst men.

We have been graciously accepted in our election in and Union with Christ.

 

[xounstaer]

sry i didnt read all.

but i felt spoken to by "christ and his children"

i red its a doctrine or side of a gospel you want to share.

i think first it's amazing the gift to speak you obviously have.
forgive my for my fault to not read all.

but if it's ok with you i'd like to hook in, just going from "eternal union of christ and his children"

i'd like to light 2 sides.

that if you have recieved the gift of grace or simply choose to be a believer in christ and with that being his child then i think the decesion to let that be eternal is in your own hands, in whatever way that is.

that was 1 after my opinion.

here's 2

for children of christ to last till eternity a movement would have to be made in which all christs words and everything prayed for as in 'prophecy's' or assumptions which must be fullfiled to convince the majority in case they doubt. so fullfillment would be required.

what must one do for that.
this is to me to still..

one should act toward fullfilling all prophecy's
which if you put them a bit in a different context(symbolic wise) are personal. and it takes one's input to fullfill them.
this can be done in many kinds of ways i suppose.

i myself am for example a bit imperfect, since i think i am if there's only one, the one. while i am human just as much as anyone else living atm or in the past. regardless of what experiences i've gone through.

what i would like to say here is right now start creating your own experiences.
ask and he will answer
seek and thie shall find
keep put in your believe and faith no matter what untill you are taken for real and proven right(ious).

i know these above dont only go for me.

---
for the rest i wanted to say that if one or us all want eternal union with christ that we should stand open to eachother and not anything else. and keep your own reasoning on top.

ps i am sure savedbygrace57 that you red all you typed.
it's the ongoing amount you posted what got me to think about it/the title.
i hope my post was any of use.
and again sry i didnt read it all. but i rather base myself upon the source itself, the bible when i feel like reading. and ofcourse i keep my conscience with me as i read. especially in the NT. since there after jesus you may expect the words to be near perfect. which isnt always' so. of course depending on what you find perfect.

 

[savedbygrace57]

accepted in the beloved -



Paul reminds the Ephesians of that which He preached to them in the Gospel of God's Grace, How the Father from Eternity past has Chosen or elected, predestinated, adopted, and blessed them in Christ, to the praise of the Glory of His Grace, wherein by these things made them accepted in the Beloved. Now the Chosen do have a manifested Union in time when we believe, but all the True believers in time had a union with Christ before they believed, in fact, that is why they believe. Believing in Christ is not the cause of our Union or acceptance with Christ, but the manifestation of it, the Gospel brings it to light or manifestation 2 Tim 1:9-10


9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

10But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

The point being made in Eph 1:6 is not that of our manifest union in time when we believe the gospel, but our Eternal Union with the Beloved. BTW we are only beloved because of our Eternal Union with the Beloved ! 2 Thess 2:13

13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

 

[savedbygrace57]

More on Eternal Union



All things are of God, and it is of Him that we be in Christ !

1 Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

In Christ denotes Union with Him ! The of Him is the Father, it is He that First gave us Union with Christ. This Union was Electing Union. Eph 1:4

4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

This Union occurred by the Fathers Gracious act before the foundation of the world.

Next, We have a Suretyship Union that is a legal Union. As the surety and the debtor represented by him are one before the law, so in like fashion, the Lord Jesus Christ and those Chosen in Him are One before God in a legal sense, He became their Surety in the everlasting covenant of grace or redemption Heb 7:22

22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

He represented the elect as their substitute before they sinned in adam. He then laid Himself under obligation to pay our debts and satisfy God's Law on our behalf. When God made Christ the Surety of the elect, He did not look to them to pay their sin debt, hence we have 2 Cor 5:19

19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The Father looked to Christ for satisfaction for the sins of the elect ! He had to be made sin for them 2 Cor 5:21

Christ was being Faithful to His Legal Suretyship Union when He said these words Heb 10:5-14

When Christ struck hands with the Father to be our Surety, As Far as God was concerned our salvation was finished.Rom. 8:28-30; 2 Tim. 1:9; Rev. 13:8

The Lord Jesus Christ was our Covenant Head and Surety before God, just as Adam was our Legal Head when we were created in Union with Him. See Rom 5:12-19 and 1 Cor 15:21-22

Everything adam did in the garden, he did it not as a private individual, but as head and representative of all who were in him, all his acts were representative acts. And as we know adam sinned, and so all who were in him sinned and died as well.

So in like manner, The Lord Jesus Christ because of Legal Union and Suretyship, and when He acted, He acted not as a private individual, but as the head and representative of all that were in Him. When Christ obeyed the Law of God, we were in Him, obeying in Him. Thats why He told John regarding the baptism, "suffer it to be so for it becometh us [ He and those in Him] to fulfill all righteousness." Matt 3:15

Not only that, but when Christ suffered and died under the curse and wrath of God, so did all those represented in Him because of Surety Union. Also when He was buried and rose, so did all those represented in Him.. Eph 2:6

These were Truths that Christian Baptism in the early church would symbolize, but not any more.

But all this is because of Eternal Union with Christ..