Eternal Union of Christ and His Children

The sheep of Christ who are One with Him, and who were one with Him when He died in their behalf for their sins, that were imputed to Him and not them, the sheep in time are made partakers experimentally [ by the Holy Ghost Jn 16:8] to individually feel, to participate and have fellowship with their Head, in receiving the sentence of the Law, and being released from it, that is to say, in our being [or conscience] we are arraigned and convicted of our sin and transgression of Gods Law [ that was laid on Christ] to feel the condemnation of it, and then to receive by faith the sentence of Justification [in our minds] on the account of Christ obedience made to Gods Law, such obedience that culminated in His death in their place and stead.

They have their Justification declared from the very Throne of God, by His resurrection from the dead as their representative and Shepherd [ Heb 13:20] and their participation in this is witnessed in them by the Holy Spirit sent to them.

It should be duly noted as well, that since Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation [ Rev 13:8], its only reasonable to conclude that He had been arraigned in Gods Court, and had the sins of all the sheep placed on His Suretyship and Account, from the foundation, this before they had yet been created in Adam... ​

 

Because of Eternal Union this is True !

1 Pet 1:3

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

The latin vulgate translates this verse:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead:

When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He did not rise as a private Individual, but as the Head, the Great Shepherd of the sheep Heb 13:20

20Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

This means, that all the sheep chosen in Him before the foundation, they too rose with Him from the dead, and when they receive the New Birth or Regeneration, this is evidence of them having been in Christ their Head Shepherd when God raised Him from the dead [BTW this is the First Resurrection in Rev 20:5-6]

 

The Firstborn ones !

The bible teaches that, the Head of the Sheep was begotten from the dead, and the same act that beget the head, beget the body as well.

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.

Rev 1:5

5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Jesus being the firstborn of the dead, means His body, His church is too..

Heb 12:23

23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

In the greek, Firstborn is in the plural, and reads firstborns or firstborn ones ! That is because the Church , Christ members were begotten from the dead when He was..They are Firstborns because of their Union with the Firstborn..
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Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee !

Ps 2:7

7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

The word begotten here is the hebrew yalad :

to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail

a) (Qal)

1) to bear, bring forth

a) of child birth

b) of distress (simile)




c) of wicked (behaviour)

2) to beget

b) (Niphal) to be born

c) (Piel)

1) to cause or help to bring forth

2) to assist or tend as a midwife

3) midwife (participle)

d) (Pual) to be born


We know that this psalm is referenced by Paul in applying it to Christ resurrection in Acts 13:33

33God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.


But it also applies to the many brethren and joint heirs Rom 8:29,17

29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

His resurrection was the forerunner and guaranteer of the brethren being begotten again by His resurrection 1 Pet 1:3

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Because we were chosen in Him Eph 1:4 set up in Christ from the beginning.

 

The New Birth and Eternal Union !

Jesus said to Nicodemus Jn 3:3

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.


Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

And Peter writes 1 Pet 1:23

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

The New Birth as the Old Birth, is only possible, if there was a previous existence in the Head of which that Life existed in, for the Natural Head [ Adam] the Spiritual Head [ Christ].

As in Adam, there had to be a generation and then a birth [ naturally] and in Christ there had to be a re-generation and then birth [ Spiritually] and each birth is alike brought about without the agency of the one being that is born!

The Union we had to have with Adam, is traced back to the garden of eden when God made Man, but the Union we had with Christ, goes back to before the foundation of the world [Eph 1:4]. And Just like we had no freewill to put ourselves in Adam, to later be generated, so likewise, we had no freewill to put ourselves in to Christ to be regenerated later, in both cases it was an Sovereign Act of God. We had to be placed into each head by Him, election or of His own choosing.

 

The precedence of Eternal Union
Eternal Union with Jesus Christ has precedence of Faith in Him. No person can savingly believe in Jesus Christ before they have been regenerated, for the living faith [that saves] is the effect of Spiritual life. The dead Faith that James mentions James 2:17, 19-20 proceeds from a dead person [ spiritually dead], thats not the faith of Eph 2:8, which Faith is resultant of spiritual life, A New Creation, so no unregenerated persons have spiritual life, which means they have no living faith.

 

So before there could be the imputation of our [ church] sins to the Lord Jesus Christ, or the imputation of His righteousness [ perfect Holiness] to us 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

He must be one with us and we one with Him. This blessed Truth is revealed in scripture, and so it is only a previous Divine Union with Him who is Life Eternal, and complete righteousness, who is the head of all principality and power. Heb 2:11

 

Contrary to what many religious people believe, Faith is not the beginning of a Union with Christ. The first union begins in Christ and in the eternal decree of God and election. All other unions, such as regeneration and Faith are grounded in the everlasting covenant of Grace whereby God gives us Grace in Christ [in election] before the world began. 2 Tim 1:9

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,

There also was in a sense that the elect had a union with the Father before the Father gave them to His Son Jn 17:6

6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

So there seems to have been a Union with God the Father, then with the Son [ eternal acts and difficult to explain] before in time when the Holy Ghost through regeneration gives us a experiential union with Christ through Faith in Him.
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