God’s people aren’t just saved by some benign but far-off deity. Rather, we are saved by the Incarnate God who unites us to Himself. He is a personal, knowable God who personally saves His people to Himself, literally unites Himself to His people. How can I pray to God as my Father? Union with Christ.

With the start of a new year, we enter the promise of “newness”. In the days before and after January 1st, I have heard and seen many commercials with the promise of a “you”. “Join _____ gym to become the new you … come be a part of _____ exercise group to bring out the new you that is waiting to come out … ready to feel new again? Get on board with ______ eating plan.” Add on the numerous resolutions to start something new … renew a relationship … begin a new project – and it can feel like “newness” is in the air!

This brings to my mind the promise of “newness” in the Bible, especially in God’s people. We can think of Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” and Romans 6:4, “4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” What a precious promise of newness we find in God’s word! A promise of being a new creation that walks in the newness of life – a flame of God’s word that stirs and warms the heart!

Of course, this should cause any reader to ask where does this newness come from? More specifically, how does one become a new creation in order to walk in the newness of life? Those questions lead us straight to the glorious doctrine of union with Christ, that doctrine that is so vital to justification and sanctification, and one that has done much wondrous work over the course of human history.

It was almost 24 years ago that I started seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte. I came in, pretty fresh out of college and thinking I had a good handle on Reformed theology because I was pretty well-versed in subjects such as predestination and election (plot twist – I was nowhere near as well-versed as I thought I was). In my mind, it was those ideas and discussions that would be the major points in most of our classes. So, it was to my shock that they weren’t. Yes, they were discussed and dissected and explored and read. Yet, they weren’t the foundation of studies as I thought they would be. Rather, my professors would often come back to the doctrine of union with Christ. In systematic studies, to Biblical studies, even in language studies, our union with Christ was referenced over and over again. That was the one path we kept on traveling on, staying on, exploring over and over again.

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