HOPE! - We are United in Christ

We are united in Christ.

Christ did not only appear as a human (as Paul explains in his letter to the Philippians) but was actually fully human. Paul wrote that “he was found in appearance as a man,” but Paul also wrote that “he became obedient to death, even death on a cross,” thus showing the full extent of his humanity. Christ appeared like a man because he was a man.

This is important because through Christ God became flesh so that humanity might be restored and united with God.

The physical incarnation of Christ is essential to our theology because through the true physical incarnation of Christ we have been reunited with God – humanity in the present through the indwelling Spirit of Christ who was fully human… and in the future in the restoration of the entire created order.

We are united in Christ.

The physical suffering of Christ was key in his salvation of humanity. Christ did not appear in order to save humanity from its physicality. Instead, Christ came as a fully physical human in order to restore that which had been distorted. The creation is not evil and in need of destruction. It is created good, and in need of redemption through Christ’s physical suffering due to its corruption through the Fall.

We are united in Christ.

The church is the body of Christ. The church and the various means of grace associated with the church are the ways in which God reveals himself to humans in the Holy Spirit. The church and the sacraments of the church are the primary means by which the grace of God is made manifest in people’s lives.

The Spirit of God is truly present in the church and within the members of the church, and through the church God’s salvation is revealed to the world because through the church Christ is revealed and through Christ God is revealed.

We are united in Christ.

Mankind was created in both the image and likeness of God in a state of growth where mankind would grow closer to God in relation as well as knowledge. God created men and women with the potential to grow beyond what they already were, to become something greater than they were originally. However, humanity lost its direction and communion with God, so God sent Christ into the world in order to redeem humanity and bring us back to the path of growth towards God on which we had once been.

We are united in Christ.

However, it was not only for humanity’s redemption that Christ came into the world. Christ would have come regardless of whether or not mankind lost its way. The goal of the creation of humanity was that they might be always growing closer to God. The incarnation of Christ would have happened regardless of the Fall – because in Christ mankind is united with God in a unique way. God becomes even more united with mankind because of His becoming flesh in Christ, and through the Spirit of Christ mankind becomes even more united with God. The giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is evidence for this, showing that God has placed humanity back on the right track in growth towards Himself.

We are united in Christ.