Union with Christ: What difference does it make?

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. - John 15:1‭-‬8 ESV

Rev. Paul Park

We are changed

We are not batman. He's strong and has some training. We are superman and Spiderman. We are no longer just human. There is supernatural power.

It is like marriage

We are no longer separate but one. It is not just two persons. It is a new identity. There is some level of intimacy and intertwining between the spouses. So this is also of our union with Christ. Jesus says it is not just me and you.. It is we; it is us. It is a divine, intimate relationship. Marriage is not the ultimate relationship. It is a shadow of our union with Christ.

A way to think about our subjective experience

God is with us. The curtain in the temple delineating the holy of holies was torn upon the death of Jesus. Not just in the temple among his people, but with us. The spirit of God lives in us.

Another was to look at this is the vine and the branches. Are we plugged into the power supplied by God? Or are we shriveling and dying? It's not asking if we are reading the Bible, going to Sunday service, or praying regularly. It is asking if we are plugged in to Jesus.

Union is a lens to see. We are called to consider ourselves dead to sin. Paul is telling us that we are dead in Jesus' death. Paul prays that we would see what we have. Not that God would give believers more, but that believers would see what God has already given.

Our union in Christ is not only the goal, it is also the tool for us. It gives us encouragement and hope. It is not only our justification, but also a tool for sanctification.

The Exchange

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. - Romans 1:18‭-‬32 ESV

Rev Dwight Yoo

The reality of God's wrath

We often forget the wrath and anger of God. We try to sanitize the Bible of things like hell. We think it is impossible for a loving God to also be angry and full of wrath. But anger can be the fruit of love. If God loves what is good and pure, then it is normal to be angered by evil. God created all things and His fingerprints are found throughout creation. But people do not treat God rightly; they deny Him because they are rebellious and do not wish to submit to God.

The reason and result of His wrath

If we don't worship God, we will worship created things. We will worship all sorts of things: relationships, spouses, career, and sex. We derive our worth from created things instead of God. In rejecting God, we eventually end up rejecting the natural order. God designed sex to happen between men and women in marriage. But society looks at that as unnatural... How constrained and unfulfilling it must be! Humanity just wants sex with anyone and everyone. So what is natural is seen as unnatural.

The Gospel challenges us in our perceptions, our lifestyles, and our very identity. This challenge is for both believer and unbeliever.

So how does God's wrath show? God gives them up to their idolatry. They desire these things rather than God, so God allows them to have their way. That is what God's wrath looks like. He gives us up to these twisted and messed up desires. It is both God's charge against us as well as a punishment. We become slaves to our desires and experience perpetual disappointment as our idols fail to deliver on it's promises.

The remedy for His wrath

God sends his son Jesus, to save these prodigals. Jesus is sent from the heavenly home to retrieve us from a life of sin. He exchanges our lives of idolatry for a life reconciled with God, fulfilled by Jesus' death and a perfectly lived life.

The Power of the Gospel

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."- Romans 1:1‭-‬17 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

We cannot love Jesus and not love His word. It would be like saying you love your wife and asking her to never speak. It betrays the spirit of love.

Paul's call

Paul takes a little bit of time to introduce himself. Paul did not plant the church in Rome. They don't know him and they have never met. He calls himself an apostle and slave of Christ. His authority comes from the resurrected Jesus. He is a representative of Christ. He is not speaking his own opinions or will. He has a responsibility to both Greek and non-Greek. There is a deep sense of duty. But this is not a begrudging obedience, but rather a sense of joy. He is eager to preach. His posture accurately reflects how Christians should be. We should have a sense of delightful duty. We are not to neglect either duty or delight.

The context of his ministry

Paul is writing to the church in Rome. It was likely planted by Jews who moved there and preached the Gospel. Rome was seen as the city of the world. Not only an intellectual & cultural epicenter, but also the most decedent and outrageous of activities. It would be like saying the Gospel was spreading through Las Vegas. He is writing of a harvest... among believers. What? The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but also the believer!! The Gospel is also for those who already believe. We never outgrow our need for the Gospel. What does the Gospel do? It empowers and changes us. It produces obedience in faith.

So then, church, do you see an area in your life where the Gospel is both changing & challenging?

If you cannot identify an area in your life, then maybe you do not get the Gospel. Or maybe the Gospel has not really grabbed you. It has not gripped you. Your faith is too comfortable.

The content of the Gospel

Believers struggle with the foolishness of the cross. A cosmopolitan and elite city like Rome would have made the Gospel look so foolish, laughable even. The Gospel is antithetical to the values of the world. It is just applicable now as it was then.

Our sin is separated from us. But not only that, but God supplies the righteousness that He demands. It is by the life of Jesus. And we receive this by faith. We must believe, not just intellectual agreement, but to trust and stand on Jesus. To bank our very lives on Him. To rest your eternal fate, hope, and dreams on the back of Jesus. This is the only way to be saved. It is a very exclusive claim. But it is also very expansive and inclusive, anyone can be saved. Both the religious and irreligious have salvation offered to them. Paul knew this personally. Remember that He was a murderer. He hunted Christians and had them jailed and killed. God's power can save even those who hate and persecute Christians.

A Genealogy of Joy

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. - Matthew 1:1‭-‬17 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Advent was a time set aside to remember how the saints of old waited for Jesus, for their Savior. But we are not to only look to the past, we are also to look forward to the second coming.

It is my hope that this season stirs our hearts to remember Jesus' coming and long for Him in deeper ways. Not only that, but for us to hope deeply in His coming.

Jesus came to bring outsiders in

The listings of genealogy differ between the books of the Bible. The authors of individual books used Jesus' ancestry to highlight different aspects of Jesus. Christ is not Jesus' last name. It meant that He was the Messiah. This is why David and Abraham is listed in this genealogy.

A woman is listed in this genealogy. This was not usually done. They were often seen as second class citizens. Not only that, but the listed women were not Jewish, they were gentiles. They were foreign women.

God uses the broken the save the broken

Matthew does not only speak of the strong and successful. We usually talk about those relatives that we are proud of. We don't talk about the drunk, the poor, the embarrassing relative. But look at these ancestors in the list... incest, prostitution, idolatry, adultery, murder, etc. This is just a reflection of human reality. Look at the sex scandals in recent days... It spans people across the political spectrum. Celebrities who greet us in the morning with a friendly smile. Are we surprised? Should Christians be surprised? Are we not more evil than we think? It doesn't matter who we are... Pastor, leader, old, young, new believer... We are all susceptible to the pull of sin. So hear this, it does not matter the scandalousness of your sin or mistakes in your life, Jesus welcomes us. He calls those with a contrite heart and broken spirit to come. He beckons then to lift their heads, because He died for us with His head hung in shame.

Jesus saved in unseen and unexpected ways.

The third set of names is unfamiliar. Why? They are not listed anywhere else in the scriptures. Between the second set and the coming of Jesus, there is silence. It is as if God had stopped working. Jesus came... to an as yet, unmarried woman. He was born in a manger, acknowledged by some shepherds and some wise men. The king of Kings came quietly and lived quietly as he grew up. It is not how we expected the Messiah to come.

God works quietly and not as we expect. It is not as we would do it. We want a preview of life from God. We want to know what He is doing and why. But that is not what He gives us. He promises that He is working things out for our good. We are called to have faith and trust in God and to trust in Jesus.

The Gospel's Outward and Inward Reach

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.  And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,  Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.  But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. - Acts 8:26‭-‬40 KJV

Rev. Charles Han

The Gospel has an unparalleled outward reach

Phillip was sent to the middle of the desert for a single man. This man was a Ethiopian finance official. The Christians in Jerusalem were scattered by the persecution. The Gospel is moving outward from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. Africa is considered the ends of the world from the Jews in Israel.

America does not own Christianity. It is not an USA export. It is from Jerusalem and it is for the entire world. It is for everyone. It to be embraced by all people. That is what Acts tells us. It is not only for my race or culture.

The Gospel's unparalleled inward reach

Earlier in the book of Acts, there were mass conversions. Now, we see the individual conversions. From breadth to depth. How do we relate to the Ethiopian eunuch? He was a man of status and power. For his job, he had to be sexual changed to serve at this position. He has no family. He must be singularly devoted to his job.

But no one chases after their job at the peril of their health. They don't devoted themselves to their jobs so much as to become estranged from family. We no longer have that stuff this day. He had money and power. But he was not satisfied. So he takes a months long journey to the temple in Jerusalem to find significance. Only to be barred from the temple, since he was a gentile and not only that but because he was a eunuch. He could not stand before a holy god as he was.

This is the story of our life. We see echoes of our lives in this man's life. He found power and it left him empty. He gave up much for his position and it left him unacceptable to stand in the congregation before God. So as he travels home, Phillip comes. And Phillip speaks of how a eunuch can be reconciled to God and how God gives a legacy everlasting. It changes the eunuch from not just a cleaner, nicer version of himself. He is a new creation. His dreams, his goals, and what he loves, desires, and strives after have changed. That is what makes someone a Christian. Not better church service attendance or more church activities. But a fully new person.

For the church, the Holy Spirit desires one thing. To drive us to those who don't believe or have not heard. It pushes us as it pushed Phillip to go to those who need the Gospel.

The Suffering Church

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Acts 7:54‭-8:4 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Stephen was preaching the Gospel. The religious leaders were out to suppress the spread of this movement. They were so threatened they brought forth false witnesses to persecute believers. So they found Stephen and proceeded to threaten him.

A pattern of suffering

We see a church being persecuted. Not only that, but we see it over and over again. Luke writes this to remind us that believers are called to suffer for righteousness. Not just regular everyday  troubles, but rather suffering for the sake of Christ. This is the norm. Even the old testament speaks of this pattern. Joseph suffers because his brothers did not believe him. Moses suffered because the people of Israel did not believe. The way to glory is through the cross. We may not experience this the same way here in the United States. Our lives are not at stake, but we may find threats to our social standing, the respect of our peers, and maybe even a job.

The believers understood that they had to experience the violence of the world to bring peace to others. Not only that, but it sets a pattern for how to respond to persecution. Stephen portrays boldness of witness. Not only that, but he prayed for those who were in the midst of killing him. He loved those who hated him. This reflects Jesus, who also prayed for those who crucified Him.

The example here is both boldness in truth and grace & love for our enemies. We must have both.

How God uses suffering

A great persecution causes the believers to scatter from Jerusalem. The persecution that the religious leaders meant to suppress believers had the opposite effect. There was an explosion of witnessing spreading out from Jerusalem. The Gospel spread as a result of the persecution in that city. This is not how we would approach it. How does it start? The death of a loved one. It comes from a painful and difficult situation. The scattering happens because of the suffering. The Gospel does not spread in spite of suffering; it spreads through the suffering.

God works through our pain. Not only in the Gospel, but that is also how God refines and matures us. He does this to wake us from our spiritual slumber.

Making sense of suffering - Tim Keller

How we endure suffering speaks to those around is. Discovered meaning is when you suffer and then find meaning in the Bible. Created meaning is when you experience suffering and then decide what is worth living for. If we don't have an external source of truth, we must invent meaning for our lives. Keller indicates that created meaning is always less durable than discovered meaning. If we live for our kids, what happens if they die before us? If we live for enjoyment of life's pleasures, what happens if we become bedridden by cancer? We have no more reason to live. This informs how we handle suffering. We can go through the same things as an unbelievers, but still go through it with a sense of hope. Christians can suffer loss, grief, and pain, but not lose hope.

The power to suffer

Why did Stephen die? The religious leaders were enraged, but he may have gotten out alive if not for one thing. Stephen verbalized that Jesus was standing next to God. This was blasphemy to the Jews. That is why they executed him. But why is Jesus standing? Christ is standing as Stephen's advocate. Stephen was testifying as to who Jesus was. Jesus is God. The approval of Jesus far surpassed that of those around him breathing out. Jesus was there to receive Stephen into His arms. When we willing follow Jesus into hard places, places of hostility, it is there that we will most experience the reassurance, power, and love of Christ. We will feel these things most strongly as we suffer with Christ.

The way to truly experience life is not to hold onto it, but rather to lose it. To take up our cross and follow Christ. To love difficult people. To be hated. To have difficult conversations.

The Serving Church

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us." And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Acts 6:1‭-‬15 ESV

The pervasive posture of service

There are threats both inside and outside the church. There was internal hypocrisy. Today's passage addresses the growing pains of the church. There was a tension between the Hellenist widows and the Jewish windows. The Hellenists were like the immigrants of the Jews who lived in Greek areas rather than the Holy Land. They acted and thought more like Greeks than Hebrews. They felt like the widows of this minority group of believers were being being treated as less than their peers.

So what happened? The apostles held a congregational meeting. They called for the appointment of godly men to serve this important need. The apostles decided that the need exceeded their ability to serve the widows without impacting their serving in prayer and the word.

A particular concern for the most vulnerable and needy

Serving the needy is important. We are saved by faith in Christ. However, tangible service of those in need is evidence of saving faith. A saving faith is always accompanied by good works. It never comes alone. Someone who does not love those in need does not know the love of God. Now priority goes to those in the church, but it is not limited to just those who believe.

Prioritizing both prongs of service

Pray for your pastors. Pray for your diaconate. Pray that we, as pastors, keep our focus on the word. To devote ourselves to the Word, preaching, and teaching. Pray that we are mindful that we do not get too caught up in deeds and forget/neglect the need for the Word and biblical truth.

It is easy to serve material needs in this day and age. But we must boldly witness as well. They must first know that we care. But we cannot stop there, they must eventually know why we care. So where does this drive come from? Not from our personal willpower. It comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus. From seeing His love and care of us, we are empowered and motivated to love, serve, and witness those around us.