United With Jesus

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 16th of February, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

You may have noticed that I’ve been talking about Jesus the last few weeks, and especially about our relationship with Him.  We are approaching the Lenten Season and it is appropriate that we do just that.  It is important that we spend time in reflection of our personal relationship with our Lord as we near the time when we observe His death upon the cross.  Because it is by that death that we are freed from our sinful relationship with Satan, but only if we take up a relationship with Jesus.  We must become one with Him, be united with Him.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us about the sacrifice Jesus made for us and what it means to us.  This comes from his 1st letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 1 verses 18 through 31, reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world would never know Him through human wisdom, He has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

--1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, so many people in this world think the message of the cross to be nothing more than foolishness, just the perpetuation of some ancient myth.  They may concede that a man named Jesus once lived, but they would never surrender to Him as their Lord.  The world sees far too many other things to be important rather than to have a relationship with Jesus.  Father, we pray that our own personal relationship with our Lord will continue to grow and mature with each passing day.  Please help us stay united with Your Son.  Help us be one with Christ so that the world might see Him in us.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Speak to us of love.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


Pastor and author A.W. Tozer, in his book The Pursuit of God, wrote:

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.


Pastor Tozer is trying to point out that when we come together to worship, our focus should be centered on Jesus.  We should each one be looking to Him, seeking His guidance and direction.  And in this way we become more closely attuned to one another because we are all tuned to the same source.  This is a very good reason why we should not let anything distract us from hearing God’s word, from seeking the face of Jesus and becoming one with Him.


I believe Paul’s message in our scripture reading this morning is very powerful on two main points.  The first is how skewed the world’s concept of wisdom is when viewed by God.

In God’s great and wise plan for the salvation of mankind, His Son Jesus had to die.  His blood sacrifice was necessary for the one-time atonement of all our sin.  The world thinks this foolish, and they are headed for destruction because of it.

What they probably see as even greater foolishness is that we believe.  We believe in Jesus.  We believe He is the Son of God who died for our sin.  We believe He is our only hope of salvation.  And when we witness and testify and preach that Jesus died for our sin, the Jews are offended, and the non-believers, the worldly say it’s all utter nonsense.  But to us, to we who are called by God to salvation - no matter who we are or what we once were - to us, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.

Paul reminds us that few of us were wise in the ways of the world, or powerful or wealthy when God called us.  But that also shows God’s wisdom, using what the world calls foolish to put to shame those who think they are wise and who take pride in it.  God chose those who are powerless to shame the powerful.  He calls those despised by the world, those that the world counts as nothing, to bring to nothing what the world considers important.  He calls us, to show the world His truth.


And then we get to the second piece of critical information that Paul imparts.  God has united us with Christ Jesus.  Through the sacrifice Jesus offered on our behalf, we have been made right with God, so that He now considers us as pure and holy.  Jesus freed us from true foolishness, from our chains to sin.  The world may see us as foolish, but God sees us as holy.  We are united with Jesus and He is holy, so we too are holy, in God’s eyes.

We are united with Jesus through our baptism by the Holy Spirit when we first accept Jesus as Lord.  Paul also speaks of this, in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 3 verses 26 through 29, when he says…

26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

--Galatians 3:26-29 (NLT)

We are united with Christ in baptism.  This is our baptism not by water, but by God’s Holy Spirit, when we first come to Jesus.  And in that baptism we put on Jesus; we’re united with Him not only in our spirit, but in our daily walk.  Just like people can see the clothes we are wearing, they should be able to see Jesus on us, in us, through our interactions with them and with others.

We’re no longer who we used to be, but are now one in Jesus, one with Jesus.  We are His; we belong to Jesus.


So family, if anyone ever tells you that you’re foolish for believing all this Jesus nonsense, just smile and nod your head in agreement.  For we are foolish, as far as the world sees.

But in God’s eyes, we are holy.  We are holy because we are cleansed by the blood of His Son.  We are all one in Christ, united with Jesus.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You use those who the world considers foolish and ignorant to destroy the wisdom of the wise and to discard the intelligence of the intellectuals.  What You see as important, the world sees as nonsense, and they are on the road to condemnation.  Thank You, Father, for uniting us with Your Son Jesus.  Please bless us with Your wisdom and help us put to shame those who think themselves wise.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, by Your sacrifice, we are washed clean so that when our Father God looks at us, He sees us as holy.  Because of our belief, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit and united with You.  God no longer sees us for what we were, but for what we have become in You.  Help us, please Lord, to show You to the world.  Help us to share Your love through our interactions with others and through our actions in service to You.  Help us to be You to those who do not yet know You so that they may come to believe.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.